A weekend with a Midwife

While I was in San Martin with Dona Esperanza last weekend, I spent a day visiting her patients. Friday night over dinner, I asked what she was doing on Saturday and she whipped out her notebook and showed me her schedule. It was written in pencil, in small writing and looked something like this:

7 – 9 Chuj/9-12 visit patients/lunch/2-6 visit more patients/dinner/wait for birth.

So on Saturday, we did more or less that.

The Chuj is essentially a steam room, located outside many houses. It is constructed with cement sides and a tin or cement top. One corner has a big pot with room for a fire underneath and the other side has a bench to lie on. You fill the big pot with water and start to boil it to produce heat and steam in the chuj. The chuj barely fits two people, so it doesn’t take that much to heat it up. Many indigenous houses have built outside because they are commonly used for healing or post birth. A mother who has just given birth traditionally is given a bath in the chuj for the first 4 days post birth and the newborn is given one when it is 8 days old. The mother’s chujs are supposed to relax the body, warm the shoulders and chest to produce milk and close the uterus. The newborn’s is to relax it after the umbilical cord falls off. (This is a picture of Dona Esperanza's Chuj - not the one we used for the woman. That one was at her own house)


We walked over to the new mother’s house at around 7:15am. After being introduced, we began to prepare the chuj. As was pretty standard for most of the weekend, the father/husband of the family was not around. The son (about 12) and one of the daughters (about 10) chopped wood for us to use and we began to make the fire. About an hour later, the chuj was nice and hot. While we waited for the chuj to get hot, we made sure everything else was ready. Dona Esperanza asked for some branches of a particular medicinal leaf that she would use for the massage inside the chuj. The grandmother went for the leaf and in the meantime, the other children and family members did the household chores around us. Once ready, the new mother and Dona Esperanza got in. They put a cloth over the door of the chuj, to keep the heat in, but I was told to stay close and look over the cloth so that I could see what was going on.

Dona Esperanza and the mother to be got undressed, and the mother laid down on the bench. I was relived to see that they got undressed, but also surprised. Traje, typical dress, is very heavy to begin with. However, given how covered and modest the women usually are, I was surprised they would get completely naked. The entire massage lasted about 30min and the woman rotated positions throughout the entire massage. From what I could see, (it was a little difficult to see everything given the angle I had) there were two basic techniques used. One was wetting the bunch of medicinal leaves with the hot water and swatting them all over the woman’s back, stomach and chest. The warmth of the leaves and bath on the chest and upper back is to help produce more milk and I think something else that I’m not sure of. The second was massaging the stomach and uterus. Dona Esperanza later showed me exactly how she massaged the woman. With both hands she started on the outside of the left and right side of the stomach and massaged inward, then worked her way in to tuck under the uterus from the outside. This massage is supposed to help close the uterus.

After the chuj, Dona Esperanza and the woman put on a few clothes and crawled into the woman’s bed to bring their body temperatures back down. The family provided some Atol, a typical corn drink, to restore energy. It was a special kind of Atol to be good for the mother, and it was so thick and tasteless that I could barely drink the 10 sips I felt obliged to take down.

When Dona Esperanza was dressed and ready, we said goodbye to the family and headed off to visit other patients. She was very tired and hot from the chuj for the better part of the morning. It was probably a mix of her heavy and hot dress and a little bit of being tired from the long work week she had just had. We visited 4 patients total through out the day. We would have visited more, but it was raining pretty heavily in the afternoon. I learned that this means we don’t go visit patients, instead we stay in the house. (I have often gotten stuck places since the rainy season has started, and learned that Guatemalan’s don’t like to travel in the rain.)

The routine for the prenatal checks was pretty much the same for all the women. Dona Esperanza isn’t medically trained, but she is trained to be able to identify the basic warning signs, advise her clients on what to eat or what to do for pain, and when to tell them to go to the health center and be seen by a doctor. She doesn’t make appointments with her patients. She goes to where they live, knocks and the door and tells them that she’s here to check up on them. The women lead us to their rooms, we close the door to prevent kids from looking in, and the woman shows Dona Esperanza her pregnant belly. Dona Esperanza felt the woman’s belly to check the position of the child. I got to feel some fetus’ heads, elbows, and a butt as well. It was pretty cool as I had never touched a pregnant belly, or poked and prodded one. I don’t know if the women loved me “learning” on them, but Dona Esperanza wanted to teach me. After that she asked if they had constant headaches or saw lights, pain in any part of the body, if they were taking their vitamins, took blood pressure (which I learned how to do too) and how they were feeling in general. We saw women who were 5,7 and 9 months pregnant and only one was told to go to the doctor.

I’m not really sure how many checks she does before the women give birth, but I think it just depends on how much energy and time she has on the weekends. Dona Esperanza works at PIES Monday through Friday doing trainings for other midwifes. She gets paid 350Q (roughly $40) per birth, including prenatal checks and the chuj, which is a fair amount of work given that she’s always on call.

