Friday in Antigua.....Last Full Day in Guatemala 2011

Defintely a touristy day but Liz and I are due to depart 9:10am from Guatemala City Airport tomorrow. We're just about all packed so the only thing to do is spend our last cash. Not very difficult. Liz says the correct way is to go through an indiginous market co-operative at first where they have fixed prices and then go to other places and see if the prices are different. David and I are following her lead because we have all day to see how we can squander away our last resources.

The market co-op is so interesting because different Mayan peoples have contributed to this large store. Local costumes, local kite designs, mask ideas from everywhere, weavings from all corners of Guatemala and some very traditinal aspects of their respective indiginous cultures. Wish we had more time.

Posada La Merced has beatiful 360degree views around Antigua. We often take a camera upstairs to the roof and keep photograhing all around us. The Volcano Aqua is the biggest landmark to the south.

Remember the Reality TV Show where we are being eliminated? Well we're down to seven of us for this Friday night. Liz and I are heading back to Canada tomorrow(Saturday). Tom and Rita are staying in Guatemala a few more weeks. Janice is spending just a few more days touring Guatemala and then heading a log trail back to Prince Albert(?) Saskatchewan.

Thank you, Guatemala you've been very good to us.

A Day in Chichicastenango (Feb.17th)

Max did not wake up feeling very well. He asked to be dismissed from having to go shopping in Chichi. No problem. Joni and Jackie were planning to stay in San Pedro anyway. More volunteers were returning from Chichi to San Pedro after the day of shopping was over. The rest go on to Antigua after Chichi.

Breakfast is at Hotel Mikaso Resto. All I can put down is a simple ham/cheese mini omlette with no extra toast or refried beans. The shopping contingent to Chichi is in great spirits.

But the number of road accidents we see today. Three very bad ones. 1) On one of many many hairpin turns a large truck cut inside ans totally squashed a very small micro-vehicle where everyone said that the driver was dead. 2)On a straight stretch there was a chicken bus was going slightly uphill but his entire transmission and back wheels fell off behind him. 3) An eighteen wheeler transport was totally overturned about 25 below the existing highway roadbed.

Our shopping in Chichi was pretty successful. You can't keep the good shoppers down. Besides we had seen only one of the three accidents so far.

Thursday in Chichicastenango is supposed to be one of the biggest markets in all of Guetemala. the other saying in our group is get it cheap in Chichi before you pay higher prices in your last stay in Antigua. We do our best to get rid of as many quetzales (currency) as possible. Althogh I'm reluctant to buy too many things at first this one lady followed me around for 25 minutes. Finally, yes, I'll buy that shirt I was looking at fo Q75.00. ($10.00CAN) But we're also buying for upcoming Fundraising events. People in the stalls defintely come down in price when you buy 20 at a time or 10 at a time. In colourful patterns we buy table settings, pot holders, cell phone holders and many more items. All in about 2 hours of shopping.

The stopping point at the end of the shopping is Hotel San Thomas. This is a ritzy hotel as we have not seen before. Maybe $100 per night. Only gringos are allowed to wonder inside and gaze in the courtyard admiring theparrots and floral arrangements. Okay so I'll go to the bano. Must have ticket from office. Ticket from office cost Q5.00 and then you can use the washroom. I guess it's worth it because their standards sre very high.

For my shopping crimes(?) I was in cahoots(?) with both David and Janice. They both drive a hard bargain. So when the three of us converge on a stall we don't take any prisoners. One stall had to get more and more potholders from another family stall because we bought them all out....down to Q2.10 per since we bought in quantities of 20 for Janice and 10 for me.

                                                               Front entance of Posada La Merced....Tom is holding court

Arriving back in Antigua. Here our accomodation is Posada La Merced. It is a trusted and reliable place and will never be confused with Casa Argentina in Xela which does have difficulties. Posada La Merced has the greatest concierge arrangements. You want something we can make a phone call. You have to make a shuttle mini-van booking I'll do it right now for you. You want a chocolate message? We have someone for that also staying at the Hotel.

Almost like a Reality TV Show (Yuk) we are now down to 12 volunteers. Three volunteers leave early next morning, I believe. So all twelve of us do go to the same restaurant. One that the group has been going to for a number of years. There is always live music. A band plays Peruvian flutes and many other instruments and the leader, to me, has a great sense of musicality. An instrumentalist often "sings" his flute as one may even "sing" a guitar and one or two instrumentalists traded a very sophisticated ukelale. (8 strings?)

Oh yes, supper in this dining establishment? The Sopa Del Sol was a herbal/vegie/potato very good soup. The camarones(shrimp) were garlic and just perfect. A good evening was enjoyed by all.

