No, I am not listening to Twisted Sister from the 80’s. I am talking about la fiesta de la virgen de Guadalupe. It seems that sometime in the 19th century, the apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to some country folk in Mexico. They mentioned it ot the Pope, the Vatican declared it a miracle, and now it’s a HUGE holiday all throughout Latin America. To open the celebrations, they make effigies of Satan and when the sun falls on the first day, they light him on fire. Gasoline and bandoliers of fireworks around his torso help.  

They made the effigy the afternoon before. Here we have Alberto, hugging his beloved Satan. In a surreal combination of holidays, they were also putting up the Christmas tree a the same time. Much like at the Health Center, they don’t actually cut down a tree- they chop off a whole bunch of pine & cypress branches, make a teepee frame of wood, then tie the branches on. Saves killing a tree, and makes a “christmas tree” that is quite dense and full looking. Though, i am not sure it’s very good for the tree that got trimmed. They don’t seem to have much concern for being careful, and they were lopping off some BIG branches. Guatemala is very thirld-world. Here are some pictures, in a sequence, of how the whole thing went. They climb pretty high to cut the limbs; this is also how they get firewood half the time, so they’re pretty good at it. Though, it can be dangerous- there’s a one-eyed man in town that got that way collecting firewood, and he was telling me about someone else that died falling out of a tree.

By the way, that’s Galindo in the thrid and fourth pictures. He is doing a lot better now, so thank you to everyone that sent prayers and well-wishing.

This tree thing definately was a family event. Everyone drew their machetes and started breaking down the bigger branches. And I mean EVERYONE, the girls, the women, even the toddlers. Check out the two-year-old wailing away with the broadsword (click to enlarge). I made sure to stay WAY clear of that action, but they seemed completely unconcerned. Though, the doctor once told me that 90% of physical injuries he treates are machete inflicted.

And, as we were all making the tree, Lena cut up some sugarcane that my Q’anjob’al teacher brought me the day before (there is NO WAY Emily and I can eat all that by ourselves). Everyone here loves sugarcane. Maybe that is why they have no teeth.  

Speaking of my Q’anjob’al teacher, here he is. His name is Pedro, and he’s a pretty nice guy. He has a lot of odd jobs besides teaching us the Mayan dialect- he grows mushrooms, translates Spanish to Q’anjob’al for videos, and farms some land in Barrillas (a nearby village where the sugar cane came from; it’s too cold here in Temux). He’s a really nice guy, and I appreciate the fact that he’s one of the few people in the region that thinks beyond his daily, hand-to-mouth needs. You might notice that he is quite short. That is the norm here, partly due to genetics, partly due to a LOT of hunger & malnutrition during the civil war in the 80s, when he was growing up (he’s the same age as me).

So, now I will post some random stuff. This one is for my dad, who likes ducks. Here was have the neighbors’ pech, or ducks. They are quite happy now, as they can play in puddles that are left by some construction that just happened. This is where a house will go in a few years, once that family can save some more money. But they had enough to get the earthwork done, so they did it this week when the backhoe was in town for a few other projects.

Remember the pretty corn we harvested in Guatemala? Well, their beans (or ub’al, in dialect) are equally beautiful. Check out these gems, they look like Berti Bott’s Everyflavor Jellybeans. I want to bring some back to plant in my garden when we’re done with Peace Corps.

And, some pictures of us doing our housework this week. That’s about it for now.