Guatemala: 31 de Mayo

Que Pasa: Just like you reach that point where it stops being “early” in the semester, I feel like this whole field school thing is no longer “new.” Things are now “under way.” That is certainly not to say that things have become boring, or that I'm comfortable with everything, but you know, the novelty has worn off... even though I'm still going to be here for one and a half more months (exactly).

Yesterday I woke up around 6ish, did some reading, ate some scrambled eggs, did some more reading, stood on the bumper of a pickup with 16 people in the bed (they have racks over the beds for the standers-up to hang on) to Panajachel where I met Dr Wallace and Carla and some students, rode in a chicken bus up the mountain sitting next to a traditionally-dressed woman and finished my reading, then stepped off the bus into a cooler and hazier atmosphere. This is a good kind of “average day” thing on days we have class, in case you were wondering.

Friday is always Dia del Mercado (Market Day) in Solola. Dr Wallace asked us if we wanted to walk through the market or around it to get to Nicole's homestay, where we were to have class. We chose to go through it.

The market in Solola isn't so much a place as it is an event: in the streets, vendors and their goods are sprawled on blankets under a ceiling of continuous tarps with their baskets of fish or fruit. It's noisy and crowded: at times you have to keep moving or else traffic will push you along. A lot to take in: a girl with plastic gloves standing on a table putting meat on a scale; a woman digging in her blouse for money; a short, young handicapped man wandering around with a cane and extending his hand; walls of CDs; a man presumably selling medicine yelling Head aches? Bone aches? Foot aches?

In class, we shared problems and/or successes we`re having with our homestays, with our projects, etc., and then Dr Wallace talked in detail about specific topics and problems we might have soon. It's interesting that we're really at the mercy of our respective towns when it comes to actually getting interviews and stuff. Gringos walking around asking people questions isn`t the most normal thing around here. Dr Wallace has had to deal with people suspecting him to be with the CIA. That's one way the bound copies of last year's reports they gave us can come in handy, to show someone that look, this is what they did last year, and this is what I'm doing this year. He's told us to leave these reports with the mayors of the towns.

Nicole's homestay-mom brought us tea and some delicious homemade cake, some kind of sweet cream cake or something. The only tea I have ever seen down here is Lipton, by the way.
After class, a boy in the house looked at me and said, You're big. Me: Yeah? Him: Why are you big? Me: Because my dad is big. Then he walked away and his mom laughed. I don't think I've pointed this out yet, but at 6'4”, I'm a giant compared to the locals.

Tomorrow we go to Antigua, a popular tourist city here, until Wednesday. It's going to be a nice kind of vacation, after which we'll be having smaller classes and less frequent, and it will be time to focus more heavily on our projects.

Right now I'm watching Bambi with the boys on a 12-inch TV in Catarina's room. Next to the TV on the desk are a few precious items, including two portraits of Jesus on either side of a photo of a mannequin/puppet-looking guy with big eyelashes and a cigarette in his mouth, dressed in a suit and tie and a black cowboy hat. I have read about things like this; although I'm not sure, it may be Maximon. Here's what my Moon Handbook of Guatemala says about Maximon:

The cigar-smoking, liquor-drinking idol is a thorn in the side of many Catholic and Evangelical groups, whose followers sometimes profess conversion to Christianity but often still hold allegience to Maximon, who is thought to represent Judas and/or Pedro de Alvarado. Syncretism, combining Mayan religious beliefs and Catholicism, is a major player in highland Mayan spirituality. (2007 Argueta).

Luis Miguel and Wilson are lying on the bed, punching each other to the rhythm of some kind of Kaqchikel chant or something. It's funny to listen to. There's some kind of music going on somewhere... there always is.

Today I bought a pair of pants made by Catarina (Luis knows some English: “No machine. Original work.” (Sounds like “O-risch-schin-ul werk). As you can see in one of the photos from the last entry, I have also bought a shirt. They were both really cheap--$14 and $10. I will probably buy a painting before I leave too. If you want me to buy you something, let me know and I'll hook you up.

Luis Miguel and Wilson about to enjoy chuchitos: meat wrapped in corn meal cooked inside a corn husk. Similar to a tamale, but a tamale uses rice meal too. Think of a hot pocket, but instead of bread, it`s surrounded in a bland, doughy, kind of gummy corn-tasting thing.