Pausing Here and There

If this works….then this is a video of me weaving! Woot.

Also, I am leaving Xela in two days. I have mixed feelings about this, but mostly I am concentrating on concurring a raging cold that makes me sleep for 10 hours a night. Puchica!

Mas o menos, primavera ha empazado en Xelo, pues, no primavera exactamente, porque aqui tenemos solamente verano y inverano. Pero, por lo menos, el aire es fresco. Hoy, había un hombre con “a cart of tulips” caminando en la calle, y mucho gente se sentían en el parque. Los “tulips” era rojo y naranja, y fue como un escena de una pelicula.

Tambien, mi classe de español ha tomado una vuelta “turn?” Estoy aprendiendo dichos y modismos! ¡Puchica!

agarrando los ideas del aire
Picking ideas out of thin air

huevona
lit: A big egg
lazy

estar de rollo, o, andar de rollo
lit: to walk the stream, or be of the stream
to hang out, shoot the shit

fufurufo
stuck up

fresa
lit: strawberry
stuck up person

buscarle cinco pies al gato
lit: searching for the five feet of the cat
looking for trouble

el huevo de la vaca
lit: the egg of the bull
a problem

la cruda
lit: underdone, raw
hangover

estar de goma
lit: to be made of rubber
to be hungover

él tiene pege
lit: he is sticky
He has mojo, or moves

clavos
lit: nails, cloves
problems

Hello All! I’ve begun taking weaving classes at Trama, a womens weaving cooperative. I am in the process of making a “chalina” a scarf with spaces in it. Working on this project has made me realize how much time and effort goes into each piece of weaving that I have seen here. Guatemala is certainly known for its textiles, and while I have seen these gorgeous pieces of cloth, huiples (embroidered shirts), traje (the traditional cloth different for every region, and sometimes even for every aldea or village), rugs, bags, and so much more, I have felt too overwhelmed to want to buy any of it. I think that becoming a student (for a little breath of a time, at any rate) at this cooperative is such a healthier way for me in this instant to encounter, or get a better understanding of the process involved in making a piece of fabric.

First, I chose my colors and spent an hour or so making double stranded thread, by making balls out of thread I wrapped from these two circular spinny things. Then I spent another hour or two designing my scarf: wrapping the threads in a particular way around a wooden frame to create my design. Then I began to create the loom. The tension of the loom is formed by hanging the string between two wooden poles. One pole is hung from the ceiling and the other is attached to my back by a nylon belt, more or less. I then separated the strings in to bundles of twenty, turned the whole project around, and created the separation of strings that will allow me to weave it by separating every strand from each other with a nylon thread that I was wrapping around my hand. This took another 2 or so hours.

I begin to actually weave on Tuesday, wow! I suppose this does not sound exactly clear, but hopefully I will have some pictures soon to show all of you. In other news, I am learning the subjunctive tense…that other world of Spanish.

Here are some of my pictures from my travels during the holidays. Enjoy!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=19ltfkzb.bplbtr7&x=1&y=-657ifu

Today Sharon, Michelle (housemates) and I cleaned the entire kitchen. I went through a giant bowl of mismatched baggies full of semi-identifiable spices and put them in clean jars and labeled them. It was perhaps one of the most thoroughly satisfying organizational activities I have done in a long, long time.

I am also currently wearing the most hiddeous paisley polyester shirt with pirate sleeves I have ever encountered in my life. I don´t think I will ever be able to take myself seriously again in life, ever.

Xela, darling Xela, feels like home now. I am glad to be back, and in the full swing of cooking. We started up lunch club again, and I was the chef del dia today. I went to make a very simple pasta with spinach and tomato sauce and mozzarella. As I was dumping the pasta into the almost boiling water a whole bunch of dead bugs floated to the surface. We spent a lot of time discussing whether or not we should attempt to salvage the pasta. However, when I discovered larvae, we decided it is best to forgo the pasta and we used some leftover rice to make “risotto.”

Right now I am waiting for my bread to rise and also avoiding writing a Spanish composition, the subject of which is “mujeres.” That´s right, please write an essay about women. Hmmm. Seems just a little broad.

Finally, I have acquired the nickname of gordita at Sakribal, the school I am studying at. My cheeks apparently are healthily full, although when I suggested to Dona Olga, the owner of the school, that my face looked like the moon she said, no, but I need to be careful. Thanks Olga, muchisimo gracias.

Oh, I´m teaching English to a young man here. It´s going well…no other exciting news.

According to PADI this is what I am now certified to do. Thanks to many ridiculous videos and several wonderful dives.

