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.