Advertisement
Published: November 28th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Bundled into a colectivo (10-seater minivans that act as buses) crammed with 24 Guatemalans, James and I found our way to San Jose, a half hour around the Peten Itza lake from Santa Elena. We headed out to the small quiet town to learn Spanish and stay with a family.
"¿Les gustan los niños? Do you like children?" asked the school director, Glenda, a lady who had an unnerving constant surprised smile on her face, as though someone kept coming around the corner with a birthday cake for her. It was a good job we do like children, because our host family, the Tesucun-Chis, lived in a small house with five of them: Carlita (10), Antonio (9), Oscar (7), Gilder (3) and Marco Vinicio (1). Each child had a very different personality.
Carlita, the eldest, was her mum´s right hand lady, taking care of the baby, keeping an eye on the others plus helping her mum cook and clean all day. Antonio was the little man of the house during the week while his dad worked away on a finca (a farming estate) a few hours away from San Jose. Then there was cheeky chappy Oscar, full of giggles,
The Tesucun-Chi family
L-R Antonio, Carla, Marco Vinicio, Carlita and Oscar. Gilder was asleep when this photo was taken. funny faces and play acting. Next in line was Gilder, who we thought was a girl until we saw him running around naked on the third day. He liked toy guns, giving James high fives and lots of attention, whining when he didn´t get it. Lastly came Marco Vinicio, a coffee-drinking tortilla-eating baby, who looked distinctly Mongolian (- a trait seen in many indigenous Guatemalans. The theory is that in 11,000BC the first populations walked across from Siberia on an ice bridge.)
The house was basic. Mud walls, earth floors and a corrigated iron roof.
The family squeezed onto a rickety wooden bench at a slanted old table for meals and we joined them, treated to some top notch veggie food. A feat considering the meals were produced from a gas hob perched on top of a couple of oil barrels, while tortillas (which accompanied EVERY meal) were homemade on a DIY grill out the back. Forks were optional, as the tortillas were used to pick up and eat the food. Saves on the washing up!
The outside hole-in-the-ground toilet was pretty grim, the cockroaches skuttling around the bottom of the hole almost pushed me over the
The loo
Not fantastic. edge. James and I gave the family amusement every monring by disappearing off to the loo together like school kids.
Our room was a box room at the front of the house. It had a mattress, a light and a bible nailed on the wall above the bed. Trying to tell us something maybe?! Apart from that, it was bare. During the night unidentified creatures ran up and down the rafters, their footsteps echoing against the tin roof. We identified the creatures on our final night...rats. James called it ´The Night of Terror´. I´m a tourist, get me out of here!
Having said all that, we couldn´t really complain. The family was so hospitable and welcoming, although they clearly had little to live on. Over 50% of Guatemalans live in poverty, the indigenous community of San Jose was no exception. We had no right to snub the conditions, it was their home. And it was a loving, warm family home. Cousins, neices and nephews would regularly drop by, one evening we counted thirteen children all under the age of fifteen playing in the front room.
The town itself was lovely. Staggeringly steep hills led away at sharp
angles from the lake. Ten minutes of huffing and puffing uphill rewarded us with magnificent views of the water and misty mountains in the distance. Literally everybody would smile and say "Buenos Dias" or "Hola" when we passed them on the street - old ladies, teenage boys, policemen, men on motorbikes - everyone. From what we could make out, we were pretty much the only foreigners in town.
My teacher was brilliant. David was a smart guy who had once dreamed of being an actor. He usually worked twelve hour night shifts in a petrol station for 21 consecutive nights. In his ten days off, he tried to pick up teaching work to supplement his income to support his wife, two children and an orphaned nephew he adopted, as well as his in-laws. They lived together in a single square room and they were a pleasure to meet. It made our family´s house look like a mansion.
We saw similar housing on a bike ride through the hillside villages on the way to an archeological site. Emilio, a local expert showed the way. The ride was brilliant except for one section part snarling dogs. "¡Rapido!" shouted Emilio as
he raced ahead. My little legs peddled as fast as I could the dogs snaping at my heels. When I finally got away from the dogs and caught up with him, he told us how one of the dogs had bitten a student last month. Glad I took those rabies shots now. When we got to the archeological site, we were descended upon by swarms of mosquitoes. We could only stand it for five minutes before asking to head back. Our tit-for-brains guide could have mentionned the conditions to us when he saw us mount the bikes in sleeveless tops! A shame, because we had the ancient Mayan ruins to ourselves and I had lots of questions which I was now able to ask in Spanish.
I learnt a lot of Spanish in the five days, including finally mastering the past tense. But the biggest lesson of all was living and seeing first hand the reality of life for the majority of Guatemalans. There may well be a recession in the country whereever you are reading this and you might be feeling the pinch. But trust me, things are not that bad. If you have a mattress to sleep
The back of the house
The outdoor sink and shower is on the left of the picture on, a toilet to sit on and running water to wash in, be thankful.
From Jess
Advertisement
Tot: 0.309s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 76; dbt: 0.0858s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb