Day 11 Antigua

ANTIGUA. Saw some more of the few remaining Spanish baroque buildings, a church, the cathedral and fountain in the square, and lovely pastel colored buildings.
Some of the group I went with, walked to the local market, where there was a never ending number of stalls selling the wonderful colorful woven, and hand sewn items available everywhere. It's soooooo tempting and really hard to resist buying these lovely things...but have been able to for the most part.
The woman who came Wednesday afternoon when we were in Quetzaltenango, showed us the 'backstrap' method of weaving, and is typical of Mayan women. The loom is strapped around her waist, and the other end tied to a tree or post and they either stand or sit to weave. This tradition is passed down from mother to daughter to girls at around 7 or 8 years of age.
From the market - back to the hotel to pack and head to Guatemala City and the airport to drop off those who were returning to the US, and I came into the city, where I'll be staying til my return on Thurday.

Day 10

Our last day at the school. We did some finishing touches, and everyone is soooooo pleased with the results. We actually did much more than the plan originally called for, but it was fun to do and we kept thinking up more to paint. When the kids were out to play some of them would come to whoever had a paintbrush in hand and either ask to paint or stand and wait to be asked. For a while anyway they will have the memory of doing it. I was able to get about 60 or so photos on a cd for the principal of the school. she is going to show the kids the pictures on a computor. I think the kids will love seeing themselves again. As I've mentioned before - each time we took pictures of them they run over and ask to see it on the camera.
The Principal gave each of us a 'certificate of appreciation' thanking us for the work we had done, and wishing us a safe return to our homes. Under the name of the school - which translates to "The official Kindergarten School" in the photo- you'll see UK AK. That is Mayan for Kindergarten. We had a final picture with all the teachers, children and volunteers.
After lunch, several of us set off for Antigua where we're staying the night. Got here in time to walk around the city. It's located in the central highlands, and the architecture reflects the Spanish colonial days. The cathedral, and several other churches provide spectacular examples of Spanish Baroque. Antigua is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Day 9

Really super day. Started our morning with more painting. Only one more day to go so we had plenty to be doing, to be sure the project is finished when we leave.
We found out when we arrived that one of the student's mothers had invited us to her home to have cake, and juice, to say thank you for all that we were doing to decorate the kindergarten. It was quite something since most of the families in the area do no have a lot of money, and clearly live at a poverty level of existence. They take their laundry to a communal sink.
We have an opportunity each day to play with the children, and since we are always taking photos, we are always besieged by them each time to see the pictures we took. I am going to put photos on a CD for the teacher so they can show the children. One of the games involves sitting in a circle and one person goes around the circle patting each one on the head saying a word which changes when they get to the person they want to 'tag' That person gets up and the 2 of them have to run around the others to see who can reach the empty space first and sit down. Then it repeats til everyone has had a turn.
It is going to be a sad day when we say our final farewells tomorrow.
Back to homebase for lunch, a program evaluation with the program manager and then a local woman who does weaving came to give a demonstration. We had another opportunity to go the the town center for a look around before heading back to dinner.Afterwards one of the guys on the staff gave some of us Salsa (dance ) lessons. Lots of laughter and some of us made some headway, but I know I won't ever be winning any prizes.

Day 8

mid week on the project. We have a couple more walls to go.Tia, one of the gals in our group had the idea to paint a world on one of the walls and it's turning out beautifully. I'll have picture of it finished soon. Most of the children are becoming more used to us now, and aren't as hesitant about approaching us. We are remembering their names more. They are so sweet, and every time we take their photos they rush right over to see it. Thank goodness for digital cameras. We are able to converse a little with them in Spanish, and it's very cute when we mis-pronounce a word, the immediately correct us! I was saying the name of one of the girls who name is Jasmine, with the emphasis on the first syllable, she looked at me and said - in no uncertain terms...JasmINE!
Back to the house for lunch, and a free afternoon. A local travel agent came and I and my 4 room mates-Jasmine,Jen, Lisa and MaryAnn have been able to book a trip to Antigua - the ancient capital of, not only Guatemala, but all Central America at one time. We're leaving here on Friday after lunch so we're all looking forward to that.
Afterwards we took a taxi to the center to see the cathedral, and do a bit of souvenier shopping in the local market. Lots of very colorful stuff around.

Day 7

Back to the school after breakfast, and on to more painting. The children started arriving and some remembered that they had been able to do some of the painting yesterday and began to ask to do it again. So of course we obliged. We're more than half way thru the project, so not sure what we will be able to do for the last day....on Friday. I guess the program manager here will figure something out. We were able to see more of the classrooms today...and as I said before they are functioning on a bare minimum. Not much in the way of the usual things you'd see in a similar school elsewhere in the western world.
After lunch we were taken on a tour of the area, and to the Fuentes Georginas hot springs near by high in the mountains, which come from the nearby volcano. The road there for several kilometers is lined with plots of land with a variety of cabbage,lettuce, onions, carrots etc, and a lot of it on some very steep land. The water at the springs in the largest pool was around 39 degrees centigrade...really hot to get into at first, and I didn't manage to stay in for more that 10 minutes, and so went to a slightly cooler one near by.

Day 6

Today we started our assignment at the school. There are 3 classrooms, and we got to work right away, becos later in the morning we were going to have an opportunity to spend some time with the children. We are quite pleased with our progress, got almost one wall completed and partial on 2 others. I'll have some photos tomorrow of what we did. We had a blast with the kids. They are from a local impoverished neighborhood. At first they were very shy and stayed close to their teachers, but we had some little toys. and plastic balls so it wasn't long before they ventured closer and became fully engaged. I had a couple of them do some of the painting, and before long several others were waiting for their turn. The school has the bare minimum of everything, but we are prevented from making donations of any sort other than the work we're doing, because it can compromise the relationship between volunteers and the communities they serve, and damage their partnerships with local organizations. The spanish lesson we had on Sunday came in handy and made it a bit easier to communicate with the children , while we were painting and playing games. Some of them had new backpacks and they were so happy to show them to us. After lunch, another spanish lesson, then a tour of the city -Quetzaltenango.It 's not a pretty city, and nothing of great note to see as far a tourist attraction. We went to a market where there are some very colorful items for sale.Many of the buses used for transportation all around the country look pretty familiar to Americans. They are the old yellow school buses, so you could say old school buses don't retire they go to live in Guatemala. A few coats of paint and they end up looking quite different, and add a lot of colour to the road scenes.

Day 4,5

Day 4, We drove to the city of Quetzaltenango =pronounced Ketzaltenango, and called Xela (Shayla) for short . It's approx 135miles from Guatemala City. It took about 4 hours, but as there is a huuuuge project to widen the road to what looks like a 4 lane highway it will eventually cut the travel time down by half. There is still enormous poverty in this country of around 10 million people. The UN says that 87% of Guatemalans live in poverty, and 30% don't have access to drinkable water. More than half the population is indigenous Mayan and around 35% Ladino (mixed Mayan and European descent) The Ladinos hold the economic and political power, which means the majority of the poor are the indigenous. 2% of landowners hold 68% of cultivatable land, and the majority indigenous people survive thru subsistence farming. Which explains the large numbers of street vendors in cities, small towns and along the roadside selling their fruits and vegetables.

Day 5- Today we had an orientation. It was a day of getting to know each other and learn some more about the upcoming week's activities. Started with an hour of Spanish lesson. We are encouraged to use Spanish when we start our project , which will be to paint the exterior walls of an elementary school and then decorate all 4 walls. See the picture of what we are expected to make it look like. Time will tell!!
Our accommodation is in a modern brick home on the outskirts of Xela, see pic above, 5 bedrooms, 4 bunkbeds in each. There is a staff of 6 who take care of everything, cooking, cleaning, driving us to our workplace, etc. We are well taken care of.
After lunch, another spanish lesson, then a tour of the city -Quetzaltenango.It 's not a pretty city, and nothing of great note to see as far a tourist attraction. We went to a market where there are some very colorful items for sale.