On the Road to San Pedro La Laguna (Feb.16th)

Just as I'm getting comfortable with the city that is Quetzaltenago (Xela) it is time to move on. For the sake of nostalgia ( 8 days and you have nostalgia?) I get up early again and walk into the center of the city to another bright and sunny day. The sun is actually just getting over the taller richer buildings of the square. Purposefully I did not sign up for the breakfast at our usual place because I want to freelance it a bit and not have too large a first meal. The idea is therefore to head to the ultimate coffe shop and one of the ultimate bakery shops. & Cafe is the name of this high end coffee place. Is the symbol & supposed to be multi-lingual. Anyway the coffee is pricey but it is the real deal and we all savour it when we can. The bakery is called XelaPan...(easy name) and there are many XelaPans around the city. They have an efficiency that is necessary for their baking industry. Consumers shop for their Q2.00 and Q2.50 buns and breads and this is quite reasonable for middle-class Guatemalans. For me I'll choose 2 chocolate on chocolate buns to carry me through the morning.

To transport 20-some volunteers(Dr.Bob and family have left already) to San Pedro we need a minivan and two-pick-up trucks. There is tons of baggage because we needed two checked bags and a carry on to bring in extra medical and other supplies for our Guatemalans. Along the way we are to make two stops.

The first stop is for Paul's girl whom he helped support for 4 vor 5 years. Jose asked for support for this orphaned girl and Paul stepped up. She is now finishing teaching school and should be eligible to teach in her village area. She is living with her sister and family and should have a good future.

                                                      On Roof-Top of ODIM Clinic in San Juan La Laguna:

The second stop is at San Juan La Laguna. (Yes, on Lago Atitlan just before San Pedro.) We stop to have a tour of the clinic there. The group is called O.D.I.M. Organization for the Development of Indigenous Maya.

Mary said that she and a brother and a sister started this place from a run-down building to what it is today. They have continued support from secular and church sources. Tom met an ODIM person in Xela and presented them with about a quarter of the medicines we brought in from Canada.

On towards San Pedro La Laguna. Our place is Hotel VillaSol. I'm staying in a comfortable room with Max from Merrickville.

Our late lunch is at 2:00pm at Hotel Mikaso Resto a hotel-Restaurant owned by a Quebecer. Here you are gazing out over Lago Atitlan with not a care in the world. I go for the Natchos but it is so good and filling that I ask Max to go walking and trekking with me.

                                                                                  The view from Hotel Mikaso Resto

We lumber and stroll across to the consumer-mall. All the latest in tie-dye shirts and hash pipes. But we keep on walking. Should we go up to the wedding cake building up on the heights of San Pedro? We'll try to get there especially with the help of Paul Hauraney. For me the climb up was not quite as bad as I thought. When we got to the top of the wedding cake building we had quite a view of San Pedro. If some ninos had not started throwing pebbles at the tin-roofed houses below we may have enjoyed the view a bit longer. The walks were very good to wear off the high-carbohydrate lunch.

For supper I really had almost no appetite. With a gang of 5 or 6 of we did sit down and ordered carefully. I settled for a Sopa Con Pollo. This time the soup was more Western style with cut up chicken pieces. This is not traditional Guatemalan style but I wasn't complaining. Early to bed.

Feb.15th Last Day of Stove-Building 2011

Tom asks which mason I might work for? I told him I've not worked with Don Juan before. Great. Don Juan has been afriend of Tom and Rita from the beginning of Guatemala Stove Project. He was the first mason that said that he could help with the building of cement cookstoves for the indiginous people like himself. As with other masons, he is also contracted for carpentry and other work. It was to Tom's advantage to talk to a usual trusted group who could carry out their work and the work of GSP if Tom was not around. GSP would be fund-raising year-round but they could not be in Guatemala year-round.

The biggest setback is for the women volunteers this morning. When asking about banos (bathrooms) some are told there is a convenient gutter right here. So they do inquire and see that they are able to find this sanitario a block uphill as long as a local is keeping away the stray dog. This is the extreme poverty where they are not enabling themselves to even build a simple outhouse.

The funny part is when Tom is trying to optimize every volunteer working group. One of the things he likes is a Spanish-speaking gringo in each group. Since a few people are away today Tom can be a bit cur-fluxed(?) Our team is settled when I state that Janice is a great Spanish speaker and it would be great to have her on our team. (I didn't know if my plea would have any influence but Janice did come onto our team.)

Don Juan is so kind to us and he gave me the biggest grin I've ever seen when we were finished our stove. It was known that he could finish early about 2:00pm and then he had another stove to do by himself up the hill with another family. I won't forget the stove-building days because of the hard work...... but it is the the richness of spirit and attitude that everyone has that I'll continue to remember.

Supper is at a retaurant called R.E.D. The R is probably for revolutionary (not really) and I keep mentioning the word "subversive". This is an out-of-the-way place which the chef-owner says was started by Guatemalans sometimes born in US but expelled for immigration reasons. The restaurant believes in buying locally where possible and promote locally. (Very subversive.) I order a Thai-inpired noodles vegie/chicken dish. Everyone is happy with the chef's selections.

Monday in Xela (February 14th)

Second-last stove building day. Im feeling less cough-like all the time. Dr. Bob said that you can leave a 6-day cold run it's course or you can take precautionary measues and medicines and it will only last half a dozen. But the only medicine I really needed was a cough suppressant vand that was only necessary just before bed. (Good thing I had a room to my own at Casa Argentina otherwise I would have kept someone else awake needlessly.)

Today I'm with Marvin (again) and this time with Sarah and Rita. The cookstove is for a single mother so you can see how necessary this work is. Fortunately she is in close proximity to other helpful families so that they do share and share alike.

Often the Mayan masons Marvin, Don Juan and Luis are finished before gringo masons Max and Paul. It does not matter. But then the professional masons are able to help the gringo masons complete their tasks.

It is Valentine's Day so everyone has to make an effort to express their love. Yes, I end up figuring out that an internet cafe has a phone service where I can call Canada for Q1.00 per minute (15cents/minute).

Volunteer lunch may include some heart-shaped cookies and cakes. Lunch is always a collective gathering of how everyone is feeling. The army does march on it's stomach.

Did I mention hot showers? When we were in training at Tom's place in January he indicated that perhaps half of the working crew would get a hot shower and the rest would do with a cold one. As it turns out most people get a hot shower. It gets the dust out of the crevices and makes you believe that eventually you'll get back to your usual health standards.

Since everyone is stirring about not having enough Quetzalas, Tom promises to take us to a sure-fire ATM in a protected mall in the other end of Xela. ATMs were running out of cash all weekend long so this was our chance.  So we all went for Q2000 or more and everyone except Phil got their money. Phil had to wait in the Bank just beside and Tom waited with him so that they could clear his account by phone to Canada. All was well.

So restaurant as such tonight. I was slow in getting organized. So I took it upon myself to finally find a small family Taco Restaurant. And I took out 3 Tacos de Chiriso. Taking a chance or not they were really yummy with a lot of guagimole(?)...with a Moza bock beer chaser.

Sunday in Xela....Another Free Day from Stove-Building

                                                      This is our Casa Argentina in Xela...Quetzal Trekkers Welcome

Today everyone is scrambling and looking over their individual to-do lists of what to do around Quetzaltenango. Don't forget that this is a somewhat travellers destination with many backpackers camping in our Casa Argentina. The semi-official band in our Hotel call themselves Quetzal Trekkers and since they have strength in numbers they can certainly tell non-locals where the best deals are. One tricky part of our Casa is that the owner of the Hotel puts a padlock on both doors of the place so that nobody can sneak out at night without paying. This is odd if you're an early bird like myself and want to tour the city before 7:00am in the morning. As we found out there is no other way but to wrap on the lady-owner's door until she wakes up and lets you out.

So, yes, it is Sunday morning and I am up early around seven but it's still too early for the same restaurant breakfast. So I see Renny (from Wakefield) and he also wants to go for a walk downtown. So we don't feel too bad about together waking up the landlady and begging to unlock the door.

Hardly any places open Sunday morning. Even the city square is rather quiet and people may be sleeping in before heading off to church. We do spot a second story restaurant on the square which might be open. And it is. Sunday breakfast overlooking the Xela City square. Quite proper and serene. Omlet Mixte (complete omlette) includes jamon and cheese and we need a couple of cafe americanos negro.(black).

The only possible organized venture today was proposed by Tom Clarke himself. He wanted to take a group of hombres mountain trekking and so forth. It looked like he had a following of 5 volunteers right away but so many of us had done the eco-tourism trekking the day before as well as days and days of stove-building. So it turns out the group was back by mid-day and they did not climb too high

                                                                  Xela Cemetery with High Rise Family Graves.

My only limited stroll around was in accompanying Liz to the very large Xela walled cemetery. It's not far from our Casa and it seems it is walled to keep out annoying animals and especially stray dogs. The richer parts of the graveyard are probably families with Spanish connections. They have high-rises and sometimes grave-extended patterned areas so that more deceased family members can join them. When looking at the gravesites of your grandparents and other family members and you see a number of blank or vacant boxes my obvious question would be: Who's next?

                                                                              Street Scene on a late Sunday Afternoon

Supper is at the Royal Paris which has live jazz on some evenings.(not Sundays). I'm with Paul who recommended the place and Andre who happens to be in the right place to find us. I have the Sopa Del Dei which is a blenderized spinacg, green vegies soup with a touch of sour cream. Very flavourful. The main is a porco in a light herbal sauce along with fresh potaoes and carrots. Wonderful. In Xela it is very possible to be well feted. Thank you to Paul for finding this place.