Diving: When you scuba dive it feels nothing at all like the delicious nakedness of swimming. Instead of letting yourself move freely through the water you are encased in a thick suit and hindered by some 50 pounds of equipment which requires that you move very slowly through the water and give over all sense of control of movement to three things: your bcd or inflatable live vest which connects to a steel tank and helps you go up and down, your flippers which give you some sense of being able to slowly, astronautically control your direction, move right or left up or down, and the ocean currents themselves, which seem to stay in your body for days afterwards making you feel like you are constantly swaying whenever you find yourself sitting still. Regardless, you do see incredible things..brilliantly colored fish, fan coral as big as your fins waving hello in the water, a spotted eagle ray majestic and giant drifting across what looks like a crater in the coral, hence the name of the dive site Moon Hole.

Sand Fleas: As a child I was occaisionally fascinated by a big green medical reference book that my mother kept in the spare room. It had pictures of all kinds of diseases, but particularly repulsive were the skin diseases. Having visited the land of sand flees (cursed jejenes) and jellyfish (wicked medusas) and other insects that Im sure have just as repulsive monikers, I think I am now a good candidate to appear in that book. My calves and hands are covered with itching red welts that drive me wild in the heat. While leaving Utila is a bit sad, (we met some really great people including a certain Britt named Giddeon who did a wicked American accent), I will not miss the evening dosage of flea bites.

Jake and I managed our way to San Pedro on Lake Atitlan and enjoyed a few days relaxing, taking hikes through the hills, and observing the vistas. It was so delightful to spend quality time with the brother boy, and hilarious to see the same little tiffs weve had since children resurface through travel. No worries, we overcame them.

I am now back in Xela and it certainly seems like a return to home! It was so nice to walk into yoga house, abuzz with activity and cooking and feel like I have a place here. I have already done my shopping and am ready to cook up a delicious veggie curry tonight. I have a month more here of Spanish study and who knows what else, before heading to Costa Rica in February. From there it is Ecuador and then who knows.

Thanksgiving:

Imagine this: You are living in a house named “yoga house” and you might think, “Hmm. Yoga. Non-violence. Ahimsa. Peaceful hippie vegetarians.” In fact the reality is quite the opposite. I’ve successfully moved into my lovely new home and was pleased to discover that we had quite the lovely mix of people living here…most of whom eat meat. Some of whom are interested in killing the meat they eat. Pete and Pete, if you have not yet read Sarah and Megan’s hilarious blog, are two Minnesotan fellows who remind me a lot of Jake rolled into one. They are best friends and they kill turkeys. In fact, they killed our thanksgiving chompipe and it was definitely transcendent. I felt, simultaneously, repugnance and fascination, to the idea of these two lads martaring this bird for our dinner, so of course I volunteered to photograph the whole adventure! Thanksgiving ended up being lovely, big, boisterous, and wonderful. I spent the day telling my language teacher about this whole chompipe episode and marvelling at the fact that I saw the thing alive and then I ate it. We ended the night by drinking masses of mojitos at El Cuartito, where I apparently work, but don’t have any hours yet. Hmmm?

Y mas:
This weekend we did Fuentas Georginas Part Deux. It was glorious and lovely, again. We brought food and, as I was with two outdoor educators–Cori and Traika–we felt very confident in making a fire to cook it on. The man at the hotel asked if we wanted help in that condescending machismo way, and Cori told him no. But then, they tried to start it, and damn, did it take a long time to start! We gave in, asked the hotel guy who said, “Lo dijo” (I told you so). But, by the time he had arrived, Traika, who had dedicated herself to the fire had managed to get it going. Eventually we were able to precariously balance the veggie shishkabobs I’d prepared earlier on the mini stove and eat warm, but still a little raw potatos, tomatoes, red peppers, and onions. When the guy came we got him to start the fire inside the cabin and we threw our tamales in their to warm up. After sharing a bottle of chilean wine *extravagant!* we didn’t care so much about the semi rawness, and everything turned out delicious.

At night, the fog rolled out so we were able to see the millions of stars. We brought candles down to the pool at night and placed them all around, then turned out the lights because we were the only people swimming. It was delicious and magical…I really felt like I was in some kind of crazy fairyland.

I spent the rest of today relaxing, cleaning, and getting nervous for my first day at my volunteer gig tomorrow. Off to translate Montessori lessons into Spanish, or try to!

Hey all… I´ve got quite the life going on here, it´s pretty insane how one can come to a place and all of a sudden have friends, school, a job, a new house, etc… I moved into Yoga house on Friday and had a wonderful collective dinner last night. We´re planning a thanksgiving (i´m making mashies, though I might also attempt green bean casserole…so send me the recipe, eh mama?) My room there is pleasant, though a little dirty and with a very hard bed. A friend described its smell as that of the inside of an old ship. I did some cleaning this weekend, but the ship smell did not dissipate.

