wish it wasn't the fact but....

i just booked my ticket home. boo.

i leave wednesday in the am from guatemala city and transfer in miami airport 7 hours later. i will be landing in toronto at 11 pm and going directly to my sisters. the next morning i will drive back to ottawa with my wonderful mom. the only thing i am waiting on now is an appointment from my doctor.

like i said, it sucks but it has to be done so home i go for a short "intermission" from my exciting CA adventure.

more when i have more.

today's news

i just spoke with the doctor who told me thought not necessary to get on the plane tomorrow, within the next few weeks would be wise. considering it could be carcinogenic (but also could be not) he recommended taking it all off sooner than later. today i have a much cooler head than yesterday when i wrote my venting blog and it is true cooler heads do prevail. 

the smart move with this information is to get it sorted in a reasonable timeframe as waiting can be the biggest mistake should the news be bad. i would hate later to realize that a quick trip home could have saved me years of anguish (if not more). all that is to say i am now looking into flights back home within the next few weeks (oh joy). if i look really hard i can find some silver lining.....

1 - see mom and dad

2 - see my sister and her beautiful family

3 - opportunity to get a small artisan co-operative off the ground with some preliminary sales and groundwork.

so maybe life doesn't suck that bad, maybe this will all get sorted and i can smile (and mean it). maybe this is just the sort of catilist i didn't even know i needed (for what i don't know but then again i didn't even know i needed it!)

thanks for all the messages of concern, they go along way when one is so very far away. i will keep you posted. 

fun with macs

early morning walk - with photos!

this morning i woke up early. the doctor was supposed to be available for a conversation 7:45 his time (6:45 my time) but of course he was too busy to talk with the guy he has given alarming news. this means that now i get to call him during his lunch with the hopes that he will be able to find the time to explain his alarming email to me. but it's not all 'le merde' if we were looking for a silver lining i found one.

the other morning when riding in the back of  the pick-up to go coffee picking i was like a dog with his head out the window, excitedly looking to and fro please to have the sun and fresh air enveloping me. after a steepish incline and some hairy turns we ended up on a high point over looking san pedro (my current home) and it was stunning. the sun was just cresting over the silhouetted two volcanos that stand sentry behind the sleepy village of san pedro. the streets were mist-lined and every chimney puffed smoke from the morning tortilla making. it was there for a few seconds and then it wasn't as we continued to snake our way along the side of the cliff and crater lake, i silently resolved to get up to the point of 'buena vista' with my camera in hopes of somehow capturing san pedro's mystical morning way.

well today was the day. i started out walking just after 6:30 and made it to the point with the 'buena vista' just in time to see what i'd seen. it was beautiful, i was and still am awed. i will stop typing and let the photos do the talking. i hope you enjoy them.

coffee drying and processing

buy this mattress and you get to sleep with her!

chicken bus

such is life and we take it as it comes.

i share with you all the good (well most of it at least) so i shall begin to share with you the not so good. and i kind of need to get this off my chest and lucky for you this is my medium of late.

as you may remember if you were with me from the beginning (what feels like months but will only be 2 weeks tonight!) that the morning that i was to fly out of ottawa i had to make a last minute stop to an oral surgeon who excised a growth off my lower lip. it was so harried and last minute that my parents were waiting to drive me to the airport so that i would be able to make my flight with the "enhanced" security measures. it never really sunk in what happened or what could happen. i was told that in 10 business days the results would be in and that would be that. well last night was 10 business days and once again my faith in western medicine (or western doctors) is shaken.

what was concluded? they were able to ascertain that it was "atypical" (thanks doc but i could have told you that, in fact i think i did when i said there is a growth on my face that shouldn't be there). they were also able to ascertain that though they don't know what it is they do know that they didn't get it all the first time. lets recap.

- don't know what it is

- know it shouldn't be there

- know they didn't get it all

starting to feel my frustration?

i responded to the email from my dentist saying thanks for the update and i will see you on the 1st of june (should an appointment be available for round two). i also gave him my mom's number and told him that in my absence she could act as my proxy (calls from guatemala are expensive and god forbid the call was made from a doctor's office, you know those people with $$$$). this is where it gets good.

last night my parents called and after a nice chat i get told that june is too late. she tells me the doctors didn't realize that i'd be gone so long. (a real shame i talk in such code or else there would have been no confusion but i understand how confusing "i am leaving this morning for 4 1/2 months, i'll be back in june but you can email me the details" it really was my fault i should have given him my decoder ring prior to sharing such complex yet vital information) {are you picking up the sarcasm? cause i am laying it on pretty thick!}

the ever helpful doc told her that june was too late (what does that means when they don't know what it is?). now let me break it down again....