Saturday is Archeology and Eco-Tourism Day

It was stressed that volunteers should go out and see Guatemala. Antigua would be too touristy. Panajahel would be too expatriate driven. But there had to be other areas of interest as well. Tikal the largest asnd most famous Guatemalan Mayan archeological site is way up in the north and takes time to get up and back. Some people obviously fly up to and back from there.

Our shettle mini-bus service is run by Adrenalina Tours. They had a day trip out of Xela to see the archeological site called Takilak Abaj and then visit an eco-tourism part coffee plantation called Patrocinis Reserve Finca. So they require a minimum of 10 to go on on this trip. With all the weary and half-sick people we barely got the 10 recruits.

On our way to our first stop is by the highway to see puffs of hot stuff coming out of Volcao Santiaguito. The large Volcano Santa Maria is not active most days whereas the smaller is busy on a daily basis.

TA' KALIK AB'AJ archeology site probably has some different written forms. It is a Pre-Classic Mayan site in the ranges of 300BC and 300AD. Late Classic Mayan sites are usually in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and co-existed briefly with the Spanish invasion of the 1500s. So this site is not as dramatic as "later" Mayan civilizations but it affords links with the ancient Olmec people who inhabitated not too far off Mexican areas such as Vera Cruz province. Many glyphs and writtens are still visible from this site and a lot more is excavated each year. In one of the larger tented areas we were asked not to take pictures since the latest findings had not yet been fully published in scientific journals. Our tour guide claimed to be non-professional but he was very knowledgeable and ran us around for about 3 hours. Many step pyramids (not high), stelae, temples, pottery excavation area, star-observatory area, dedications to fertility and death. A small zoo area was attached to the site as well. Even the flowering trees such as the juacarandas were in fine form. Here they were light purple in colour whereas in other area they are orangey-red.

Petrocinia Reserva Finca: Guatemala is finally getting in the Eco-Tourism indusrtry.

Although coffee is grown in this finca they seem to focus on inviting nature lovers and bird watchers. We climb a tall bird watching tower and notice that you would be able to see a lot more bird activity in the mid to upper rain-forest canopy. These real bird watchers would have to get up before dawn or stay late at dusk to view most of the bird species. (80 species fly through here?)

Zip-lining is also important. Nevermind that we're all near or over 60 years of age. They have a series of 4 zip-lines. Turns out it is quite safe. The first zip-line is almost too short to fully enjoy. We can do only one more so it is nearly twice as long and everone gets a big thrill of it. Many pictures are taken but I've left my camera behind.

Just in case we're not dead on our feet we are again lead down a garden path. How long? Nobody knows. But again the guide is so aimiable and good-natured that he leads us as the Pied Piper has led the rats out of the city. Instead we are led into a rain forest of delights. Different bamboos. Some native ...some non-native. A controlled waterway yiels irragation and hydro-electric power. Flowers evcrywhere and we are running out of batteries for all the picture taking we are doing. The Ten brave volunteers complete their treks in the wild only to be confronted with missed appointments. Phone connections need to be made to say that someone is missing a message. Others will be a little later than expected for dinner. Adrenalkina Tours has given us a wonderful day out.

Friday is Panimaquim Day 2011

Panimaquim is not even on most Guatemalan maps. It might be called by some people as the small village before you get to Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan. Both these places are off the Pan-American Highway Number One......very close to the highest point of elevation of this highway.

The whole of Panamaquim is set for this day. Outside small villages have also set representatives because many area residents have received Guatemala Stove Project cookstoves. But the celebratory day is also a day of relection.

When Sam Clarke died as a result of car-bicycle collison, people funded the Sam Clarke Memorial Foundation with sufficient funds to build a two-room school house in Panamaquim. The Foundation and GSP continue to keep in touch and support the citizenery in many ways.

Speeches and presentations were the order of the day. Even though speeches sometimes had to go from Mayan to spanish to English the sentiments and feelings were always quite clear. GSP volunteers were challenged to provide a light entertainment. The singing of "O canada" was in most peoples repertoire so that was the first number. After that a jolly-folksy (What else?) version of "Alouette, Alouette...".The Panamaquimers must have wondered why there were so many hand gestures of singers pointing to their head, their eyes, their neck, who knows what?

A soccer (Fotball) game broke out in the square a little bit later and the score was about 5-2 in favour of Guatemala over Canada.

Back in Xela some 8 of us went to Utz'Hua II which is the sister restaurant to Utz' Hua across the street. This time I took a chance on Camorones (shrimp) and they were delicious. Cooked in an herbal mixture with garlic with sides of potatoes fresh peas and carrots. delicious.

