After visiting the Biotopo de Quetzal we headed for Coban. I introduced my family to everyone at dinner and I did quite a bit of translating, but my cousin does speak a decent amount of spanish. The next day we went to Rio Palmeras and Yalchacti, where we met Oscar and Alberto. Jennifer had the opportunity to try Boqkq (sp.) or lightly fermented sugar cane juice. After seeing the new school that is under construction, we went up to Yalchacti to see the chicken coop. We ran into Siriaco when we were up there and ended up having lunch at his house. Since it was Holy Week, we had a special meal of jute con tiu, which means freshwater snails in a traditional gravy. We had a great time with Siriaco’s family. His whole family laughed when Jennifer attempted making tortillas in their house – they are very practiced and have their own way of making tortillas. I was very glad my family had the opportunity to connect with a family in the villages. It is an eye-opener to see how simple many families live – the villages around Coban have some of the highest poverty rates in Guatemala and Central America. It is good to see for yourself the level of development, what projects have been successful, and to talk with the people about what gains they have made in the development process and how they hope to continue sustainable development.
We went to a Mayan museum in Coban the next day located in Zone 3 I think on 5a or 6a Calle. That was pretty interesting – they have quite a bit of artifacts – and we found out that some of the major artifacts are in other countries – one of the largest being a stone with Mayan pictographs in a Boston museum. My mom had to leave earlier than my cousin – so we drove my mom back to the airport and Jennifer and I went up to Xelaju for Easter. Besides processions – there was not much going on. We only had Saturday evening and Sunday morning there, so we only got a glimpse. I tried connecting with the study abroad students – but they were all on vacation in Honduras. The procession on Easter was amazing, I was inspired by the people’s faith, culture, and spirit all seeming to provide energy to continue the journey for sustainable development, social justice, and care for creation.
Jennifer and I then went to Panajachel and Lake Atlitlan at midday on Easter. We enjoyed beautiful views of the Lake (which hopefully they are trying to clean up from the sewage etc that hotels and houses are still contaminating the lake with) but we did not swim. The government supposedly has a waste water treatment system being installed – stay tuned.
We randomly ran into one of my friends from St. John’s – Drew Madson – so we ended up hanging out with Drew. At dinner that night we had bets on how many kids would try to sell us souvenirs – there are many nice souvenirs here and I like to support the kids in earning some money. Sometimes though, the kids can be a little pushy. Jennifer bought a nice leather purse hand made by a local artisan with porcupine quill work – reminiscent of the quill work of the Ojibwe in Minnesota. The next day Jennifer and I went to Santa Catalina – the next town over, and I bought a few cloth belts that the women were weaving with hand looms. Drew was going to go to San Lucas Toliman across the Lake to help with the mission there, but decided to come back with me to Coban to see Semuc Champey and to catch up with Molly Roske, a Bennie who happened to be in Coban for her work as a Peace Corps Volunteer. We stayed at the Earth Lodge in Antigua where we also met up with Patrick who was coming back from his grandpa’s funeral in the US. The Earth Lodge is a pretty nice and affordable gringo hang out, but it is a little ways outside of the city. Jennifer caught a ride from the Earth Lodge guys to the airport the next day, and Drew, Patrick, and I returned back to Coban. Patrick and I had to get back to work after a decent amount of time off for Holy Week – so Drew went to Semuc solo – but we still had a good time for the two evenings he was here.
