ok, is anyone checking this site, since i´m here again in antigua?

i can´t get into my work email right now, which must be a sign, because hey, i´m on vacation technically this year, so why am i even logging in to work...

i am SO BUMMED right now because i found out today that we aren´t going to do the ANTORCHA thingy that we did last year, because there aren´t enough students here this week to justify the cost of gas. big huge bummer. i am so sad.

so there aren´t many people in this town this year. not as many students taking classes here in the school where i am. not sure what´s up.

i´ll write again tomorrow if i see that someone comments on this post.

adios

On September 15th, 1821 Guatemala won its independence from Spain peacefully. The Spanish effectively enslaved Guatemala’s indigenous people to work what had been their own land, for the benefit of the invaders, just as they did throughout the hemisphere for 300 years.

The caminata is a celebration unique to Guatemala, which takes place for days before September 15th. Hundreds of people run in the streets next to pickups and buses with torches and flags in their hands. The crowd is made up mostly of students running for their schools or colleges. There is a feeling surrounding the caminata similar to the Olympic Games; people gather along the streets, cheering for their sportsmen and throwing bags of water at everyone that accompanies the group.

PROBIGUA’s Spanish language students, staff, and families celebrated the nation's independence day alongside their compatriots. The day started at the Escuela Normal Pedro Molina School in Chimaltenango (17 kilometers West of Antigua, on the brow of the continental divide). From there, we started the run with the torch. Dozens of the students lined the street outside the entrance to the school--they cheered as we started to run towards Antigua. The PROBIGUA bibliobus drove right behind them so that every exhausted runner could get on the bus again periodically and rest.

I'm slowly putting pictures on my Flickr site. There are 20+ on there right now if you want to look. http://www.flickr.com/photos/moxieg/ I took 700+ pictures, and eventually at least half of them will be on this page in Flickr. Enjoy.

I hate to admit it, but I CAN'T MAKE TORTILLAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love to cook, and I was all excited that Christy taught us how to make tortillas in Antigua. So, armed with all good intentions, I went to my local grocery store and bought that bag of masa flour that I've never had the guts to buy before this day, me and all my newfound knowledge. The end result: masa on the floor, on my upper arms, all over my kitchen counter, a sad looking ball in my sink (the second such mishap; I called the 10 second rule to the earlier diver and threw it disgustedly onto the hot griddle with its other malformed cousins). Bound and determined to make the DAMNED THINGS, I decided that the next trip is to the local tienda to get a, gasp, _tortilla_press_. The horrors of admitting failure...


Roadkill looks tastier than this...They taste ok. Chewy because they're way too thick. Definitely not round. It's like the incident that we don't speak of, from childhood, with the blueberry pancakes...don't ask...I also made some sort of improvised chicken/green pepper/onion/salsa casera thingy and frijoles, for old time's sake. I dedicate this hastily-thrown together meal to Christy. ¡Buen provecho!, mi amiga...
I'll guess I'll just close my eyes and pretend that I'm back in Antigua again.

Back home. Disoriented. Bit of culture shock. Don't really want to talk about the trip right now, so please don't expect me to be all bubbly. Or wordy. It's not happening. I took 700 pictures because I'm mostly visual. So if you want to know what happened, look at the pictures. It really doesn't do justice in any language to talk about this amazing experience with words. "It was amazing." (that's an understatement). "It was a great learning experience." (another understatement) If you want to see the flickr link to all the pictures, you'll have to ask me for the link. Won't be doing that for another few days or so. Difficult to choose which pics to show you right now... It was a huge honor for Chad to carry the torch for PROBIGUA. Pretty emotional stuff. So we were walking down the street behind this baby and her mama and Chad said to me, "Oh, you're going to take a picture, aren't you?" Well, if you know me, you know that I HAD to. Probably gonna blow it up to poster size and put it on my living room wall. If you look at me right now I sort of look like her. A final pic of us with our maestras. The card catalog from the Antigua Public Library.

pic of the day


from the 15 septiembre independence day parade, La Antigua, Guatemala.

practicing numbers, basic conversation, learning how to take the chicken bus-public bus, bargaining (verb is regatear), and not getting hit by traffic in the streets...dateline 18 septiembre 2006

Ayer, viajamos a San Antonio aguas calientes y fuimos de compras. Este pueblo es 15 minutos sur de antigua. regateo y practico uso frases como ¨cuanto cuesta¨ y ¨no tengo mucho dinero¨ y ¨no me gusta esto, quisiera cosas muy pequenas¨ (i don´t like that, i´d like smaller things) es dificil para mi recordar numeros grande, pues hablo y regateo muy, muy despacio. por ejemplo, una vendedora dijo, ¨veinte cinco para una¨ dije, ¨veinte para..........dos...¨ y dijo, ¨esta bien.¨ compre una tela grande y cosas pequenas. tome muchos fotos, por supuesto. los buses condujeron muy rapido por todas las calles. yo tengo panico cuando veo un bus o coche conduciendo muy rapido. regresamos a antigua con memorias nuevas y cosas buenas.

¨There ain´t no surer way to find out whether you like people
or hate them than to travel with them.¨ Mark Twain