Volunteers won't forget Panamaquim Day 2011.

Thursday......My second day(ever) of Stove-Building

I'm still not going to take a sick day. So I've wondered what I learned from day one. Breakfast is at Le Merced Restaurant not too many steps to the right of Casa Argentina. Today I try the mountainess fruit on top of a waffle breakfast. The fruits are papaya, bananas and pineapple mixed in with a light coating of yogurt. That and cups of caffeine make for a substancial meal.

The team today is lead by Gringo Max from Merrickville. He is one of two gringo stove-building leaders. The other is, of course, Paul Hauraney. So Max has Marg Lee, Jackie and myself to contend with. He and other masons spend the longest time on the intial foundation layer of concrete blocks. If this layer is not exactly level and exactly rectangular the stove will never look or perform optimally. So this time I'm able to mix more cement, do more cement buttering and also more parging at the end.

Jackie is in his element with the roof tiles. Two seperate ceramic roof tiles must be cut in semi-circular fashions so that the stove pipe can go through the roof. In some houses the man of the house can do this job but in this case Team Guatemala Stove Project has Jackie who is a potter by trade. We take pictures when the job is complete.

Lunch today is sponsored by Dr.Bob delGrande and team. Make your own cheese-ham-pickle-and-tomato sandwich. Also grab a bakery bun with a small amount of black beans inside. There are refried black beans everywhere..

Hot shower after work is again the best ever. A Moza bock beer also comforts the soul. The entire gang of about 22 volunteers goes to the Blue Angel Restaurant tonight. So many that we sit at two extended tables. The restaurant is a favourite because it is so large and has good prices. This time I listen to others for what they like best. The potato-with-vegies dish is good but a little on the small size for my appetite. The meal is completed by one of their favourites: bananas flambeco. (But not flaming at the table.) My travel diary tells me the meal comes to only Q50.00 ($7.00CAN) which includes that great bock beer.

Wednesday .....My First Day of Stove-Building

When I was not feeling well the last few days in Comintacillo, I vowed to take at least one day off from stove-building. So as groggy as I was, there is such a team spirit that one cannot excuse oneself unless you're flat-out very sick. Here goes nothing.

So they're very good to me to put me in a group with Marg Lee, John Holland and Marvin the Mayan Mason. (How's that for alliteration.) Marg and John know exactly what to do as they've had two previous days of work in the trenches. I shuttle around as best as I can not trying to look like a pescado out of aqua. (Guess?)

Often the family contributes to stove making preperations as well. All one has to do is start a sequence of dipping concrete blocks in water and this family will help as much as they can. How hard do the women of the village work? They are often the ones that are seen to carry the 94pound bags up hills to their houses. In this case the area women's organization is CEDEC. The director/manager is Jose and his wife is Griselda. When CEDEC chooses families to receive a cooking stove it's necessary for all concrete blocks, firebricks, bags of sand, bags of concrete and bags of pumice to be at the ready for the mason or the volunteer masons.

Marg, John and Marvin have made this a very complete day for me. I even get to do a little cement parging towards the end to get myself more confidence withe the concrete mix.

At lunch all volunteers gather for a communal lunch. Four volunteers prepare a lunch on the evening previous. In this case they had to think about a birthday cake and candles for Renny. Like everyone out there he's getting too old as well.

After a hot shower the next treat is going out to a good restaurant. Xela has quite a few. The best Western-style-accomodation restaurant is probably the Indian Restaurant. Even though the prices are higher than Utz' Hua Restaurant. The food quality here is extremely high. I have the curried lamb and it is very comparable with North American eateries.

Tuesday (Last Day) in Comintacillo

Very important day because we are meeting with AMMID to talk about Guatemala Stove Project's working relationship over the last year as well as our mutual plans for the future.

Liz and I eat at the pleasant breakfast place at the far end of town. It is three stories up but they are always ready for customers in the morning. We order huevos revoltos (scrambled eggs) again that are mixed with tomatoes and onions. You have to say "no salt" otherwise they tend to triple or quadruple the amount of salt we are used to. Even the coffe is not too bad. Meanwhile Liz is still lining up some important notes for our meeting: 1) A cookstove should not be built in any house that has only a thatched roof. 2) A house that is only "proposed" or only has a foundation shall not have a stove built for it. 3) Masons, in future, should only be hired if they have a proven record in stove-building 4) Remedial action may be required for deficient stoves. (Hope I have this mostly correct.)