Other than seeing how Dona Esperanza works, it was fascinating to go into so many people’s houses. In half of the cases, the house consisted of 2-3 big beds per room and a kitchen. In others where people appeared to be a little more well-off, there were more rooms and the houses were just a bit bigger. They were rarely decorated, with minimal furniture, accessories and wall decorations. Some had gas burners, most had just a place to burn wood, but thankfully there was a chimney so the smoke didn’t fill the kitchen. Only a few had a TV as well. Space was really tight and I tried to imagine 5,7,8 or more people living together in these houses. These were the houses that I had walked by in small towns, or passed while on the bus from one place to another. Entering them, and being with Dona Esperanza, was a rare opportunity that I was thankful to have had.

(this is Dona Esperanza's outside kitchen - the wood burning stove for long cooking items)



And another shot of the land right around her house

So much to learn

Dona Esperanza and I left the office around 5pm and were walking to the bus stop when she passingly mentioned that her power went out after the storm on Thursday. It wouldn't be back on until the technition came on Monday, she explained. As the words "no hay luz" (literally, there is no light) were coming out of her mouth, the word "headlamp" instantly popped into my mind. This was me realizing that I had forgotten mine. "I forgot my flashlight" I told her, thinking maybe, just maybe she would tell me to go home and get it. "Don't worry," she responded, "we have candles." It hit me just then that I would be learning more this upcoming weekend then I initially realized.

I have recently starting working more with an organization called PIES de Occidente. Among other women's health programs, they work to train midwives in the surrounding towns - often up to 2 hours away. It was through PIES that I met Dona Esperanza, a midwife, somewhere in her 60s, who lives in a small town outside of a small town called San Martin. I asked Dona Esperanza if I could spend a weekend with her sometime, in hopes of seeing a birth. While I didn't see a birth (there are somethings you will never be able to predict) I did have a fascinating weekend for so many different reasons.

While I "did things" for most of Saturday, there was also lots of downtime. While I spent most of this time reading, or hiding from the rain, it was in this time that I also got to see how Dona Esperanza and her family live and had a little glimpse into what life is like in a small, small town. Lack of power, totally normal, especially during the rainy season, meant that we went to bed earlier, and ate dinner practically in the dark - so I did a lot of sleeping too.

Friday night I got the tour of Dona Esperanza's house. The actual house consists of 2 large rooms and a kitchen. One room was where I stayed, and the other is where she and her daughter sleep. The bathroom is close, but disconnected from the house. She showed me the medicinal plants that grow right around the house, the chicken coop (to sell when they get big), the pig (also to sell when it gets big), and the fields of potato and corn. I learned that many people buy various livestock when they are small to sell when they get big. I wasn't able to figure out how much money they actually make off of the animals. You would assume it was a fair amount for all the labor and food that goes into taking care of the animal. But I'm not sure.

Her sons and their wives live practically next door in this 6 house town that Dona Esperanza lives in. One son works in Xela, so he and his wife live there during the week. The other (who is married with 2 kids, one on the way) works the fields of potatoes, corn and beans. The beans are not for selling, they grow only enough to eat. She seemed very proud of all the land that her family has - or that all the land around her house was her family's. One daughter, who is 19, lives with Dona Esperanza. She just graduated from high school with a degree to be a secretary. She has yet to receive her papers from her school that certify her for work. Therefore, she takes care of the house (cooks, cleans, feeds the animals, shops, etc...) while Dona Esperanza is at work. Dona Esperanza's other two daughters are married, and live with their husbands in the large San Martin. Her other son spent 50,000 Quetzales (roughly $6,000) to go to the US two years ago.

At our candle-lit dinner the first night, I heard about the degeneration of the Guatemalan family. Dona Esperanza and her daughter believe (as apparently many other Guatemalans do) that Guatemalan youth are increasingly rebellious, not listening to their parents, doing their homework, lacking ambition, and greedy. They equate this to the large number of fathers who immigrate to the US and leave their children to be raised by their mothers. The mothers then have a hard time discipling their children and being a single parent, and the children get used to having money and just want to spend it on junk food and toys. When the fathers do return, it is too late for them to play a significant role in the upbringing of their children. Children claim they don't know that parent and it becomes difficult to discipline the children at all. So, fathers go to the US seeking a better life for their children, sending money home, wanting to save enough to build a nicer house, maybe buy some land. In turn, they get blamed for the increase in gangs, and rebellious, greedy teenagers.

Betty's (Dona Esperanza's daughter - the one who lives with her) church has a series of activities on Saturday for parent's and children that dealt with the loss of morals and values in Guatemalan society. Betty also shared with me that on Saturday morning she had gone to a youth conference at her church about abortion. She was aghast at how many illegal abortions occurred in Guatemala (roughly 600,000 - according to the video she saw). If that many happened in Guatemala, think of how many children were murdered worldwide, she stated. The following morning I learned more about her religious beliefs. She was Evangelical, while her mother Catholic. She was very active in her youth group and fascinated with religion. She had once been involved in the wrong crowds - those friends were now married, had illegitimate children, divorced, etc... Through the encouragement of her brothers and sisters, and the church, she now had a better group of friends. While her mother disapproved of her boyfriend, because he didn't finish high school and lacked profession, he was active in the church as well. It was important to her that they both have the same beliefs.

When the weather was nice Sunday morning, I sat outside for a while reading and observing. The wood stove (for long-cooking items such as beans and corn) was ready to go. Since they lived off the main road, vendors walked around going to houses announcing what they were selling. A fish seller, a bread truck and some leaves that Betty bought to wrap her tamalitos in. Although, before purchasing them she asked the 6 year old girl selling them, "who is selling these, your sister?" The girl nodded and Betty gave her the money. Dona Esperanza had worked already that morning (I'll get to that later), so after breakfast, Betty cleaned the house, swept, washed dishes, fed the animals, took a shower, and got dressed up (by my standards) to go into town and do the shopping.

I learned how to make tortillas that morning. Mine kept ripping in my hands, although I was able to get them relatively round. We stuffed them with refried beans and then fried them. I was pleased that I got to take care of the frying while Betty did the dishes. Made me feel like I was contributing in one way or another, seeing as I made one tortilla for every 4 Betty made. For breakfast we then ate rice, tortillas, empanadas (the stuffed, fried tortillas),

While we were cooking, a truck with a loud speaker drove by and made an announcement for a parent's meeting at the local school. I've recently become aware that communication, or reaching people to let them know that something is happening, is a challenge. This was a "duh" moment for me, (of course these people don't have internet, or the resources for teachers to copy meeting announcements and send them home) but I just hadn't thought the logistics through. So, in this case, a truck with a man that speaks over a loud speaker is the way people learn about meetings.

The complexity of culture was hard to ignore this weekend. How long would it take for me to feel like I had a grasp on the Guatemalan people? With all the different Mayan languages and cultural groups, was that even possible? The nuances of culture are endless, so how does one like me work effectively in these communities? These are the reasons there are so many development programs that miss the mark, I guess. There is much to reflect on and you all are reading my random initial thoughts. So, I got much more out of these 48 hours in San Martin then I had expected, and I didn't even mention all the prenatal checks and traditional post-birth steam baths...

Santa Anita La Union

Marissa and I spent this past weekend at a small town called Santa Anita La Union. Santa Anita was founded in 1998 and is an organic coffee and banana community owned by 32 families. Given that only 32 families live in this town, I was quite impressed with everything it had: 2 schools, a basketball court, a library, 3 tiendas (small stores out of people's houses) and a church. Plus, the hostel and Santa Anita educational center where we were staying.

Let me start by saying that none of these 32 families are actually from Santa Anita. The signing of the Peace Accords 1996, brought an end to the civil war that plagued Guatemala for 36 years and killed 200,000 people, left 40,000 "missing" and internally displaced 1 million (Guatemala currently has a population of 13 million). The government and the guerilla forces fought each other over indigenous and equal rights to land, education, social programs and an end to racism. The atrocities that occurred during the war, especially the early '80s, are too horrific to write here. Entire villages were wiped out in the most inhumane ways. While the fighting stopped, many believe that nothing really changed. The government still discriminates against the indigenous people, is corrupt, and has not acted on many of the resolutions that are in the Peace Accords. However, immediately following the end of the war, the government did develop the Land Fund for displaced guerillas. The Land Fund was a loan giving entity that enabled communities of people to buy land and rebuild a life and home for themselves.

This is how Santa Anita La Union was formed. These families came together and created a coffee cooperative. Marissa and I were lucky to be the only two on the official tour that weekend so we got a lot of personal attention. The town was very quiet, and while you saw some children and women, there was not a whole lot going on. After our lunch with one of the women, in her house in town (a very very good cook), Guillermo took us on a tour of the farm. The farm is more of a forest and has two Miradors, with views of the valley, and a waterfall.

I knew the coffee process was long and hard, but I didn't realize it would be that long! Beans are picked october through december and carried to the "beneficio," the processing plant. The beneficio is in a central location, which means that you are putting a big bag of coffee beans on your back and walking it, possibly, a few km to the beneficio. Once the beans are there, you sort through to make sure that there aren't any unripe ones. Then, your bag is weighed so that the coop knows what share of the profits to give you. Your bag then gets poured into a vat of water where to sift out the good and bad beans, before it's sent to the depulper. When coffee is picked off the plant, it looks like a red berry. What we think of as the coffee bean, is the seed inside the berry. The depulper separates the berry from the bean. The pulp is used as fertilizer (organic coffee growers spend a lot of time the rest of the year drying out the pulp and then putting worms in it.) The coffee beans go through a series of washes before they are taken up to the town where they are laid out to dry. Those who are responsible for the washes have to get up at 3am to go to the beneficio so that they can spend the day working their own land. Once laid out on a giant patio, someone gets to move them around every hour so that they don't burn. The beans are then ready to be toasted, bagged and sold.