- they don't know what it is

- they know it shouldn't be there

- they know they didn't get all of "what ever it is" (might be bad, might not)

- they know that waiting 4 months to do what they should have properly done the first time, i too long.

- i get to go home to have my face cut open again.

now i may be being a bit harsh but this is my blog and i choose to be harsh. just as you choose to read (or not read) and just as the doc has chosen to fuck up my adventure and fun.

now let me be reasonable for a bit: yes if it is bad then going home to sort it out is the smart thing to do. yes, in the grand scheme of things one hiccup in my guatemalan adventure seems pretty insignificant. yes, should anyone around me here be diagnosed with this same issue, they would be singing a different tune (guatemalan's don't survive cancer). and this is why though i am pissed and though i am frustrated i do know that not only can i do this but i have an amazing network around me (here and at home) to help me deal with this no matter what happens.

i am waiting now to talk with the doc directly to find out when i need to be buying my ticket for my return home. please don't freak out. i am (after last night) trying to keep cool about all this and i promise i will update you (vent) as i too know more.

regardless of  the recent annoying bordering on ridiculousness life here in san pedro has been spectacular with wonderful people, local and foreign who have become great friends and family. a fun picture to change the mood.

video!

for full screen options click....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSKD_WH44p0
or watch here. enjoy.

feliz comple anos!

i really can't seem to find the time to write everything exciting that happens to me and still find the time to experience the new and the different. like the other night when we were invited to the 19 year old birthday party of my guatemalan sister which just happened friday.

it was so very cool. so very exciting. so very unexpected. the day before as our mom got more comfortable with us (and my ability to understand what she was saying to us grew) she mentioned in hush tones that friday was glorias birthday and that there was going to be a surprise party and we were invited! having been to  many birthday parties before as well as many parties i knew one thing, i like to party but what was this party going to be like? only time would tell. before we knew it the day was upon us and there was a mass of activity in the kitchen and about the house. cleaning, cooking and just generally busying about so much i took the opportunity to head out into town to my favourite coffee spot to do some homework (and maybe even a blog). with strict instructions however to return before 6 for the surprise.

in the house at the time were 4 students: myself, lena (german), else (norwegian) and pia (norwegian). all of our spanish was pretty weak so what to expect no one know but one thing we knew was that we didn't want to go to a party empty handed. but how much to you spend and what do you buy when some much for sale from the artist vendors is actually part of their daily wear or alternatively the tiendas (shops) that the locals frequent is essentially filled plastic crap. deciding that arriving with a regala (gift) too genorous could be considered ruder than bringing nothing at all (in weaker economic situations that is). in the end i purchased a smallish painting in the traditional mayan style for gloria's wall to remind her beautiful home while off in guatemala city studying to be a doctor. lena gifted her rain jacket, which was of a quality unattainable in a country like guatemala and the girls, pia and else bought a beautiful little purse and put even prettier ear rings in it. i wish it wasn't the case but as it turned out we were the only people who brought gifts whereas everyone else brought great cheer and fun.

in all at the first sitting there were 16 of us around the table and then for the second there seemed to be more but by then the space was teaming with children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, lions and tigers and bears, oh my! for food there were 5 roasted chickens, bowls of potatoes and of veggies and few things i didn't recognize but certainly enjoyed. the festivities went on for quite awhile and the family was excited for me to bring out my photo gear to take a large family picture (in truth i think it was more my pleasure than theirs as i was able to bring my camera out and shoot to my hearts content in a country where many a man and woman will not agree to have their photos taken) beyond that it may also be your pleasure as in my opinion the photos are great!

must go study for class....a bit to share on that front but not at the expense of my studies so i shall save my latest activities for a future post. ciao.

early morning coffee picking!

buenos dias!

