Holy Week

The week leading up to Easter includes the most elaborate festivites of the year for many Central American countries. Antigua, Guatemala is the Holy Week hub for all Central America. Throughout the week, in Tactic, there have been processions through the streets of town. These are basically somber parades with depressing music played by marching bands, heavy floats of Jesus and Mary carried on people's shoulders, elaborate prayers that can be heard across town crackling through the procession speakers, and intricate and colourful carpets of dyed sawdust and flower petals carefully laid on the cement or cobbled streets. People dress in purple, decorate their houses in purple and white, light incense, and attend church services. For Catholics, which is the majority of the population, this is the most important time of year.

For Evangelical Christians, Easter also represents the most important religious event. Yet for us, there are no processions, no purple clothes, and no colourful carpets on the streets. Why?

I do not have room to explain it all, nor do I understand all that Catholics believe. But I will tell you this: for us Easter is about celebrating Jesus' resurrection from the dead. We acknowledge that He died, but God, in his mercy, raised Jesus back to life. God accepted Jesus' death as a once and for all sacrifice for all our sins, allowing us to be forgiven and live in community with God both here on Earth and one day in Heaven. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is offered to us. And our God is not dead! He is living and powerful and still at work in this world. We have no reason to be somber.

Why don't we just have our own parades of celebration? The Catholics have taken it so far to one extreme, that Evangelicals have gone the opposite and celebrate that Jesus is alive in a regular Sunday service the same as any week. In a reaction to the big Catholic event, we have separated ourselves.

Nonetheless, it has been interesting this week to observe the festivities and experience this cultural holiday in a way that doesn't happen in North America. It is also wonderful to have a week off from work to relax, spend time with my boyfriend, Steve, who has come to visit me, and travel a bit outside of Tactic. With Catholic festivites, showing Steve around Guatemala, and the unforgettable truth of what Jesus did on the cross, this has been a memorable week. Happy (belated) Easter to you all.

People making a sawdust carpet before a procession, just up the street from my house.

A float in a Catholic Holy Week procession. This picture was taken from my doorstep.

Library Update 2

After 3 months here, I have finally started ordering books for the Library. In the past week and a half I have made 2 online book orders of $967 for 90 books. This includes Spanish picture books, novels, levelled readers, some wordless books, some non-fiction books, as well as some science experiment idea books. Now the next step is to wait for their arrival in Kamloops, people to bring them down, and for them to be catalogued in the library. Ruth and Hope have been working hard in the library to get all the current books catalogued and organized in the office in Chamche. When that is done, I also want to make class sets of some levelled readers and novels. I am excited that things are moving forward, and many of the teachers I have talked to are also excited to have access to many new books.

Grandparents Day

As mentioned in my previous post, the schools hosted a day to celebrate Grandparents. This week, nearly 400 grandparents showed up to the celebration at Chamche, and there were similar celebrations at Purulha and Mocohan. Grandparents were treated to piñatas, live Marimba music, a drama, tamales (beef in corn flour dough, wrapped in a leaf, and boiled), and inspirational message, activities, and prizes. Here are some photos from the event at Chamche.

Palm branches as traditional decoration

A Grandpa waiting for the festivities to start

Many of them agreed to having their picture taken, but never having used a camera, they don't understand to smile and look at the camera. These women giggled with delight afterward when I showed them their picture on the screen.

This was the second picture I took of this man, after showing him his picture on the screen

Traditional Guatemalan instrument: the marimba (like a big xylophone they all play at the same time)

Just before things get going - not having fun yet

Some characters in the drama

Some students who were there to usher, serve food, and help out

The pine needles were decorating the cement floor.

This little girl was scooping them up and carrying them to her grandparents. 

There was one piñata for Grandmothers, one for Grandfathers.

All are waiting expectantly for the candy to fall.

Watching the piñata

See their smiles as they rush in for the candy :)

Me with one of the teachers, Claudia

The People

To say one thing about these Guatemalan people, I would say they are so full of love for others. They are less absorbed in their own lives, agendas, and bank accounts and more concerned with relationships between people. Instead of greeting with a wave or a smile, they say Good morning with a handshake (men) or kiss on the cheek (women). Instead of scheduling to go for coffee next week for half an hour, talking with people will take priority over whatever they are doing right then and there. Children are quick to offer help carrying something, are generous in hugs, and are full of energy. How can I do anything but love them in return?

To demonstrate what the Guatemalan people are like, I have three snapshots for you.

