A Hike and a Hurricane

Hurricane Felix passed over Central America this week, dropping serious quantities of rain in some areas of Northern Nicaragua, Honduras, and Eastern Guatemala. There were not widespread landslides. The rain never made it here to the western regions of the country.

Last week I went for a hike down into the mountainous interior of my municipality. The scenery is breathtaking and I had a great trip. I took the opportunity to make some new friends and practice my K’iche. This is Don Miguel, a resident of Antiguo Xetinamit. Xetinamit was hit by landslides during Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and half the town left and rebuilt on the mountaintop 600 meters above. Miguel and the rest still live in the old town. We walked along together for about an hour, and talked about just about everything I could in K’iche. At one point I saw this little armadillo scurrying along the side of the road. When I pointed it out to Miguel, he ran over and grabbed it. “For the stewpot”, he said, “It’s like pork only better.”

Miguel showed me where the trail to the top of the mountain left town, and I hiked up through rain showers and cloud forest.

At the top I met these four boys from Pacorral I, returning from gathering firewood below. Mayan men customarily carry loads braced against their brows like this. I’ve seen someone carry more than their own bodyweight straight up a mountain without resting in this fashion.

National elections will be on Sunday. Check out this article from the Christian Science Monitor for more information: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0907/p06s02-woam.html