LOST IN THE CHARM OF GUATEMALA!

Guatemala, whilst a small country has kept me busy for 2 months! I don't know where the time has gone, but I do know how I spent it...discovering rainforests, working in a gorgeous hostel, shouting out over the Guatemalan City radio, marching in a procession, dancing Marimba and Salsa style, glimpsing the hardship of the life of some Guatemalan families, sharing jokes with Vinnies volunteers, meeting monkeys, steaming in saunas, encoutering toucans, touring temples, jungle trekking, kayaking, canopying and mas!!!!!!

SOrry in advance but this entry is going to be a long one!

SVDP GUATEMALA
Through contacts in Madrid I met up with the National Council of SVDP Guatemala and had the privilege of following AnaMiriam (National President) around for almost a week. We went on some home visitations to a nursing home in the northwestern city of Quetzetenango (Xela) and to visit Gloria and Stefanie. Gloria is in her 40's and has been bedridden for years. The Vinnies volunteers visit her every fortnight and chat with her whilst washing and caring for her. Gloria (from the Spanish I could understand) has a wicked sense of humour and saves up lots of conversation for these visits. Her mother lives with her but is quite elderly and finds it difficult to look after her. I had a chat with the Mother and was completing her on her hands and a ring she was wearing. As we were leaving she pressed the ring into my hand and refused to take it back. I had not realised that in Guatemala if you completment a person on a piece of jewellery or similar they will give it to you. I was mortified, but also learnt a huge lesson from this exchange. To receive a gift from someone who had clearly had a very difficult life was hugely humbling. I still have the ring and will treasure it, until of course someone complements me on it!

Stefanie is a one year old baby who lives with her 17 year old Mum, 5 year old Aunty, Grandmother and Great Grandmother, in a room made largely from cardboard with room for a double mattress and some cupboards with a dirt floor. Her Dad has left for the United States (illegaly). Stefanie is unfortunately not a unique case. Talking with women in Guatemala they all say there are many single mothers which the men do not take responsibility for. Again the Vinnies volunteers visit this family every fortnight or so, and on this occassion we chatted with Stefanie's Mum, read through some biblical passages and gave them a bag of food. I felt very uncomfortable, as I tried desperately not to show the pity/sadness??? on my face. And I (my personal opinion completely) wanted to include some condoms, education and empowerement with the bag of food.

The following day we joined a SVDP conference in Xela, approximately 12 women. We went around the local neighborhood carrying a statue of Jesus on the Cross and visited families who had a member sick. As we walked from house to house I clearly saw the respect given to religion by Guatemalans. We were welcomed into each house, where we stood and chanted prayers together. I did not know the responses in Spanish but participated by reading passages. I was sweating over pronoucing the Spanish properly, as I did not want to offend with strange made up words. It was a lovely, defintely unique experience.

GUATEMALA CITY FIRECRACKERS

So I'd heard there was a party going to occur in Guatemala City on the weekend and I am not one to miss a party. So I jumped on a chicken bus with AnaMiriam and Carmencita and we went to the city. It was the 350th anniversary of Saint Louise de Marillac, founder of the Daughters of Charity and linked to SVDP. We stayed at a Daughters of Charity Convent in the centre of the city, which is also a school. The party started at 5AM... yes that is right 5AM!!! We were woken up by loud happy music playing. Anyone who has ever seen me at 5AM knows its a sight better left unseen, but I forced a grin and joined the party, which started in the church with everyone gathering together. By everyone I mean the schools very good Brass Band, the man lettiing off fire crackers, hundreds of Sisters, about 40 school girls, a police escort, the SVDP National Council and Trisha the foreigner. There was a wooden stature of St Louise de Marillac which was to be carried around the city block. 6AM and we set off with a bang, literally from the fire cracker man. Of course as the strange guest I had to be first the carry the statue, with 7 others we swayed together in a choreographed step with the statue on our shoulders like a palanquin.

It was the number one surrealest (is that a word??) thing I have ever done and I had to keep pinching myself. People were poking their heads out of their houses, still in pyjamas wondering what all the noise is. They then happily watched the procession, which stopped every ten metres to read a prayer over the loudspeaker. I had no idea what the responses were, so when I was helping carrying the statue I simply mouthed "rhubarb" over and over in the hope it would look appropriate.

After the procession there was a Mass for an hour and a half, by which time I was feeling awake and enjoyed the tranquility (no fire crackers going off during the Mass). We then sat down to a communcal breakfast of tamales ( I think is the name) a special food.

GUATEMALAN RADIO
So eating breakfast one minute, broadcasting on the radio across Guatemala city the next. Yes you did read correctly. I found something more surreal to participate in. Some Vincentian Fathers dropped by to say g'day and saw the foreigner and thought it would be a great idea to interview her on the radio. Each Sunday on this religious channel they do a one hour Vincentian segment and appaprently despite my minimal Spanish I was the pefect interviewee for that day. I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into. Basically I had understood... "do you want to go somewhere" and"Radio." I thought I would WATCH! Then suddenly I am in the broadcasting box with a microphone in front of me and Spanish being spoken to me. OH OH! At one point I had to blatantly say, sorry I dont understand whilst shaking my head madly. Other questions I mostly would guess what they were asking and give a very generic answer. I hope I represented Australia well!!!! I was asked if we have tortillas or maize (corn) in Australia, and what SVDP does in Australia and other crazy questions to which I had no vocabulary to answer with. So I think my radio career was over before I started!!!

