Leaving Guatemala

Yesterday, our plane backed away from the portal and taxied down the runway. It was 7:32 A.M. The welcome, warm sun was already up and shining brightly. The flight attendants werebusy serving the first class customers, and we thought about the colorful little tuk tuks (three wheeled taxis) in San Marcos bumping up the steep hills carrying their passengers to and fro. Our ride to Guatemala City the day before had definitely been more comfortable. We had left our beautiful garden and lovely home on the shores of picturesque Lake Atitlan at 9:30 A.M. and spent the night in the humble little Hotel Aero Puerto. When we left San Marcos, a distant volcano was spewing its smoke and probably ashes. We had a jolly day riding with Josh, his friend, Ito, and our driver, Andres, who broke up the more than three-hour trip with a midway breakfast stop. Once in the city, we visited a “totally” Chinese store. It was run by Guatemalans, but it had everything one could want to cook and/or to decorate with the Eastern motif. We had picked up two more of Josh and Courtney’s friends, Inger and Marcel, earlier in the capital city, and they too were buying tea and woks.

Now as we gaze past the window passenger and watch the plane gain altitude, we are already discussing how we will pack differently, what items to include, and special things for granddaughters, Mirabai and Althea. We were still savoring the fabulous early sunsets over Lake Atitlan often observed from our little cabana on the lakeshore. The dim lighting, which precluded nighttime reading, lack of TV, and absence of Wi-Fi in our casa inspired us to go to bed early. We would list all the people we met, and things that we enjoyed, ate, or purchased. Our wood burning fireplace was a welcome place to have our morning coffee. We loved watching the water taxis moving back and forth across the lake every half hour from dawn to dusk. We boarded them whenever possible to visit other towns on lovely Lake Atitlan with its backdrop of volcanoes and mountains.

Our visit to Santiago on our last Sunday was most special. We will return to the shops and the market and the church there when we visit next time. Josh and Courtney have made a positive impact on San Marcos. Their school, Escuela Caracol, is a beautiful garden with two classrooms, office, compost toilet, water tank, and storage lockers. They grow small numbers of bananas, corn, limes, plantains, and other garden veggies. They even have a little grove of coffee bean trees that produce abundantly.
This time our visit coincided with the picking of coffee beans. One evening, when we hiked up around the mountain to Tzununa, many men and boys were pouring out of the fields with heavy bags of the beans on their backs. Jerry estimated, when he struggled to lift one that they must have weighed between 85 and 100 pounds. The avocados were also being picked and shipped elsewhere. Huge bags sat on the road awaiting trucks to load and take them to market. The native Mayans are gentle, friendly, hard working, and clean. Huge loads are carried in baskets on the heads of women and strapped on the backs of men. Mothers bathe their children in Lake Atitlan or the canal, wash their clothes, bathe themselves, and scrub their houses each morning. Farm animals may be found grazing along the roads or even roaming through town.

The biggest negative in the small villages are the dogs that crowd the sidewalks, poop wherever they want, and bark at night. While a few have fierce barks, they are wimps if one reaches for a stone. We did see the rare misuse of alcohol at times. That is one issue the churches and community are attempting to alleviate. It was good to see that between our first visit in March and this trip, San Marcos has installed trash cans and posted fines for littering. It has helped, but they have a long way to go. Oh yes! There are a couple of other things we won’t miss. The Catholic Church and some Pentecostal churches in San Marcos have big loudspeakers. There are the early morning announcements and the evening chanting, which we suppose is to resemble “a joyful noise unto the Lord.”

Overall, though, we love visiting Guatemala. It is a beautiful, mountainous country, with diminutive, sweet, industrious people. They rarely pass us without a greeting. It is estimated that 40 percent of the population are Evangelical Christians. The rest are mostly Roman Catholic. The average wage earner makes less than Q74 (about $10). Few have motorized vehicles. They may be poor, but they don’t know it. The USA could afford to emulate their strong work ethic and sense of family commitment.

Farewell Courtney, Josh, energetic Althea, and sweet Baby Mirabai. We miss you already and cannot wait to see you again next year. Thank you for the great contribution you are making to the people of San Marcos. We pray for you daily. Leroy, as the biggest and best dog in San Marcos, we miss you too. Stay healthy! It wouldn’t be the same without you.
(For more Guatemala information and photos, read our Blog posts going back to November 6 and March 2008.)

A Sunday Cruise To Santiago

Sounds romantic doesn't it? What we really mean by "cruise" is the water taxi (launch) from San Marcos to San Pedro to Santiago. Dispelling the cruise myth a bit more is the fact that one boat capsized a few days ago in high winds and waves. Six passengers lost their lives. However, we reasoned, such an accident is rare, the guilty skipper was actually running a private boat, and perhaps the captain was less trained than the public captains. Even so, we made sure that the lake was calm before boarding on a lovely, warm Lord's Day. Upon reaching San Pedro, we were impressed with the progress being made on the steep new street running from the dock to the main part of town. The street is actually made of hand-chiseled rocks held together by mortar. Everything is done by hand in Guatemala, and the young men carry the heavy rocks on their backs. Girls are often employed to carry the mortar in buckets.

Gaspar, a nice young man who works at Carlos' San Marcos internet center, was on the boat with us. He kindly accompanied us through the construction area to a street where we could catch a tuk tuk (taxi) that would take us to another dock where boats depart for Santiago. We got there just in time to board a craft going to our next destination. The sky was clear and sunny, and the ride could not have been smoother. Arriving at Santiago, we caught a tuk tuk to one of the best hotels in Santiago for breakfast. By coincidence, we met Jennie, Courtney's midwife. She joined us for a sumptuous breakfast. We reminisced about Mirabai's unusual birth (see earlier Blog post.) We are so glad Jennie was there for Courtney and the baby.

At noon, our tuk tuk driver picked us up and took us to one of the highest points in the city. There, we could look down to the shores of Lake Atitlan and observe dozens of women washing their laundry in the lake. Also in view were scores of little fishing boats, which are actually canoes hewn from giant logs. We drove around the city and then stopped for awhile at the ancient Roman Catholic Cathedral initially built in the 16th Century. Services were over, but many residents and tourists were milling around, and photos were permitted. Our driver then took us to the market place, where hundreds of vendors were hawking their produce, crafts and essential products. Santiago is the largest and most upscale city on the lake, so if one is looking for quality merchandise, this is the place to roam. Still, despite the modern aspects of the city, most of the people still dress in traditional garb. Before shopping the markets, it is good to be adept at negotiating. Prices may begin at a few hundred quetzales for a piece of art, but by employing the "walk-away" tactic, they drop dramatically. One often hears, "OK, I make you a special price." Or, "OK, how much you pay?" Despite the steep discount, Jerry did not purchase the traditional Guatemalan pants. They looked too much like a New York Yankee uniform.

After walking the full length of the market area, we boarded the launch to San Pedro. Once again, a tuk tuk took us to a our friend Lia's galleria. She accompanied us to our favorite cafe on the lake, Nick's Place, for coffee. Soon we were on our final launch of the day heading back to San Marcos. We carried our shopping bags from the dock to the back gate of our picturesque cottage on the lake. It was good to be back home in our quiet, serene surroundings after a busy, rather tiring day. There was just enough time to take a long nap before the evening church service at Iglesia Esmirna.