This whole process is just for when the coffee is ripe. During the rest of the year, each family works on their piece of land cutting back plants that aren't producing anymore, fertilizing the land, picking the bananas (there are also banana plants), making sure that the coffee plants are getting the appropriate amount of light, etc... For families that have no extra hands, this is an enormous amount of work that doesn't bring in a whole lot of profit. The woman who we ate our meals with had three boys ages 7,5, and 3. The saturday that we were there, the 7 and 5 year olds were out there helping dad. If we had not been there, and paying her to cook us meals, she would have been out there too. Sunday is their only rest day. While Santa Anita coffee is now sold on the fair trade market, which is how most of their profit is made (justcoffee.coop) they are not making money. The farm didn't really produce coffee for the first five years, and with a 12% interest on their loan the community struggles. They seem to have a good business sense (eco-tourism, selling coffee and banana bread in Xela, fair trade) but it's a tough business. Especially when there are big land owners who can afford more effective machines right down the road.

After an afternoon learning oodles about coffee and watching the documentary made about Santa Anita (you can watch it online at voiceofamountain.com, highly recommended), we were ready for bed! The next morning, we had a talk with one of the ex-guerillas who started the farm. He gave us a basic history of guatemala, the political parties, his own politics and gave us a little look into the life of someone who lived in the mountains for 17 years. Many families fled to Mexico and the male and sometimes female joined the guerilla forces. It was amazing to imagine this man living in the mountains surrounding Xela and in southern Guatemala for that long. Especially since this is the life of so many people here who are trying to rebuild their lives. The majority of young people, however often don't believe the stories and atrocities. But, I guess that's what happens when you don't live it, and those who did live it try to forget it.

I have a newfound appreciation for fair trade goods, the need to support local farmers and an appreciation for farming in general. It was a worthwhile, educational and impressionable weekend.

Did I tell you about the drunk guy?

You know those drunk guys on the street, that come up to you, say something incoherent or bizzare and then stumble onto the next group of people, and say something incoherent to them? Well, imagine having one of those sitting next to you on a four hour van ride, with only you and three other people in the van.

The easiest, and not too expensive, way to travel from San Cristobal, Mexico to Xela is by shuttle. Shuttles are vans, organized by tour companies, that take you all over the country. Getting over the Mexican border is far more complicated if you don't take a direct van, because you end up waiting a lot, taking at least 4 if not more buses, and end up paying the same amount. For all of these reasons, I took a shuttle to and from Mexico last week.

My trip to Mexico was pleasant, my trip home had an interesting character who went from making me slightly uncomfortable when he first got on the van, to extremely uncomfortable by the time he got off.

Raffa is a 40 something year old Mexican Artisan with dreds. As he boarded the van and took the seat next to mine, I got a huge wafe of pot and beer - a lovely combination at 8am. He was very chatty, telling us that he was an artisan, a citizen of the world, had lived everywhere, etc... He asked us all where we were from (Isreal, Mexico, France and the US) and then started spitting out whatever words he knew in each language. The French guy and Mexican were traveling to San Pedro on Lake Atitlan. San Pedro is a popular location for pot loving folk, and is know for its 'chill' atmosphere. Raffa, was also traveling to San Pedro (lucky them), and instantly got to talking about everything he grows and sells. During this first 30min or so, I was thinking that it was going to be an interesting ride and I wished this guy didn't talk so much.

When we hit the first town outside of San Cristobal, Raffa asked the driver if he could stop for some juice. He got some juice, a bottle of water, and a six pack of beer. I didn't ever see him drink the juice or water. While he was in the store, the Mexican tells me to watch my bag and be careful. Awesome. After his first beer, Raffa starts to roll a joint in the van. His coordination wasn't that great, so this took him a while as the pot kept spilling everywhere. Once it was rolled, the driver refused to let him smoke it in the van, to which Raffa responded by having his first hissy fit, followed by another beer.

With each beer, Raffa gets more animated. As the three of us in the back start to pretend to be sleeping, Raffa starts harassing the driver and the Isreali guy in the front seat. He wants the radio on, and the driver won't turn it on, so they start to fight over it as Raffa moves into the front to turn it on himself (this happens a few times over the course of the trip). He starts talking to me, even though my eyes are obviously closed. When I don't respond, he taps, then wacks, my feet to get to me to respond. The next two hours are much of the same. Raffa goes through cycles of beer, harass front seat, harass backseat, get annoyed when people don't pay attention, ask same questions over and over (I was Sarah for the whole ride), cry, beer. When telling us a story of needing to visit, or having, a child in HueHue (a town on the road to Xela) he starts to bawl, and look for a hug. I discovered that Raffa is very a very sensitive person.