well it is 6 am. there is a chill in the air. the roosters started crowing intermittently more than 30 minutes ago. why am i up so early? am i ill? am i sad? am i lonely? the answer to all those question (save the first) is NO. i am up at what i considered before this trip, an ungodly hour, because in a few minutes i am getting picked-up  by who i think is the nephew (or little brother) or my guatemalan mama, gloria. he owns a small coffee plantation, which employs 8 labourers. the other night when we were talking and i discovered that he goes out early every morning with his crew to work the land, being me i quickly asked if i could come one day to take pictures and maybe even be taught how to farm coffee. confused, probably due to the fact that my spanish is less than good and that nobody in their right mind chooses labour over ... well anything and whether it was because gloria was sitting there too and he felt obligated or he thought it would be fun (and funny) he agreed. so here i sit after having had some coffee and toast, mentally steeling myself for the unknown ahead. i will admit that to anyone with a rural background is probably laughing at damon the gringo who is nervous about manual labour, and you know what? i don't care. for me it's new and exciting and you can just judge away, judgy mcjudge'erton....

wow, so we are just back from a morning of picking coffee, that was amazing. i know i say that a lot here but it really was. as aforementioned i am a city boy and aside from being a server (which isn't as easy as everyone thinks but pales in comparison to what i just did) i am not what you would call a sporty guy or even an active guy. true i guess you could say that while i am abroad i do some pretty hairy things but i speak now of me back in ottawa, the land that sucks me dry. so, i left you at about 6:45 am when i went out to wait on the street for tono, as it turns out brother-in-law to gloria (me madre). it wasn't so bad as the newly arrived sun had removed some of the early morning chill. after not more than 2 minutes outside up walks tono and his two children, juan pedro and frank (please note am i not describing child labour well at least not what immediately comes to mind when we here that taboo word. juan carlo and frank are on holiday, what i referred to it as a "trajaveracation" {a working holiday} which elicited a more than a few laughs, though not from the kids). gloria was so cute before she let us go she ran into the house and got us oranges for our day out and about. tono, picks us up and we walk to a "pick-up" stop (pick-up refers to actual pick up trucks that operate much like buses in that they have specific corners to wait at to be picked up at, but they are independently run and provide no real schedule, that being said they seem to be more frequent that oc transpo {a dig at ottawa's brutal public transport system, if you do or have lived there you know what i am talking about}), where we patiently/grogily wait for our ride.

shortly thereafter, a pick-up arrives and our motley crew (two of which were under the age of 11) climbs in the flatbed for an exhilarating ride to san juan, the next town over on lago atitlan (the lake i am living on) where we jump out and head on our way {the cost of the pick-up was 2 Q each which = about  $ 0.25, so for literally pennies you get transport that doubles as a ride at the fair} i should note know that i had some expectations in mind when i was first told about the coffee plantation. my only experience being the 'cafe cristolinas' where i have my daily cup of coffee and they grow it in their backyard, literally. that being my only experience i assumed a field of coffee much like a field of corn that i've seen in canada and pretty close at hand. that was not the case. after getting dropped off in town we walked out of town, which didn't take long at all, then we began the 45 minute hike up the side of a volcano to tono's plantation! it wasn't that it was grueling or brutal it was simply that i didn't not plan nor expect to be ascending volcanos early this morning. suffice to say we arrived no worse for wear, in fact upon turning around and seeing the 'bueno vista' all thought of how tired i was or how early it is faded away. we were standing in a lush coffee plantation overlooking a bursting green valley and topping it off the sun was just begin to crest over the ridges ahead. it was so nice i almost forgot that i had a mornings worth of labour ahead.

the directions for the day were of course in spanish and they flew mostly over my head. what i did manage to gather was that we were there to pick the red coffee beans and not the green ones. and from there i stuck close to the elder of the children (grade 7) and did as he did, we picked off the same tree and did what i could to make him laugh. two trees in i started to realize that though not terribly difficult without the knowledge that i was taking off 11ish to make it home for lunch and not sticking around picking beans all day might have turned my mood. however with the knowledge of my early departure i was eager to attempt fill the sac tied around my waist faster and fuller than the others. what made it even more agreeable was that whenever i was feeling like the work was getting the better of me i would stop, walk back to my bag, grab my camera (which was the primary reason for me asking to join) and would migrate to one of the other pickers and take some photos and or videos

