Pictures: Iximche Mayan ruins and church in ChichicastenangoBuenas tardes!
This past weekend our CASAS group went to Chichicastenango, a Mayan village located in Quiche, about a 4 hour drive NW of Guatemala City. We stayed at Methodist project which had dormitories. It was such a great weekend. On the way to Chichi on Friday we stopped at the Iximche Mayan ruins, which were amazing. We spent about an hour walking around the area, climbing pyramids, and taking lots of pictures. Saturday we talked with the pastor who directs the Methodist project and he told us about the history of the Methodist Church in Guatemala. He also started a project called "Ruth and Noemi" for widows of the Guatemalan Civil War to make craft projects to support themselves and their families, though the project now includes others in the community. The project then sends these crafts to Ten Thousand Villages. When we got there they were just finishing a shipment of purses that was sent out on Monday, so we got to see several people hastily finishing purses. I definitely recognized the purses as Ten Thousand Villages products, and it was so interesting being able to see them be made. We then went out to a small Indian village named Chontola which also has another project where Mayan widows weave and create all sorts of amazing crafts to be sold. Let's just say I bought a lot of stuff from the Methodist project and the women in Chontola. The Chontola women only speak Quiche, their native Mayan language, so when we arrived at the house (a 20 minute walk through corn fields from our bus), the pastor had to translate from Quiche to Spanish, then Adrienne our leader translated from Spanish to English. Sunday morning we went to a Spanish Catholic mass in Chichi, then had about three hours to peruse the Sunday market there and have lunch. Oh my gosh, the market was absolutely amazing. There were streets upon streets filled with vendors and people, how I didn't get lost is beyond me. All the vendors are yelling at you to come in and look at their stuff, and there are many poor Mayan women who walk around haggling you to buy their crafts. Children also pester you, holding small crafts and saying we have no money, we cannot eat, please buy these. Let's just say that no is not in their vocabulary. It was such an overwhelming experience. I also bought some presents in the Chichi market, though I'm assuming that most of these crafts were massed produced which I think kind of defeats the purpose. Anyways, it was a busy, fun-filled weekend. We made it safely back to Guatemala City Sunday evening and I promptly went back to my house and finished all of my homework. It was so nice to get outside of the city and be able to see the Guatemalan countryside, which is beautiful. This week has been pretty uneventful, we are all still trying to figure out how to balance homework with participation and connecting with the families. I don't think we have that much work, it's just that the program is set up in a way that I don't have that much time to do it in.
Well, there is a quick synopsis of my first weekend travel adventure! I am quite sad because the NBA finals are on ABC and so are not broadcast in Central America. :)
We have had 2 free afternoons this week, mostly spent doing homework in the seminary, but there is a great strip mall across the street from CASAS, which has a bank, internet cafe, clothing shops, supermarket, bakery, and the most amazing ice cream place. Needless to say we enjoy going over there and buying treats and other necessities.
And to close, a story about a bus adventure:
Last week, I don't remember when, I experienced my fullest busride home in Guatemala City. I wish I could have counted all the people crammed in, but there were 3 to a seat, so that's probably about 60 people, then probably another 40 more crammed into the aisle. Not joking. There were 5 people hanging outside of the bus, how I'm not sure. Anyway, I was probably packed into the aisle about 1/3 of the way back, and I'm always the first person to get off because I get off pretty fast. So there is a person called the adelante who is always hanging out the door way, taking fares, yelling at people to get on, or move toward the back of the bus, etc. Anyways, the adelante called out my stop and I managed to make eye contact and say SI! The bus stopped, and half of the entire front had to get off the bus so I could get off. Even then, I could barely move toward the front. I was stepping on feet and legs as there was no floor space on the aisle and saying "con permiso!" and "lo siento!" I still don't know how I pulled myself out, maybe adreneleine, but somehow I was spit out into the street dripping with sweat and happy to be home. The end. :)
Much love to all!
Rachel
This past weekend our CASAS group went to Chichicastenango, a Mayan village located in Quiche, about a 4 hour drive NW of Guatemala City. We stayed at Methodist project which had dormitories. It was such a great weekend. On the way to Chichi on Friday we stopped at the Iximche Mayan ruins, which were amazing. We spent about an hour walking around the area, climbing pyramids, and taking lots of pictures. Saturday we talked with the pastor who directs the Methodist project and he told us about the history of the Methodist Church in Guatemala. He also started a project called "Ruth and Noemi" for widows of the Guatemalan Civil War to make craft projects to support themselves and their families, though the project now includes others in the community. The project then sends these crafts to Ten Thousand Villages. When we got there they were just finishing a shipment of purses that was sent out on Monday, so we got to see several people hastily finishing purses. I definitely recognized the purses as Ten Thousand Villages products, and it was so interesting being able to see them be made. We then went out to a small Indian village named Chontola which also has another project where Mayan widows weave and create all sorts of amazing crafts to be sold. Let's just say I bought a lot of stuff from the Methodist project and the women in Chontola. The Chontola women only speak Quiche, their native Mayan language, so when we arrived at the house (a 20 minute walk through corn fields from our bus), the pastor had to translate from Quiche to Spanish, then Adrienne our leader translated from Spanish to English. Sunday morning we went to a Spanish Catholic mass in Chichi, then had about three hours to peruse the Sunday market there and have lunch. Oh my gosh, the market was absolutely amazing. There were streets upon streets filled with vendors and people, how I didn't get lost is beyond me. All the vendors are yelling at you to come in and look at their stuff, and there are many poor Mayan women who walk around haggling you to buy their crafts. Children also pester you, holding small crafts and saying we have no money, we cannot eat, please buy these. Let's just say that no is not in their vocabulary. It was such an overwhelming experience. I also bought some presents in the Chichi market, though I'm assuming that most of these crafts were massed produced which I think kind of defeats the purpose. Anyways, it was a busy, fun-filled weekend. We made it safely back to Guatemala City Sunday evening and I promptly went back to my house and finished all of my homework. It was so nice to get outside of the city and be able to see the Guatemalan countryside, which is beautiful. This week has been pretty uneventful, we are all still trying to figure out how to balance homework with participation and connecting with the families. I don't think we have that much work, it's just that the program is set up in a way that I don't have that much time to do it in.
Well, there is a quick synopsis of my first weekend travel adventure! I am quite sad because the NBA finals are on ABC and so are not broadcast in Central America. :)
We have had 2 free afternoons this week, mostly spent doing homework in the seminary, but there is a great strip mall across the street from CASAS, which has a bank, internet cafe, clothing shops, supermarket, bakery, and the most amazing ice cream place. Needless to say we enjoy going over there and buying treats and other necessities.
And to close, a story about a bus adventure:
Last week, I don't remember when, I experienced my fullest busride home in Guatemala City. I wish I could have counted all the people crammed in, but there were 3 to a seat, so that's probably about 60 people, then probably another 40 more crammed into the aisle. Not joking. There were 5 people hanging outside of the bus, how I'm not sure. Anyway, I was probably packed into the aisle about 1/3 of the way back, and I'm always the first person to get off because I get off pretty fast. So there is a person called the adelante who is always hanging out the door way, taking fares, yelling at people to get on, or move toward the back of the bus, etc. Anyways, the adelante called out my stop and I managed to make eye contact and say SI! The bus stopped, and half of the entire front had to get off the bus so I could get off. Even then, I could barely move toward the front. I was stepping on feet and legs as there was no floor space on the aisle and saying "con permiso!" and "lo siento!" I still don't know how I pulled myself out, maybe adreneleine, but somehow I was spit out into the street dripping with sweat and happy to be home. The end. :)
Much love to all!
Rachel
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