The other day a missions team from Canada of grade 11 students came to say goodbye to the students at Chijacorral. For an hour, the students were swarming them with hugs and gifts, playing games with them in their classrooms, and then were cheering and chanting as they drove out of the parking lot. What struck me was not how much love these students had for these Canadians they met only a week ago, although that is something those teenagers will remember for years. What struck me was that after 4 months of being here, they still love me that much. Every day I go to school and children will run up and hug me. In the market they will call out my name with the hugest smile. Even for their teachers and principals, these kids have so much love. When we arrive at the schools every morning, there are children waiting for us at the door to the school and greet us as if we've been gone for a month. When was the last time you've seen children swarming their principal with hugs? Their love doesn't fade. That is part of who they are, part of their culture. So although some things a missions team might experience in a week in Tactic might be exaggerated or might not be quite as they are from day to day, I have to say that the love these Canadians received from these children is real, not staged, and not just a show for the white foreigners with money. These are a loving people.

Students at Chijacorral hugging a team member from Canada

Children at Chijacorral shouting goodbyes to the team

Students at Chamche hugging their principal at recess

Life has been hard though, for all of them. Last week I took a public bus from Chicoy back to Tactic and sat in silence among the tired Guatemalans. These people have to work hard labour jobs just to put food on the table. They are often dressed in used clothing from Thrift stores - the unwanted clothing that comes down from North America. Their feet and hands are calloused, their skin darkened and aged by the sun, their backs hunched from years of carrying heavy loads. These people do not know the luxury of washing machines, dishwashers, or carpet on the floor, let alone waterskiing, flying in a plane, or going to the movies. These are regular people with laborious jobs who would dream of working at McDonalds.

Yesterday the teachers from Chamche, Chijacorral, and the high school hosted Grandparents Day. It was a day to celebrate those who have given so much yet are often ignored or passed by. If anyone has experienced the struggles of a hard life, it is these people here. There were probably close to 400 grandparents who showed up and were treated to activities, piñatas, a drama, an inspirational message, traditional live music, and a traditional light meal all in the nicely decorated church. The laughter, applause, and childlike squeeling show how much they appreciated it. As they left, their smiles more than their words said Thank you. Full of compliments for the traditional dress I was wearing, full of thanks for the food and fun, and full of life and love once more, I have to wonder: how is it that these people, who have laboured the longest and experienced the highs and lows of life, are still so full of love? 

A Granny waiting for the celebration to start

Grandparents enjoying the festivities

    

Just for Laughs

I like to laugh, smile, and have a good time. Maybe that's why I'm here in Guatemala. I've had some experiences that make me laugh for the rest of the day. Sometimes all I can do is shake my head. Here are some funny moments I'd like to share with all you who also view things from a North American vantage point.

Walking to the bus stop one morning, I passed the milkman. He had 2 goats and a package of styrofoam cups. I watched as he milked the goat and sold the cup of foamy milk to a lady at her front door. Talk about fresh!

I was in the ice cream shop ordering an ice cream cake for my roommate's birthday. There was a mom with a few kids enjoying ice cream cones. Suddenly one of the young boys got up, walked to the entrance, dropped his drawers and started peeing out the front door onto the main street. I guess if there's no bathroom and you gotta go...

I was walking back from the high school when a short, elderly woman with missing teeth greeted me, or so I thought. She mumbled something unintelligible, which may or may not have been in Spanish. She was smiling at least. So I asked if I could take her picture. She mumbled something again, so I took that as a yes. After I took her picture and showed her her picture on the camera display, she pointed at herself on the screen, laughed, mumbled some more, and took my hand. We started walking down the street, her holding my hand until we parted ways at the next street. I got some funny looks, but I also got a priceless picture.

My roommates and I bought a new blender for our house from a store that sells furniture and appliances. To print our receipt, the lady working there sat down behind the counter at a typewriter and proceeded to type us a receipt for our purchase. I had to shake my head and remind myself that we really are in the 21st century. And in case you can't remember what a typewriter looks like, here's a picture of my roommate's typewriter because in high school they all had to take typing courses, and sometimes even still, university professors request that assignments be typed in that way rather than on a computer. I guess there's no copy and paste option, making it awefully hard to plagiarize.

Last weekend I went with my roommates and some other girls to a friend's wedding. The invitation said 11:00am. So, we planned to leave the house at 11:20. We left at 11:30, arrived at 11:45, and the wedding started at 12:30. We were good and early. People were arriving throughout the ceremony and there were even some who arrived just as the ceremony was ending, just in time for the food. I think we need to redefine the word "late" because time has a totally different meaning here in Guatemala.

For most students that I teach, English is their third language, for some even their forth. For most, their second language is Pokumchi, and others also speak Kekchi. Some words that I have taught in my English classes always result in a round of laughter. Specifically "See you next week" and when we count from 10-20. For them, "week" means "tortilla" in Pokumchi, and corn tortillas are the staple food here. The number "forteen" is a common last name "Fortin", even some of my students have this last name. So when my students laugh in class and start whispering amongst themselves, I always have to ask why, and not assume they're laughing at me.

So I hope these experiences I've had made you laugh, or at least smile and realize that not everyone sees things the way we do. It's humbling to know that what I assume to be right, may not be right to someone else, and what I think is normal, may be weird to someone else. And I always have to ask myself, "What would these people laugh at if they were to visit my home in Canada?"