My final day of class

Where did the time go? This afternoon I have my final Spanish class. In 3 weeks I have learned present, preterite, imperfect, present perfect and future verb tenses. While my pronunciation and listening comprehension need additional attention, I have been able to converse (albeit slowly) with merchants, artisans, indigenous persons and fellow students. Last night for homework, my maestro, Lucas, asked me to write a composition about the upcoming few days. As I was doing so it struck me that my time in Guatemala is quickly drawing to a close. Tomorrow I climb Volcan San Pedro in the morning. A quick swim in Lago Atitlan and a siesta in the hammock might round out the afternoon. I leave San Pedro after breakfast on Sunday morning and arrive back in New York Mid-day on Monday.

This morning I took an early walk around town. I may have mentioned in an earlier post that the gringos have laid claim to the shoreline lowlands. The indigenous Mayans, only some of whom speak Spanish (most speak Tz'utujil) live and work up the hill near the center of town. Each day there is an open air market of grains, legumes , fruits and vegetables. Today there were also several stands of used clothing, much of which appeared to have had US origin. These were popular stands with large groups gathering around these merchants. Near the Pana dock I ran into Yolanda, the local woman who bakes fruit breads each morning to sell on the streets for 8Q each. I have tried her carrot cake as well as her banana bread and her coconut bread. This morning I bought a small loaf if banana bread to take on tomorrow's volcano trek. Further down the road I stopped in at a local cafe for huevos revueltos and frijoles. That's a breakfast that stays with you for hours.
I have remained relatively healthy during my travels. I have been conscientious about avoiding local water, although I do brush my teeth with tap water and the origin of the ice cubes in drinks is a mystery.

I have been asked if I would want to return to San Pedro and my response has been a resounding 'yes'. It has been a wonderful location for both study and relaxation. While the people I have met have taken the edge off of solitary travel, I would want a return trip to include my family.

Life in San Pedro

I have now completed two days of study at the San Pedro School. My teacher this week is a young man named Lucas. He is laid back and pretty fun. He makes fun of my mispronunciations and I laugh at his English snafus. Together we make a decent pair. During the last two days we have reviewed the preterite tense and learned the imperfect tense. Once you learn the imperfect tense you have to wonder why you spent so much time and energy struggling with the preterite!
I have told Lucas that conversation is one of my weak points. Thus, we spent quite a bit of time simply talking. The schoolhas a daily Conversation Club that meets from 5:15 - 6:00 each afternoon. I was a bit surprised when Lucas directed me to the Intermediate group as I had doubts about my abilities. Lo and behold,I fit into that group quite nicely.
Enough school talk .... I may have mentioned in a previous entry that I opted to stay in a hotel this week rather than utilize the homestay option. What a good decision on my part! One of my classmates who is in a homestay has noted that his family's first language is a Mayan dialect. While they can speak Spanish, they do not choose to do so often. Another student spoke of cold showers, a situation I encountered in Xela. My hotel, Sa'Kari, has virtually unlimited hot water, one of the most beautiful views in San Pedro, a sauna, and kayaks for use. Better yet, the women renting on either side of me are also Spanish students and we have ample time to practice.
Because I study from 1:00 to 5:00, my mornings are free for other activities. This morning, I took the 7:00am boat to Panajachel -approx 20 minutes away - to explore. I

Sunday in San Pedro

After a hot shower I headed out to explore a bit. It was only 7:30 and there were few people up and about. When I thought I was headed to the dock, I found myself walking in a circle. At that point I decided to have breakfast before venturing out again. I found a small open air cafe and ordered huevas revueltas con frijoles. Another woman walked in and sat at an adjacent table. I asked if I could join her to pick her brain a bit. Larosa is a retired woodworker from Eugene, OR. She has been traveling and studying for three months with several more ahead of her. She highly recommended the hotel in which she had been staying, conveniently located 100 yds from the language school. After breakfast I stopped in to speak with the desk clerk. I asked about an individual room with private bath overlooking the lake. He showed me a lovely and spacious room opening out to a lawn overlooking the lake. Much to my surprise, there is also a TV. I haven't turned it and don't know if I will. The price is 120Q per day. While this is considered a bit expensive for San Pedro, it translates to about $15 per day. This is more expensive than the homestay as my meals will be an additional cost but I am feeling the need for more privacy than a homestay would allow.
The weather here is ideal. I hear it is snowing relentlessly in NY. It is already in the 70s here and only 10:00am

San Pedro La Laguna

The trip to San Pedro was uneventful. For the final half hour or so the road becomes a steep spiralling set of switchbacks. Thank goodness it doesn't snow here. I saw a few chicken busses in SP and am amazed that they were able to maneuver those curves.
It was just getting dark when I arrived and a young man, Pedro, assisted me on locating my hotel for the night. I haven't had an opportunity to begin exploring the town or looking for a cheaper hotel. This one - Hotel Mikaso - is nice but pricy. Thanks to the magical world of Wi-Fi, I have been able to lie here in bed and make online inquiries about room availability. While homestay is an option, I think I will stay in a local hotel this final week, if possible.

Leaving Xela

Each Friday the school recognizes those students who will be moving on. This week I wad in that group. There is an expectation that you will make a brief statement and I had prepared for this event. I expressed appreciation to my 2 teachers and thanked the staff fir their assistance with various problems. After class I reserved a seat on the 3:00pm shuttle to San Pedro. Orinally I had planned to go on Sunday morning but there were not enough people to justify the 3-hour drive.
On Friday night ICA hosted a Guatemalan dinner party. While the food was not different from what I had been eating - my Guatamamam was a very good cook- we had the opportunity to make the tortillas ourselves and to spend a final social hour together.
On Saturday morning my Guatafamily surprised me with a going away belated birthday celebration. The kids had made postre de la pena, a pineapple pudding-like dessert. So, after a breakfast of quesidillas, the kids put candles in the postre and the singing began. The first verse was a rendition of our traditional Happy Birthday song, but came out more like "happy verday." The second song was the traditional Spanish verse where the celebrants recognize the newly acquired age by counting up. We skipped a few decades so that we could move on to the main act - eating the postre. I asked the kids to help me blow out the candles which they did excitedly.
Later in the morning I had some errands to run and I stopped to pick up a bouquet of fresh flowers for Rosario. She was very excited about her husband's return after a 15-month absence -he was working in the US - and she had spent 2 weeks repainting furniture, scrubbing floors and fixtures, and reorganizing the kitchen. I thought the flowers would add a final welcoming touch. I also gave the family an LL Bean flashlight that operates on hand cranks rather than battery power. I had brought along a smaller version of the sane flashlight for myself and had used it frequently in the evening so that I wouldn't trip on the dark.
After lunch I retreated to my room to read for an hour while I waited for the shuttle to arrive. Jessica and Daniela came in wearing tiaras and holding a small bouquet of plastic flowers. They wanted me to take their pictures. One thing led to another and webwere soon dancing to the Beatles on my iPod. of course, the boys now had to get a piece of the action and Danillo and Marcus joined our little dance club. It wad the most fun I had had with the kids the 2 weeks I was there.
At 3:10 the shuttle arrived. The final hugs were short but sweet and I was off to Part 2 of the adventure.

The Women's Prison in Xela

Before I left home I asked my friends to help me collect toiletries to donate to women in need in Xela. My friends are extremely generous and socially conscious and, as a result, I quickly amassed nearly 100 items of soap, shampoo and various body creams. At that time I didn't know if I would be able to visit and or volunteer at either the women's prison or Nuevos Horizontes, the domestic violence shelter. Once I arrived, I was informed that both sites were now requiring a minimum 3/month volunteer commitment which, of course, I could not make. I asked the Director of the ICA Spanish School if he could arrange a 1-day entry to the prison, Enrique was happy to do so. This morning, accompanied by my teacher, Nancy, we walked the approx .75 mile trek to the site. With Enrique's letter of introduction, we entered the facility. It is one of 3 correctional facilities in Xela and the only one for women. Because of this, the facility does double duty as a jail and a prison. Yesterday's head count was 36. I don't know how many were convicted. It was my observation that ages ranged from late teens to mid-50's, and one very young inmate had an infant with her. I learned that incarcerated women are permitted to keep their children with them to age 5, much longer than permitted in US facilities. The prison is actually quite small. It consists of a common area approx the size of a basketball court on the ground level with cells on the second level overlooking the courtyard. The courtyard is open air and there were several clothes lines running across the width of the space. It appeared that the "cells" were simply rooms without any locking mechanisms. There was a single armed guard positioned in this area.
I am getting ahead of myself.I want to write a bit about our initial entry. The warden )if that was her title) was a women in her late 30's (my estimation). I explained the purpose of my visit )with much translation assistance from Nancy) and asked if it would be possible for me to take photos. She quickly denied the request, noting that cameras were strictly prohibited. I recalled Enrique's advice that diplomacy would be needed here. I did some mental math. I had approx 95 items, enough for each woman to have 2-3 small vials of shampoo or bars of soap. I pulled out 3 particularly nice smelling items and gave them to the official. Again I told her that I was a professor of sociology and that my students could learn much from photos. She modified her original position, allowing 2 photos. I reached into the bag and found 2 nice bottles of hand cream and gave these to her. While she didn't say I could take more photos, she inferred that no one would be counting.
The gate opened and Nancy and I entered the courtyard. We explained that we had small gifts for the women. The women pulled over a table and we emptied the contents of my backpack. The women lined up quickly with little discussion. It appeared to me that the internal pecking order was well established and didn't need to be debated. We told them that they could each have 2 items of their choice. The process was remarkably smooth. Because the women could not read English (most were unable to read at all),they would pick up a bottle and ask what it was. A woman with a parrot warned me not to get too close as the parrot bites. I asked if any wanted to have their pictures taken and several volunteered. We left a few minutes later.
On the walk back to school Nancy explained that she could tell that a number of the women were not Guatemalan, but Honduran or El Salvadoran. Their crimes ranged from extortion to robbery to murder, many gang-related.

Earthquakes!

Today was mote interesting than usual in that we experienced two earthquakes. The first, centered in Chiapas Mexico, registered 5.6 on the Richter scale. It struck at approx 4:15 am and shook the house for spprox 15 seconds. There was no observable damage to any person or any structure in Xela. I have no information as to any impact in Chiapas. At breakfast Marcos (age 10) was presenting himself as the brave brother. He told me that his alarm clock and his homework had fallen off of the desk but that he was not afraid. His sisters, on the other hand, admittted to being very frightened. News of the quake was the leading story on TV.
At approx 9:00 am, a second earthquake was experienced. This one, centered in a rural section of Guat about 125 miles from Xela, registered 5.3. The students in the school quickly descended from the second floor when the quaking didn't cease after a few seconds. I estimate this one shook buildings for 20 seconds. Again, there was no damage.
Those of us who had experienced quakes at home were concerned but not overly fearful. The students from Denmark had never experienced a quake and several were at near-panic stage. One woman thought that the active volcano overlooking the city was erupting and that lava would soon be pouring through the streets. Hopefully, we were able to asssauge her fears.
Eight hours have passed without further trembling. Perhaps that was it for today's excitement.