In case you haven't guessed it already, Raffa is very very drunk when we get to the border at the end of the three hours ride. I was curious as to whether they were actually going to let him into Guatemala. They did. Things started to take a turn for the worse at the border. We had about an hour wait until our next van showed up (the cars don't drive over the boarder, so you have to switch. don't know why.). Over the course of this hour, I try to distance myself from Raffa and sit in the shade where he couldn't see me. He proceeds to drink another 8 beers and starts talking to all the other people who are standing around. He comes over to us (I'm now sitting with the other 2 people on my van) to ask us when the driver is coming, every couple minutes.

When the driver finally arrives and we unload our bags, Raffa is so happy that he goes up to the driver, hugs him, starts to cry and won't let go. As soon as the driver gets out of the hug, he leads us over to the car and says "He's drunk" to which I respond, "yes, very." Now we all start to wonder whether the new driver is going to let Raffa into the new van. From inside the van we see the new driver, the old driver, and some man chatting - obviously about Raffa. The new driver goes over to him and appears to tell him that he can't come in the van. Raffa starts to cry and follow the driver around. This continues for a few minutes until Raffa walks off for a bit. He finds another tourist who is smoking a cigarette and decides that he wants it. When the tourist won't give it to him, Raffa starts to reach for it. The tourist still refuses and Raffa decides to head-but him (ala world cup finals). Now he's definitely not coming into the van. He and the driver have one more exchange and Raffa sees another van slowly driving by. He opens the door of this van and tries to cram himself in it. He is kicked out, gives one last teary look at our van and storms off, leaving one of his bags behind at the border.

S&L's Guatemalan Adventure

If you're reading this, you've probably already read Steve's recount of our wonderful week together (or will go do it right now?). Here, I'll lay out a few more of the details and even a few pics...

So, Steve was very right when he said that in 8 days you can actually do a lot. We did cover a lot of ground and he got to meet all the different kinds of buses that Guatemala has to offer. He discovered something new about me: I do get car sick. I don't know how excited he was about that, he probably could have done without. Guatemalan travel is very slow, to say the least. You wouldn't think given how crazily the bus drivers drive (even the first class bus drivers are a little scary at times). But, it takes about 4 hours to go 125 miles, on one of the good highways. The construction, stopping to pick people up, get gas, or wait until the driver is done fixing the broken down bus, are all possible reasons for the long journeys. For a country that is only the size of Tennessee, it takes forever to get anywhere. All of this is to say that it was a good thing Steve came for 8 days, and he spent a good 30 hours of it in a bus or in the back of a truck. He was quite the trooper.

Semuc Champey was beautiful and truly a natural wonder. Unlike other parts of Guatemala I had seen, this northern part is jungly, humid and lush. The park has the limestone pools of turquois water, where you swim in the not to chilly water and then hike around. We hiked up the Mirador, where you can see the pools from above and the mountains that shoot up from the river. It would have been amazing to be the first to discover them.

There are also a number of caves in this area. The second day we spent two hours in the caves. All carrying candles we explored, swam in cave water, and jumped off of giant rocks into pools inside the cave. I would have had my camera had it not been so wet... Steve had to tie his flip flops to his feet so that he wouldn't loose them in the cave. Maybe this should be new look for him, no?

We then took a leisurely tube ride down the river by the caves, and later that day in the river by the hostel as well. Steve amused me and we went tubing twice in one day. Now that's love. The water level wasn't high so we scraped our butts on the bottom a few times and moved slowly down the river, but I loved every minute of it.

From there, it was off to Antigua. Very colonial, Antigua was completely different then anything I'd seen in Guatemala. Touristy, clean, and modern you feel like you are in an alternate universe. It has tons and tons of churches. Some are restored and well kept, others have been devastated by multiple earthquakes and have a long way to go before people will be able to use them again. And yes, our hotel room had tons of mosquitos (at least 20 when we got back from a walk). But, we did go to a great wine bar where I had a wonderful glass of Malbec, for the first time in months - I didn't miss boxed wine one bit.

The next morning we hoped over to the Lake Atitlan. I was really excited for Steve to see the highlands of Guatemala. More of the climate that I've been living in, the Lake, which is surrounded by three volcanoes, speaks to me in a way that the tropical climates and jungles don't. Plus, now Steve was getting to see how varied the climate and terrain really is. At the lake, we took the boat to Jaibalito where our hotel was. This hotel, Casa del Mundo, had been highly recommended to me by countless people, and as soon as we got there I understood why. Built on the side of the mountains of the lake, the hotel is an escape from everything. Every room has a view of the lake, you can swim, eat and just hang out in a place where you feel like you are in a world of your own. Prior to arriving, I was excited to explore the different towns on the lake. Once we got there, I really just wanted to hang out at Casa del Mundo and do some of the walks/hikes right around the hotel. We did some exploring - a little hike to Santa Cruz, a boat ride to San Marcos - but for the most part enjoyed being together in a beautiful, resort like place.

I could have stayed there a good bit longer, but Xela - and shopping in Panajacel (the touristy, big town on the lake) - were calling. So, a few scarves, placemats and a good and packed chicken bus ride later, we were in Xela. I loved showing Steve where I live. We went to the market, central park, up the big hill right outside of Xela where you can get a great view and out to an amazing Medeteranian dinner. I tried to have Steve taste as many typically Guatemalan, or only in Guatemala, foods - I don't think there was much complaining on his end about that.

