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Published: November 30th 2009
No, your eyes do not deceive you, it does say 1988. As my project here in Germany, I’ve begun to go over our travel journals started in 1988 when we left Alaska for our first long adventure. We went to Antigua, Guatemala first to study Spanish, then traveled through Central and South America for about a year and one-half.
So as to have an accurate, historical record of our journals, I’m re-typing them “as is” so to speak. Therefore, the narrative might only be interesting to those of you who want to know what it was like in these places so many years ago.
Important note: I do not have access to my original photos, so am using newer ones (from our visit in 08) or ones I've scanned - plan to put in the original photos when we return to USA. YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT, THEN GO BACK TO THE JOURNAL OR GO THROUGH THE PHOTOS (CLICK ON THE NUMBERS AT THE TOP) IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT.
YOU CAN CLICK ON "PREVIOUS ENTRIES" AT THE TOP LEFT OF THIS BLOG PAGE AND SEE OTHER BLOG ENTRIES. Antigua, Guatemala - September 9, 1988
Bernie and I would like to share our Guatemala experiences with so many of you, so I plan to compose my journal in the form of a newsletter. I hope you don’t mind the “form” letter, but I really think it is the best way to communicate to so many in detail. I predict that there will be more detail at the beginning and that it will taper off, so this first letter should be a doozie.
9/1/88 - Thursday. We left Boston for Guatemala on time, and the flight was uneventful, except when we approached the runway in Guatemala City. The pilot had to overfly the runway because of heavy fog. He told us that he would make a second pass, and if the runway was still not visible, we would probably have to go to Honduras. The runway was visible on the second pass, so we landed safely - everyone was very relieved, as evidenced by the round of cheers and applause.
Home Sweet Home. We were met by a representative from our language school and a driver who drove us to Antigua, which is approximately 45 kilometers from Guatemala
City, through incredibly dense fog - could only see a few car lengths ahead, and the driver made it worse by insisting on using his high beams. I was a bit uptight. It was 21:30 local time when we arrived at the home of Dr. Lappara, where we will be staying until approximately December 15. The good doctor has four rooms he rents to students. Our permanent room (the best in the house) was occupied, so we were put into a room on the family floor. The Dr.’s family had their TV going full-blast until midnight. Some other family members were carrying on raucous conversations right outside our door - the noise level was awesome. We also had to share a bathroom with the family and the family pet, Tofee, a dachshund, who lived curled up on a throw carpet in front of the toilet. Tofee didn’t move when we’d use the toilet, making the process somewhat tricky. There are three sons of the Dr. living here, one teenager and two adults - one is a dentist, the other an eye doctor - we should be covered for just about anything.
9/2/88 - Friday. This morning was an experience
- people started moving at about 5:30 - doors slamming, people talking, the TV blaring, so we had no choice but to get up. Neither Bernie nor I had slept well. I had been awake wondering if I could live under the conditions we were experiencing.
At breakfast (7:30) my mind was put at ease somewhat when we were told that the room we were to have for the rest of our stay was not only nice, but very quiet. At breakfast there were: four American children of Mormon missionaries who live in Guatemala City and were sent to our language school for three weeks; one Canadian nurse/missionary; one American fundamentalist missionary who claimed God was helping her with her Spanish; and one American woman (ex-police woman, not a missionary) who had left Florida on a sailboat for a 4-day outing, and hasn’t been back for 17 months - most of that time was spent in Honduras and Guatemala. She has been able to give us lots of info re: this area and Central America in general.
After breakfast (eggs with tomatoes and spices, black beans, bananas, rolls and coffee) we walked around Antigua - what a lovely
town (30,000 people) set in the middle of lush green mountains/volcanos. It is a very picturesque, colonial town with cobble-stone streets and stucco buildings with wonderful porticos. These window casings come out over the narrow sidewalks and since the locals are often short enough to walk under them, they are referred to
“gringo bashers.” The center of town has a beautiful park complete with gardens and fountains. We sat in the park and watched compact indigenous women carrying their colorful wares atop their heads. The clothes the indigenous women wear are brilliantly colored. Later we had coffee at a sidewalk cafe - wonderful coffee (they grow it here) for 12 cents per cup. By contrast, however, a Miami Herald newspaper costs $1.75 and the Sunday NY Times is $8!! Then again, a wonderful meal in a nice restaurant costs between $2 - 3.
The big meal here is mid-day, which usually consists of meat, potatoes or rice and lots of vegetables. Dinner is a small meal of rice and beans, or perhaps a sandwich.
Our Humble Abode. Our permanent room is delightful and, yes, quiet. It is big with one wall of windows overlooking a courtyard. The
Vulcan Fuego
This was very much like the view from our window, but taken from a different anglegarden in the courtyard has many blooming trees, plants and scrubs, even birds-of-paradise. Our distant view is of the surrounding volcanos. We have a double bed, a table with chairs, wardrobe, bookcase and two smaller cabinets. We share a bathroom with one other couple (just got here today). They are American missionaries from Colorado whose mission is an orphanage in El Salvador. So far they seem like decent folks (a bit light in the brain department, however). If you haven’t guessed already, there are many missionaries at our language school. A lot of Peace Corps people go to our school also; wish some of them were living here.
9/3/88 - Saturday. Market Day Antigua has a wonderful market and Saturday is the big day, so we headed out early to explore. I took lots of pictures (tried to be candid, so hope some turn out) because the indigenous women vendors were dressed so beautifully in their native garb. They didn’t seem to mind having their pictures taken and never asked for money. The variety of merchandise was amazing - from boom boxes to vegetables. Flower vendors were numerous and the bargains great. Example: a dozen long-stem American Beauty
Roof-top View
View of monestary taken from a lovely restaurant roses for 50 cents. I know our humble abode will always be filled with flowers!
Antigua’s Ruins. After the market we went ruins exploring. Antigua, along with Lima and Mexico City, was a major center of Spanish power. That is why there are so many impressive ruins here - hugh churches, convents, monasteries, and government buildings.
After the 1976 earthquake, which was approx. an 8 on the Richter Scale, most of the functioning buildings were restored. However, a lot of the religious buildings were not, but are preserved as-is by the government. It is easy to see how gorgeous these buildings were. Some artwork and statutes, which were removed for restoration, have been returned and are on display. In the main cathedral in the center of town restoration is underway and a few chapels have been almost completely restored. There were extensive underground rooms that survived the quakes. This cathedral was first destroyed in a major quake in 1773. There are many more ruins to explore.
After lunch Bernie, I and two women from our school went to the home of an artist who makes ceramic birds - the best in the area known for its exquisite
ceramic figures, and you could really see how superior in detail they were. He sold them from his home for one-half of what they cost in a store. We then went to the home of another artist because one of the women wanted ceramic butterflies. That was a real experience - we let ourselves into the courtyard because nobody answered our knock (the door was ajar). I was sure we were going to be shot as we wandered through this person’s property - past a pen with eight newborn puppies, past several rooms, past the garden with rabbits and now an angry mother dog upset with our intrusion. We finally found the ceramic workshop and the barking brought out the artist. Lo, no ceramic butterflies and there wouldn’t be any until Sept. 15. Now mind you we are dealing with people who speak no English, so we are fumbling with Spanish, and amazingly enough, we communicate. On the way home we passed a park where recently a young boy had been shot and killed as he ran away from soldiers because he didn’t want to serve in the army.
