Sickness

After watching the New England/Indinapolis game in a bar and having a Limonada that seemed more baking soda than Limon, I began to feel a little sick but will be damned if I was going to miss the end of it. So I stayed and was unable to get either excited or really to have much emotion at all without fear that my lunch at Pollo Campero would exit via a direction it was not meant to leave by. After Indi had sealed the deal I walked home and felt more and more like I should never have had that Limonada, but glad that I had seen the game. Upon reaching home it hit me less than 30 minutes later.... HARD. I wasn´t able to sleep most of the night for no more than an hour and found that anything that I had eaten recently was finding a way to the bottom of the toilet bowl through any means necessary. The morning found me unable to function really and Melissa after confirming with our teachers and CRISPAZ returned from school to spend the day with me at a clinic. By this time I didn´t have much left in my body but still felt more comfortable laying on a bench close to the bathroom in the back of the clinic. I couldn´t help but wonder if some Mayan mothers were purposely taking their children back to the bathroom to tell them they would have to stay with the sick gringo if they didn´t behave, for it was more quiet there. The doctor listened to my broken spanish patiently and after a lab sample confirmed that I had amoebas and prescribed some antibiotics that I would have to take for 10 days.

Upon returning I found that my appetite was regestering a big ¨0¨ and wasn´t able to consume much more than a bowl of soup and a few crackers during the next two days. Monday and Tuesday night weren´t much better for me either as I found myself waking up in the middle of the night with the inability to get back to sleep which Melissa must have appreciated greatly but only asked continuely what she could do for me (Bless her and her patience!). These past few days have been a little better for me as my stomach doesn´t hurt but often feels tight. I still have a small appetite which doesn´t help these meds which were made strong enough for a small army. Whoo, what great day it will be when I no longer have to take them!

Needless to say Melissa and I have decided to stay another week to study and let my sickness run its coarse (or the meds, I´m not sure which I find the greater struggle...). Nonetheless I find myself greatful for little things (like the times I am sleeping or not taking my meds), no seriously the times that Melissa and I find ourselves laughing with our family about my inability to congengate a verb or when she runs to the supermarket during our 30 minute break (about a 1/2 mile away) for yogut for me I am greatful. And also a little hesitant to get well as I know well these things come full circle. Also I find myself really wondering if these really are amoebas or if perhaps deep down I´m really a New England fan?

Our weekend in Chichi

This past weekend Tom and I ventured out of the city of Xela to the nearby town of Chichicastenango. Chichi is approximately 3 hours away from Xela and is well-known for their market on Sundays. Also, Tom´s aunt MaryAnn was going to be in Chichi for the week, so we thought we would venture out and go visit. On Friday we left for the ¨bus terminal¨ around 1:30pm, this was our first adventure to the ¨bus terminal¨ and it was definately not what we expected. We took a smaller bus to the terminal (I forget what this is called, but it´s basically a minivan). We arrived at the terminal which was basically the side of the street where many people gathered to catch a bus to their own destination. We stood for around 15 minutes waiting for buses...to our dismay there were none heading towards Chichi. We started aimlessly wandering towards other areas of the street in search for our bus....there continued to be none. Tom was able to ask a couple people where the buses were for Chichi and we were told they were in another area. We then walked towards where we thought the busses were, but once again none to Chichi. Tom once again asked one of the bus drivers and was told there is another area for buses....on the other side of the market. So, once again Tom and I took off in search of our bus....wandering through the market (which we never new was as big as it was) after walking through the market for a good 15 minutes we stumbled upon an open, noisy area with many, many busses and lots of people. We didn´t really need to look for a bus as there were people coming up to us and asking where we needed to go. So, after spending an hour searching we finally found our bus to Chichi and were ready for the 3 hour ride. Although I slept most of the way I also gained a friend (a teenage boy who was so tired he fell asleep on my shoudler), and Tom got a good chuckle out of that.

Once in Chichi we got a place to stay at a hotel for around 70 quetzales a night, which is around $10 in american. The room was not fancy by any means and the bathroom smelled pretty bad, but it had a gorgeous view of the city. Friday night was fairly uneventful, we explored the city a little, but it was dark so we were not terribly comfortable wandering around, so we more or less ate and went back to the hotel. Saturday we were wandering around the city by 9am, strolling down the main street where the market takes place. Tom and I had our sites on a restaurant that was recommend through a book...however, on our way to the restaurant we heard a familiar american voice ¨Tom, Melissa¨ Tom stopped immediately, however I was dead set on that breakfast and payed no attention. I eventually turned around to see that MaryAnn had found us. We spent some time hanging out with MaryAnn and made plans to go to Pascal Abaj, which is a ritualistic Mayan place of worship. MaryAnn went her seperate way as Tom and I went to Pascal Abaj. Once at Pascal Abaj Tom and I felt as though we were intruding, as there were ceremonies taking place, therefore we didn´t stay very long. (Although during the ceremony the leader (or bujo I believe) stepped away from the ceremony to take a call on his cell phone.)

