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.)