upon rereading this after my most delicious lunch i realize that i led the reader to the plantation but aside from describing the view said little else, i shall now rectify my lapse in description. i suppose it can be assumed that in order to reach our plantation we climbed and climbed and climbed that the plantation was also on an incline, if so, your suspicions are correct. the large tract of land was too on an incline, mind you not as steep as some of our ascent but still steeper than i would have ever expected. this meant that you were either below or above the coffee tree.  below meant that you could see the red vs. the green beans and so know which to pick, however it did mean that reaching the upper 1/3 of the tree was not an option. hence we would make our way above the tree and in bending back the tree with the left hand could pick with the right, in fact not a bad little system. suffice to say that by the end of the morning our collective hands were filthy and though floating from working with my hands i was more than happy to be embarking on our way home for lunch (our refers to my german friend who has joined me on more than a few of my latest adventures.) after scrolling up i realized was a bit wordy so i shall cut short here and say, hasta pronto!

coffee flower, didn't know they had them? well neither did i!

village justice

you hear about community justice, there are stories told on the backpacking circuit that always happened a few weeks before you arrived or in another village that dots the lake. the first story i heard has been confirmed though the timing of it is still in question. to help you understand what i mean by community/village justice i shall retell the story as i heard it...

there are bandits that exist in the country due to a combination of a lack of income opportunities and a mass of weapons left over from the civil war that ravaged the country. (of course there are more factors but this is a blog and not an essay so i am taking the liberty to simplify the situation). it is told that some paths around lake atitlan are unsafe due to 'bandits' and the like. however we are assured that is no longer the case due to a dose of village justice that has driven the bandits further into the forests.

one day a 'chicken bus' was traveling from village to village carrying locals and their wares (note: chicken buses are throwaway school busses from north america that have been repainted, named and detailed and are the main form of transport for locals, and adventuresome travelers, to go either from one end of a city to the other or plain across the country. the longer trips cost dollars and the shorter ones barely cost at all. i should also note that they never fully stop, it is a matter of throwing your bag onto the roof and jumping on while the bus is in motion...good times) around the lake village to village carrying locals. bandits displaying more greed than normal stood in the middle of the road holding machine guns. the bus driver, i can only assume was fed up with the general situation, sped up and tried to drive through. the bandits opened fire, killing the bus driver instantly, and the bus rolled to a stop in the ditch. knowing they crossed a line the bandits didn't stick around to rob rather they took to the hills. within days the police identified and apprehended said bandits. immediately the villages demanded the bandits be release to face village justice. the police ignored their pleas. the next day a government building was burned to the ground (with no injuries). the community continued with their demands and again the police ignored their cries. the next day the villagers kidnaped a police office, doused him in gasoline and once again their demands. this time, their wishes were granted and the bandits were traded for the shaken but unharmed police officer. in the manner that justice is dispensed in the villages the bandits were bound, doused and burned for their crimes.

that story might sound pretty harsh but it is also pretty easy to understand when federal justice is rarely felt in the smaller communities.  their is a general mistrust of the system that seems to let more people go than punish, where money rules over law. a friend who i had coffee with that in one of the churches there is a poster that says "STOP BURNING PEOPLE, GOD DOES NOT APPROVE". can you even imagine a sign like that in canada or the states and in a church no less? all this brings me to last night...

out celebrating a friends birthday i went out to the blanco bars for the first time since arriving in san pedro. it was nothing special. we climbed up to the roof to chill and drink, nothing fancy but meeting an interesting cast of characters it was a fun time. at 11:00 pm the bartender came up and abruptly turned out the lights and told us, it was now closed and it was time to go. what? 11? why? when she said 'they came by and told us to that they wanted everyone to close at 11, i assumed she was referring to the police. i was wrong. as we left the bar to head back to our friend's posada we passed a group of men, about 8 of them, who were walking down the street abreast. not realizing what was up i shared the common evening greeting, buenos noche. not only was there no response but the air seemed to cool down and it was then that i realized two men were wearing bandanas to hid their face. i should point our that i didn't feel in danger, i didn't get the feeling i was going to be robbed nor the sense that a beating was about to occur, in fact i felt more invisible than anything for my presence was simply ignored. we arrived at our friend's without further incident. when it was time to leave me and a friend started out on our normal way home but stopped dead in our tracks after turning a corner. in the street was now maybe 20 men, some with bandanas, some with machetes, not the kind of crowd i wanted to be passing at 12:30 at night on an otherwise empty street. 180 degrees we turned and took to the back alleys to get home with the hope of avoiding any roaming group of men.