SEMANA SANTA
Easter is HUGE in Guatemala and is celebrated very differently to Australia. Alfombras are a big part of the 40 days of Lent, each weekend these alfombras (translation is carpet) are made on city streets with coloured sawdust. They are gorgeous designs with animals, flowers and some religious symbols. I witnessed them in a University in Xela, where University students were acting out the Stations of the Cross. It was amazing to watch, although sad when the beautiful alfombras were ruined as the procession went to the next Station.

PROSH GUATEMALAN STYLE
Also University students have a tradition all across Guatemala of protesting against the government during Lent. It reminded me alot of Prosh at the University of Western Australia. They too produce a newsletter with anti-corruption articles and political satire. They dress up in silk robes with masks over their faces and take to the streets, collecting money and staging demonstrations. Apparently half the money goes to those living in poverty and half to alcohol for the students. Hmmmm.

WORKING AT EL RETIRO LODGE
I was wandering through the country and stayed for a couple of nights at El Retiro Lodge, Lanquin in the centre of the country. Feeling a bit sick of being a tourist all the time I asked for a job at El Retiro which is a gorgeous, peaceful hostel situated alongside a river. And there I stayed for 3 awesome weeks. My job included greeting tourists and school camp style explaining the facilities and activities at the hostel, as well as translating between the English speaking tourists and Spanish speaking staff. Other random stuff as well, such as teaching English, interior decorating, cataloguing music, squashing cockroaches etc.

I certainly saw a different side to the tourism industry. Some of the questions were hilarious! After rescuing two girls from a cockroach in their bathroom, which had them screaming and running out the door for help they asked me where I learnt to kill cockroaches.. if I had had special training to be able to do that!!
Another funny one... from a distinguished gentlemen who was obviously slumming it fown from the usual 5 star hotel was firstly if there was a phone in the cabanas for room service, (this is in a hostel which looked like a campsite and had cows wondering through) and secondly would he get sick if he ate at the restaurant which I had recommended to him. Sarcasm came in handy in my responses!

95% of the staff at El Retiro spoke Quechi as their first language, the Mayan language for the region. They also spoke quite a bit of Hebrew, because there are some many Israeli tourists who visit but also becuase Quechi and Hebrew are quite similar! How is that for an interesting linguistics speculation.. also world migration???

The hostel had a sauna, swimmable river, dock and many hammocks. It was a tough weeks but I survived!!

TIKAL TEMPLES

I headed north for the jungle kingdom of Tikal, one of the greatest Mayan sites during the civilizations golden time. Getting up and arriving at the temples at 6am was definitely worth it, I saw a toucan, many monkeys, fluro yellow and black birds and raccoon looking animals. The temples themselves are impressive, standing tall and pointing straight up into the sky. You can climb them and have wicked views over the jungle, which I did although had some guilt for the preservation aspect.

I bumped into some friends at Tikal, whom I had met in El Retiro. They are a gorgeous Canadian/Guatemalan couple who were with their respective parents touring around Guatemala. I was treated like part of the family and was luckily enough to spend a couple of days with them. Everyone's sense of humour was wicked and I was in stitches the whole time with them. We travelled together by car (such luxury for me) to Rio Dulce, a town in the jungle at the mouth of river Rio Dulce (meaning sweet river). The Guatemalan parents had family friends who owned the best hotel I have ever stayed at. Its a marina, located on the river and surrounded by jungle with a stunning swimming pool and amazing architecture. It has been designed in consultation with ecologists and biologists. You walk along wooden rope bridges above the jungle floor to get to each cabana. Its called Hacienda Tijax and is a working rubber plantation as well. I was extremely luckily and grateful to be able to stay there. HIghly recommended!

I wanted to explore more of the jungle so said adios to my new family and moved to a backpackers hostel deep in the jungle and along the same river. This too was an amazing place, designed so well. It was all open air, even the dorms. If I had the time I would have asked to stay and work there as well, as it was just wonderful. There was so much to do, from jungle treks, to kayaking, to table tennis, to doing absolutely nothing!!! I went on a four hour hike to Livingston, a town on the Carribean coast. The trek was through the thickest jungle I have ever seen, its like it constantly is regrowing and swallowing up the path. I also went kayaking to a nearby hot springs, cave with natural sauna. The springs are crazy. The cold water from the river mixes with boiling water escaping through cracks in the moutain, so sometimes the water is warm and then suddenly boiling. The sauna is a a small cave where the hot water runs overhead, making the cave steam and stink of sulphur.

And that brings me up to yesterday, when I took two boats and three buses and reached the Honduran town of Copan Ruinas. From here I am going to duck into El Savador, then back into Honduras before travelling through Nicaragua, Costa RIca to Panama.

Congratulations and thank you for reading to the bottom of this mammoth post!!!

A shameless reminder again. I am fundraising for Habitat for Humanity for a project I am participating in in Bolivia, please visit my page and donate if you wish!

https://www.habitat.org/cd/gv/participant/participant.aspx?pid=93334734

JUNGLE TREKKING