His trip went by far too quickly. But, I'm so happy that I got to share some of this time with him and now when I say "I went to cafe Babylon" he'll know what I'm talking about. That's a nice feeling.

Mexico part tres - Palenque

In between my few days in San Cristobal, I made a two day hop to Palenque ruins and Agua Azul. Palenque is an ancient Mayan city that dates back to 100 BC. It is 15 square km with over 500 excavated building of the 1400 or so that have been discovered. Because it's deep in the jungle, it wasn't discovered until the 1700 by the Spaniards. It's not nearly as large as Tikal, and I didn't feel like there were over 500 buildings to look at. But, you can climb to the top of most towers (apparently unlike many other sites) and many of the buildings are much better preserved and renovated.

I set off early Wednesday morning for the 5 hour bus ride from San Cristobal to Palenque. My bus was at 7:30, so I left the hostel about an hour before since I didn't really know where the bus station was. After following the directions on my map, I looked up and there was an actual bus station. I couldn't believe my eyes. Everyone had told me that the buses in Mexico were really nice, but I wasn't expecting this. In Guatemala, a bus station is a corner where old school buses pass, or are there waiting screaming locations as you, and hopefully if you are lucky you pick one up that isn't crammed with 100 people and has a place to sit. Bus stations in Mexico are actual stations. You have a ticket, a seat number, a schedule of departure times and even a waiting room with a place to buy snacks. Pretty impressive. The bus ride was easy and long. I've realized that I get a lot more car sick then I ever thought I did, so I've been dreading travel lately. But this one was ok. We even had movies and programs to watch. When I expressed my awe to the woman sitting next to me she said "this isn't even a nice one."

Once I got to Palenque, I headed out on the search for a place to stay. The town around the ruins isn't much to speak of. So, I headed towards the ruins where there are places to stay inside the national park that surrounds the ruins. My goal was to find a place close the park, where I could sleep on a hammock for the night. Thankfully, without too much trouble, I was successful! I stayed at a very nice place called Mayabell that had a mixture of everything from cabanas with air conditioning to camping and covered areas where you could hang a hammock.

The ruins were impressive and it's always fascinating to try and imagine people living in this great city over 2000 years ago. There were great views from the top of temples that made the steep climbs worth it. Given that it was Semana Santa though, everything was packed. There were tourists everywhere, which took away a little bit from the experience.

After about two hours of wandering around, I headed back to the hostel to enjoy being in the outdoors. And let me tell you, I had the most amazing nights sleep in my hammock. Luckily, I had brought my sleeping bag. Others who didn't ended up having a few cold hours in the middle of the night.

The next day I headed with a tour to 2 waterfalls that are on the way back to San Cristobal. Unfortunately, everything was again packed with people, but the waters were still beautiful. Misol-ha is the smaller one of these two with one main pool and 35 meter waterfall. The water was chilly and refreshing.

Agua Azul, is a very popular destination. It has over 2km of waterfalls and small pools. It was amazing to see how large it was. Each time you got to a spot, you thought there couldn't be anymore pools, but there were. I was in heaven and tried to swim in as many spots as I could.


Afterwards, I made the long journey back to San Cristobal, watched more movies on the amazing buses and headed back to my hostel. I'm now back in Xela, feeling a little out of place after the two weeks of travel. But, I'm ready to start volunteering again and tomorrow will be heading to some women's groups with PIES, my new place of work!

Mexico part dos - San Cristobal

I have just returned from 6 great days in Mexico. As I mentioned in my previous Mexico blog, I went to San Cristobal de las Casas and then up to Palenque, the ancient city, to see some ruins. I was first impressed by how organized, clean and seemingly well run things were in Mexico compared to Guatemala. I left Xela early Sunday morning and made it to San Cristobal at about 4pm. I met up with Marissa and her friend Clare at the hostal and that evening we went out for a great "comida economica." For about 30 pesos (2 dollars)a plate, we had chicken with mole sauce and a form of nachos with chicken, vegetables and a tomato sauce. Although I think I´ve realized the mole isn´t my favorite, it was still pretty good.

The next day, we explored the city. San Cristobal is a really cute city that reminds me of a mix between Antigua, Guatemala and Xela. It is a colonial city, so has spanish style buildings and tons and tons of brightly colored and intricate churches - like Antigua. At 7.000 feet, a little more then Xela, it´s mountainy and a little less toristy then Antigua. The next morning we rented bikes to see some of the areas outside of the city. We didn´t go very far, but had a view of some of the fields and residential areas away from the touristy parts. The surrounding area is beautiful and lush.

