On my birthday I decided to go to Anitgua, which is the old capital city. It is smaller than Guatemala city and is really beautiful because of it's colonial architecture.
Most of the day I just walked around the city with some of the other interns. All of whom came to the city from various parts of the country to celebrate and visit with me! ( Some pictures may seem blurry but if you click on them to their original size they are much clearer)
After sightseeing a bit in Antigua, we went out for supper. We went to a nice Italian restaurant, because its my favorite! It was great to have food other than beans, eggs and tortillas that are currently the staples in my diet.
The entire group of interns plus some extras went out to a bar. When they found out it was my birthday I got three free shots, which I tried to stomach on top of all the pasta I ate, and they gave everyone in our group free shots too. Then some interns that will remain nameless danced on the bar after being recruited by bar staff.
The next day everyone went their separate ways promenading around the city and taking our buses back home.
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| This was taken from the back of a pick-up truck in Huehuetenango |
Work has kept me really busy the last weeks. We (Alida and I) have been planning and carrying out several workshops. The Monday following the Antigua weekend we did a workshop with women from 11 different provinces to form a national commission.
On Tuesday morning we left at 3am from Quixaya to go to breakfast/political talk with Rigoberta Menchu. Rigoberta is an internationally recognized human rights defender. She became famous for writing her book I, Rigoberta Menchu on her first hand experiences during the 36 year long armed conflict that essentially led to the genocide of the indigenous Maya population in Guatemala. Following this book, that was transcribed by a third party while she was a refugee because she could not read or write. Since that time she has received university education and won the Nobel Peace Prize.  |
| Alida and I at the breakfast |
The elections in Guatemala are September 11, and the organization I am working for is extremely partisan and thoroughly involved in politics. They are pushing for rural development funding and programs to all the candidates. Rigoberta is currently running for President she represents the left/ semi-revolutionary political party. My organization also supports this party, they do have a strong basis for support in certain areas, however they are one of the least popular parties nationally.
Following that we traveled to Huehuetenango, which is a province in the northern highlands to do a workshop on medicinal plants there with some women in a local community. It took us 7 hours to get there with multiple bus changes.
This photo and the next two are pictures of the location in which the workshop took place. It is amongst the highest mountain range in all of Central America and is extremely beautiful.
We traveled one day, and the workshop was the following day. Most of the workshop entailed planting a medicinal plant garden. We had brought the plants with us all the way from Solola, the department where I live up there. Most of them seemed to survive.
Although the workshop went relatively well, there are huge problems here regarding women's rights and many women have to ask permission to come out to events. In many cases women are not allowed to participate because of their husbands authority.
Another serious issue here is one of patronage politics. Politicians and the current government are infamous for handing out goods and services to buy votes. Therefore, people have become accustomed to participating in events, meetings and workshops because they will be given something tangible, knowledge has less value than oil, sugar or rice. We have encountered this problem amongst the women, who say that their husbands expect them to bring something back, and that is the only way that they are able to get permission to leave the house.
By the time we finished our workshop it was around 3pm, and because it was a 7 hour drive we had to spend another night. But we drove for about an hour to get back to the capital city of Huehuetenango, which is also called Huehuetenango. When we arrived we decided to go to megapaca, a huge second hand clothing store and then out for supper.
Alida left first thing in the morning, but I decided to stay another night to visit the city and the nearby ruins. These three pictures are of the parque central in huehue.
¡Oh cielo de mi Patria! ¡Oh caros horizontes!
¡Oh azules, altos montes; oídme desde allí!
La alma mía os saluda, cumbres de la alta Sierra,
murallas de esa tierra donde la luz yo vi!
Del sol desfalleciente a la última vislumbre,
vuestra elevada cumbre postrer asilo da;
cual débil esperanza allí se desvanece,
ya más y más fallece, y ya por fin se va.
En tanto que la sombra no embargue el firmamento,
hasta el postrer momento en vos me extasiaré;
que así como esta tarde, de brumas despejados,
tan limpios y azulados jamás os contemplé.
¡Cuán dulcemente triste mi mente se extasía,
oh cara Patria mía, en tu áspero confin!,
¡cual cruza el ancho espacio, ay Dios que me separa
de aquella tierra cara, de América el jardín!
En alas del deseo, por esa lontananza,
mi corazón se lanza hasta mi pobre hogar.
¡Oh, dulce madre mía, con cuanto amor te estrecho
contra el doliente pecho que destruyó el pesar!
¡Oh, vosotros que al mundo conmigo habéis venido,
dentro del mismo nido y por el mismo amor;
y por el mismo seno nutridos y abrigados,
con los mismos cuidados, arrullos y calor!
¡Amables compañeros, a quienes la alma infancia
en su risueña estancia jugando me enlazó
con lazo tal de flores, que ni por ser tan bello,
quitárnosle del cuello la suerte consiguió!
Entro en el nido amante, vuelvo al materno abrigo:
¡Oh cuánto pecho amigo yo siento palpitar,
en medio el grupo caro, que en tierno estrecho nudo
llorar tan sólo pudo, llorar y más llorar.
¡Oh cielo de mi Patria! ¡Oh caros horizontes!
¡Oh ya dormidos montes la noche ya os cubrió!:
adiós, oh mis amigos, dormid, dormid en calma,
que las brumas en la alma, ¡ay, ay! las llevo yo.
After I accidentally hitch-hiked back to the city I had some lunch and then went to the ruins. This is a picture of the largest pyramid at this particular site. You can also see the alter in front where people still come to pray and perform religious ceremonies today.
Same pyramid different angle. What is really interesting about these temples is that in the 1940s, the United Fruit Company attempted to restore them. However, they simply poured cement over top of the neatly and intricately positioned rocks that had been used to build the temple. Needless to say, the temples do not look anything like what they originally did. The United Fruit Company has been criticized for Americanizing the site into some Disneyland attraction.
The United Fruit Company is an American corporation that has a long and violent history in Guatemala. The company is one of the main contributors to the 1954 US CIA led coup d'etat in Guatemala. This coup marked the beginning of 36 years of violent armed conflict and genocide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Guatemalan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
The last week has been pretty boring because our funding for the gender program has run out. So we haven't been doing much at all. On Friday night I went to visit Amanda at IMAP the permaculture institute. Saturday I attempted to skype with Lauren on her wedding day but was unable to in the end. But I wrote her and Ian a letter that was read out-loud at the reception :)
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