Fijese que…
One particularly exciting thing about working for a radio station is that you get to travel a lot. I was able to visit two new towns (both about 1 hour or so away from my site). On Wednesday of last week, Pedro (a co-worker who is a correspondent to the main newspaper here – La Prensa Libre) and I traveled to Solola in order to report on a celebration that was being held in honor of the International Day for the Indigenous People of Guatemala. Needless to say, I was the only gringa at this celebration, but everyone seemed to welcome me with open arms! There were approximately 75 people that attended the celebration and we all sat in a circle facing one another. My co-worker and I were the only ones that were not in the native dress (FYI – I now have an official vest and badge to wear at all radio promotions). The rest of the folks were dressed in the typical traje worn in this particular town (which is very different from the traje worn in Nahuala – which is how you can tell where someone is from). To start off the ceremony, a Mayan priest visited each of the four points in our circle, which represented the points of a compass. The ritual involved burning candles and some type of incense in order to make offerings to the gods and praying for whatever. Each point of the compass had a colored candle and a special religious significance. Pretty much everything in the Mayan world is seen in relation to these cardinal points, with the world-tree at the center. After the ritual was completed, four members of the community (2 being town mayors and 1 being a Mayan beauty queen) gave speeches to recognize the Mayan culture and the importance of their identities in present Guatemala. (Side note: Guatemalans tend to sleep through everything, so half the people in the audience were sleeping during this time). My counterpart and I were taping the different speeches and asking for one-on-one interviews with the speakers following their talks. Afterwards, the real fun began! A marimba band began to play while they filled the meeting room with rows of tables for lunch. We received tamales, some type of beef in a chili sauce, and a good ole shot of kusha (moonshine). These people weren’t playing around….they brought in bottle after bottle of kusha. Unfortunately or fortunately, I discovered that it is rude to not accept this kind of offering – so you must drink it whether you like it or not. So I found myself drinking moonshine in the middle of the week barely past noontime – and having to force it down my throat because it burned so bad. Anyways, the dancing began after lunch, which basically consisted of a type of line-dance in which the partners look like they are doing some kind of hop scotch. I didn’t participate – but it was sure fun to watch! Then my co-worker and I staggered out of the celebration in order to return to our town – but we made a couple of pit stops along the way…First, we visited a women’s association and conducted an interview on women’s rights and equality….Then we ended up meeting another interesting lady on the chicken bus, so we went past our stop in order to get another interview with her. It was a pretty humorous day, but a great chance to see what the people at the radio do everyday!Next on the itinerary was a town called Santa Clara La Laguna. I’m not sure exactly why it’s called ‘La Laguna’ because it’s not actually on Lake Atitlan…but you can still see it from the top of town. My team and I left at about 6 in the morning crowded in our company pickup in order to get there before their festivities began. They were having their annual ‘feria’ – or holiday – to celebrate the town’s anniversary. We set up all the equipment for the radio transmission, and then we headed to a small diner for breakfast…which surprise, consisted of eggs, beans, and tortillas. Afterwards, the town parade began. Our reporter from the radio stood at the edge of the procession and did a play-by-play until the very end. (By the way, I am now famous because he mentioned my name on the radio and that I would be working with them for the next two years…pretty cool huh.) Most of the parade consisted of school marching bands, local beauty queens, and town elders dressed in traditional traje. It was pretty chaotic since all of the sounds drowned out each other. We then hopped into the pickup to catch the finale which was held in a huge soccer field in the outskirts of town. The field was crowded with people dancing to a popular marimba band. (FYI - All during this time, I am the only gringo around, so I am getting some pretty funny looks at this point…but the townsfolk were extremely amable.) After catching lunch at the same diner as before (surprise…fried chicken, beans, rice, and tortillas), the festivities in the town square kicked off. There was a stage built in the center surrounded by about 40 gargantuan speakers. A local troop outfitted in the scariest costumes ever danced while the marimba band played song after song….I thought it was never going to end. Every song sounded the same, and every dance looked like the one before. While the music played on, I started talking to a local Guatemalteco who I thought was a pretty decent guy….but then he pleaded with me to dance with him about 30 times over in which I finally had to just get up and walk away. In addition, because it was a feria, there were plenty of bolos…i.e. town drunks…to go around. So after I had had enough, I headed back to Nahuala in a little micro-bus that cornered the mountains like it was on rails…I was praying for my life at this point. The drive is absolutely beautiful, right smack dab in a succession of mountains, but it’s scary as hell to get there. I was then dropped off on the side of the road and had to wait nearly an hour for another bus. But once I was picked up, I sat next to the nicest girl ever and I learned that she was also on her way to Nahuala. She’s 32 years old and not married….which in Guatemala is extremely unique! She works in the capital all week and then returns to Nahuala on the weekends. She invited me over for a cup of coffee and introduced me to her whole family. We exchanged numbers and emails, so I think I found my new best friend!
