Ze Beach

   The beaches on the Pacific coast of Guatemala are incredible! Last weekend I went to a town on the beach called Monterrico with some friends from my group. We spent most of our time swimming in the ocean and lounging in the sun on the black sand. It was very hot out but the cool waters gave balance to the day.

Día de los Muertos in Gutemala. Barriletes.

   A special day in Guatemala is Día de los Muertos, November 1st. During this day, the traditions of the Maya and Mestizo peoples center around ancestor veneration. People spend much time before November 1st cleaning up the tombs or graves of their ancestors in the local cemetery and buying items to decorate them, such as flowers and candles. Then comes the big day in which families spend most of the morning and afternoon in the cemetery, eating, socializing, and remembering their ancestors in different ways.
   Another tradition that has been incorporated into the festivities of Día de los Muertos is the making and flying of barriletes in two certain towns here. Barriletes are kites that range in size from small to gigantic, really huge. The oral history concerning barriletes is that Maya people would use them to send messages to their ancestors. They would attach a small written message near the face of the kite and then fly it very high in the sky, closer to their ancestors, so that it could be read. This practice has evolved into what we saw when we went to Santiago de Sacatepéquez and another town called Sumpango:

-A medium sized barrilete trying to stay up in the air.
These are probably the largest sized ones that can actually fly.

-Tomb with flower and wreath decorations.
The tombs are usually painted with bright colors to correlate with the happiness of the celebration.

-A GIANT barrilete (see its size compared to the people?)
The large ones like this are vividly decorated with colors and many often
portray social themes of Guatemala.

And in Sumpango...

Another important cultural aspect of Guatemala's Día de los Muertos is the food prepared and eaten on this day. A typical drink that I tried in Santiago is called Ponche, a sweet hot drink made from different fruits with fruit pieces in it..so delicious that cold morning! The most notorious food eaten this day and only on this one day of the year, though, is called Fiambre, a mixture of up to maybe 50 ingredients including many meats and vegetables. It is kind of like a cold salad mixture of all of these ingredients with a bit of oil dressing. I was able to try 2 different Fiambres and both were very rich but delicious.

   All in all, our experience of Día de los Muertos in Gutemala was great with the participation in its culturally rich traditions and festivities!

*Updates*

Wow, things here in Guatemala have been so busy lately! New classes and learning material, numerous field trips, holidays, and festivities are filling up our days. Here is a brief photo overview of what has been going on lately:

-Members of our group very excited about visiting this archaeological site, Iximche.
Iximche is the site where the conquest of Guatemala first occured and was carried out.

Gabby and me on our way to her graduation ceremony. She graduated from primary school and will be continuing her studies in January!

-Excavated adobe architecture from the Maya site Kaminaljuyu in the middle of the urban sprawl
of Guatemala City. The face on the small circular stone was carved by the inhabitants of the site
many years ago.

-Me and Annie getting ready for dinner with friends

Maestra de Español

...This is a picture of my Spanish teacher, Marta Lidia, and me. I learn so much from her; my Spanish speaking and writing have improved tremendously! She is a sassy little lady.

Trip to Comalapa, classes ending, more fun events

     Last Friday as a group we went to a town an hour and a half away from Antigua called Comalapa for a cultural excursion. There we visited a Maya priest and participated in a Maya ritual ceremony. In the ceremony each of us lit candles and offered them to our ancestors in front of an altar in the priest's house. The ceremony was very interesting and had a profound effect on some people in the group. One guy was singled out because the candles he lit produced an unusual amount of wax which dripped to the floor; the priest interpreted this to be a sign that his ancestors were not pleased with him. The wax dripping down represented the "lagrimas," or tears of his ancestors.     
     In Comalapa, there are many murals painted along the walls of the main street that depict historical events of Guatemala. As many other visual mediums are here, some of the murals are very graphic but accurately represent the tragic events that have taken place. The mural's depictions begin with the Maya people before the conquest of the Spanish and continue until present day.

A portion of the mural representing pre-conquest Maya cosmovision and practice

Atrocities of the military during the Guatemalan civil war









     I really ejoyed our trip to Comalapa, minus the ride there and back. We rode in small (bouncy) vans, the driver wasn't the best at manual shifting, and the winding roads there all contributed to my motion sickness that lasted the rest of the day.