                                                                                             Map of Communities served by AMMID:

The long, all-morning meeting goes very well. AMMID does tell us all their responsibilities and operations. They even go as far as the gold-mining areas and educate the people on how to stick up for their rights. They have heard of other mining permits being issued close to the GoldCorp mining area. Six to nine new community groups are being accepted into the AMMID umbrella. These new cummunities are near the Huehuetenago area were the gold mining takes place. One of the main aphorism's is "Farmer to farmer..". This is the idea of helping one or two farmers in a community or village and then having these individuals educate others. When we help you we ask you to help others around you. Pass on the important ideas of increased production and/or more sustainability. You can understand how we are impressed by thec work of AMMID.

So one of my specific intersets was micro-entrepreneurship and micro-loans. They are well prepared for our inquiries and receptive to our trying to help. A few years ago when there was another peace corps worker there by the name of Justin, he believed that AMMID was only thinking of getting into micro-loans. Then in an e-mail before we went to Guatemala we heard that the micro-loan business that AMMID is carrying out is well under-way.

A first loan to a Guatemalan family (usually for farming) is Q600 (about $80CAN). The terms are such that the micro-loan is due at the end of the year with an interest payment of 15%. The micro-loan is co-sponsored or co-signed by many individuals in the community. The payback of loans so far has been at the rate of 99.5%. A successful loan pay back individual is subsequentially eligible for Q800, and Q1000 and finally Q1500 loans.

After lunch we get a shuttle ride (driver Eric) back to Xela. When we show interest in visiting Tikal in northern Guatemala sometime, Eric says that he also wants to see more of his country. He has a young family with two ninos but he knows he'll get a chance to see these far-away places. Northern Guatemala is supposed to be a very different terrain.

In Quetzaltenango(Xela) Liz and I meet up with the rest of the GSP volunteers. Phil and daughter Meg are there. Tom and Rita. Dr.Bob and family. Andre' and Renny. Joe and Marg. Joni and Jackie. Paul, Karen, Margarita, Sarah, Max, John, David, Janice. (Trying not to miss anyone.) Everyone, .....yes everyone is great to work with.

My first dinner out in Xela is Utz' Hua Restaurant. Supposed to have traditional Guatemalan food. Since Molle chicken is on the menu I head for that one. The molle is not really cooked into the chicken as I taste it but it makes for a pleasant offering. They have a dark bock beer called Moza. Very good.



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Monday in Comintacillo

Our guide today from AMMID is a young man by the name of Erwin. Liz knows Erwin from the year before and he's a very helpful person. He soon dons on his cowboy hat and when I say that cowboys in Argentina are gauchos he says that Guatemalan cowboys are boceros. So I think of Bocero Erwin.

About 20 built stoves to review today. The reason I say approximately because there is often one or two stoves that are just too far a distance to travel with the limited time we have. Every cookstove we see today is A-Okay. The families are very happy to receive these and try to shower us with drinks and buns and whatever they have. In turn, we may present the ninos with very small items such as toothbrushes, pencils and a soccer ball(once in a while).

The most touching house was the the house of a widowed grandmother (abuela) and her widowed daughter. The abuela took a real liking to us and wanted to tell her story. She said the cooking stove made life for she and her family a lot easier. They didn't have as much firewood to gather. Their house was more smoke-free.

Our lunch was again treated to us by a number of stove-received families. The Sopa Con Carne was an amazingly extravagant(?) soup. What looked like a large turkey leg was included in every bowl. The turkey leg was a chicken leg so the community most have gone all out to procure the largest capons. (I'm not used to large lunches so I'm not able to eat any of the chicken.)

                                                                                           Comintacillo City Center Square:

Liz and I go to Italian Steak Restaurant for dinner. I don't think they have steak there very often. Since restaurants have limited supplies they usually only give you one or two choices. The choice today was another Sopa Con Carne or Stewing Beef with rice. The stewing beef with rice and plaintain banas really hit the spot....with a Gallo beer.

We heard that a contingent of dentist volunteers were to be in town. We went to the Posada Del Mar...Inn of the Sea(?) We talked briefly to two dentists and a nurse. Dentists and nurses were to participate in dental clinics for the next three weeks. AMMID always co-ordinates these dentists who arrive from both Canada and the US.

Sunday in Comintacillo

Four of our friends are having their last day in Comintacillo. Joni, Jackie, Margarita and Karen return to Xela later this afternoon. (Liz and I venture on for 2 more days....auditing stove-building and attending an important meeting with AMMID.)

Another bright and beatiful day especially since it is weekly market day in town. Villagers come from miles around. Possibly they will sell wares and/or trade up to goods they need.

Our Hotel Los Pinos is very close to the pig and livestock market. Pigs and piglets of all sizes are all around. Cattle are also plentiful. Sheep are also seen but they are very distinct minority.