We then walked around town and visited Cerro San Cristobal, and the church on top of the hill - with a good 300 steps to get to the top. The church wasn´t open for us to enter it, but we had a nice view from the top. Next to the church on the side of the hill, was the largest Mexican flag I have ever seen. I think if you had laid it on the ground it would have been at least 1,000 square feet. In case you ever got confused, there was no mistaking that you were in Mexico! That afternoon and evening we explored the market and went a little shop crazy. Everything in Mexico is a good bit cheaper then in Guatemala, so we felt completely justified in all of our purchases. And, given that it was Semana Santa, when everyone is travelling in Mexico, there were markets galore.

After Marissa and Clare headed back to Guatemala, I stayed in San Cristobal another day and went to the Canon del Sumidero. The canyon is 42 miles long and over 1,000 meters high and ends at Mexico´s largest hydroelectric plant. The canyon was beautiful and the two hours on the boat just taking in the amazing natural wonder was great. I couldn´t believe it though, there were even sellers on a boat at the end of the 42 miles (before you turn around and head back) selling the usual nuts, jicama, mangos with lime and chili, "aguas", etc... They´ll really take any opportunity to sell you things, even in a beautiful canyon where you thought you were free of such scemes. Our boat driver/guide really liked to drive fast, and into waves, so there were some cold and wet (but fun) moments. Since I had been hoping to see some crocodiles and there didn´t appear to be any, I couldn´t help but wonder if he was really able to spot them because he was driving so fast...














In the canyon there were also some interesting rock formations like this on - the christmas tree. Apparently during the rainy season it´s an stunning waterfall.




The rest of my time in San Cristobal (that night and then a day when I got back from Palenque) was spent wandering around, enjoying the coffee shops, restaurants and relaxing. On Thursday night and friday, the easter festivities were in full swing. The city was packed with toursits, mostly from Mexico, Italy and France, who were there to watch the easter processionals and enjoy the easter festivities. There was a food fair, like the one at Carnival in Xela, in the main square with taco, quesadilla, churro and tamale stands.

I went to the traditional Mayan Medicine museaum, where I learned about various tradition healing methods, including certain animals like chickens and squirrles that healers will hold over you to heal certain ailments. There was also an entire room dedicated to the end of "biopiracy" - the patening of traditional medicine by western companies. There was a list of all the medicines that had been used for thousands of years and the companies and doctors that had taken them back to the US (primarily) and patented them. They had biographies on explorers and doctors over the past 400 years that had been biopirates. I was really fascinated with this, as I had never heard of biopiracy, much less even thought of it as problem.

I was really surprised with the number of european tourists in Mexico. I felt like everytime I turned around someone was speaking french. I actually spoke spansh 90% of the week, as I met very few americans or people that spoke english. When I explained to the europeans I met that I was living in Guatemala, the usual response was "oh, isn´t it dangerous there??". It made me wonder what sort of international PR guatemala is getting, or if it´s just word of mouth after someone reads a story about the dangers in Guatemala City.

One final anectode before I leave this blog entry, to write one more about Palenque... The number of young children street vendors in Guatemala has always struck me. Children wander around selling nuts, food at soccer games and on buses. However, San Cristobal seemed to have about 10 times more child vendors then any place i´d been before. The boys, who looked between 7 and 12, were mainly selling little wooden animals. The girls, would sell bracelets and scarves, often with their mothers along side them selling other items. I was surprised as to how many Mexicans purchased items from them and how accepted they were in the culture - eventhough I know i shouldn´t be. Sometimes they were left to man a market stand, which made bargining more difficult as you could tell they were only authorized to go down to a certain amount. The children vendors bombard you when you are eating in restaurants or drinking a cup of coffee, standing right by your table saying only a few words "scarves, nice scarves, 30 pesos, for you 25." When you ignore or say no, they would walk away and move on to the next. This happened to me when I was eating dinner one night. I was done with my meal and a few avocado slices, chips and refried beans were left on my table as I was reading. 2 girls came up to me and I ignored them as is my general policy. They persisted for a while and then instead of leaving, they pointed my leftovers and asked if they could have them. When I quickly nodded my head, the two girls scooped it all up quickly and ate it right there, picking away until it was all gone. I was worried the restaurant owner was going to say something to me. They then asked me for some napkins, put whatever was left on the napkins, wiped their faces, and said thanks. This 5 minute interaction made me pause and put their night´s work into perspective.

Buenos dias Guatemala. A guest blog by Steve.

Eight days in Guatemala is hardly enough. What can you see in eight days? What can you do in eight days? A lot in fact, but hardly enough. There is too much to do and too much to see. It won’t surprise me a bit if Laura leaves thinking she did a lot, but not enough. I suppose that’s the sign of a lovely country.

I’d by lying if I said I came for Guatemala. If Laura had been in Mongolia, I would have gone there instead. Despite my personal motives, Guatemala kindly decided to take me in, feed me well, provide me with countless adventures, seemingly endless beauty and, quite conveniently, affordable prices.

