Xela / Quetzeltenango, Guatemala

Sunday, Jan 23, 2011

Well, it was a long trip to get here, but here we are. We left Minneapolis on Friday afternoon on the Mega Bus to Chicago. Not as glamorous as flying, but a lot cheaper ($30 for the two of us). We got into Chicago at 1:00 Saturday morning and were dropped on a street corner a few blocks from a subway stop. On a warm night we would have easily walked the distance, but it was way too cold for us, so we caught a taxi and were dropped right at the station. Another $7 bought a ticket to the airport for the two of us and a homeless man who helped us figure out the vending machine.

The train was chilly, but certainly warmer than the street and our car had about a half dozen homeless men alternately dozing, chatting, drinking and smoking. The airport is the end of the blue line, so when we got there, the men in our car and all the other cars got up and wandered across the platform to the train going the opposite way. I’m not sure just how long it takes for the blue line to reach the other end. It took us an hour from what seemed to be a pretty central location, so I’m guessing they get close to two hours of napping at a time. Seems like a pretty tough way to spend the night. It occurred to me that the subway on very cold winter nights would be a good place for a Mobile Loaves and Fishes.

Our flight from O’Hare was at 6am, so we had several hours in the airport to wait. Jeff got my air mattress inflated and I caught a few hours of sleep. He managed to get us first class on the first leg to Atlanta. That was nice. It was a short flight, only 1 ½ hours, but I managed to doze again. In Atlanta, we didn’t have a lot of time to catch our connecting flight and our terminal was on the complete opposite side of where we landed, so we knew we would need to hustle. I used the facilities and it was when I went to put my pack back on that I realized I had left my waist pack on the plane. I ran out and told Jeff and then immediately burst into tears. I need my sleep, and successive naps don’t really cut it for me. Tired = tears. We managed to retrieve it and got to our terminal before they began boarding. Once again, Jeff got us first class, which was really sweet (his status has gone down from platinum to gold, and I imagine it will soon drop to silver and then nothing so we’re milking it for all its worth!).

Once in Guatemala City we caught a taxi to our Sister Parish Center where we caught up with Ellen, the Executive Director. After an early dinner out with her, we hit the sack and slept for nearly 12 hours straight. We were up at 8:00, and by the time we checked emails, showered, had coffee and got repacked it was 9:30 and Jose Antonio, our cabbie, was there to pick us up. Ellen had called him last night and arranged for him to take us to the bus station where we caught our ride to Xela. He’s a great guy and we had a good chance to practice our Spanish. He gave us our first lesson, teaching us a few things, like how we can use three different Spanish words to express a single thought, ie good food: you can say delicisioso, rico and sabroso.

We got to the Alamo station with a ½ hour to spare, which Ellen said was necessary if we wanted to ensure getting our ticket (although we had tickets reserved, you’ve got to get there and pay for them to be sure you actually get on the bus). We had time, then, to sit in the shade and eat our sandwich, purchased in Atlanta before I knew we had first class, and some of the other snacks in our bag (the remnants of our fridge from home: cheese, carrot sticks, trail mix, nuts). A must-go brunch.

The ride to Xela was very winding and when I tried to nap, the motion got to me, so I just looked out the window and enjoyed watching the countryside pass by. We’re here during the dry season and apparently it is harvest time. The earth is pale brown to nearly white and very dry looking right now. It doesn’t look like anything could grow in it, but there are occasional patches of green cabbages still growing. Many fields have already been cleared and some have been burned off in preparation for new planting. The tall Guatemalan corn is drying on the stalk and ripe watermelons lie scattered in fields that have been cleared already of their vines. They look like giant eggs dropped in dusty nests by some sort of prehistoric bird. Alongside the road, little stands display the melons, stacked on point, along with buckets of white calla lilies, coated with a fine dusting of road dirt.

There are buildings hanging with vibrant bougainvillea, trees sporting bright yellow flowers and shrubs growing out of the rock that have bright purple blooms. Fields are planted right up to the houses so the homes look like some kind of rogue crop amongst the harvested fields. They are unadorned cement block with corrugated tin roofs, others are made up of a patchwork of lathe, sticks, sheets of tin, and bright blue tarps covering the gaps. The little tiendas (shops) along the road are often painted in vibrant shades of blue and yellow and red.

We are checked into the school for now and have been assigned to our homestay. Our host is Dona Violeta and she is a widow of 20 years (I think). She has two daughters, Carolina who is married to Oscar and Diana who is married to Tony, and 5 grandchildren who all live in Xela. During the week she lives alone, but on the weekend, her parents come and stay with her. Her mother’s name is Maria Carmen (she goes by the name of Carmen) and her father’s name is Florencio (I think). Violeta is very outgoing and friendly. Her house is quite nice, with a small living room, a kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom with running water. I think we will be very comfortable. There are plenty of blankets for on the bed, plus the secret – shh… an electric blanket! Of course, all this information is based on the assumption I’ve understood her Spanish! At dinner tonight we learned more about the family, specifically that Oscar is an uber-handyman and Tony is not. And I learned a new word: Trabajandor Domistico = handyman.

After settling in here, but before dinner, we went for a walk to the Parque Central, less than a mile from here I would guess. The parque is in front of the Basilica, so we stopped in a lit a few candles for Mom and Fabian and Ross and Leslie and all the others we are praying for. There is also a market in the plaza and there were a lot of people milling around. By this time of day, the vendors were limited to those who were selling food… tiny tortillas with ground beef (res) and onions, tacos with your choice of burger or chicken or hot dogs, hot fruit punch and some sort of hot milk punch. Jeff bought a glass of hot corn soup that was thick and steaming hot, slightly sweet with a sprinkling of whole corn and paprika on top.

We have orientation tomorrow morning at 8am, which is when we’ll have our tour of the school, be assigned our teachers, have our Spanish skills assessed and pay our tuition for the next four weeks. I am looking forward to school. I have found myself really enjoying the interaction with those we’ve met so far, and have been pleasantly surprised by how well I’ve been able to communicate. Violeta does know a little bit of English, and that helps, but mostly we have been speaking Spanish. She says the school is so good that by the end of the week we’ll be chatting like sisters! I hope so…