Yay for Ginger tea at the Blue Angel! Oh the love of spending the afternoon at a coffee-shop, talking with the girl friends, and studying. A few afternoons of my week last week consisted of this. These last few weeks have been a little more laid back. I decided that I need to take some time to be with my host family, and explore this beautiful city that I live in. Exploring the city street markets is an adventure in itself! I am immediately bombarded with eight different smells that I am hardly able to identify, and so many stores that sell some funky, random things – like an entire store selling anything and everything you could ever want that is made out of plastic. Lots of second-hand clothing stores, and tons of shoes! I do love the fact that I bought 20 tangerines for 5 Quetzals (which is about 65 cents!). I don’t feel too guilty about my never-ending fruit cravings when I can buy it on the streets for that cost!
I have been continuing with regularity my hobbies of yoga and going out to dance. I go to yoga once or twice a day (yes, I am addicted) and we go out dancing usually about twice a week. I am going to start taking salsa lessons next week – very excited for that. Also continuing to play my guitar frequently, as well as bringing it with on all of our excursions.
Friday we left for our excursion to the Guatemalan highlands and ended our destination in Nebaj, which is the Southwest corner of the Ixil Triangle. The van-ride through the mountains lasted about 6 hours, and I’m just going to say that I am surprised our 20-passenger van survived this ride (although there was one point when we had to stop to pick up our fender which fell off). There were a few times we scraped the bottom, I’m surprised they don’t make the wheels bigger on those things. It was so curvy, hilly, and steep! We had to stop a few times to let the breaks cool down. The view was never-failingly gorgeous though!
After checking into our hotel we had a really nice lunch on the balcony of a nearby restaurant. Overlooking the little city of Nebaj, it was hard to believe that only 30 years ago this city was massacred, houses and fields were burned, people were killed, and so much heartache swept through the entire area of the Ixil Triangle, which consists of the three cities of Nebaj, Chajul, and Cotzal. This is one of the most poor and isolated parts of Guatemala. The indigenous villages in this area suffered horrible massacres during Guatemala’s 36-year long civil war, and lived in extreme poverty with no electricity, access to water, and lacked basic services like schools and healthcare. In the late 1970’s and 1980’s this area was enveloped in much violence. The government believed this to be the main operating point of the Guerilla Army of the Poor (EGP). Because of this the government armies wiped out entire villages and populations in an attempt to end the EGP. Families were forced to move into the mountains in an attempt to hide. Since this time many villagers have returned to the villages to rebuild their homes and villages.
A majority of the people of this area wear traditional indigenous clothing. Their textiles are so intricate and beautiful. Greens, reds, yellows, and oranges are worn with red cortes (skirts). Most women wear a traje, a headcloth made of hand-woven fabric decorated with tassels that they pile above their heads. Hardly any men wear traditional clothing, they usually buy secondhand American clothing. Many of the people here speak the Mayan language of Ixil, which is a very neat language to listen to! So many different sounds they put together, and they speak with a specific rhythm that seems to sound like they are reciting a poem.
We met with a group called REMHI (Recuperación de Memoria Histórica). This is a collective movement that works to rebuild and gather and present the effects of violence in different afflicted areas of the world. They gather the thoughts of the victims and survivors of violence and offer proposals and guidance and work toward social reconstruction. This particular group focuses on the area of the Ixil Triangle, and has been developing many very beneficial programs, such as healthcare, pharmacies, education programs, ect. After this we walked up to an altar on a hill to see a Mayan New Year ceremony. This was a very unique experience. After the ceremony they served us bread and hot chocolate (these two things are very common in Guatemala I have realized).
Sunday we met with the Movimiento Desarraigados (Movement of People Uprooted by the War). A few men shared their personal stories of their experiences, one as a guerilla, and the other as a Church board member. As I explained earlier, the lives of these families were so difficult. During this war so many families were forced into hiding in the mountains without food, heat, or other necessities. The thing that frustrates them the most they told us is that there is no justice. No one is being punished for the extreme violence that was committed against them. Also the fact that the United States Government still is not recognizing the wrong-doing of the Guatemalan government, ant the help that the US had provided.
We then left for a 2 hour hike to Acul (Finca San Antonio), which was a farm owned and run by Italians with a Swiss cheese factory. We ate lunch there of tortillas with melted Swiss cheese, salsa, and spaghetti. We then took a tour of the farm.
Monday was another early morning and long day. We took the van to a little dark room in the neighboring town of Chajul to meet with some community members who were victims of the Guerra. Here in this room with no light, women told personal testimonies of their hardships and tragedies during the war. Many of them lost their husbands and children to the murders of the army. It was heart-wrenching to hear these experiences and see the faces of these women and families. By the end of our visit there were so many community people in that room, children and all. They were so grateful to us for coming, and didn’t want us to leave. They offered to show us their houses and spend more time with us. The just wanted to share with us their hardship and the difficulties they are still having trying to thrive, so that we can take this back with us and let people know what has happened and the circumstances they are still forced to live with. They sent us off with a blessing, which was so touching. A few of us left with tears in our eyes, and all of us, a sense of helplessness and desire to fix all of their problems right here and now.
All of these little pueblos we passed through had nice communities of chickens, turkeys, pigs, dogs, cats, sheep, cows, horses, and goats roaming free around the towns and fields. The houses were all mostly little shacks and it is clear that they all work very hard every day too complete simple, necessary tasks in up keeping their families. Everywhere we went people would stop and watch us walk by. It’s not very often that they get to see “gringos” passing through. These aren’t exactly “tourist highlights” but there is so much beauty to this part of the country that I wish more people could see.
We then took a 4 hour hike through the mountains to a little pueblo where three women brought us into a home and fed us a typical indigenous meal of Boxboles (pronounced Boshbol). It was very interesting, but quite tasty! After returning from our hike we were all exhausted, but still had to last through the 6 hour drive home.
And once again I have written an essay, but there is so much to say so much to do, and so many emotions. Now our group is back in Xela for one day, then off to Mexico for a few days!
No comments:
Post a Comment