First Week Behind Me

Sunday, February 24

No food served here on Sundays, but I can help myself; bought a huge aguacate (avocado) and had it for breakfast and lunch (thanks for the heads up, Bill . What a crazy day Sunday turned out to be. In the morning I went shopping with my hostess. Unbelievable! The town square was barely passable. There are two market days in Santiago Atitlan, Friday and Sunday, with Sunday being the biggest of the two. We struggled through the crowd to purchase quite a bit more than we intended, but it was fun. On one occasion, my hostess shooed me a way because she thought the lady selling aguacates was charging her more because a gringa was with her (I’m the gringa).

In the afternoon, a new boarder, Susan from Rhode Island (here to buy fair trade weaving and jewelry), and I crossed the lake to a house warming for an ex pat (expatriot living in Guatemala). I could have kicked my self for not bringing my disposable camera (my digital went on the blink just before departing) because the view of Santigo Atitlan from across the bay was just stunning. To make up for my lack of photos on my blog, I am sending you this URL, which contains a number of excellent pictures of the town.

More about my work here in the coming days….

http://www.fotosearch.com/results.asp?keyword=santiago+atitlan&category=&searchtype=sss

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Thirteen new bomberos (rescue squad volunteers) graduated today and there was a large celebration in Santiago Atitlan. The square was decorated and the bank closed, and down the street came two ambulances leading a lovely parade that included a band from Solola (nearby town), the town leaders, the head of the bomberos, and the executive director of Pueblo a Pueblo, Ken (who sticks out around town like a light post because he is over 6 feet tall and the Maya are rather short; Pueblo a Pueblo supports the fire/rescue squad as it helps get folks to the hospitalito in time for successful treatment). After the band played a few pieces, including the National Anthem, and several!!!!! speaches, the 13 new graduates were honored by presentation of a fire helmet (despite the lack of fires these days), a hug, and a handshake. Then someone started a fire in a small house they had built on the square for this purpose, and when it started to burn and the firecrackers had gone off, the firemen came running up with a hose and put out the fire--good thing there are not many fires because by the time they got there with the hose, not much was left but hot ashes. No matter, everyone had a good time.