Asociación de Mujeres de Peten Ixqik y ¡Hola México!

After running around for a couple hours I was finally able to find El Asociación de Mujeres de Peten Ixqik, a womens cooperative ProLiteracy used to support. I just swung by to see the good work they are doing. And it is quite good...

Ellas son en el segundo piso de este edificio.

They have existed since 1997 teaching the women of Peten and beyond about womens rights, violence in the home, and adult basic literacy. Their main program teaching local teachers about womens rights and violence in the home so that teachers can then teach their students this valuable information.

Partidos por los niños en las escuelas

They hold frequent meetings for local women about womens rights and violence in the home as well as basic literacy classes. Women involved often bring much of what they learned back to their own communities.

I was blessed to spend a few hours with the women of Ixqik. They had no idea I would be stopping by and due to my poor poor spanish, it took some time to explain to them about ProLiteracy and the past partnership; but regardless, they treated me like a son. It was a very neat experience. Google search Asociación de Mujeres de Peten Ixqik for more info (I cant copy and paste...)

Anyway, that allowed me to head to Mexico City (DF) a bit early. So after a sleepless night in the hostel I headed out and caught a 5 AM bus to Palenque, Mexico, about two hours North of the Guatemalan border.

Small technical difficulties on route to Palenque...

¡México!

I got to Palenque around one in the afternoon. The bus to DF was an overnight that did not leave until six. So I checked emails and walked around the city a bit. However I met a fella named Esteban. Esteban was crippled and headed on a bus to Cancun to visit family. He had no wheelchair and moved by literally sliding around on the floor. After talking to him for some time he took our a small paper with several parables from the Bible. He handed it to me and asked me to read them. He then told me how lucky he is to have the chance to go to Church each and everyday. That floored me. It was a very humbling and thought provoking conversation that I certainly will not forget for sometime...

Me gusta la efuerza...

The bus ride to DF was very comfortable. I had a Greyhound bus style row to myself and I was sitting across from two nuns who work with womens cooperatives all over the country. They were unbelievably nice and super patient with my Spanish. I told them about my Great Aunt Marie and the work that I doing these upcoming months. It was quite nice. A great alternative to the horrendously violent and gory movie the bus was showing...

So I got into DF this morning at 630 and checked into a small hotel so that I could take a quick nap and shower. (It had been like three days since my last one, yikes!) Then I walked around a bit of DF. I cannot wait to see more of it!

This is the Zocolo, the main plaza in DF. It is quite busy and it is only South Africa vs. Uruguay. Tomorrow Mexico is playing France... Its going to be great

¡Adiós todos!

Tikal, Flores, y ¡Adiòs Grupo!

After a big breakfast and a group picture, I said goodbye to my fellow classmates. They are headed back to Guatemala City this afternoon on a looong bus ride and then tomorrow they are heading back to Syracuse. Pray that they have a safe bus ride and flight. My time in Guatemala with the group flew by! While I am excited to begin my work for ProLiteracy, I would be lieing if I was to say that I did not have a big ol´knot in my stomach as I saw the bus drive away this morning!

¡Adiòs mis amigos!

Anyway, yesterday as a group we headed to the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal. They were extrodinary. Very pretty. I´ll let the pictures do the talking but it was a fantastic way to end my time with teh group and a very good way to say goodbye to Guatemala.

¡Encuentrè las turistas!

However I am staying two more days here in Flores, a small island just outside of San Elena. I need to check in with an old ProLiteracy partner. I believe they are about two miles away from the hostel I am staying at. Then On Wednesday I should make the long bus ride up to Mexico City. This afternoon I am going to head to the bus station to work out the best route. If I can´t find an easy route I suppose I will just bike my way there... just kidding dad!

La puente a Flores

My digs for the next few days

Hostel de Amigos



Take care everyone and thank you for reading!

A Whole Mess of Places

We were fortunate enough to be in Chichicastenango for the twice weekly market. Held every Thursday and Sunday, this is one of the largest markets in Guatemala. The city is closed to cars as tents selling fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, notebooks, bike parts, batteries, t-shirts...


Por jueves y domingo, esto gimnasio cambia a un mercado...


Los calles y el mercado de Chichi

Justin and I took a hike up to Pascual Abuj a Mayan shrine. We were quite lucky and got to witness a Mayan ceremony. About thirty people were atop the hill overlooking Chichi. The ceremony involved a lot of chanting and incense. At the end of the ceremony they burned candy and alchol as a sacrafice to the gods. I talked to a young boy who said that they were thanking the gods for their health and praying for those who lost their homes or lives during the tropical storm Agetha.