The Troubles. Guatemala is in the midst of “troubles” with
Antigua Ruins
One of the many, many ruins that make Antigua a World Heritage Site guerrilla warfare in the jungles and outlaying towns. You read in the papers every day about the government troops killing guerillas or peasants, or guerillas killing government troops or civilians. And mind you, you cannot believe any of it - could be guerillas making it look like government troops doing the killing or visa-versa. It isn’t as bad here as in Nicaragua or El Salvador, or we wouldn’t be here, but it is none-the-less not safe in many parts of the country.
9/4/88 - Sunday. The People. I need to tell you more about the Guatemalans. We have only really interacted with the family we are living with, and they are very friendly. Their lack of English and our lack of Spanish has thus far limited our conversations. The maids (our room and bathroom are cleaned every day, and laundry will be done for $2 a load, which includes ironing) are great and try to talk to us all the time. The storekeepers and waitresses, couldn’t be friendlier and understanding, not to mention patient! Everyone on the street smiles and many say “buenos dias.”
Many of the people are of indigenous Mayan descent and are compact. The average
Centro Linquistico Maya
This was our language school, or actually part of it - there was another more modern building where most of the classes took place woman is under 5’ and the average man probably 5’ 3” - I feel like a giant.
There are a few beggars in the park, but they are usually the very old and crippled and are not offensive. The street vendors are not pushy either and a “no, gracias” is sufficient to send them on their way. The general population doesn’t look poor; most people are modestly dressed and some downright richly dressed (saw a Mercedes and a Porsche yesterday).
Food. On Sundays no meals are provided where we lodge, so we went to the “gringo hang-out,” Dona Luisa’s, for breakfast. This restaurant provides all sorts of services for gringos. There is a bulletin board with all kinds of info for visitors, and mail can be sent c/o Dona Luisa who will then post it on the board for pick-up. The food is great (as it is all over town) with lots of ripe fruit and crisp vegetables. Sure can’t beat the prices either: 80 cents for a big breakfast of eggs, toast, beans and coffee. I had a huge (couldn’t eat it all) bowl of banana, papaya, pineapple, cantaloupe and watermelon mixed with granola and yogurt, and
Antigua
Looming volcanos surround the lovely town. There was a lot of volcanic activity while there and thus numerous earthquakes including coffee it was $1.75. Noticed on the menu a tofu burger - Yuppiedom hits Central America!
I have to mention here one of our favorite beverages in Guatemala - liquados. There are liquido vendors all over Guatemala: small stands with maybe 4 blenders and a huge array of fresh, ripe fruit. You choose the fruit combination you want and whether you want it blended with water or milk. The whip it up in a few minutes and it is so refreshing. Bernie’s favorite was banana and mango with milk and I was partial to pineapple with water - mine more a drink, Bernie’s a dessert.
All of Antigua was a carnival today - the park had musicians, clowns with balloons and all sorts of vendors. There was a dance at a local club, and the music could be heard for blocks. In the park the indigenous women had on their Sunday best, and they were even more colorful (if that is possible!) than their everyday clothes.
Climate. Guatemala is in the middle of its rainy season now (lasts through October). Unlike other Central American countries, the rainy season here is more of a “cloudy” season. Although
Easter Carpet
We didn't get to see the streets of Antigua covered in colored sawdust, flowers, and other materials, but our Guatemalan daughter, Jaqueline has sent us wonderful photos over the years encouraging us to come for Easter, which we DO plan on doing it has rained hard at night, we have awoken to sunshine almost every morning. The clouds settle around the mountains by mid-morning, and we’ve had some light rain in the afternoons. The temperature, however, stays consistently around 70 - 80 F. during the day; this pertains to the non-rainy season as well - “guatemala” means perpetual spring. There doesn’t seem to be any heating or cooling systems in any of the houses or shops. A sweater is sometimes nice, but not essential and we have several blankets on our bed for the “cool” (60 F.) nights. Because of its wonderful climate, indigenous culture and Mayan ruins, Guatemala is a big tourist draw for Americans, other Central Americans and Europeans.
9/5/88 - Monday. Spanish Classes Begin. We started our Spanish classes today - talk about intense! It is one-on-one for three and one-half hours (8 - 12:00 with a half-hour break at 10:00 for a trip to the nearby bakery). Our school has about 100 students, mostly missionaries and Peace Corps. When I told my teacher that I was not a missionary, she said “Hallelujah!” It seems that many missionaries are not so much interested in conversational Spanish as they
Day of the Dead
A celebration in the cemetary are in being able to translate the bible word for word.
Our plan is to study an additional 2 - 4 hours a day on our own - we’ll see how that goes.
9/6/88 - Tuesday. Yes, we did put in four more hours of study yesterday and again today. We do manage to take a break every afternoon to have coffee with other students.
We met a non-missionary today - a Brit named Mick who has been traveling for six years and is learning Spanish to continue traveling indefinitely. And you thought we were vagabonds! Mick told us some interesting things about Guatemala, although I don’t know how true they are. He said unmarried women were not allowed out at night, and if they are out (in the park for example), they are arrested. This is supposed to prevent prostitution. Also, unmarried couples cannot hold hands in public. And if an unmarried person has a person of the opposite sex over to his/her house unchaperoned, the neighbors can have them arrested. I need to check this information out with my teacher.
9/7/88 - Wednesday. As I predicted, since we’ve started our studies, this journal has
gotten shorter entries. We are spending so much time studying, but we are really enjoying it. Actually Bernie is in seventh heaven.
This weekend we are planning to go to the town of Panajachel on Lake Atitlán. Lake Atitlán (a three-hour bus ride from here) is supposed to be the most beautiful lake in the world, and our guide book says only a few really “hard” souls disagree with that judgment. We’ll let you know.
This evening a vehicle with flashing lights, men running in front of it with torches and a man announcing loudly something undistinguishable on a powerful PA system came through the neighborhood. Maybe I’ve been watching too many movies, but that was the last thing I wanted to see in a Central American country - I was sure there had been a coup. Turns out it has something to do with the big independence day celebration next week. Me, paranoid?
9/8/88 - Thursday. I want to get this in the mail tomorrow, so I’ll finish up. Bottom line: we love it here and can’t wait to see more of Guatemala. Our Spanish is coming along at a rapid rate - Bernie’s faster than
Lake Atitlan
One of the most beautiful lakes in the world; surrounded by volcanos mine, naturally. We miss Alaska, of course, especially all of our friends and family. We think of you all often, and daily say “oh, wouldn’t so-and-so like this.” Seriously this place is so wonderful - you should think about visiting here while we are here. We’ve been checking out the local hotels. There is a Ramada Inn complete with pool, double room $60. Or a beautiful smaller hotel right off the central plaza, decorated with antiques, a beautiful garden courtyard where brightly colored parrots live, a great restaurant, and gift shop - double room $22. Also near the central plaza is a really small, nice hotel with garden, etc., and it is $14 for a double. We’ve checked out the rooms in both the small hotels and they are much more than acceptable and within a 5-minute walk of us.
We hope you’ll drop us a line, but remember it takes sometimes three weeks for a letter to get there; it is somewhat better from here to the states. Also, it is 45 cents per 1/2 oz., so be careful. Our address is: c/o Centro Linguistica Maya, 5 Calle Poniente 20, Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala 03001.* Or you can write
Crop Terraces
These terraced fields seemed to go straight up mountain sides to us at Box 102328, Anchorage, Alaska 99501 and mail will be forwarded.
Hope to hear from you.
PS No, neither of us has gotten sick and it doesn’t seem to be a big problem here.
PPS I haven’t seen even one cockroach and very few bugs of any kind for that matter, only a few moths and a spider.