i should point out that they men in the streets were not bandits, they were simply townspeople who decided that they wanted the "gringo bars" to close at 11. they walked through the town and literally shut down every bar. they then appeared to 'stand watch' ensuring no bar reopened. the whole time i was out last night i didn't see 1 police officer. at coffee this morning with a swiss friend who as been here a month, has better spanish than me and a much wider network told me that it was the roaming group of towns people that shut the bars down and not the police. he didn't know as none of the townspeople he spoke to knew exactly why. he was told it had nothing to do with the fact that this is a very religious town. speculation is all we can do. our thoughts are that below the surface of this idilic place there are problems like anywhere else. one of the issues, we suspect, is the dislike that many of the business that the many backpackers frequent are foreign owned and as such an element not so much of envy or jealousness but rather a feeling of an unfair situation and last nights "closing time" was their way of righting the balance.

since starting to type this i have chatted with a few locals and i got the same answer from all them, "son los gentes loco" = "they are just some crazy guys". they all assure me that i was never in danger and that i shouldn't worry (so neither should you mom). so as it stands i do not know what it was all about but my suspicion stands, some men were simply trying to rebalance a very out of whack local economic situation. another suspicion though not one i subscribe to is that the men were a de-facto 'neighbourhood watch' ensuing that the town could sleep the night before church (my thinking, why do you need machetes to ensure bars close?) oh well. feel free to pontificate and share. hasta pronto.

tourism (backpacking) - you decide

this stunning community of maya people exist the way they did for thousands of years with one small difference, me and other like me. for better or for worse the lucky few of us have found this idilic place that feeds all sense, that calms the soul and opens your eyes. the negatives exist true, with the arrival of whitey so came the drug trade in a community that frowns on drinking and drugs it is not hard to believe that drugs (beyond those used religiously) never had a presence here and if once there was the strong community values quickly had it expunged. now san pedro, due to its stunning location, its inspiring people and beautiful energy, quickly became known amongst hippies and backpackers alike as a destination that easily set itself apart from others. it is not hard to see how that started to happen and probably not that hard to imagine what that does to a community. for example the other day i was chatting with a 14 year old boy (i should point out here that my chatting with kids is by no means nefarious rather their language skills much match my own so at most opportunities as i go to and from school or even on my many walks about town if a child doesn't engage in a conversation with me, which they usually do, i will initiate. this has already greatly helped with my confidence in speaking), when i asked him about school he said he didn't need it. foolishly i asked why. "i sell marijuana, want some?" not wanting to be rude of course i said yes....just joking mom if that were true this would be a pretty hypocritical story, no?......actually, i said "no gracias". how could you say yes? sure a smoke can be fun but look at what is being encouraged but in this instance i would have be putting the proverbial "nail in the coffin" with regards to his education or lack there of. exasperating a situation and a persona that i am not pleased to be associated with even by association. therefore in short the dark side of tourism has created means and opportunity that removed a small boy form school at the age of 10 and countless or youth and adults that now prosper or suffer as a direct result.

