Semana Santa (Holy Week!)

So, this program is being dumb and wont let me move things down, so, we will have to deal with it like this til I can fix it later. The pictures at the top here are meants for the later parts of the post... haha... good luck.

Don Raul with his granddaughter at the beach. I put the orange peel on her head... its supposed to be a crown
They said I should do my hair like that everyday....whatever.

Our creation at the beach to protect the hole in the top middle that had fish in it.

The artists.

Always gotta get some cards going.

The bishops at the burial with the Franciscans in the background.

Padre Max.

The Facade with the first coat of paint on the day of the funeral.

Top of the volcano.

The crater of the volcano Santa Ana.

A pic I took above my head while walking.

Two other volcanos.

The burial chamber in front of the altar where they buried Padre Max.

A different view.

The New meets the Old.

The next wall that is to be started.

April 6, 2009

The moliendas... where they juice the sugar canes.

taste tests!

The steam geyser.

The pools they are building.

Let’s see, March. I went with some members of my community a few weeks ago to “el infernillo”… “the little hell”. It’s a small ravine on the side of the volcano where a stream passes over a heat vent, leading to a strong shoots of water vapor shooting out of the ground and lots of sulfur. When there is more water in the rainy season it forms pools of warm water, but right now its pretty dry above ground. They are building a little tourism dilly there to catch the water and make thermal pools, should turn out interesting.

After, we passed by the sugar cane grinder deals in the country and got to taste the sugary substance that bubbles to the top, very tasty.

About a week ago Mauricio, the neighbor, and I decided to go hunting for crabs and fishies in the streams close while going swimming in the different places where the water is deep enough to frollick in. I lost my machete as we were on our way back at night time and it fell out, couldn’t find it the days after either. I think we are going to go this evening to crab and fish in the night time.

Gin Rummy in the middle of nowhere.

Here are some pics of the progress on the church reconstruction. They were stalled a while without funds, but now got the paint donated so are back at work. I’ve also started taking pics of the wall that they have in mind to start next so that we can send out some grant proposals.
Next, ah yes, I had an awesome time going out to climb the Santa Ana Volcano. It’s the tallest volcano in country, and just erupted in 2005. They have had it closed off since then and have just now reopened it. We have a volcanologist as a volunteer out there working with the El Sal gov who was our guide and all that jazz. That’s the first time I’ve seen something like that….talking about the crater. I mean one wrong step and its weeeeeee 2000 feet down to the superheated acid lake in the middle. We took a pic as a group at the top, but they haven’t sent them out yet, so oh well.

Video from on top of the crater, and a snippet of the Crater Lake Coatepeque.

When I got back from that, I arrived in time for what would be the equivalent of a wake for us, but for the Italian Franciscan priest that evangelized 30 some years in San Pedro Nonualco. A group of Franciscans came in the early 20th century here to the region and evangelized this area. Padre Maximiliano spent some 32 years in San Pedro and then was moved to another place close at the end of his life. He had asked to be buried in the San Pedro parish church when he died, so the parish honored that request upon his death. Here are some pics from the wake and then funeral. He was a very honored and respected person in the region for his humility. 2 bishops came, and a large group of monks from the Franciscan order, and a large group of the diocesian pastors were there in support. There were tons and tons of people, and even the small groups of evangelicals were showing up at the Mass.

Seeing as yesterday was Palm Sunday, now Semana Santa (Holy Week) has started here and the majority of the people are on vacation, especially the govt. There are processions and confessions and Masses all week and seeing how I wasn’t here last year to check it all out, I am excited to see how it goes this year.

Oh yeah, this past weekend I went with all the host fam to the beach to go fishing with cast nets and all and hang out. It was a nice relaxing time. The kids and I built a large sand “thing” that was supposed to not let the water get in, but we had to leave before we saw how many waves it took to knock it down, haha.

Finally, the stove project continues to move along, with the recent vacations and deaths and stuff we still haven’t been able to send out the materials, but the week after holy week we are going to start again. We have the funding necessary and all that jazz soo… wahoo. Also, we have finished measuring everything we need to fix our potable water system now, and only need the land permissions and prices. I have priced the pvc in the US, so I have an idea, but we need to find out here. Once we have all that it will be time to go knocking on doors at different institutions.
The last project I am looking to do here is probably one of the most important (and within reach), it is to fix up the casa comunal (community house) so that it isn’t useless in the rainy season. The roof is going on 20 years old (and we aren’t talking shingles, haha) and they need to fix up the outhouse, need some chairs and tables, and a board to put community announcements would be key. I am finishing up the paperwork on all that too with the Development Committee, and hope to have it up on the Peace Corps Partnership site soon (http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors).

I finished the book On Being Catholic and have also finished El Alquimista (The Alchemist) in Spanish. Both were edifying, but the Alchemist was actually a really thought provoking book, if it exists in English you should check it out. It’s by Paulo Coelho and it’s about discovering the meaning of life haha.

“Los alquimistas hacen esto. Muestran que cuando buscamos ser mejores de lo que somos, todo a nuestro alrededor se vuelve mejor también.”

“The alchemists do this. They show that when we try to be better than what we are, all our surroundings end up better as well.”

El Alquimista p. 185

March 13, 2009

Got time for a few pics from the Mayan Ceremonial Caves we visited (Actun Tunichil Muknal), the ruins in the jungle at Tikal, and where we ate breakfast this morning on the island.

Outside the entrance to the cave. We were inside 2 and half hours, about 600 ft below ground.

Its ok Jerome.

The last hiker that didn't make it out.....hah, old sacrificial victim supposedly.

You can barely see me below.

Jerome on top of one of the temples looking out at the others that are poking out of the jungle.
25 for Guatemalans and 150 for foreigners.... hmmmmmm.

The motto of the island we are at.

The view from where we had bfast this morning.

Putting my best side forward.

New Latrine!!!

March 3, 2009

So, yeah yeah I’ve been a slacker on this thing, but you guys should be glad…. That means that I am out working somewhere else instead of always at the computer, haha.

The past few weeks there have been a few things going on. First, I was translating for a week in San Juan Nonualco for Habitat for Humanity. There was a group of 11 Queen’s University students from Canada that came down to build a house. They were a good group of guys and girls. I am still trying to bring Habitat out to my site to build some houses, so keep your fingers crossed. Speaking of fingers crossed, have you have seen Hispanic baseball players cross themselves before or after doing something and then kiss their hand? Ever wondered why? I just learned that it’s because they are making the form of a cross with their thumb crossing over their pointer finger. Get right out of town, I never knew that.

The university group from Canada.

Anyways, also we had the scholarship ceremony for our 5 University scholars with representatives from Peace Corps, the US Embassy, the municipality, and the Church all participating in honoring the students. The five are now on their way to their degree.
I also attended the High School graduation here a few days ago. It starts with a Mass and then moves in procession to the graduation ceremony in the High School. That was nice too, check out some pics.

The graduation ceremony almost starting.

Mauricio (brother of Fran), Dona Amalia (mom of Fran), Francisco, and Manuel (uncle of Fran)

The stove project continues, piece by piece it is falling into place. Some communities are ahead of others in the process, but they are well on their way.

Finally, Don Raul and I have finished my new latrine/outhouse. It is stellar, much more stable than the previous….much less chance of people falling in. It is about 3.5 meters deep, which made it interesting for going in and out.

More or less beginning.

Different Angle.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Uh oh...

Oh ok, whew.

Higher.

For some reason this pic just makes me smile.

"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in
peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of
winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you
are certain in every battle to be in peril."

-Master Sun