*Giving people this postal code was a mistake. Several months into our stay we received a letter from the states that had been mailed within days of our arrival, but the US Postal system hadn’t looked at the address, only the postal code, and sent it to somewhere on the east coast of the US that had that same code. I suppose someone there finally looked at the actual address and sent it on its way. October 10, 1988 (Second Installment of Three) Yes, we are coming to you live once more from beautiful downtown Antigua, Guatemala. No, Hurricane Gilbert didn’t get us, the mudslides in Guatemala City missed us, and nobody has tried to shoot us. Our major inconvenience has been lack of a TV to watch the Olympics, but we feel certain that
Tela, Honduras
The beach resort of Tela in Honduras - beautiful some thoughtful soul took it upon his/herself to record the Games for us, right?*
*No one did. We still find Antigua delightful, and are enjoying ourselves immensely. There have been adjustments of course: living in only one room has its disadvantages, but I think overall the inconveniences have been minor. So on with my “journal.”
9/9/88 - Friday. We went to a folk program at the local school. We thought it would be dancing and singing, but it was actually skits with lots of dialogue we didn’t understand. There was a nice presentation of the various local costumes - we never realized how many there were and how different they are. Now if we could only have understood what the announcer was saying, we’d be able to identify where a person was from simply by his/her clothing.
Fireworks. The highlight of the program was a girl with the frame of a bull built around her. The frame had firecrackers and fireworks attached to it. When the girl was in the middle of the audience, another girl lit the fireworks. Next thing you know everyone is screaming and running because the fireworks are blasting out in every
On the Way to Livingston
This river was beautiful - lots of high cliffs with vegetation hanging down and fishermen in their dug-out boats direction. I ducked behind people in front of me, but even so a hot piece of firecracker landed on my arm. They sure have a whole different approach to fireworks. It is traditional for a birthday person’s family and friends to set off firecrackers in the morning near the birthday person’s room. We hear firecrackers daily and sometimes 4 - 5 times a day. At 5:30 the other morning some firecrackers were set off under my bed, at least it sounded as though they were that close.
9/10/88 - Saturday. Didn’t go anywhere this weekend (had planned to take the bus to Panajachal) because I was sick with a fever and nausea. I think it was from some french fries (or more likely the oil they were fried in) I ate because another woman who shared them with me got sick also, and nobody else did. It lasted about 24 hours, wasn’t anything serious, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be traveling.
9/11/88 - Sunday. Went for pizza tonight. Yes, there is a decent Italian restaurant, run by Italians no less. You know how important pizza is to Bernardo. This place had a big TV and we had
Copan, Honduras
The Mayan ruins in Copan, Honduras hoped to see some of the Olympics, but no luck.
9/14/88 - Wednesday. A festival atmosphere prevails. Guatemala’s independence day anniversary celebration is tomorrow, and all of Guatemala is getting ready. There was a parade of primary school children this morning, and my teacher, Shenny, and I went to the park to watch. The secondary and trade schools will march tomorrow in the big parade.
School System. As we watched the children march, Shenny explained the Guatemala school system to me. Children are required to attend school to age 10 only. The country cannot afford to build and staff enough schools, and can therefor not require attendance beyond age 10. Enter the private, mostly Catholic, schools. Nine out of ten of the schools here are parochial. According to Shenny, education is really important to the Guatemalans, and in the cities like Antigua, most of the children go on to high school. She didn’t have great things to say about the quality of education in the public schools. If parents can afford it, they send their children to private schools. Shenny also said that the university professors are so concerned about competition for their jobs, that they make it
Copan Stile
The Mayan ruins at Copan, Honduras are famous for their stile difficult for a student to get a degree. Serious students then leave and the brain drain to the US and Europe continues.
In the evening the park was full of vendors selling everything from kewpie dolls (remember them?) to tostadas. A band was playing and firecrackers everywhere. There was a dance at a nearby club (Club Manhattan, no less) and we could hear (and feel in our bed!) the music until midnight.
Which reminds me, Latino culture is LOUD. I will always remember the noise. Latinos have a way of “sharing” everything; they share their music, conversations, televisions - you name it. Put on top of that the lack of mufflers on cars, trucks and motorcycles and you have LOUD. Now Antigua is a relatively “quiet” city, but so much noisier than an American city of the same size.
9/13/15 - Thursday. Independence Day!! Expected to wake up to “muchas bombas” this a.m., but was pleasantly surprised. The parade was scheduled to start at 8, and actually got underway at 8:15 a.m. The local dignitaries led, then the army band and some soldiers, and then all the secondary schools. The schools had contingents of drummers, so the
Tikal
The amazing pyrimid at the ancient Mayan city of Tikal overall sound of the parade was boom, boom, boom. All the school have uniforms and all the kids wore them - the boys wore ties and jackets or sweaters as they wear daily to school. The girls had plaid pleated skirts and white blouses; even the public schools have uniforms. Bringing up the rear were the beautiful indigenous women in native clothing, by far the highlight of the parade for us. Bernie and I both went crazy with our cameras. I got a lot of photos of Indigenous women in the park and around town as well. Sharon, another student and house mate, and I would stage whisper “photo alert” when we saw a good shot, and then tried to be nonchalant about taking photos. It is amazing how people can ”feel” a camera aimed at them, and I got caught almost every time. The people, however, seemed indifferent to us.
Panajachel/Lake Atitlán 9/17 - 18/88 - Sat. & Sun. Got up at 5:00 to take the 6:00 bus to Panajachel on Lake Atitlán. Because it was so early, we managed to get seats - lots of people were standing. They pack as many people as they possible
Chichicastenango
The church stairs on market day can on these old school buses, and it is amazing how many fit. There were 70 people on a bus made for 40. In the seat in front of me sat three adults and four children. I guess the law says everyone is supposed to be seated, so they make people cram into the seats, and the rest stand. However, whenever we passed a police car or station, all the people standing had to squat down to appear seated - not an easy task in such limited space.
Guatemalan Buses. After everyone has been crammed into the bus, a man pushes and elbows his way through the people collecting the bus fare!! Unbelievable. Money and tickets have to be passed back and forth and people shoved and jammed for this guy to get through. One time the guy got to the back of the bus and to get back up front he had to walk on top of the seat backs (stepping on hands) and holding onto the overhead rack to get forward. Job security I guess.
It took us two hours and 40 minutes to get to Panajachel. The sun was shining and the scenery beautiful. This
area is mountainous and lush. There were fields of corn (some 12 feet high) and cabbage all the way. The grade at which these people have fields is amazing - some go straight up the mountain sides. The vistas from the road were incredible and I regretted not being able to stop and photograph. I did get some good shots from the window.
When we arrived at Panajachel we went straight to the lake to catch the 9:30 boat across to Santiago - a village everyone said we should see. Well, Santiago was a dirty little town with nothing of interest and way too many flies. The boat stayed two hours before we headed back. The one hour crossing was the best part of the trip. The lake is gorgeous - surrounded by volcanos. It was such a beautiful day we managed to sunburn ourselves but good. I was facing away from the sun thinking I was protected, but the reflection off the water must have been fierce as my face was as red as the back of my neck. Bernie won’t be coming his hair (?) for a few days.
Most Distasteful T-Shirt: Like in Antigua, the
Guatemala City
National Palace, Guatemala City missionaries are everywhere. One young missionary on the boat was wearing a white t-shirt that showed a bottle dripping blood with what looked like the Budweiser logo except it said “This Blood’s for You.”
We spent the night in a great little hotel ($5 per person) and spent Sunday exploring. Panajachel is a clean town with many beautiful homes. We were told that many of the rich people of Guatemala have vacation homes here, and homes in Miami as well. My overall memory of Panajachel will be color. The area is almost totally indigenous people who mostly wear their traditional garb. For the first time we saw the men in their traditional clothing - you don’t see that in Antigua.
On the bus coming home Bernie was in the back of the bus and I was in the front sitting next to a young (20 year old) woman from Guatemala City. She spoke English (and German), and we had a great time talking. We hope to visit her when we go into the city. She told me: (1) the No. 1 cause of death in Guatemala is automobile accidents, No. 2 is malnutrition, and No. 3 is gunshot
Jim & Almarene
As mentioned, I'm using photos available to me since my original ones aren't. This is an old one of Jim & Almarene wounds. (2) The army went through Panajachel recently and deported a lot of Americans - those without valid visas. Panajachel (aka Gringo-ajachel) is the hippy capital of Central American and there are still quite a few there. Periodically there is a round-up and deportations. (3) The national university costs $17 every three months; a private university costs approx. $160 per month. (4) There is an eight-year waiting period to get a phone in Antigua and it costs $1,000. There are only 20 telephone lines out of Antigua.
9/19 - 22/88 - Mon. - Thurs. Our Routine. Study, study, study. For being such an “easy” language, Spanish sure is complicated. Our daily routine is up at 6:00, breakfast at 7:30, school 8 - 12:00, lunch 12:30, 1:00 study (Bernie) or nap (Kathy), 2:30 coffee in town with friends, 3:30 - 4:00 study, 6:30 dinner, 7:30 - 10:00 read and study.
9/23/88 - Friday. Usual routine, but after dinner we went to a local bar for a going-away party. Thirteen Peace Corps volunteers were heading back to Belize after five weeks at Spanish school in Antigua. We had a great time with those young (23 - 25 year old) people.
Jaqueline, Alaska 1991
After our fateful meeting in Guatemala in 1988, Jackie came to live a year with us in Alaska and go to the Univ. of Alaska They were singing creole songs and telling stories about their work in Belize. I’m sorry that they are leaving because they were “normal” as opposed to the over-zealous missionaries who are so prevalent here.
9/24/88 - Saturday. Our young missionary housemates, Jonathan & Cynthia, who are running an orphanage in El Salvador were leaving today to attend a different (cheaper) school. After breakfast when just they and I remained at the table, Jonathan stood up and said his wife had a personal question for me. He then left the room. Cynthia was horrified, but asked anyway. She is two months pregnant and wanted to know if they were allowed to make love while she is pregnant. Scary isn’t it? These people are in a position of responsibility and yet are so ignorant of so many things. Jonathan and I had gotten into it last week when we were discussing the Olympics. He contended that (1) women shouldn’t try to compete in sports because they are in all respects inferior to men, and (2) women have no will-power or endurance. You can imagine how well that went over! He tried to apologize later saying he didn’t want me to think
Jackie, Alaska 1991
This was Jackie's birthday in 1991 when she was living with Alaska he was a chauvinist and he thought it was nice that women tried to compete in sports. This is the same guy who told me that the reason I had gotten sick was because I hadn’t prayed over my food. Sure hope they are teaching the people in El Salvador to purify their water instead of simply praying the amoebas away.
9/25/88 - Sunday. Antigua Ruins. Today was see Antigua day. We spent the morning ruins exploring. Antigua is a World Heritage Site, so a lot of the ruined churches, convents, monasteries and major buildings are maintained by the government. Some are quite impressive for sheer mass, and some for their beautiful grounds and/or gardens. The churches, convents and monasteries are, of course, the most ornate. We took loads of photos, so I won’t try to describe Antigua, but will let you see it for ourselves (only if want to) when we return. For those of you familiar with Bernie’s slides and their conspicuous lack of people, rejoice for I have taken tons of people shots.
9/26/88 - Monday. We have new housemates - an older Jewish couple from Los Angeles. They have done a lot of traveling
Miami Reunion 2007
See previous blog entry: Exchange Daughter Reunion April 14-21, 07. We had a reunion in Miami in spring 07: Jaqueline, Camila (Brazil) and Victoria (Argentina) here with B. Missing from photo: Marcela, Vicky's twin, and Marysia, Poland, but they were all, for the first time, present for the reunion and are interesting people. They’ve had quite a bit of Spanish already (they’ve studied in Spain & Mexico), so are much more advanced than we are. So now our housemates consist of: the aforementioned couple, a Swiss woman (30 years old), a German woman (20), and a Canadian woman (40). Unfortunately for us, the common language spoken at meals is English. As we become more proficient, hopefully speaking Spanish will become more common.
9/29/88 - Thursday. Our first mail arrived!! We’d been out of touch for a month and Bernie was so excited when he picked up our first batch of mail that he ran to my classroom in glee. The mail was forwarded from our P.O. Box in Anchorage, so was “old,” but oh so welcome, news. We spent the next hour joyfully catching upon on family and friends. Keep those cards and letters coming - you have no idea how desperate we are for a link with home. Having no TV and only getting a newspaper once a week (and that from Miami) leaves us out of touch with so much. We try to read the local papers, but it is so slow (Bernie is still working
Jaqueline, Kathy & Bernie 2008
See previous blog entry: Guatemala April 08. We visited Jaqueline and family in Guetemala for a wedding in 2008 on a newspaper that is three weeks old).
Copán, Honduras 9/30/88 - Friday. We got up at 5:30 as we were driving with some other students to Copán, Honduras via
Livingston, Guatemala, and leaving at 7:00. Seventeen people: the director of another language school (the tour coordinator), his wife and two children, 12 students and a driver crammed into a fourteen-person van. We drove five hours to
Quirigua, a minor Maya ruin site; then two more hours to the
Rio Dulce (Sweet River) where we got two boats and headed downriver to Livingston on the Caribbean coast. We were on the river one and one-half hours and it was positively wonderful. The lush jungle rises steeply from the river sides. There are places with extremely high limestone cliffs with vines and plants hanging down, and blooming plants everywhere. There are many small villages on the river and fisherman in dugout boats fishing close to the shore.
Livingston, however, is, well, interesting. It is populated mostly by Carib people who are black, and so the town has an island flavor. They speak Carib until they go to school, and then learn Spanish, so they speak with a different
Guatemala Wedding 08
Jaqueline, her mom, sisters Ludmila and Mercedes accent and rhythm.
It was nearly dark when we arrived in Livingston, and had no hotel reservations, so spent about an hour trying to get everyone settled. Our guide and his family ended up sleeping where some dogs usually slept and were covered with flea bites the next morning. Our rooms were only marginally better; some rooms had no running water. After I killed two spiders the size of silver dollars, we decided to pull our beds away from the walls. Not one but both of the beds had broken legs so when pulled away from the wall, collapsed on one end. We slept at an angle, but we were so tired it didn’t matter. I was surprised I slept as well as I did and didn’t dream of spiders. Besides the two I had killed, we saw one on the street that was, and I am NOT exaggerating, as big as a saucer. When we were leaving the next morning we found a furry worm several inches long by the door.
