A little more on Antigua
Mayan culture
After the disappointing attempt to help the mud-stricken, I decided to participate in some of the local activities. On Thursday, I went with a group of students from my school to this Mayan village called San Francisco Agua Calientes. We went to this little cooperative whose taught us about the Mayan culture. We ate this typical mayan dish, which was chicken and rice, with a very different sauce…it was really great. We also got a shot at making tortillas. This little old lady did it with such ease – just take a little ball of maiz dough, dip your hands in water, and pat-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat it into shape. Then, put it onto this metal plate over the fire (like a campfire). Well, it looks a lot easier than it looks. My pat-pat-pat’ing ain’t so good. I ended up with too much water on mine because it kept sticking to my hands, and then it took forever to cook. It still tasted like a tortilla, though, but that’s probably because they made the dough.
After our little meal, they gave a presentation on the Mayan traditional clothing and family life. I was chosen to participate for the wedding ceremony as the mother of the groom. My other two friends were the happy Mayan couple (note that the use of the words friends here is in reference to people that I’ve known for 4 days and have hung out with outside of school-related activities. It’s really easy to make these ‘friends’). They little Mayan women dressed us up in Mayan clothes and took us through the life the a Mayan couple. The women start weaving when they’re little girls, and at 14 years old, they are expected to make this beautiful, really elaborate fabric, which is of a pattern specific to their village. This fabric is then given to the mother-in-law (that would be me) on the day of the wedding, and she wears it as a shawl throughout the whole post-ceremony party, which lasts for 10 hours. There are lots of other textiles that are made…the best, I thought, was that the step-mother gives the bride an apron. The bride is then expected to cook for the husband, and if she doesn’t they can’t sleep together.
Up Volcán Pacaya
On Saturday, I got up at something like 5:30 in the morning (after going out until 1) to go climb one of the volcanoes. Of course, I chose to climb the active volcano, for a little excitement. It started out as a nice upward climb through the woods; we could see the volcano above and it looked so far away, I couldn’t believe we’d actually make it to the top. You could see some sort of smoke coming out of it…that’s what it looked like at least; kind of like clouds. Some locals where on the trails, offering ‘taxi’ rides on their horses, but that’s totally cheating. I walked. Finally, we made it to the point where the vegetation ceased to grow. From here, it was up the steep side of the volcano, covered in this black rock-ash sort of stuff. The wind also picked up at this point, and it got kind of chilly. The views from here alone were amazing – all sorts of small villages could be seen below. More volcanoes dotted the horizon, and Guatemala City never looked so good. Seriously, though. Being so high up with these strong winds on very precarious ground was a constant reminder of this slight fear of heights that I love to challenge. It really felt like I was going to blow off the side of the volcano, I don’t know…like float through air, right into the little village below or something. But, I know that really wouldn’t happen, so that’s what kept me going.
The last section up was the hardest. It was like climbing up a sand dune…every step you take is only worth maybe half after you slide back down a bit. At the top, the views were even more spectacular, albeit slightly obscurred by the mix of clouds and sulfurous smoke. You could feel the heat and smell the sulfur coming out of various crevices; there was also this huge mound of what looked like pretty fresh lava (though it’s not like I’m an expert in lava). Other parts were all sorts of colors – yellow, red, orange, from the minerals seeping out.
Going down was almost the best part. It was almost like surfing down the side of this volcano…every step you took was naturally large, given the downward slope. Then, you would slide down another 2-3 feet. I just glided down the side. The rest of the way down was pretty casual, although I did meet some cows that were pretty cool.
The progression of my español
So, I was obviously taking the spanish class to improve my Spanish. I ‘ve had the 4 years of Spanish is high school, but, being 11 years ago, I’ve forgotten a lot. Also, I do pretty well at talking and people understand me, but then when they respond, I ‘ve got no idea what they’re saying to me, which is a problem. I’ve made some pretty spectacular mistakes…if you read my entry about shoveling mud, you know that I sounded like a complete idiot during that interview. Well, I have also asked a lady if she was lactating when I just wanted some milk for my coffee. One woman gave me some strange looks when I was asking her for either the band or the gang of Guatemala to sew on my backpack (I was looking for the Guatemalan flag). Instead of scrambled eggs, I asked for returned eggs, which might also be interpreted as thrown-up eggs. I almost asked a lady if she has a butt when I wanted a Coke (I got stuck here…I’m sick of asking for coca cola – it sounds too formal. But coca is cocaine and cola is butt, so I can’t ask for either of those separately, though I guess I’m asking for a cocaine butt when I just want a freakin’ Coke.
Anyway, after a week of class and living with the family, I think that I have made some pretty good improvements with my Spanish. I do understand most of what people are saying to me, and my vocabulary is getting a little larger, though there’s so much, sometimes I get a little confused (the other day I asked this woman if she knew if the earthquake was coming to Honduras when I was asking about the storm that has now become Hurricane Wilma).
I’m trying to pick up some slang, because I hate saying everything I like is ‘bueno’ or ‘muy bueno’. Luckily ‘ok’ is accepted almost world-wide, otherwise I think I would be saying bueno every other word. I’ve been trying to integrate ‘cool’ into the language, but it’s difficult because ‘culo’ means asshole. Otherwise, I’m told it would just be bueno. I’ve been watching some TV, though, with Spanish subtitles, and I’m on the very of picking up a good translation for this, I think. Finally, I feel like I’m declaring “To god!” (a diós = To god; adiós = goodbye) everytime I leave a place; it’s a little too evangelical for my taste.
Tags: Guatemala, Tag Index
Tania