yet that isn't to say i regard tourism as bad (for if i did that would imply i regard what i am doing negatively, and that is not the case) for it offers many positives to a community one of which being foreign money into a primarily based on substance agriculture. and the second being that of keeping a culture alive, let me elaborate...as can be witnessed all around the world in developing and developed countries alike is that the traditional rural agriculture is slowly dying this in turn results in an influx of people into a city. in guatemala, if a young child was growing up in a small community that sees hard economic times simply due to weather or other more complex economic reasons well beyond the scope of their understanding, a better life is dreamed of, spoken about and eventually realized as they move to the "big city". (note: guatemala is a country of approximately 10 million people, guatemala city has approximately 3.5 million people, the next biggest city xela has approx. 350 000 people) true much of the mass influx of people into the city can be attributed to the savage civil war that tore up the country side that is just now starting to rebuild and heal the scars that were invariably left however many more left their rural agricultural life behind for a life where they may control their own destiny. unfortunately, a dream is not always reality and this certainly proves that point. with so many 'agricultural refugees' ending up in the same spot there is certainly not going to be enough work to go around. slums grow and grow. where they once could at least grow food if have little else they now find themselves even without that option. is it any wonder that guatemala city ranks among the most dangerous cities in the world? humans have a strong survival instinct and for lack of money and food people are forced beyond their moral comfort zone into the world of crime. and their children grow up in a hopeless environment and it isn't before long they join some of the roughest and toughest gangs in the americas, so much so that there are many section in guatemala city that the police simply do not and will not go. {back to my point} so communities that would invariably start to lose it populations can begin to rely on a new form of fairly steady income, tourist. and well beyond the point of money is culture, something that can easily be lost or forgotten for more pressing issues and concerns. for example, here in guatemala there is a large population of maya. (note: the maya people can be divided up into many tribes and regions but for the sake of this blog i shall refer to the maya generally, much as we do in north america with our 'first nations') making textiles is a large part the maya culture and traditions. the art of weaving is passed down generationally and can get lost and forgotten ever so easily (see 'first nations' in canada) tourism ensures that this skill is indeed passed down for almost every visitor to guatemala will leave with some form of maya textiles from hammocks to wraps to ponchos, a profitable market for traditional clothing has opened up creating income for something that was done out of practicality in the past. so here we see that as a result of tourism, a local maya culture is remembered and passed down generationally and that rural agricultural substance communities do not go the way of the do do. here in san pedro, maya women and girls weave stunning textiles and sell them to tourist and one another. one of the remarkable things in san pedro is that the majority of the population young and old still wear traditional dress and it is stunning! it is primarily a substance agricultural community meaning that it eats what it grows and now has the opportunity to continue on its traditional path with but a few interruptions from tourism.

life just isn't as black and white as our fearless (fearsome?) leaders would have us believe just maybe there are many sides to an argument. i, stepping out of myself, looking around and seeing the world again through new eyes has got me thinking quite a bit. re-examing what i believe and remembering why exactly that was rather than just because. as such, i will continue to travel as i always have with my eyes and my heart wide open, respecting and helping the people and cultures that i have the opportunity and privilege to visit. hoping always to leave with my hosts and new found friends a positive memory and idea of what tourism (or as i more appropriately see myself as a nomad) is and can be.

of course there are many reasons, positive and negative, surrounding tourism and i have only touched a few of them. this was not meant to tell rather to inform and open your eyes and mind to what else lies out there and how we all affect it. if you bared through this my evening ramble, thanks. and if you didn't then you didn't. should you have strong feelings on this subject one way or another i would love to hear it so don't be shy and share.

san pedro - what a stunner

i spend a lot of time showing with my photos what an amazing place guatemala is, now i would like to do the same thing but with words, please excuse me if they do run on...

for the first few days i looked for a map, there was none and as my time here stretches from days to weeks i begin to understand why. i don't think even the most skilled cartographer would have a chance at mapping this town that leads from the edge of a crater lake up the side of a volcano. at first when i got off the boat and found myself on what i imagined was the main street, i was wrong, in fact even if it was i would have no way of knowing it as all streets manage to go unmarked as is the same with all the alleys that there are many of! so many so that i continue to take short cuts thinking that this must be the right one and i am sad to say, as i have prided myself on a fairly acute sense of direction, i am running at about a 10-15% success rate.

as you might imagine there a many a hill in san pedro but not the sort you are likely to have come across. there are streets here that are so close to 90 degrees i wonder if that is what they were attempting when it was built. all streets are cobble stone (save the main one by the lake) and they snake up and down, around and across with no discernible system or logic. adding to the confusion are the alleys that are not simply paths to take you from street to street but actually house homes, restaurants, hostels and even my school san pedro! how many times in my first two days did i have to rely on the good will of children to walk me to school (i may have made them late but i certainly made their day) i should clarify, i am not bothered by san pedro's unorganized way actually it is quite the opposite, i find it charming and exciting for a walk to a friend's posada takes me 30 minutes to an hour longer to reach than it should and has me talking to many a person trying to make sense of where i am in relation to where i was an where i am going truly reinforcing the old adage that it is not the destination rather the journey that is important.