10/1/88 - Saturday (Happy Birthday Mary Jean). We headed back up river at 10:30 a.m. with a stop at a
manatee reserve, but didn’t see a
Nery & Jackie in Costa Rica
Nery is Jaqueline's long-term boyfriend and a wonderful person. We first met him in Costa Rica where the two of them joined us for a weekend in San Jose
single manatee. We did walk through the jungle and see thousands of leaf-cutter ants marching in columns. We could see columns 20 feet long snaking through the jungle, and each ant was carrying a leaf. It was the strangest site - looked like walking branches. We also had an alleged, but only semi-confirmed, sighting of a tapir (pig-like in appearance, but horse and rhino closest relatives) by Bernie. I heard the animal and saw brush moving, but only Bernie saw the gray-colored animal. We were on the river for four wonderful hours because of the stop at the reserve and stop for lunch, so didn’t get back to the van until 14:30. We were driving to Honduras that day, so were starting rather late for such a long drive. It took us five hours to get to the border via
Chiquimula - three hours of that was to drive 35 miles!! The road was like an Alaskan back road - washboardy in places, pot holes in others, completely washed out or with streams running over them. Add to that stray cows, an uphill grade and a driver unfamiliar with the road and you get three hours for 35 miles.
Barrios Family (part) 09
Jaqueline, in blue, with her mom on her right, brother Jorge behind, cousin to her left, sister Mercedes to cousin's left, and Jeffrey, Jaqueline's nephew behind Mercedes. Jaqueline has another brother, Raul, and another sister, Ludmila Honduran Border. We were at the border for an hour because Bernie’s name was similar to one on their Interpol most wanted list (William Joseph Dougherty), and they didn’t know what to do. This border station was amazing - no bathroom and after five hours in a van you can imagine how necessary bathrooms were. No electricity, there was a Coleman lantern lighting the “office” (really just a porch to a dilapidated building). The man typing our entry visas had a candle on his ancient Underwood. One of our group tried to take a photo, but it wasn’t well received, so I decided not to attempt it. It was bad enough that Bernie was thought to be a major criminal wanted by Interpol. Clever of him to change his FIRST name - what a disguise!
It took us another hour from the border to Copán, a distance of eight miles. Okay, it is 21:00 now, we haven’t eaten dinner, and have no hotel reservations. At two small hotels we manage to get rooms for most of our group. Again, no room for our guide and his family plus one student. They ended up on a floor somewhere. We had
Almarene w/Mercedes & Jaqueline
In Feb. 09 Jackie and her sister Mercedes came to Arizona for a visit. Almarene lives in Tucson too, so we had a nice reunion a triple room and a young Swiss man, Gullas, was in with us. By 22:00 we were in the only open restaurant in town (what a dive!) where Bernie and several people managed to eat. By this time most of us had no appetite. Back in our room Gullas and I each killed a cockroach (brothers no doubt) about two inches long and an inch across. Gullas’s roach really put up a fight, and it was the funniest thing to hear him chasing the roach around the bathroom while cursing in German-accented English. I’m really having fun now. After lights out we started talking about our trip and started laughing and joking - since we were punchy, everything was hysterical. We were having so much fun the management came to our door at 1:00 to tell us to keep it down.
Best Joke of the Trip: When we were close to the Honduran border, some dogs ran out onto the road. Bernie said he recognized them as border collies.
The Mayan Ruins in Copán 10/2/88 - Sunday. Up at 6:00 to get to the ruins by 8:00. Copán is the largest Mayan city yet discovered. They have
Jackie & Mercedes in Arizona
With the Grand Canyon behind them. It was February 09, so mid-winter and quite cold only restored 20%!o(MISSING)f the site and yet what is there is impressive. The Honduran government doesn’t have the money to excavate and restore it completely, so most of the work going on is being done by various U.S. universities and the Japanese have one site.
We spent all morning at the ruins and plan to go back tomorrow morning; it is too hot in the afternoons. We had a very knowledgeable guide and will have him again tomorrow. Again, too hard to describe this marvelous place, and will let our photos do the talking. The rest of our group left after visiting the local museum. We stayed on and will spend a week in Honduras.
10/4/88 - Tuesday. Spent Monday at Copán ruins and saw some different sites. As we were climbing down through one archaeological dig, an owl swooped down, landed in a tree and looked at us before flying off. Bernie took that to be a good omen for the remainder of our stay in Honduras. However, it certainly didn’t start out “good.”
10/5/88 - Wednesday. 5 a.m. we were awakened by the LOUD braying of a mule who had been tied to the
Denise & Mac Guatemala 2009
Standing: Our niece Denise; Aixa, Jaqueline's niece; Mercedes, Jaqueline's sister; Jaqueline; Letty, Jaqueline's sister-in-law. Kneeling: Denise's daughter, McKayla; and Melissa, another of Jaqueline's nieces. After Letty, Aixa & Melissa spent the summer with Denise & Mac in NJ, they visited them in Guatemala bars of our open hotel window. It was braying so loudly I thought a snake or rat was frightening it; it sure scared the crap out of us. The trucks started coming about this time too, and turns out we are on the town’s main street. I am not exaggerating when I say when a truck was passing we couldn’t hear ourselves talking (or yelling). Bernie said all that was lacking was the vibration of a passing train. Oh, yes, we also had no hot water - they didn’t even try to fool us at this place as there was only one knob. In other places there were hot and cold water knobs, but only cold water came out no matter what. Well, since we couldn’t sleep, we thought we’d get up early and catch the bus to San Pedro Sula where we would be spending a day on our way north to the beach area at Tela. We showered, packed quickly, had a nice breakfast and were at the bus stop by 7:00 - we were really going to get a jump on the day.
La Frontera vs. La Entrada. A bus (van really) bearing the proper destination sign came by and we confirmed that it was going to La Entrada (our first connection point). We boarded, hit several more stops and proceeded out of town. Now the road was the pits, and we soon realized that we were on the road to the Guatemalan border again, to La Frontera! We asked the guy again if we were on the bus to La Entrada, and he again said we were. However, we continued toward the border (no border collies in sight at this time). As mentioned earlier, it takes an hour on incredibly bad, washed-out roads with steep drop-offs to go eight miles. So we get to the border and the guy hands us our luggage and says get out of the van, end of the road. Naturally an argument ensued with Bernard saying we’re going to La Entrada, and the guy saying we were at La Frontera and had to get out. We finally got the idea across and are told fine, we could go back to Copán, but the van wasn’t leaving for an hour. We waited patiently, and after the 14-person van is packed with 22 people, we head back to square one, sweaty, dirty, jostled, and with five more hours of buses to look forward to. Fortunately we retained our senses of humor and could laugh about it. I wasn’t laughing several hours later when we were on a different bus, this time with chickens shitting on our feet and my seat companion spitting on the floor. Bernie had to stand and had more interaction with the chickens than I. He was particularly fascinated at how chickens go into a torpor-like state when held upside down.
Bernardo the Chicken Thief. We were, of course, in the back of the bus, so when we attempted to get off the packed bus, Bernard accidently “snagged” a basket of chickens with one of the shoe-string cleats on his hiking boots. As he is dragging this basket forward, the owner is yelling at him to stop, he doesn’t realize she is yelling at him as he doesn’t realize he’s a chicken thief, so keeps elbowing his way forward. Soon everybody is yelling at him and I’m laughing so hard I cannot breath. When I finally catch my breath, I manage to unhook the basket, and we make our get away.
We were on two buses on this trip and both were stopped and boarded by soldiers who checked everybody’s ID. These soldiers were in full combat gear, complete with M16s.
San Pedro Sula, Honduras We reached San Pedro Sula about 15:00 and at my instigation checked into the best hotel in town - a big hotel with hot water, cable TV, room service, the works. My body needed comfort. We immediately went to the coffee shop and had hamburgers, the first in a month. While at the hotel we made arrangements for accommodations at an hotel on the beach in Tela. We had a wonderful dinner at a first class restaurant where I had my first glass of wine in a month. Don’t get me wrong, Antigua has great restaurants and they serve wine, but we eat at home most of the time and our diet is limited there.