    

     This past week, our Religion in and History of Guatemala classes ended. Goodbye, Dr. Burnett! She was a very good professor who knows absolutely everything about Guatemala. Tomorrow will begin Archaeology of Mesoamerica and Maya Writing and Hieroglyphs taught be the Dr. David Stuart. I'm looking forward to the change! Yesterday was also the halfway point of our study abroad program; we have seven more weeks to live it up in Antigua or seven weeks to count down until we return home. I will be doing both.

     This past Sunday I went to another soccer game with my family and a couple girls who live in the dorm my host parents own. It was another exciting game, and it was fun to get to know the girls and what they're doing in Antigua.

Back: Me, Flor, and Mette (who lives in the same house as me, from Washington state). Front: Molly (from Wisconsin), then Marian (from England)



Projects Due!

In addition to all the excursions we have been taking, we also have been working hard on final projects for our History of Guatemala and Religion in Guatemala classes. It's hard to believe, but these classes are ending next week!

My map project entitled "Crops Historically Grown in Guatemala"
That knife is a machete.

The most beautiful lake

Last weekend, everyone in our group went to Lake Atitlan for a couple days. I had heard that it was an amazing place, and I confirmed this for myself while I was there. We went on a tour of 3 of the 12 (or more) towns surrounding the lake and also were able to spend a little time in the town we stayed in, Panajachel. The pictures speak for themselves.

This is one of the 3 volcanoes surrounding the lake

The lake is the result of a large crater between the volcanoes. The land steeply rises from the water on all sides.



Sunday morning I woke up around 6 am and swam in the lake; the waters were so calm and fresh. This experience has been my favorite one so far! Would anyone like to return to Lake Atitlan with me in the future?



Out on the Townnn

     My host family invited me to go out with them the other night! We went to a restaurant/bar called Monoloco where we sat at the bar and ate and drank some. I tried to keep up with their conversations and add my thoughts when I could. We had a good time, and I got a lot of Spanish practice! They think I am the most spoiled student haha - they invite me to do everything.

Me, Dr. Gustavo and Flor (my parents), and Flor's sister Ines

Trip to Guatemala City, September 19 2011

     A couple weeks ago we took a trip to Guatemala City to go to the dump. Yes, the dump, what is here called "basurero." The dump in the city is unique: it is the largest landfill in all of Central America. It is also the workplace of many people who spend their days digging through the trash that is dropped off looking for items able to be recycled. This is how the "guajeros" make their living; they dig through EVERYTHING that is taken to the dump. They sell the things they find to people who buy the recyclible items to then sell to recycling plants. We were inspired to go to the dump after watching a documentary called "Recycled Life" which tells about the guajeros' lives. The trailer for the documentary can be found here: http://www.recycledlifedoc.com/

Trash trucks, mounds of garbage, guajeros, and vultures. What you can't see is the stench.



     It is heartbreaking to see the conditions these people work and live in. (Some do actually live in the dump even though there are regulations in place to protect the guajeros). Our trip was very somber to say the least. I couldn't imagine working in a place like this to earn 5 quetzales, or 70 US cents each day.

     Amongst this terrible situation there is hope for many children of guajeros, that they won't fall into this cycle their parents are caught in. A non-profit organization called Safe Passage has opened learning facilities for adults and kids as well as a day care where they are taught skills that could allow them sustenance outside of the dump. The kids' facilities employ mainly learning reinforcement programs that encourage education. Our tour guide was a staff member of Safe Passage so we were able to tour their facilities. The children there were adorable!
     Although it was disheartening to see this for ourselves, I'm greatful to be more aware of the inequality there is in this world.

Other Events

     Last Sunday, I went to a soccer game here in Antigua with my host family, and it was so fun! Antigua G.F.C. played against the team from Guastatoya, a city in east Guatemala. Everyone was really into it: there was a small band cheering for Antigua and making a lot of noise and everyone in the crowd was yelling. For most of the game, the score was tied 1-1, but in the last minute Antigua scored another goal to win! Sooo exciting. Oh, and the scenery of the stadium is beautiful.

     Today all the students and professors in my group and I went to Finca Filadelfia, a coffee farm about 5 minutes from Antigua. There were thousands of coffee plants there (it's hard to say whether they're trees or bushes because they're around 3 meters tall). We learned ALL about the process of producing coffee from the coffee plant nursery to the bean roaster, and at the end of the tour we got to drink a cup. I'm not really a fan of coffee, but this was delicious, much better than Folgers.. Will have a picture soon!

Trip to surrounding towns

BTW, we were in Guatemala City today when the earthquake happened, but we didn't feel anything and we are fine!

Last Friday, our group took a trip to some of the surrounding towns of Antigua. Our tour guide told us there are 23 small towns in the area, but many of them merge together so it was difficult for me to distinguish one from another. At one point we finished walking through a convent and museum, got back on the bus, drove another 5 minutes down a few streets, then got out again because we were in a new town.

Our tour guide Manuel talking about San Juan del Obispo, the first town we visited

A public wash. Some homes here don't have running water, yet some women come here to just to wash and socialize



Our last stop was at a women's weaving cooperative where Maya women weave traditional pieces like this blouse called a "huipil"



It was an interesting trip, especially to see towns unlike Antigua that aren't catered to tourists.

Independence Day!

 Guatemalans celebrate their independence with many parades, fireworks, and much music. The country received independence from Spain in 1821.

Quetzales flying in the parade. They are the national bird of Guatemala!

Ricardito



Gabby and Ricardo, my host siblings, watching the morning parade

     The morning of Independence Day, I went with my family to watch the parade that marched throughout the whole town. There were so many people crowding the streets of Antigua! In the parade there were many school marching bands. They have been practicing playing their instruments the whole year for this day so it didn't surprise me when at 9pm I heard the bands continue to play. At one point in the day I was at school and a band was marching on the street right outside. In the classroom I was in there are very large windows that extend out over the street with bars covering them. Four of us were able to stand in the window and watch the band pass below!

And at night...

This is Parque Central, where all events happen





Update...

In my last entry I was at a political rally supporting Otto Perez. The elections took place on Sunday, September 11th. The results showed that he did receive most of the votes, but he did not receive over 50% so now he and the second place candidate, Manuel Baldizon, will be competing against each other in the run-off election on November 6th. Hmmm! More illegal political rallies in the future?

Festivities in Antigua

A couple days ago there was a political campaign event here in Antigua promoting one of the candidates for presidency, Otto Perez Molina. It was an illegal event! He was ordered to stop campaigning because he has already spent too much money doing so, yet he continues. It was so crowded; we could barely make it out of there. Guatemaltecos will vote on Sunday for their new president!

Typical class

                                                               Religion in Guatemala

Pepián

Yesterday for lunch Doña Tina, the lady who cooks and cleans in my home, made Pepián! It is a delicious typical Guatemalan dish. Before coming here, I had read and heard that I would probably get many chances to eat Pepián, and I finally did. It was goooood. It is a type of stew with many spices and chicken. It is served with rice, a couple other vegetables, and tortillas of course. Guatemalan food is great!

People I know!

Today as I was approaching the Casa Herrera coming from lunch, I noticed there were a group of people knocking on the Casa's door. As I got closer, I recognized one of the faces in the group! It was Dr. Valdez, the professor who runs the Belize archaeological field school I attended. I was so happy to see someone I know after seeing so many unfamiliar faces the whole time I've been here, I think I practically shouted his name out hahaha. Also, he was with Liby, another archaeologist from the field school who I know. Seeing them kind of made me feel like I was at home and it was nice.
I miss you guys!

My Home in Antigua

This is my home in Antigua on the street called Colonia Calendaria. It's such a cute place. There is a courtyard inside which my room faces and opens into.

El Volcan de Agua, the large volcano to the south of Antigua. Usually clouds cover the top but in the morings

it is sometimes visible.

First Photos

Standing on "Cerro de la Cruz" with an aerial view of Antigua in the background.

An internal view of Casa Herrera, UT's research and teaching facility and our school

The street I walk on everyday to get to Casa Herrera and back home.

So you can know about my life in Antigua, Guatemala

Hi! Welcome to my blog.
Through this I will document my daily life and experiences in Antigua for your reading and viewing pleasure.
I will have pictures!
I am so excited to travel to Guatemala in 2 days, to meet my host family, and to experience the UNESCO world heritage site that is Antigua!
Follow me here on this adventure.