the charm is augmented by the lives of the locals who go about there business as i imagine they have done for hundreds if not thousands of years. tackling these ridiculous inclines with no hurry and from outward impressing no cares. not only are they strolling through the towns peaks and valleys but they do so with baskets of goods balanced on their head! (well at least the women and girls) personally i can not balance a basket on my head so putting me on a 60 degree angled street would be 'throwing me to the wolves' assuring that nothing in that basket remained clean and unbruised. the women do this in their traditional dress, which consist of three parts: first a wrapped skirt that's a multitude of colours if it's one, a blouse with delicate stitching and the look is completed with an even more intricately woven belt that ties around. the older ladies sometimes can be seen wearing an apron on top of the skirt that is often used to carry fruits, vegetables (or anything really) while they balance a basket on there head.....wow..... the men while not balancing baskets on their heads are themselves fascinating to look at as the majority carry a machete (sheathed) wear what we'd refer to as a cowboy hat and sporting traditional pants hand stitched with intricate embroidery all about. the youngish boys are about the only demographic that is not found wearing what i can only imagine is their culture's traditional wear.

it is almost impossible, even if you tried, to walk down the street and not be greeted with a friendly buenos dias, buenos tardes, buenos noches (depending on the time of day). these innocent greetings at least appear to be genuine and more often than not end up in a small conversation that will last either the length of the walk or in my case the length of my spanish abilities. the streets are usually filled with locals chatting in their local tongue (a beautiful maya dialect, suwoheely {sp}) going about their daily routine and smiling all the while.

lest we forget that san pedro is located on a crater lake. it stands to reason (as it is in fact the case) that it is surrounded by volacnos. no matter where you walk there is always going to be a peak, or two, in the not so far distance. san pedro located at 1500 meters in within 2 to 4 hour walk of its nearest peaks, indian head and volcano san pedro, respectively. if you enjoy fresh water swims then you would be in heaven, floating on your back with the most stunning vistas imaginable looming over you. maybe looming is too ominous a word, perhaps 'a protective surround peaks and crests dot the skyline much like buildings do in city centers' might have been more appropriate, i will let you the reader decide.

now i have forsaken maps as i have forsaken direction. not wearing a watch i am only interested in being home and on time for lunch and dinner (mmmmmm foooooood). i have taken to stopping and chatting, wether young or old, known or unknown, it matters not. i have taken to san pedro as operah once took to ham (and i don't think either of us will soon forget our respective loves, no matter how far i go or how many diets are tried, respectively....of course). NOTE: i know trashing operah is not good for business but i just had to)

just so excited!

as promised yesterday i was going to bring my camera to school so that i could show you how environment helps learning. true to my word i brought my camera and with my teacher went for a little walk around the sprawling lakeside grounds. it was a beautiful morning and i was more than happy to being my lesson not at a desk rather strolling and chatting and taking photos. we ended up walking for more than an hour before we finally made it back to school (rough i know) and when we returned nico, my teacher, started to look rather pale (and for an indigenous  guatemalan, that is not an easy). i was quite to point out that learning spanish and ignoring his well being was not something i was prepared to do and so my school day was cut short and i took full advantage.


on my way home i stopped for a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice from one of the three competing juice sellers a few steps from my front door. that in itself is hilarious, the town has a population of 15 000 people and only three street juice vendors, what i find rather amusing is that they have their stalls within 10 feet of one another. when a local or tourist alike walks by the shouting beings. "jugo! jugo! tres Quetzales! jugo de naranja! tres Quetzales" i have been living here at my family's casa for a few days now walking by these stalls at least 1/2 a dozen times a day and it is always the same thing as it is for EVERYONE "jugo! jugo! tres Quetzales! jugo de naranja! tres Quetzales" in fact as i sit here typing away just outside my window every few minutes the competition for customers resumes. what makes it even better is that all three stalls sell exactly the same fresh fruits and charge exactly the same price! too funny.


after my oj i walked on down to this cool mayan store that a friend told me he bought a necklace with his mayan astrological sign. cool store, nice lady and very cool necklace. it turns out that my sign based on the date of my birth is "AQ'ABAL - the night"