The Park Bank. Once clean, fed and rested, we went out into the town to change some dollars into the Honduran currency (Lempira). It was late in the day and the banks were closed. The receptionist at our hotel told us to “go into the park” to change money - not to worry, just hang out and someone would approach us.
A bit leery but needing Lempira, we seated ourselves on a bench in the central plaza. It took about two minutes for someone to approach and ask us if we wanted to change money. When we presented an American Express travelers check, which we thought was going to be a problem for a plaza money changer, he didn’t bat an eye, but told us to wait while he cleared the check. He then went over to his “boss” who was seated under another tree and who initialed the check. Our guy came back and said he needed some ID and Bernie’s passport number, which we gave him. He took it back to his boss, who okayed it, and returned with our cash. The rate was good, it was hassle free and they had no over-head either - a win-win situation.
Tela, Honduras 10/5/88 - Wednesday. We left San Pedro Sula via local bus at 11:30 and it took us three hours to reach Tala. We stayed at a beach resort (pool, tennis courts, stables, disco, several bars, a pizza place, restaurant) and I think we were the only guests. Talk about the off-season! I don’t know how they could afford to keep the place open. We had a great seafood dinner at the restaurant and there were three other diners; we counted seven staff. The resort was huge; rows and rows of bungalows and the whole compound beautifully maintained. We were told that it used to be the headquarters for United Fruit Company, who still owned a lot of land in Central American, but don’t have the holdings they use to (which was most of Central America!) We saw a lot of their fields on the way to Tela - acres of coconut and date palms, and banana groves.
10/6/88 - Thursday. More guests today, but it rained hard all day - we read and napped.
10/7/88 - Friday. Sun came out and we went by taxi to the second largest botanical garden in the world. After walking around for about two hours, we decided to walk the seven miles back to town because it was “such a beautiful day.” Well, one should never underestimate the tropics. I was feeling faint and soaking wet before we got very far. We tried to find bottled water at several vendors, but ended up getting glasses of what we hoped was pure water (at least that is what we’d asked for) at a restaurant. We should have known better.
When we returned to the hotel we had to stay in the pool for a long time getting our body temperatures back to normal.
Late that evening Bernie started getting an upset stomach and diarrhea. Things move quickly through his body, so by morning he was fine - the water me thinks? Knowing that my body functions about 24 hours behind Bernie’s, I figured I had enough time to get back to Antigua before I got sick. I was right.
Back to Antigua 10/7/88 - Saturday. We flew back to Guatemala City from San Pedro Sula having taken local buses from Tela to the airport outside SPS. Took a bus to Antigua, arriving at 20:00. After ten hours of travel we were “home” and almost exactly 24 hours to the minute after Bernie had gotten sick, I did too.
Bonus: We got to see El Salvador from the air as we connected to our Guatemalan plane in San Salvador.
10/9/88 - Sunday. We came home to an entirely different household. The Jewish couple hadn’t made it. The husband had been sick the whole time (one week), so while we were gone they headed back to LA (and water pressure). Evidently they couldn’t get used to (among other things) our shower wherein you can have either hot water or water pressure - not both. All the showers here are the same as far I know, and that is they have an electrical unit on the shower head that heats the water just before it hits you. If you turn the water on too hard, it doesn’t have time to warm the water.
The Canadian nurse has gone to Honduras and a Canadian doctor (female and she looks about twelve) has taken her place. She plans to study Spanish for two weeks before joining some other doctors in northern Guatemala at a clinic. She is rather optimistic if she thinks she’ll learn Spanish in ten easy lessons.
Our German gal got a job on a horse farm training horses for show. She had little experience for the job, but at age 20 she is the main trainer with her own villa, maids and employees under her. Guatemala - the land of opportunity?
Time to get this in the mail. We hope all of you are healthy and Happy. We Miss You. Be good and drop us a line.
November 22, 1988 - Third Installment of Three It doesn’t feel a bit like Christmas. Except for an occasional Christmas hymn overhead from a church, there is no evidence of the yuletide season here. This is my first Christmas without snow, and it seems really strange. I’m sure Thanksgiving with tortillas instead of turkey will be a rude awakening also. Of course we are thinking of you, our family and friends, and missing you all that much more this holiday season - put an ornament on the tree for us.
Oct. 13 & 14. Earthquakes all night and into the a.m. - enough to get people out of bed and into the streets several times. Per newspaper: biggest jolt (there were four good ones) was only 3.8 on the Richter Scale, but the epicenter was only 13 miles away in Chimaltenango, so a 3.8 so close felt like a 5 or 6 in Anchorage. In Chimaltenango 250 homes were damaged, and two children were killed. Many of the houses in the villages are adobe, brick and mortar (without rebar) or stone, and are damaged easily. The newspaper said that in three days we had 20 quakes (all between 3 and 4 on RS) and 2000 tremors. There has been smoke continuously coming out of the active volcano, Fuego, which we can see from our room.
Oct. 21. Volcano Climbing. Bernie and three friends climbed the inactive volcano, Agua, which is 12,356 feet high. They started climbing from Santa Maria de Jesus which is at 6,656 feet. It took them four hours and was cool, cloudy and windy at the top. They didn’t get to see much of the spectacular view.
There is a crater at the top of Agua, which in the 1500s was full of water. In 1541 earthquakes caused the caldera to split, pouring water down and destroying what was then the capital of Guatemala, Santiago de Guatemala. The capital was not rebuilt, but was moved to present day Antigua. In 1776 the capital was moved again, this time because of earthquakes, to Guatemala City, which is the capital today. End of history lesson.
Orphanage. While Bernie and friends were climbing Agua, four friends and I visited an orphanage run by American missionaries. It was a beautiful place with beautiful gardens. Sixteen girls ages 3-17 live there. No adoption is allowed, so the girls grow up there. The reason for this no-adoption policy is that the Guatemala government’s policies regarding adoption are very strict. Baby brokers are numerous because there are so many children born out of wedlock, and many are abandoned. Also, abandoned children are hard to adopt out because they don’t have “papers,” and the government insists on papers. The Guatemalans are not keen on having their children adopted by North Americans, by far the largest number of adoptive parents. The Guatemalans perceive that because the children are Latino, they’ll suffer from prejudice directed towards them by North American “whites.”
There was a lot of love to be felt at the orphanage and the girls were all clean and seemed happy.
Oct. 24. Local Flooding Rained all day because we’re getting some affects of Hurricane Joan and Miriam. It is unusual for it it to rain all day as the rainy season is over, and even during the rainy season, the mornings were almost always sunny. The rains flooded the nearby river and we had a minor flash flood in town - all the streets were streams. Fortunately, the streets have high curbs and good drainage, so very few houses were flooded. There was several inches of mud covering the cobblestones when the water receded. There is no sewage treatment here - it goes straight into the river, so you can imagine the potential disease problems. The city cleaned up the streets immediately after the water receded, but we’ve had more heavy rains and minor flooding since - still the peripheral affect of the hurricanes.
Met a nurse today who works on a medical mercy ship that travels to countries dispensing medical care, usually those countries having just suffered a natural disaster. When there are no disasters to contend with, they visit developing countries and do basic health care. Nancy works with a doctor doing eye surgery, mostly cataract removal. She said that wherever they go they have more patients than they can handle - many who have walked for days with the hope of regaining their eyesight. The ship also has construction crews for building clinics and potable water projects. The need for basic hygiene education and medical attention is almost overwhelming.