Thousands of indiginous Mayan families mill about this find day. We must be the only gringos in Comintacillo. Not too many things to do today except: 1)Buy the items necessary for a Joni+Liz cooking extravaganza 2) Buying weaving material at the AMMID store in Comintacillo 3) Going to see Charlie-the-peace-corps-worker's house. 4) Helkping chef Joni and chef Liz prepare the big lunch

Guatemala Stove Project as well as the Peace Corps like to diversify and extend the cooking/eating habits of the local people. To this end Joni organizes a "fruitata" (Eggs, potates, onions, sweet peppers) and Liz organizes a "corn-meal-bread"-style cake. Everything turned out really well and the local ladies were watching carefully and taking mental notes.

Funeral in Comintacillo: Just as the 4 volunteers have left for Xela, Liz and I walk by the cemetery, as usual, but this time there is a very large funeral entourage going by. Since Liz has a camera at the ready she is urged by some casket bearers to take a few photographs. They stop the entire village funeral for a few seconds while Liz takes a some photos. Later she seems to hear from the funeral tributes that the deceased person was an elderly woman in her nineties.

Comintacillo has wonderful people and our visit is very well received.

SAt. Feb 5th Comitancillo Documenting Built Stoves

In February it is always cool (6degrees C.) at night and warms about to 20degrees in mid-afternoon. There is no heating in the hotels, of course, so it is similar to camping in Algonquin Provincial Park. Bed-bugs were the worry but as long as you have a vinyl bedsheet cover and/or a contained sleeping bag most of us suffer no bites.

Today I try for the second time to use an internet cafe. I do get off a single e-mail but the computers in this cafe are slower than molasses. Viruses seem to activate and re-activate after every three or four characters that are entered.

Charlie and the Water Cistern:

Our driver (who is not supposed to drive?) is very capable and he takes us to AMMID's Demonstration Farm. In Spanish I believe it is Grania Agreocologica. This small one-acre plot contains many of the upgrades and necissities a traditional Mayan farmer can use to increase crops and provide better for his family. Fruit trees, hot pepper trees, cabbages, beans, irrigation with a large water cistern, a classroom for agricultural seminars.Dona Hilda is the entusiatic and capable almost-in-residence manager of the Farm. She lives one house away and was invited to help even in the beginning stages. She takes volunteers from plants to plants and answers countless questions as we have several gardiners with us.

The stoves we audit and inspect today are a lot better and safer than the ones we saw the day before. Some built cookstoves had a stovepipe exiting out through a thatched roof! Very much a fire hazard.

A great lunch is served by a collaboration of 5 families who received Guatemala Stove Project cookstoves. Sopa con carne has lots of "carne" flavour as well green shoots, vegetables and corriander.

The stoves we visit in this area area a lot better than the built stoves we visited the day before. Yesterday some stoves were built in houses with a stovepipe exiting through a tatched roof! Too much chance for a bad fire.

Some of the ladies with Guatemala Stove Project are asking about the Weaving Co-Op. This is a Co-Op started and supported by AMMID and we're lucky enough to go for a surprise visit. There were enough weavers around to demonstrate their skills at the very big looms. Also, we buy colourful scarves and other stitchery items.

The other 5 volunteers go to an evening of fun and entertainment at Ruben's house. Apparently he has a large enough house and he invites people to try his large traditional Mayan sauna. Next day the Canadians report that they really enjoyed the evening

Day3(Feb.4) Full day in Comintancillo

As we are in a breakfast restaurant, the TV reminds people that this is the 35th anniversary of the Big Earthquake that killed more than 20 thousand in 1976.

Huevos revoltos, frijoles refritos(refried beans) and a little fresh cheese with instant coffee. Since I need the caffeine I make sure to put an extra teaspoon of Nescafe instant in my hot water.

We are lucky that Rube'n himself is driving us around. He is director/manager of AMMID. So how do you get 6 volunteers and one peace corps worker and a driver in the truck? Charlie, Paul, and Jackie volunteer to ride in the back of the pick-up. I later tell them I certainly could not stand up in the back of a pick-up since my center of gravety is too high and moves around too much from side to side even in a city bus. So I'm lucky to sit in the back of the pick-up with Karen and Joni.

A full day of photographing and documenting cooking stoves that have been built since last year. Liz has to write down the names, ages, relationships of all people for whom the stove was built. Three(3) languages are spoken. Locals speak Mayan-Mam. Ruben translates from Mam to Espanol. Charlie or Liz translates from Espanol to English. Forttunately many gestures and pointing are universal and it easy for families to see what the volunteers are doing. We are taking too many pictures, perhaps, but we try to act as ambassadors of our country who are trying to help a developping country.

We were scheduled to check 21 or 22 stoves. They are quite spread out. Up and down very steep cliff-sides is not easy for everybody. My claim is that I've been a downhill skier and I've picked up routines on how to negotiate going down. In the end we document 17 of 21 stoves. Not too bads.