so there i am paying for my new cool necklace and reading about my sign when the lady asked if i'd mind running up to get some copies of the description as it was her last one. no problem, happy to help (especially after negotiating down the price). she told me where to go but my spanish is not so good. after entering shop after shop i find myself in the shop that is the front to me casa and as it turns out there is the photocopier. copies made i head back down the hill (san pedro is built on the side of a volcano, ergo uber hilly, i will delve more into this in a later post). in retelling the fact that me casa is also where the copier was she starts to grin wildly. "gloria es me hermana" (she is my sister). i go on in poor spanish. Gloria is my mom here in guatemala, she is amazing, you are her sister so that makes me your nephew! well now we are both laughing and have had a good hug. and i ask her with a big smile, so now that we are related is the price the same (of course i was joking and in fact felt a bit bad for negotiating a lower price from what is now family) again we both laughed an i went on my way. yet the connections kept coming! upon returning to me casa, i retell this to gloria, my guate mama, and she loved it, then goes on to tell me that her niece owns cafe cristobalas, this is the place i blogged from yesterday! the place that grows its coffee in the back and serves it in the front! after i gushed about how much i loved the coffee she tells me that cafe cristobalas is the coffee that she has been serving me for breakfast lunch and dinner (much like my nanny and pappa, once i they get it in their head that i like something, come hell or high water whenever i see them i will surely get one). of course gloria doesn't prepare it with the skill of her niece and it is a bit watered down but a bit watered down fresh organic coffee that was grown in the backyard is MILES better than anything i have ever got in canada. :-)


my new found connection with gloria and her whole family has brought the two of us together even closer than before. now i have been invited into the "living area" that she shares with her family and am now typing away in there 'office' (a room with a desk and phone jack). you are family she tells me, no problem, whenever. 


not wanting to waste the whole day away, i will leave you with my delicious street food experience from last night...after spending some time with some friends and deciding it was time to go home i went on my way. but on the way i passed by the bbq chicken lady, immediately my stomach said, time to eat. por favor, pollo? nope she was out (a testament to the deliciousness of night time snack) so i opted for the sausage...mmmmm, amazing i might even wager better than the chicken. on the plate to split sausages, a large dollop of refried beens and doused in spicy sauce and of course the 4 fresh and warmed tortillas. it was so very good i toyed with the idea of having another but having only 10Q in my pocket precluded my strong desire to gorge myself on spicy street sausage and tortillas. what did i learn....always keep an extra 20Q tucked away for you never know when and where you will find yourself (in other words what time of day and which street stall you stubble across.)


i hope you enjoy these photos, i loved taking them.

school view

guatemalan food = buena comida

ola, buenos tardes!


day 2 of spanish class and i discovered exactly how beautiful the grounds are, unfortunately no camera today but my teacher and i both agreed that bringing the camera tomorrow is a necessity thus you my faithful few will get a glimpse of what class should look like. :-) 


today i would like to talk to you about how delicious and amazing san pedro street food is. most people walk by these veritable gold mines of delicious and healthy culinary treats that cost literally pennies to eat. yesterday evening i sampled three wonderful vendors after dinner with my new family i had been chilling with a friend last night when we decided that though the view from the roof of his posada was sucking us and the sounds and songs from the many churches that dot the mountain side was drawing us out into town (pueblo centro).


our first stop: bbq chicken either a leg or breast, globs of guacamole, globs of beans, 4 tortillas all for a whopping price of 8Q ($1)
our second stop: taco san pedro style, tortilla, beef, pile of fried onions, chopped lettuce and muy hot sauce. this ran me 5Q ($.75)
our third stop: tostada - picture every delicious veg, some chicken and then some more and that is approx. what you will find on this tostada. again 5Q ($.75)


of course when such deals are at had with food the same usually stands with beer. unfortunately a liter the mexican beer carto blanco is only 15Q which complemented our spicy evening comida (food) walkabout. the evening was well spent and an early 'to bed' was had. as my description of my tostada was far from accurate and mostly lacking i feel it important to share a self-portrait of my tostada and me from a few days ago.

my delicious tostada (it cost me $.75!)

after class today and a call home ..... 

we interrupt this blog for a special announcement ..... Jane Berlin had her last treatment ending her most impressive battle with the bloody awful breast cancer! congratulations mom, the world is a much better place with you happy and healthy. and i personally look forward to turning the rest of your lovely hair gray. hey you always told me to finish what i started :-) ....... thank you for your patience and we now return to our regular scheduled program....

.... and  a lovely lunch with my new family i went on a daytime walkabout that consisted of, yes you guessed it, tostadas, a climb up to the 'rock', a swim in the lake and now a delicious coffee that was grown in the back of the mini cafe i currently sit in...

me and rosa, my friend and barista 

just realizing now that dinner is minutes away and i certainly do not want to be late and miss another lovely night with a lovely group of people. as such i will now show you the photos from today and if there is time i will label if not i am sure you are all clever enough to figure them out.  

much love

thanks for checking in. be back soon.