Semana Santa and a New Home

It´s been a little while since I have written, and now I feel like there are is too much that I MUST tell...so I´ll try to hit a few highlights.

First, what the heck has kept me so busy that I haven´t written in a month? Well, I received my site assignment, went and visited the community for a week, enjoyed Semana Santa (Holy Week), rushed to finish my training projects and say my goodbyes in San Miguel, and was sworn in by the U.S. embassador. Yesterday I was deposited in my new home, a pile of luggage surrounding me and a smile on my face.

Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán is the the name of my new town. Some basic facts about it:

·It is located at 3,000m above sea level (10,000ft) on top of a mountain in Western Guatemala, just off the PanAmerican Highway, halfway between the departmental capitals of Sololá and Quetzaltenango.

·It is a small town, perhaps with a population of 3 or 4,000, but the town is the municipal cabecera (North Americans: think county seat) of a municipality with 50,000 people, most living in remote villages deep in the mountains serviced by no or poor roads. UN statistics show that it it the most underdeveloped municipality of the nineteen in the department of Sololá.

·It is a new town. After Hurricane Mitch dropped vast quantities of rain on Central America in 1998, a bizarre geological phenomenon necessitated that the old site of the town be abandoned as all the buildings there began to collapse. Geologists believe that the old town was build on an ancient volcano, so the ground there is not sound. In 2000 the town was transferred to its new location.

·The town is 100% percent Maya K´iché, a purely indigenous community with no ladino population. I will begin K´iché language classes next week, as many women, children, and older people speak little or no Spanish. Over 95% of the conversations I hear in the street are in K´iché.

·It is not a tropical paradise. It is cold at 3,000m, and there is no central heating. Frequently the town is enshrouded in clouds and fog. But it is very pretty, and I am from Maine, right?

·My assignment is to work in five different schools, one of which is in my town, the others several kilometers away in outlying communities. I will also likely have the opportunity to do workshops with teachers from other schools in the area, as well as magisterio students studying to become teachers.

That´s good for now I guess. Now for a little about Semana Santa.

Semana Santa is the most important holiday of the year in most Spanish countries. In Guatamala, Semana Santa typically consists of religous processions, colorful alfombras created in the streets, special foods, time with family, and for many a trip to the beach or a local park. I ogt the chance to participate in making several alfombras, which are designs and pictures created in the streets using pine needles, flowers, fruits, and painted sawdust. A tremendous amount of time and effort is put into these, though they are temporary: the religious processions later come through and walk all over them. But for me it was very beautiful and meaningful to put such labor into artwork that was soon to be destroyed; it made me think of the mandalas that are created by Tibetan Buddhists.

I also got the chance to be a cucurucho in the procession in San Miguel. These are the people who carry a large extremely heavy platform through the streets, which is topped by a statue of Jesus on the day of his crucifixion. Our procession lasted three and a half hours, and I am lucky I didn´t throw my back out, as I am a good six or eight inches taller than your average Guatemalan, so my two options were try to stand up straight and carry several hundred pounds, or stoop over like a hunchback and carry one hundred pounds in a very uncomfortable position. It was a beautiful experience but I might just walk behind next year.

Then on Sunday I went to the beach with Chepe and Luvia and a hefty chunk of Chepe´s extended family. The sand was packed with people enjoying the sun and surf, as well as the vendors that take advantage of the one time a year poor Guatemalans feel like they can spend money on non necessities. It was a great time, and we bought fresh fish to fry up over an open fire. Scaling fish with a machete does work, I can now testify, but I don´t recommend it.

Now training is over and my real work begins. The next few weeks I will be busy getting to know my schools, doing needs assessment, and settling into my new home. Hope all are well!