Arriving in Guatemala, after approximately 16 hours of travel, and several weeks of planning before that, Laura rewarded me with hugs, kisses, and a long bus ride up to Cobán. To be honest, I didn’t care. Having not seen Laura for well over two months, we could have been anywhere, doing anything, and I would have been happy as a clam. On the ride up we decided that we would stay in Cobán for the night rather than continue on to our next destination, Lanquin. The town was a nice introduction to Guatemala. Not too busy, not too touristy, some good cheap food at a small café in the center of town, and a simple, clean room with an innocent looking bedside table with lamp.

Lanquin was a short three-hour bus ride away, and early the next morning we set off. Arriving in Lanquin we set off for Semuc Champay. That is to say, we sat in the middle of Lanquin waiting, and waiting for a bus to take us the 20 minutes to the park. Everyone we asked assured us we were in the right place and that a bus would be by any minute. I don’t know how long we waited, but it was long enough to convince us that getting ice cream wasn’t just an idea it was a necessity.

When we finally arrived at the park, it was well worth the wait. That day, and the next, we swam in turquoise pools made by geological event things, hiked to the Mirador, and looked over the stunning green-blue valley below, explored pitch black caves holding candles for light, and went tubing not once, but twice. I even had the opportunity to jump off a bridge into the river below. The key, I found, not to think but do. Don’t ask questions. Just take the plunge.

The hostel we stayed in was picturesque, the all you can eat buffet was ohh so nice, and the hammock in front of our private hut was essential. And the thrown-like toilet, several steps above the bathroom entrance, made me feel at times like a King, at others like a child.

Antigua was next. Colonial, pretty, overpriced, but fun. Big churches, a variety of food options, and another cute hotel. This was Antigua. Our room had quite a few mosquitos, normal we were told, that our host kindly killed with enough toxic chemicals to make both of us miss our little bloodsucking friends.

From Antigua we hit up ‘the lake’. I guess there is only one. Surrounded by volcanoes, with water vast and deep blue, we stayed at a hotel built into a cliff-face, accessible only by boat taxi, and completely absurd. For significantly less than the crappy Motel 6 would have cost me at the Houston Airport, Laura and I stayed in probably the nicest hotel either of us has even been to. There we met a crew of interesting people, drank wine, ate well, and were merry. Speaking of eating well, although the typical Guatemalan fare is probably inadequate for those staying for a long time, I was overwhelmed by the tastiness of the food we ate. Chicken, guacamole, eggs, blackberries, liquados, street food, and the best Mediterranean style tapas I have ever had, the food quality of our eating was a very pleasant surprise. I could say more about the hotel, but it wouldn’t do justice to our stay. Go and see it for yourself. That’s my recommendation. Laura will be more than happy to bring you there and give you the tour.

Our final destination was Xela. Seeing Laura’s town, spending time in her home, and just relaxing and walking around, I felt like I could stay indefinitely. It was a wondrous mix of our typical Laura/Steve routine and life in a foreign country. It made me realize that Laura and I could do this international thing no problem. Europe, Central America, wherever. I didn’t want to leave and I want to go back now. Sadly for now I’ll work in D.C., but very soon we are going to blogging together, and telling all our friends and interested readers about our adventures in new places with new faces. We just have to do this NYC thing real quick. I can’t wait.

Mexico

I´m in Mexico! You are only allowed to stay in Guatemala for 90 days on a tourist visa, and getting any other kind of visa is a pain, so most people do a Visa in Mexico run every 90 days (El Salvador, Nic, and Honduras don´t count because they are part of the Central American Federation - i think that´s what it´s called.) So, since I had to come to Mexico, and it´s Semana Santa, where everything is closed down anyway, i decided to make a week of it. Steve left Sunday morning (more about that in a bit) and I came to San Cristobal de las Casas, a very very cute town. This region used to be part of Guatemala, so many say that it isn´t really Mexico, but is more of a Guatemalan-Mexico mix. It feels very colonial, and is touristy, but at least most of the tourists are Mexican too. And, the tacos are nothing like what you would find in Guatemala, so in that sense it´s definitely Mexico. That

Since I can´t seem to load any pictures right now, I will just give a brief rundown and then show you all the cool places when I get back to Xela. I met up on Sunday with my housemate Marissa and her friend Claire, who got here a few days before. We spent yesterday wandering around town, rented some bikes, and doing lots of shopping at the local market. Today I went to a Canon and went on a boat all the way down and back, 84km! I had been told that I would see lots of Crocodiles, but only saw one baby one, so was a little sad about that. But, it was really beautiful regardless. Tomorrow I´m headed to some Mayan Ruins about 4 hours up north called Palenque. They will be my first ruins ever and I´m really looking forward to it. Then, I´m back to San Cristobal for a day, and sadly, then back to Xela.

In other news, for those of you who are curious, I will be attending Columbia in the fall. I have been accepted to both the MPA and MPH programs, and will start with the MPA at SIPA. I´m still getting used to the idea of living in NY, but increasingly getting excited about it. You can all start planning your visits now.
Adios and more blogs and lots of pictures when I get back into Guatemala.