The other day we met some Peace Corp volunteers who were working on a fish farm project teaching the nationals aquaculture. There are so many worthwhile projects operating down here.
Oct. 27. Talent (or lack thereof) Show. Our school had a talent show - what a riot. The class act was two Boston College guys, both dressed like Carman Miranda, compete with fruit on their heads, doing a salsa dance. After the show they walked home in their costumes. A girlfriend of mine and her boyfriend were standing in a doorway when the two Carmens passed by and not seeing my friends, decided to take a leak against a building (common practice down here). My friends said it was the strangest sight to see two “women” lifting their skirts and urinating against a wall while carefully balancing fruit on their heads.
Last week the young missionary couple, the naive ones mentioned in my last letter, lost their baby via miscarriage. Cynthia had been bleeding for two days before a mutual friend came to us and asked if I’d go talk to them and try to convince the husband, Jonathan, to take Cynthia back to the US. The friends thought that perhaps they would listen to me because Cynthia had sought my advice before (i.e., could they make love while she was pregnant). We had a doctor from Canada, Karen, staying at our house, so she and I went to Cynthia. The outcome of Karen’s exam was that they should go back to the states. To make a long story short, while we were trying to arrange emergency transportation out of Guatemala, Cynthia had a miscarriage. Evidently the baby was deformed, possibly because of the malaria medicine Cynthia had taken before she found out that she was pregnant. A sad story, but hopefully they won’t make the same mistake again - it says clearly on the malaria medication box not to take if you could become pregnant.
Oct. 28. My last day of classes!! I decided to terminate my formal study of Spanish - it was never as much my thing as it is Bernie’s. I’ve got no problem “hanging” because I love Antigua and have made lots of friends. Bernie plans to increase his hours from four to six starting mid-November.
Today was my friend Grace’s last day of school too. She is going to Guatemala City to work with her mission, so she’ll be back to visit. She and I didn’t do much in class today; in fact we took our teachers out for coffee and pastries.
Home for Unwed Mothers. In the afternoon we visited Grace’s friend (an American) who runs a home for unwed mothers. These wonderful people, Sandy & Tim, take up to five mothers at a time, give them a warm home, see that they eat properly and get medical attention. They have been doing this for five years now. They have six children of their own, two adopted, and a feeling of love oozed out. The unwed mothers often keep the babies, but some are turned over to adoption agencies. Sandy also feeds hungry people who come to her door, and there are many every day.
I asked Sandy if her youngest daughter, Tippy, who is ten, was fluent in Spanish, and she related this story. Seems Tippy was so immersed in Spanish she was forgetting her English and was speaking Spanglish. Her parents decided to send Tippy to stay with her grandmother in California for a few months for reculturization. One day the Grandmother said “Tippy, I need to run to the store, want to come with me?” To which Tippy replied “Yes Grandma, but is it okay if I ride my bike instead of run with you?” They decided to extend Tippy’s stay in the USA a bit longer.
Oct. 30. Alaskan Whales. Have been following the plight of the whales stuck in the ice near Barrow, Alaska. How ridiculous and what a waste of time and money. Couldn’t believe it when there was talk of killing polar bears to “save the whales.” The whole incident was blown so far out of proportion and made the US look foolish. The Guatemalans are laughing at us, as well as every other foreigner (and American) we’ve encountered. Perhaps because we are surrounded by less fortunate people here, it is hard for us to justify spending millions of dollars to prevent a natural occurrence.
Nov. 1. All Saints/Souls Day. Today was all saints day or all souls day - a day devoted to the dead. They have a different approach to death and the dead here. We went to a fiesta in a cemetery. All the grave sites and crypts were decorated, most of them elaborately, with flowers and wreaths. People filled the cemetery, using grave stones and crypts to sit and have picnics on. Ice cream vendors could be found throughout. The main attraction was the kite flying. Kite flying was originally done on this day to foster communication with the dead, but today is done strictly for fun and competition - the biggest kite wins and they have some HUGE ones. The kite that won last year was 24 feet across. We didn’t stay to the end of the competition as we were getting sunburned. The cemetery was on a hill, so the view was wonderful and the kite fliers could be down the hill and their kites up toward the spectators. The three-mile road leading to the cemetery was lined with vendors selling corn-on-the-cob, candy, chicken, and lots of things we couldn’t identify but smelled wonderful. All the indigenous women were wearing their fiesta clothes, so I got (I hope) some great photos.
The Guatemalan people seem to have a much more accepting attitude toward death. For instance, casket stores are plentiful and right on main street. You can see casket display windows or caskets will be right on the sidewalk. They do not embalm (at least in Antigua), so the family, including children, prepare the dead and a wake is held right away. Burial is immediately following a church service. This is all done in one to two days max.
Nov. 3. Had another good earthquake (4.7) - this one got me out of the house because the ceiling tiles started flapping. Five people were killed in a nearby town from a wall collapsing. In Antigua most of the homes are reinforced with rebar and are quite safe.
Jaqueline Barrios *Nov. 4. Vacation Time. Went to Guatemala City in the afternoon for the start of a week’s vacation. Several weeks ago I received a hand-delivered letter from a young lady, Jaqueline, I had met on a bus coming home from Panajachel a month ago. I had given her my name and told her which school we were attending. She had given me her name and phone numbers and told me to call her when we got to the city. We hadn’t been to the city, so I hadn’t contacted her yet, and I guess she thought I’d forgotten. Anyway, she wrote me a beautiful letter extending her friendship and that of her family, and reiterated her invitation to visit them. We are planning our next trip and arranged to stay a few days in Guatemala City.
On Friday night Jaqueline joined us for dinner and Bernie got to know her as he’d not talked to her on the bus. Well, Bernie was as smitten as I was with this wonderful, warn and outgoing, not to mention very intelligent person. She studied English in school only and has never lived in an English speaking country, and yet her English is great - conversation was easy and relaxed. She is studying journalism and German, and working full time as a secretary.
Nov. 5. We toured Guatemala City in the morning. Jaqueline picked us up in the afternoon and we went by bus to her home. Many of her family (parents, two sisters, one brother, an aunt and a cousin) were there. What a wonderful experience!! The home was modest but large and the family friendly and cheerful. We had to switch to Spanish then (or I should say Bernardo had to) - they wanted to know about Alaska. The mother had prepared a traditional meal for us, so we ate, drank and were very merry. We only stayed a few hours. When we were getting ready to leave, Jaqueline took us over to where two pictures were hanging on the wall and asked which one we liked better. When Bernie (after much coercion) indicated a preference, she took it off the wall and gave it to us. What a generous sole! The family’s farewell was so warm - hugs and kisses and invites to return. Jaqueline in her soft-spoken way said “my home is humble, but you are always most welcome.” We came away with such an inner glow and feeling of having experienced something special.
*Many of you will recognize Jackie/Jaqueline Barrios as the person described above. She came to Alaska to live with us for a year and has become our Guatemalan Daughter; we see her regularly - most recently she and her sister Mercedes came to visit us in Tucson in Feb. 09 and we’d been to Guatemala for a family wedding in April 08. This summer (2009) Jackie’s two nieces and their mother came for a visit to Bernie’s sister’s family in New Jersey for three week; in August niece Denise and daughter Mac went to Guatemala for a couple of weeks. So after 21 years we are still reaping the fruits of a chance encounter on a bus!
See prior blogs - at top of page click where it says “Previous Entries” - for more on Jaqueline and our other exchange daughters: Guatemala April 08 and Exchange Daughter Reunion/April 14 - 21 2007. Jim & Almarene Snead Nov. 6. Our first visitors from Alaska, Jim and Almarene Snead, arrived this evening for a two week vacation. How great to see them and hear all the detailed news from home.