After Chichi we headed for two days to Nebaj, a small town high in the mountains. Despite the rain we managed several long hikes. While waiting in one of the towns Justin began some camp songs with children who were at recess... good fun.



We then made the long 10 hour ride back to Guatemala city. I forgot about the volcano that rained ash on the city two and a half weeks ago. The city is still littered with piles of ash.





We took a day trip to the beautiful city of Antigua. Antigua's economy is based on tourism, and the city certainly does not hide that. Again it was beautiful, but I am very happy we only spent an afternoon there...


Una iglesia de los Jesuits. El edificio rojo es el embasia de Espana. For those of you who know the history of the Jesuits this is pretty neat


Prf. Ocampo dijo que esto es un puente famouso


Una vista de la ciudad y el Volcon de Agua


I was out of spit by the time I finished tacking all these stamps on

Tomorrow we leave for El Peten and the ruins of Tikal. Another long bus ride... Que bueno!

Adios Xela, Hola Chichi

We left Quetzaltenango this morning and arrived in Chichicastenango. However before we left Xela we had a good rest of the week...

We went on a tripto Zunil, a small city 10 miles outside of Xela that we biked to earlier in the week. However given the rains the roads we closed and we had to walk the last 2 miles into Zunil. Along the way we saw a bit of the problems that Tropical Storm Agetha has caused on the Guate highlands.



Justin and I and the rest of the group finally managed to fit in the hike up Volcano de Santa Maria. We started good and early (4am) and hit the top at 8:30. It was a great hike with fantastic weather. The guides were great and humored me by entertaining my spanish. Mike, my bad brother, I forgot to snag you a volcanic rock...






Hay un volcon activio abajo de Santa Maria


Este perrito nosotros segio arriba el volcon. Ella sube el volcon cada dia!



After two weeks at the Hotel Modelo it was quite sad saying good by to the staff. They were great people and we will certainly miss them...


They friended all the fellas in our group on facebook... no big deal


Mi desayuno cada dia en el Hotel Modelo

The drive to Chichi this morning was awesome. Steep climbs and windy roads... Very neat. When we arrived I dropped off my stuff and checked out the city. Dodging the most common form of transportation in Chichi, three wheeled taxis, I swung by la Iglesia de Santo Tomas and caught the tail end of a wedding. I went to mass this evening. A great mass but it started 30 min late beacuse the priest was blessing thirteen families that lost thier homes during the rain storm...




La Iglesia de Santo Tomas

I ran into a fella named Tomas. He owns a cloting shop and was eager to show me his shop then he showed me his home. His home is perched on a steep cliff. Given its location, Tomas's home is at great risk during rain storms. He showed me the problems that the most recent rain has left on his house. I then met his son and grandchildren who live next door. I spent the better part of two hours talking to his son, Sebastian, about his work, his past, and the struggles he has had to deal with post Agetha. Ma and dad, Tomas asked for you two to pray for his family...


Tomas y su casa.

Gracias todos...

Casa Numero 7

Today we painted one of the houses at the Aldeas Infantiles SOS orphange...

El grupo con los niños de casa 7

After spending the equivlent of $50 on paint (loving the exchange rate) with Justin yesterday afternoon, we hauled it over to the orphange today. With borrowed brushes and old newspaper from our hotel, the beautiful Hotel Modelo, we got to work paining the living room and dining room area of the house. This was not exactly what I had in mind but I am farrr from an interior decorator or painter so we carried on.

School has been cancelled for the week for the niños at the orphange given the huge amount of rain we have recieved. This turned out to be a great blessing. The kids were eager to help and even more eager to play and hangout. (We were also lacking in brushes so it kept everyone busy... which is always nice!)

Osvin ayudando en la cocina

We also put in a small mural with expertly crafted replicas of the niños living in the house...

"Our Home"

The work we did was quite small, even in the scope of the orphange (there are ten other houses), but it presented the niños y los estudiantes (us) with a great afternoon of sharing and laughing. And hopefully the nine niños of Casa 7 will take a bit more pride in their home after today. I know I felt welcome...

More information on Aldeas Infantiles SOS: www.aldeasinfantilessos.org.gt

I went for a quick bike ride as the sun was setting on the city... love it.

Adios y gracias todos.