I had quite the beautiful weekend. I´ve met some wonderful people here, and quite a few from San Fran, who have told me stories that make me very excited to move there once I return. On Saturday, I went with Sarah and Megan´s school on a volcano trip. Soooo steep, but we were rewarded with views of a beautiful caldera lake, fog, and tropicalish vegetation. We lay on the pumice beach like seals for a bit, and listened to a gathering on the other side that may have been a batism or perhaps an exorcism. No sé.

That night we went and saw Buena Vista Social Club in an old military barracks. I wish I had been more awake, but I was pooped from the early morning hiking. Still, the music was delightful, and watching people dance, even more so.

Yesterday I succeeded in recopying two weeks of notes and getting a job at a café, so I´ll have a bit of money coming in. Also, on Tuesday I´m off to look at an after school program where they need volunteers…so I hope that works out.

The newest plan is to stay here in Xela until the end of January, make my way down to Costa Rica, then travel to Bolivia where I´ll study for perhaps another month, and then on to Peru and Ecuador for a little travel before returning to the us in mid-April. The ever morphing plan continues, but as of now this sounds good.

I miss you all…send me email updates…I want to know what´s happening in the states.

Howdy All. So I have just completed my third day of Spanish school, ever, and can successfully create sentences in the present using all kinds of verbs. Yippee. I also know some random vocabulary. My teacher is very kind and patient, explaining grammar and indulging me in my rambling, poorly constructed Spanish tirades about current events or teaching. Somehow I manage to get my point across, and she is very good at speaking in a way that allows me to completely understand all that she is saying.

My homestay is fine. The mom runs a small lunchroom from her kitchen, so I meet all different people every day and eat yummy food. Still, I miss hanging out with people in the evenings as I can´t really go out after dinner. This makes things a little boring as I have so far spent my evenings reading, studying, and going to bed by 9 or 10.

Yesterday, I put a down payment toward my room at yoga house starting next weekend. I´m stoked. The girl who manages the house was sure to tell me that ¨We´re not really a party house. Mostly we just hang out and cook a lot.¨ I was sold. My room comes with a private bathroom–no shower though–and a brand new matress. Score! I think I´ll definitely stay in Xela until Jacob, my bro, gets here in December. I´ll study Spanish until then, who knows.

I´ve posted some pictures, so take a look 🙂 Actually, I am not as cool as Sarah and Megan and haven´t figured out how to post flickr directly into the blog…so here´s the link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67808065@N00/

Hola todos! Today I started my first day of school. On Sunday, Sarah and Megan and I went out and bought school supplies. It was quite cute. I also endured a 2 hour yoga class with some of the wierdest moves I´ve seen at a yoga class thus far, but hey, when in Rome.

Since Megan and Sarah are at a different school, I´m not sure when I´ll see them next, but I´m sure we will figure out a routine…perhaps studying at our favorite little cafe, La Luna. First, I´ll have to find out where they live!

My school, Proyecto Linguistico (or plq), is amazing! I´ve been placed in a homestay with a very nice woman, Dona Yolanda, her husband and her daughter, Yohanna (who is 21). I feel like I´ve already learned so much from my teacher, Laura, and have met some nice people whom I will hopefully befriend.

The house is organized around a courtyard where a fig tree (los higos) grows. There are also pigeons and turkeys in this courtyard, and a place to do the dishes. Dona Yoland is an amazing cook, who runs a little comedor for the teachers of the school at lunchtime. Once I get a little Spanish under my belt, I´ll see if I can learn a few Guatemalan dishes. My room is very big, but totally without windows. This morning, around 5:00 I awoke to the sound of the turkeys calling, totally disoriented. Everything was pitch black. I tried to ignore the Guatemalan bed–so many springs sticking into my back–and the turkeys and go back to sleep, but there was no doing it. Oh well, sleep is for the dead anyhow.

There is much to do here as every afternoon there are movies, conferences, trips, etc… scheduled, as well as a giant library full of books about Guatemala and Central American history. I´m very excited to begin learning more! Maybe I´ll finally read Bitter Fruit, as it was again recommended to me here.

I study Spanish every day from 8:00 until 1:00. Today I learned the verb ´ser´, to be, and described lots of people from Shakira to President Bush to Che Guevera using my newly learned verb and adjectives. Yippy.

We get a half hour break to sit and drink tea and coffee and eat bread and soak up the sunshine as it is somewhat bitterly cold here. I was SOOO happy I brought the sleeping bag after all last night.

All in all, I´m feeling much better about Xela. Kisses to all.