Nov. 7. We wanted Jim and Almarene to acclimate and orient themselves, so we spent the day looking around Guatemala City, changing money, etc.
Flores, Tikal, Mayan Ruins Nov. 8. Up at 4:30 to catch a 7:00 flight to the town of Flores and the nearby Mayan ruins in Tikal, northern Guatemala. Tikal was the largest Mayan city and is an important archaeological site, not to mention incredibly impressive to tourists. The ruins are spectacular! The biggest pyramid there was the tallest structure in the Americans until a skyscraper was erected in Chicago in the late 1800s.
The Jaguar Inn. If the ruins of Tikal were spectacular, the accommodations were spectacularly lacking. We could handle the mildewing beds and bugs, but when they shut off the electricity at 20:00 and didn’t even give us a candle (or warning), we were NOT happy campers. As usual in times of adversity, we all laughed a lot and chalked it up to our great “adventure.” Glad Jim and Almarene could keep laughing when they woke up that night to use the toilet and stepped into a inch of water on the floor - still no electricity mind you (which might have been a good thing at this point), and obviously a plumbing leak somewhere. The Sneads were great adventurers, true troopers and a ball to be with.
Nov. 9 & 10. We took our time exploring the ruins and had a guide for five hours one day. It was well worth the money as the guide was not only full of info re: archaeology, but also the jungle - he gave us a flora and fauna tour as well. We saw spider and howler monkeys and Bernie saw a gray fox (zorro gris).
We headed back to Guatemala City late in the afternoon - we never thought Guatemala City could be so inviting. Dry, non-mildewy beds and hot showers were greatly appreciated by all; good reading lights and good food seemed downright decadent.
Cobán, Guatemala Nov. 11. Rented a car and drove to Cobán in central Guatemala. This area is known for its beautiful native dress and handwoven material. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains with coffee plantations and corn fields everywhere. The giant daisies were in bloom, so large areas were solid yellow. As we got higher into the mountains, the terrain became high desert with huge cacti, also in bloom.
Nov. 12. Spent the day driving around the Cobán area - very basic lifestyle here. On a back road the indigenous stared as though they had never seen gringos before. We saw many men and children carrying unbelievable loads of wood on their backs - loads you’d swear no normal person could lift let alone walk miles with; it looked occasionally like a mysteriously moving woodpile from the rear. The women carry everything on their heads - huge baskets full of vegetables, flowers, etc. They are so used to carrying everything on their heads that it is not unusual to see women and little girls with their shawls or sweaters perched on their heads in warm weather. Needless to say, their posture is perfect and they are a striking sight.
Nov. 13. Military Road Block. Drove back to Antigua - uneventful except for the military road-block and total search of our car and luggage. I think they were looking for drugs (cocaine) because they checked the creases of our map and were VERY interested in Jim’s medicine case - smelled everything, especially anything white like his powered vitamin C, which they all had to taste. They looked in the engine and under our seats, played with my camera, and went through Almarene’s purse. We were not being discriminated against, however, even local uses were being unloaded and searched.
Nov. 14 - 17. I played tour guide while Bernie went to his Spanish class. We spent several days lounging by the pool at a local luxury hotel and managed to see most of Antigua as well. Life is rough.
Panajachel & Lake Atitlán (yes, again) Nov. 18. Rented a car and drove to Panajachel on Lake Atitlán. Took a boat across the lake to a pueblo. Bernie and I had been there, so we sunned ourselves on the top of the boat while Almarene and Jim toured. There were clouds around the surrounding volcanos, so the view was not as beautiful as it had been our first visit.
Chichicastenago We drove to Chichicastenago in the afternoon. Chichi has the biggest market (according to our guide book) in all of Central and South America on Sundays, and we went up on Saturday afternoon to see it set up and to see the catholic/pagan ceremonies performed by the local Cakchiquel Mayan indigenous people. There is a strange mixture of Catholicism and ancient indigenous mysticism practiced in Chichi. Some old gods (“lords of the natural”) are still worshipped; candles, flower and liquor are offered to these forces. Different candles are lighted for different results - black for revenge; red for jealousy, for example. Candles are put on the floor all over the church. The church is decorated with ripe oranges and flowers. Flowers and flower petals are sold on the church steps, and people buy the flowers to place before an altar, and the petals to throw on the floor in front of the main alter. The floor in front of the main alter is also covered with pine needles. On the stairs leading into the church are several indigenous men swinging incense burners - different indigenous groups take turns, so this goes on all day. You can image the cacophony of smells - fabulous!
In the courtyard adjoining the church a celebration was taking place. The courtyard was packed with colorfully dressed indigenous, mostly mothers with children. The center of attention was a large group of children trying to break a piñata. There were only two other gringos beside Bernie and me in the courtyard. The colors were brilliant - almost overwhelming. I tried not to be obnoxious and hope I got some good photos.
Favorite Hotel. In Chichi we stayed at an absolutely beautiful old hotel (Maya Inn) furnished with antiques and set among wonderful gardens. The service was wonderful too - when we returned to our rooms after dinner, there were fires lighted in our fireplaces making the rooms toasty, the beds had been turned down and comfy chairs placed in front of the roaring fires. Chichi is at 5,000 feet and the evenings quite cool, so the fires were most welcome. Almarene and Jim were charmed and Bernie and I decided to return to Chichi and the Maya Inn before we left Guatemala.
Nov. 19. Chichicastenago Market Day. Up early and in the market by 8:00 to avoid the masses (people, not church services). Spent two hours in this wonderful market buying like crazy. We didn’t see the whole market even. Bernie used a roll of film in 15 minutes on market scenes. We had met a reporter and her photojournalist boyfriend at dinner the night before and ran into them in the market. I thought Bernie was clicking away, but this guy had taken three rolls in the same amount of time, and said he averaged three rolls of film for one good shot.
After shopping in Chichi was completed, we headed back to Antigua. Jim and Almarene were leaving the next morning, so they needed to get some things done.
My journal will end here. This will be my last report from Guatemala. Upon leaving Guatemala I’m giving my typewriter to a missionary friend. It hurts me to lose my buddy, but I cannot pack it all over Central and South America. Without my typewriter I don’t know how easy it will be to continue sending my newsletter/journal - my handwriting is awful. We’ll see.
Christmas in Mexico. We leave on December 15 for Christmas in Mexico with the girls, a friend of theirs, two nieces from New Jersey, a friend of theirs and one niece from Chicago, although the cast of characters hasn’t been firmed up yet. Originally we planned to visit Cuba in January and then fly to Argentina and work our way north. Now it seems our friends who are accompanying us to Cuba cannot do so until February. So, we are going to spend January in Costa Rica - anyone interested in visiting Costa Rica?
For our friends who have been writing, don’t mail any more letters to Guatemala, but use: P.O. Box 102328, Anchorage, Alaska 99510. When we get to Mexico we are going to have our mail from the post office box Fed Ex’ed to us.
You all take care and have a very Merry Christmas; we miss all of you and hope the New Year brings peace and prosperity.
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jillsare
non-member comment
ah, Guatemala memories!
I was in Guatemala Xmas ´87!! So many memories come flooding back. I actually saw the street carpeted with flowers Easter 1990 in Cuzco! Kathy, you are so amazing how you use your current leisure time to relive and share past adventures. I have all of my old journals down here with me and am looking for a space of a month or two to dedicate to going back thru them. Love to you and SOOOOO sad I didn´t get to see you in Quito (boo hoo!)