Upon the walk back we stumbled upon a small artisian shop called Project Guggenheim, they actually have a website if you want to check it out. www.projectguggenheim.org This is a place where young children and teenagers are able to learn how to paint, sculpt and various other forms of art. There are several of them throughout the world. They had a lot of beautiful artwork!! Tom and I bought two smaller piece of art, we also brought MaryAnn back later in the day and she bought something as well. The rest of the weekend we spent doing some shopping and hanging out. Oh yeah and it´s hard to forget all of the people who would follow MaryAnn around and want her to buy whatever they were selling. One lady even followed us to MaryAnn´s hotel and then found us again later in the evening....no, MaryAnn did not buy anything from her, but she could´ve gotten the items at a really good price!! Sunday we took a little side trip to a nearby city, but to our dismay it was not what we expected...we left after spending a short amount of time there. Once we got back to Chichi it was time for Tom and I to head back to the city. Back on the bus and back to Xela.

Odds n´Ends

There are of things that I have been thinking about but haven´t had the chance to write about yet.

First, Pollo Campero...

Although I don´t have a picture of this fast food chain that could easily give KFC a run for their money (in fact KFC tried to bring some stores down here and Pollo Campero continued to take all their business). According to my maestro this business is native to Guatemala and actually the owners were origanially from the Xela area. For those of you in the states think of a KFC but tastier chicken and less grease as well. Great food and a lot of pride from nearly any Guatemalan when you ask about it and excitement too. However with all chains it has it´s downfalls, as the owners have not only a monopoly on the restaurantes that have dominated all over the central american countries (as well as within some areas in states), they also control all of the chicken supplied to the grocery stores and the feed for chickens too if any families buy that for chickens that they may be raising (like ours for example). Nonetheless it doesn´t feel as bad as going to McDonalds so I have justified it to myself thus far. In our two experiences of it we were amazed how fast we got our food, in fact my slogan for the place has been ¨Pollo Campero, where the food comes fast and the bill comes slow¨. It´s almost as though they don´t want us to pay... (I wish...)

The cemetary here has been BEAUTIFUL and peaceful as well. For me I have been able to use a place like this to reconnect, both to myself and to the world around me. There have been several of those places and things that often help when I´m feeling down or little homesick. Another was re-finding some ¨Jalopenos chips¨ that I origanally fell in love with when I visited Tim and Shirley (my brother and his wife) here over 11 years ago. I´ll spare you the stories of how I would buy 4 or more at a time (they are small one ounce bags) when I was only a lad of 14-15, but I will tell you that not much has changed. I still think when eating them all one´s problems seem to dift away... at least for me. Many times it´s been the small things that have allowed me to recenter and realize how blessed I have am to be able to experience this world around me. If I may add a personal note I would like say that it´s been great to have Melissa here as I couldn´t imagine the experiencing the difficulties without someone I care so much about. After all someone needs to eat the wiggly meat... (so if I have any Melissa´s plate may get larger when she´s not looking.... hey!)

-posted by Tom

Adventures in Xela

Life here in Xela continues with new adventures almost daily. This week has been busy with the activities that the school has arranged for students. On Tuesday Tom and I along with other students were able to get a free Salsa dance lesson. The lesson was one hour long and needless to say I was a little sweaty after and we both were yearning for more. Wednesday we ventured to Banos de Vahos, which was about a 20 minute bus ride from Xela and an hour walk up to this fantastic place. Banos de Vahos is basically a sauna, it is naturally heated by the hotsprings that are located underneath Banos de Vahos. It was very relaxing, refreshing (just what we needed) and had a wonderful aroma of Eucalyptus. Not to mention the view of the city during the walk back to the city, it was spectacular. Thursday we once again ventured out of the city to ¨COPAVIC¨, which is a company that makes glassware, anything from cups to vases to smaller glass trinkets, etc... Once we viewed all the glassware we were able to walk into the workshop, which is where all of the items are made by the men who work there. This was a very interesting process of making the glassware. I can´t describe how they do it very well, but we took lots of pictures. I was asked by one of the male workers if I wanted to give it a try (I think he saw the fascination in my eyes), how could I really turn this offer down!! So he handed me this metal rod that was probably 4 feet long with a very hot piece of liquid glass on the end. Carefully, I took the rod and with some assistance from him started turning the rod and simotaneously blowing in the end of the rod. At this time he was saying ¨suave, suave¨, luckily that is one of the spanish words I know, meaning smooth. After I got the hang of it he let me handle it by myself....after 15 seconds of blowing the small hot piece of liquid metal turned into a larger glass ball. It was very cool. We took pictures of the adventures this week and have them posted on an online gallery, those of you who are interested please leave a comment here on this blog page and we will send you an email with the gallery address.

Other than the activities we also continue with school and life with our host family. Tom´s spanish is getting rather good where I struggle to put a sentence together. But, with a little hope, serious studying and a good teacher hopefully I will start to improve. The meals here continue to be a struggle, however we get by the best we can. Tom was not feeling well the other day and told our host mom before lunch to let her know that he would not be eating much. Edna was ok with that however, proudly made Tom a drink that she was convinced that will cure his troubling stomach problems. She made up this elixer (that looked just as bad as the soup we were eating) and proudly gave it to Tom. Reluctantly, Tom gave the elixer a taste and over the course of 10 minutes was able to finish the glass. He was not able to tell me until we were in our room that the drink was ablsolutely horrible. He stated it was worse that the soup, I had a hard time believing that because the contents of the soup closely resembeld the water of a swamp in my parents back yard.
-posted by Melissa