MEETING ERICK (yellow shirt)
We took a tuk tuk to meet Erick and his family tonight after dark. We had to walk up a dark, dirt trail to get to his house, which was a simple, cement block building with barely any furniture but one wall almost completely covered in pictures of crosses, Christ and the Virgin Mary. They had one dim light in the house, and it was off until we entered, and then they turned it off again after we left even though it was pitch black outside.
The family has 6 kids, not 5 like we thought before. They were all really cute and gave me lots of hugs, and were very interested in my photo album, which included our fundraiiser party. I gave Erick a book I put together with the party photos and all of the notes and drawings people made for him.
His parents only spoke tu'jixil so we used Mynor (our school director as a translator). The whole family was height deficient :-) and even though Erick looks pretty big in photos (because the rest of his family is so small), in actuality, he only came up to my chest.
What I really enjoyed were the littlest kids who all wanted my attentiion and were really intrigued by me and the photos I showed them. Everybody was very polite, and each person came out and shook my hand, introduced themselves and said, "welcome."
Erick's mom currently picks coffee beans because it is in season, and his dad is a farmer and only makes about $5/day to support 8 people! They were all really, really thankful for all of us helping Erick go to school.
MEETING JENNY MARIA:
After Erick's we went to Jenny Maria's. We had to follow Jenny Maria's mother and walk up a really, really steep hill and then take a right turn onto a broken cementt path. We had to be careful not to trip because there werent many lights. When we walked into the house, it was pitch black like Erick's, but when we entered the first room they turned on a light and we met Jenny Maria, her dad and her two little brothers.
Inside the room, there was a bed, yellow walls, very few pieces of furniture and some very well drawn sketches on the wall that Jenny Maria had done. Jenny Maria likes to compose music. She plays the guitar and sings really well. She wants to do the arts as a hobby, but what she wants to do professionally is to become a doctor, if she can.
Also, they were a very nice family and I thought she was the prettiest girl Ive seen in the town so far.
She and her brothers also seemed very interested in my photos, and Jenny Maria was really smiling when I showed her photos of our party, with the band and all of the kids who showed up. It was fun when we were both trying to speak to each other - we were both trying to have a conversation with her speaking English and me speaking Spanish. Everyone was laughing at us and it was quite a funny exchange.
This next Tuesday night at 7pm, we are taking Erick and two of his siblings, along with Jenny and her brothers shoe shopping and maybe buy them other things they might need.
It was a great experience tonight, meeting all of these people. They were very nice and I enjoyed my time with them.
WE SAW A FUNERAL:
We had an interesting yet solemn cultural expereience today. We went to the Central Park in front of the church and sat down to relax. As soon as we sat down almost 1,000 people started coming out of the church and from the church steps. First women in their traditional dresses with their heads covered with the same black and white patterned shawls. Then men followed with a cross, insence that I think was sage, (I just looked it up and I learned they use Frankincense & Myrrh), a Guatemalan flag and a casket being carried by 6 men. As they first came out of the church we could hear someone wailing (i have heard traditionally, that "wailers" are hired to wail at funerals.) Also, on the roof of the church, there were two boys at the bells. They each had their own rope and took turns pulling them to make different 'gong' sounds (I also learned that different bell sounds communicate what is happening... these bells were obviously funeral bells. Historically, there would be wedding bells, community gathering bells, death bells, attack bells, ect., with different tones and patterns so the townspeople would know what was happening. Anyway, these bells kept on until all of the people had disappeared. We really wanted to take photos and video but thought it would be disrespectful but it was really powerful to see.
OUR MEAL of the DAY:
Today I had delicious spaghetti and fresh bread, made by an Italian chef from Milano. He and his brother came here and opened this restaurant, bakery and Internet cafe 10 years ago. He was really nice and talked with us. I also had an amazing chocolate & espresso shake - it was sort of like an iced coffee but really sweet and thick.
High Points: Meeting Erick and Jenny Maria's families
Low Points: I feel bad for a lot of the stray dogs here :-( Many of them dont look that happy.
THINGS I LEARNED TODAY:
1) That electricity is very expensive for people here, so most keep the lights off when they dont absolutely need it. They also use really low wattage bulbs so they wont have to pay as high of electriciity bill.
2) Not many girls play sports because the culture here is similarly as conservative as the USA in the 1950s.
3) Yesterday was the anniversary of the largest earthquake to ever happen in Guatemala and I hope to learn more about it at the museum tomorrrrow.
4) There are a lot of travelers from around the world here. So far, we've seen people from England, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Austria ... its interesting to hear everyone communicating in Spanish, but lots of times I can tell where they are from by their accent. Most of these people also know English, which means they are at least tri-lingual and Im jealous.
PHOTOS:
1-me under a banana tree
2- outside Mari-Elena's where I bought my shorts
3- stray dog
4&5- view from new hotel Sackari
6- my spaghetti meal
7- Tuk Tuk coming down the street