Next up was a town called Ixtanachu (which for the record is definitely spelled wrong). I thought the town was in close proximity since the main bus stop entering the town is only 10 minutes away from Nahuala. But once you get off at the bus stop, you have to take a pickup to the center of the town…which ended up being about a 40 minute ride through the most beautiful scenery I have seen here yet. I had one of those moments sitting in the back of the pickup…thinking…I am in freaking Guatemala! It was so surreal…I was surrounded by rows and rows of corn, blue skies, green as far as the eye could see, on a rocky mountain road in the middle of absolutely no where. I didn’t want the ride to end, but once we reached the town, we immediately had to beeline for the church in order to tape the anniversary celebration of a Gringo priest that has been living in the town for nearly 30 years now. The church was the biggest I have seen in Guatemala and pretty much dominates the town. The festivities began at 9:00 am and didn’t conclude until almost 3:00 pm. First there was a church service, then lots of music, and then offerings to the priest…which included a live turkey. Mind you, everything was spoken in Quiche…in which I know absolutely zero at this point in time. Needless to say, it wasn’t the most exciting event for me, seeing as I didn’t feel too great (I’m a little sick this week) and I had speakers blaring right in my ear to the most annoying beat you can imagine. But the local kids were absolutely adorable and they were so curious about the blond gringa! The women of the town walk around barefoot, carrying colorful weavings atop of their heads. We were then invited to stay for lunch with the priest of the church….which ended up being the first (and probably the last) time that I ate fish in this country! It was served head, gills, and all…but stuffed with salsa. Another gringo joined us for lunch, a volunteer that is helping out at the church for three months, so we exchanged numbers to hang out again since he is literally out in the middle of nowhere.
As for this past Saturday, my site mate and I went for a hike on some trails near Nahuala. It is an eco-tourism project, but unfortunately, the trails were not marked too well…so we ended up making up our own for half of the way. Sunday, I had to go into the radio station all day because they were giving a workshop to all of the reporters and correspondents that work for them. I participated in the workshop for the correspondents, which involved writing up recent news stories and then taping them aloud with minor digital editing. The workshop ended up taking all day….mainly, because half of the participants were on ‘Chapin time’ (which means Guatemalan time….or rather an hour or two late), and then the other half was spent chatting about the weather. Another saying that you will frequently come across in Guatemala is ‘Fijese que’. When you hear someone begin a sentence with this phrase, you automatically know that that person is about to lie to you. It’s normally used when giving an excuse, but it’s almost always not true.
Anyways, I met a lot of interesting characters that work for the radio. One man spoke a little bit of English, reminded me of my grandpa, asked me if I wanted to come to dinner at his house one night, and threw in whether I could teach him how to use the computer. Another gentleman took a picture of me with his camera phone and then proceeded to ask if I could help him learn English. The next guy asked me if I could help find new markets for his medicinal plants that he grows up in the mountains…that sounded a little sketchy. And then finally, I had a twenty minute talk with a woman that truly believed I could help her get a visa. This story is unfortunately very typical…and the only response that I can provide is that I am willing to help them through the individual application. Because I am from the US, they automatically think that I have an ‘in’ with the government…
One of the news clippings that a correspondent used for their taping was a story that happened in Nahuala last week. Evidently, three local women were attempting to sell their babies – one was pregnant and the other two had just given birth. The community shaved the women’s heads, punished them in the central square, and then banished them from the town.
Okay, one last comment for the week….I was very excited to find that our town has a lavanderia (or laundromat). Because I don’t have much time to wash my clothes by hand and also because we are in the rainy season and it takes forever for them to dry, I decided to try the laundromat out. I got my clothes back today with holes in them…so I guess this means that I will be washing by hand in the pila once again. Oh well, I tried!
Con carino,
Carin
posted by Carin Robinson @ 2:13 PM
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