Life in Pana

A brief update on life in Panajachel:

Class with my teacher, Florinda, has been going well, although 5 hours each day last week was quite exhausting at first. For those of you that know my sleeping patterns, you’ll appreciate the fact that I napped three days in a row! The school is the only Maya operated school in Pana. We have class at our individual picnic tables in an idyllic garden, accompanied by roosters, cats, and church bells sounding throughout the streets…and the occasional backfiring car or firecracker explosion.

There wasn’t enough time between the end of class and the last boat back to Pana to explore the other towns during the week, so I have been spending my afternoons and evenings reading, napping, wandering and writing – mostly at a café with nutella croissants (heaven?). I am truly learning to relax and enjoy being still….not my forte!

Last Wednesday we went to the Mayan caves in San Jorge, a town just above Pana on the mountainside that is primarily if not entirely Maya – Quiche & Kakchiquel. Went on my first chickenbus (look ma, still alive!) though I still refuse to look out the front if I don’t have to. The view from the top of San Jorge was stunning then down the narrow path to the caves – which are still used today, one even had a fresh chicken carcass on an altar. 

Along the way we acquired 4 boys as our afternoon guides. Their poverty was sad but unfortunately also expected – easily spotted in their torn clothes, shoes bursting at the seams, and short stature. But they still find joy in the simplest of things – turning stray newspaper into paper airplanes to launch from the mountaintops and learning a new sport – frisbee! And they raced to each trouble spot on the path to offer the gringas a tiny hand and ‘help’ us down the mountain. I know quite a few young men with fewer manners than these poor little boys! While seeing their poverty was heartwrenching, it was as I said unfortunately expected. But the next day in class when I learned that each was a son of at least one if not two alcoholic parents and that one boy, Alejandro, was so short and his speech so bad because mom was drunk during pregnancy and he was dropped many times as an infant, I think I felt a bit of my heart break. These kids deserve a chance – they deserve the right to find happiness in life and without change in the world it will be incredibly hard for them to find that chance because at best they will be forced to take care of everyone around them or at worst will wind up like their parents.

Friday my friend Omar arrived from San Juan, across the lake, where he is working on a water filtration project (www.notdrcody.com) and I really enjoyed hearing about his experiences around Guatemala, including the work of the different organizations he’s seen. There is a lot happening here and a lot of people with powerful visions of how the world should be that strive to make that vision reality every day. I am always humbled when I can spend time with people working with humility and devotion to make the world a better place.

Saturday after breakfast I traveled with another friend from Vandy, Tyler, to Santiago de Atitlan for a bit of a wander. The town is the biggest on the Lake but is not so different from the rest otherwise. It has a good mercado of similar wares, a nice little central park, and a lot of construction. There is a gorgeous if basic white church that must be a sight on Sundays. There is also a full soccer field where we were lucky enough to walk past an adult-league game – but it’s made of ash/dirt that must be worse than a beach to play on. But they had drawn a decent crowd and it was fun to see a local game for a few!

I spent Sunday with my English friend Laura from the school and then wandered to a restaurant where the Mexico v. El Salvador game was playing. After a mediocre burger I was befriended by a trio of Italians that had just arrived in Guate. Now I can truly appreciate what it’s like to talk to someone that doesn’t know your language. I speak English and Spanish while they speak Italian and two can bumble through Spanish and English. So we compromised on English. The father can only do Italian. It was an interesting couple hours of mixed languages! After they kindly paid for my dinner (woo!) we went down to the lake and talked travel, music and dancing for quite some time.

This week Lisa and her cousin come for a relaxing couple days then we will head probably to Antigua then Guatemala City. Mario arrives on Sunday and we’ll finally get started with meetings and work on Monday! Will write more after getting settled in down there…

Take care everyone!

PS If the pics don't work...I'll try again tomorrow!