Making my Way in Huehue
Buenas Tardes Gringos;)Once again, this has proved to be an out of the ordinary and eye-opening week in Guatemala. Nothing seems to really faze me anymore…
Last Wednesday, I made my way to Solola once again, in order to catch the radio’s transmission of a marimba band that was playing during their feria (or town festival). The stage was located in the middle of town, right smack dab in the center of the market. There were so many people there you could hardly even move through the crowds. The market was huge – with booths set up for just about anything you could think to buy…my favorite was the butcher stands, with raw animal meat just hanging from their hooks. So, I was sitting at the edge of the large crowd in order to watch the band, including the dancers that were performing in front of the stage, when I was rudely interrupted by a ‘bolo’ (a drunk) who wanted to give me a hard time. In order to avoid an unpleasant situation, I decided to stroll around town for a bit, in which I found an almost hidden, underground market of sorts – that again, sold todos. I also encountered another marimba band, but this time, there were no dancers in front, only lots of barachos (another word for drunks) trying to dance but swaying around like they would tip over any minute…pretty humorous! Did I mention that this was in the middle of the day?? Well, at this point, I had only been there for two hours…but I started feeling really sick. I decided not to chance it, so I hopped on a camioneta and returned to Nahuala by myself. Unfortunately, this ‘feeling’ stuck around for a couple of days…but gracias adios (thank god), my abuela (grandma) fled to her garden, tweaked some type of plant, soaked it in tea…and whatever I had went away! Yes, this sounds a little sketchy, but I am not knocking it since I did a complete 360 within a matter of hours. (Out of the 44 hospitals here in Guatemala, 15 are currently on strike, so I cannot get sick here!! They are on strike because the government is not providing them enough money and resources to afford patients an acceptable level of sanitary conditions.) Anyways, I’m not sure exactly what I had, but I think it’s a combination of two things (one that is really my doing)…1) I have started to eat street food, which I am fully aware is not sanitary at all and 2) my diet at my host family’s house is really nothing but eggs, beans, and tortillas….I think I am lacking some serious nutritional elements at this point. But I should be living on my own in two more months, and then I will be able to cook for myself…haha, which we all know that I cannot do but will have to learn!
Towards the end of the week, Mother Maria returned from the States. Mother Maria is a Gringa nun that has been living in Nahuala for over 20 years, and she is also on the Board of Directors here at the Radio. She has a little house in the center of town, in which she proceeded to tell me that she is currently suing her neighbor who has started building on her property, has threatened her life multiple times, and has robbed her house once or twice….I am sitting here thinking, I would probably just move..But the people in town, including her, are interested to see if the judicial system even works, and if anything will come about. Suing someone (just reporting anything really) is definitely not common here. Anyways, she is the sweetest little lady and will be a great resource to have here in Nahuala…she knows everything about the town, she knows everyone here, she is an expert on the Radio, and she speaks English (which is best of all!) She is also making me a key to her house, in case I ever want to come take a hot shower or sit in front of her stove to warm up!
Once the weekend rolled around, I was ready to hang out with some of the other volunteers in Pana, right next to the lake. It was the first time we were able to meet up since our site departures – so needless to say, I was really missing everybody! There were about 14 of us there for my site mate, Eric’s birthday. We feasted on giant hamburgers, went swimming in the lake, danced the night away at a local club, and then grubbed on street tacos before straying back to the hotel. I wore my traje (the traditional Mayan weaving) out - I think my friends thought I was nuts. It was so fun to hear everyone else’s stories and how things were going though! We are all having really different experiences…but then again, this is Guatemala, so some things remain the same;)
Then on Monday, I left for Huehuetenango, which is the third largest town in Guatemala and is separated from Nahuala by the most incredible mountains and a very long, twisting road. My counterpart and I were traveling to Huehue in order to attend a workshop on women’s rights and discrimination in Guatemala. We were supposed to leave on Monday around 8 am, but due to foreseeable circumstances (since this IS Guatemala), we ended up leaving around 11 instead. The good news is that we snatched a chicken bus that actually had a TV and DVD player inside, so I didn’t have to listen to the crap they normally play for three long hours. Huehue is pretty much a dirty city clogged with lots of noise and traffic – but it has a beautiful square in the middle of town with a pretty impressive church. Once we made it into town, this is where we sat for about two hours waiting on the rest of the women to arrive. There were 55 altogether, all indigenous, representing most of the western departments of Guatemala, and members of some kind of women’s organization in their areas. To start the workshop off, we headed to the late post-classic ruins of Zaculeu, just outside of town, in order to hold a Mayan ceremony. This place used to be an active religious