The lunch is prepared for us at a school area(escuela). A potato/egg pancake is great served with a very fresh cucumber/radish/corriander salad. I've probably eaten too much.

Very tiring day. Try to scurry off to an internet cafe before 7:00pm. The computers are ultra-slow today.(viruses) I managa to get a single e-mail out without checking any other e-mails.

At our evening Italian Steak restaurant they have Sopa Con Carne for us. Delicious carrots,potaoes,squash soup in a flavouful beef broth. Rice on the side can also be added to this dish. Again out bill comes to about $3.00(CAN) which includes a Brahva beer. Comintancillo is about 6 times less expensive than Antigua, the tourist center of Guatemala.

Day2(Feb.3rd) Going to Xela

Breakfast in restaurant (El Mezon?) right beside Posada La Merced Hotel. I have an Americano breakfast and we order our eggs scrambled. (Huevos revoltos is the correct Spanish) The meal comes with papaya, a bit of fresh youing cheese and slices of plantain bananas.

Six of us volunteers in a shuttle with Eric the driver. I'm sitting beside David and he is quite the story teller. Here is the title of some of his stories: 1)Why did the Mayflower stop at Plymouth Rock? 2) Using GPS in the backwoods of Canada 3)Learning to use GPS skillfully 4)Newfie song about a broken down car and bear hunting.

Since I have photocopy map of Guatemala that I follow with David, on our route across the country from Antigua to Xela. The map indicates we are on the Pan-American number one highway and before we get to Xela we hit the highest elevation of the entire highway. (We're well into the highlands.) The map only mentions "main" cities and villages but there are so many more minor villages every 2 or 3 kms. as we zoom by.

Who are the six? Liz and Karen, Joni and Jackie, Paul and myself. Joni and Karen act as reporters and try to figure out all the last details. Karen has lost luggage on arrival in Guatemala, as well as Margarita. They manage to borrow extra clothing from others. They also have to process an insurance compensation claim.

Our arrival is at Hotal Los Pinos. Charlie, the Peace Corps worker, is there to place us at ease and deal with our questions...guess who asks the most questions?

For dinner we try the Italian Steak Restaurant(?) but they don't have enough food for us. We do find a good third story restaurant that seats and serves all 7 of us with Charlie again helping us. All 7 meals, including 3 beers(Gallo) came to Quetzales138 which is about $23(CAN)! My meal was very good: porco in marinaro sauce/refried beans/fried plantain bananas and a Gallo.
In the later evening we meet with Ruben and 5 other AMMID workers at another restaurant. This is a late night restaurant and they often specialize in coffee and cakes. The meeting goes on in two languages and makes sure everyone knows the scheduling of things-to-do in the following 4 days. AMMID is very well organized and has 10 workers in the office. 4 workers are not able to attend an evening meeting because they live further outside the city and had to get home.
Get to Los Pinos early enough at 8:00pm to get ready for the next day. Lights out at 10:00pm.

Day 1 (Feb.2nd) Leaving for Guatemala

A. drives me to train station not far away from home. Whoops, forgot some papers. Take a cab quickly to go home again pick up papers and back to train station in time.
Ottawa to Montreal by Vial Rail as snow storm is now underway. Liz and I are eary-early at Montreal Trudeau Airport for our flight to Miami at 12:30. Since planes are landing and taking off we are hopeful to get away. And, yes, we do get away and have a boring flight once we were in the air.  (fellow volunteers going through Toronto had a very bumpy flight to the southern US).
Miami Airport connection not too bad.
Guatemala arrival and looking for Adrenalina shuttle driver. Finally we see Lucas who Liz has met the year previous. However we decide to wait about 1.5 hours for David who is on a much later flight...the only hope is that we rocognize him? Although we were all at Tom and Rita's in January there were so many of us.
Home in Antigua is Posada La Merced. A very respectable hotel. Six of us are heading off to Xela the next day so we will see Antigua much more later on in the trip.
Pictures will be added.

Day Zero (Feb.1)

Biggest snow-storm accross the continent in a while. We were to fly Ottawa-Chigaco-Dallas-Guatemala but even late Monday Jan.31 our flights were cancelled! So we had to re-book. Many people had to rebook. We were on the phone with American Airlines (on hold) for hours to finally get Montreal-Miami-Guatemala. How to get to Montreal? Take the Ottawa train to Dorval Station.
    We were hoping Montreal Airport would still be receiving and flying out airplanes Feb.2nd!

Day Zero on the Quest

Twenty-four travellers all taking different routes and using different air carriers. Hopefully meeting up in Xela.

Some of us leave tomorrow(Wednesday) so we'll see if the flights are going. (Cross our fingers.)

Starting Up

To be continued in Guatemala!