center with pyramids, ball courts, and ceremonial platforms. It was pretty surreal – especially when witnessing a Mayan ceremony among the aged-old remains. The master of the ceremony took his place at the center of this fire-pit and we all gathered around him. He meticulously placed about 500 colored candles in the middle of the pit, each symbolizing something distinctive – and then he scattered flower petals along the outer-edge of the circle to symbolize the colors of the types of corn that can be grown here in Guatemala. Once the flames had reached their potential, we began by kneeling to face each of the four points sequentially and pray to the different gods. During certain intervals, we were handed dirt or a type of grain to throw on the fire, usually a prayer for money or sustainability of crops. At one point, the ‘Master’ came around blessing us with some kind of oil on our face. Several of the women had individual prayers recited, in which the ‘Master’ would take a candle and rub it all over the woman’s body and then throw it into the fire. This went on for about three hours and I think that we prayed for just about everything! After the fire had died down, the women took off their shoes and walked barefoot among the ashes in order to conclude the ceremony. By this time, it was already dark, and the buses had stopped running towards town. We ended up having to call a bus to come get us….which was pretty funny to see a large group of indigenous women waiting by the side of the road in the dark. We headed to the hotel to check-in, and I ended up sharing a room with 5 other women (4 of whom I had just met) and 2 of their kids (one 7 month-old baby and one 5 year-old boy). Let’s just say that I did not get much sleep during this trip….mainly because the 7 month-old baby cried throughout the night, and I woke up several times to the little boy just standing there watching me sleep. Also, we didn’t have a toilet or shower in our room, so we had to go over and use another room’s bathroom for the whole three days.
The workshop began on Tuesday by looking at the current situation for women living in Guatemala (especially in the indigenous towns) and then how to ignite more participation and interaction within their communities, political parties, etc. It was amazing to discover that a lot of the women participating weren’t even aware of what their individual rights actually are! Then, of course, there was a lot of open discussion about the problems that women face in their communities and the types of discrimination that are still evident. It appeared that these women are all strong-minded and intelligent – but they 1) are clueless as to how to get involved and actually participate within their communities to work towards equality and 2) they are automatically discriminated against within the whole of Guatemala because they wear traje, have a different language, live in rural areas, are typically poor and non-educated (the majority can’t read and write)…basically one word – they are Mayan. Anyways, I won’t bore you with more details of the workshop itself, only to say that as I sat there that day; I could only feel depressed for the women that were sitting before me, and yet grateful for the opportunities and advantages that I have in the U.S. as a woman. As I listened to their testimonies, I realized how lucky we are and much further women in Guatemala have yet to go.
Since I was the only white woman within the group, I made friends pretty quickly…which basically means that I had a lot of people asking for my help. Many of the women confided in me, telling me about their organizations and what their problems were, and then asking if I could lend them a hand. I ended up giving several of them my phone number in order to keep in touch to see if I can do anything with them in the future. But overall, it was just very overwhelming…because so many were seeking out help, and yet I know that I don’t have the time or resources to reach everyone. And yet, I have a hard time saying no…
Which leads me to my last story this week! I had a great time at this workshop, but I learned two things about ‘Gringos’ in the eyes of the Guatemalan: Gringos = Money and Gringos = Visas. I had countless women asking if I could help secure funds or donations for their organizations, automatically associating the ‘bling, bling’ with my white skin. Once I mentioned that I was a volunteer and that I didn’t have those kinds of resources at my disposal, they weren’t interested in any other type of help that I could provide. And not only $, but I also had women crawling all over me about Visas, wanting me to help them get a Visa to the US. Probably the best story of the week, I actually had a guy ask me if I would marry him in order to get a green card…and he was dead serious! It’s sad to see how desperate people here are to move to the US – and even though I don’t quite agree with it - I don’t want to stand in the way of their dreams. So, no…I won’t be getting married to this guy (no worries Pops), but I told him that I would help him fill out his application and explain anything he didn’t understand within the process (since it’s all in English). I guess that’s all I can really do…
My trip finally ended with a 3 hour ride in the back of a pickup truck along with 8 other people…I don’t think I need to even explain to you how uncomfortable this was, seeing that I am 5’10 and have longer legs than most Guatemalans. Not only that, but it was extremely cold since we were traveling through the mountains, and I thought that my nose was gonna fall off. But, whatever, it was worth it, because the view was amazing!!
More to come next week,
-C
posted by Carin Robinson @ 7:35 AM
<< Home