Cactus is an All-the-Time Food, and other stories from Guanajuato, MX

Known here as Nopal, Cactus is a food for all seasons (and times of day). This prickly delight--once despined by your local green grocer, bless them!--was served to me at every meal this weekend, and in all manner of form! There´s pickled nopales, chopped and chilied nopales, boiled nopales, nopales as a sidedish, nopales in tortillas as a main course, bitesized nopales appetizers, nopale quesadillas.... it just goes on and on and on!

After a while, this bland and somewhat slimy addition to my diet has started growing on me. Indeed, after only one day away from Guanajuato I found myself with an antojo for the little buggers, a craving. But no worries, as a parting gift from our host, every person on this weekend´s research trip was graced with their own personal jar of pickled vegetables (with a particularly heavy does of whole nopal leaves). Cheers!


Indeed Cookie Monsters of the world, cookies may be a sometime food, but cactus is an all the time food! Caaaaactuuusssss!

Right, so as to my other adventures in Guanajuato...

This weekend was my first-ever visit to the Campo of Mexico. Eight of us headed out just before 6am on Thursday morning, and were interviewing our first Guanajuato residents by about 1pm. The five students, two adults, and one professor were there to investigate the impact of Migration to El Norte on the health of elderly returnees, that is, those who came back to their homes and families in their old age (over 50).

I was more an observer in the whole process, listening while my partner, Lilia Fernandez, did most of the talking. Of the four residents I was privy to help interview, all had crossed to stateside by less than kosher means, they had to. It takes time and connections to get a Visa to the US, and when youre a farmer during a drought with 13 mouths to feed, not including your own (as was the case with one fellow we spoke with), time and money are in short supply. It´s head north or watch your family starve. So they head north to work in fields, in construction, as house cleaners, nannies, and McDonald´s hamburger flippers--would you like diabetes with that?

I was more than lucky to hear the stories of these men and women who left everything and everyone to try their luck in my country of privilege and opportunity. It was...unsettling. More on these sentiments as I work them out...

Women cleaning corn husks, hojas. They get paid about 300pesos a week doing this full time. Divide by 13.5 to get the equivalent in dolars. I make more in one shift at work in Cambridge...

Local church about a block from my host in Santa Cruz de Gamboa, Guanajuato Mexico.

Ladies of the Grail (Left-right, ???, Rosaurora Espinosa--my benificent host, Ushu, and Lilia--my upstairs housemate and interview partner extraordinaire), playing back-up to the lead guitarist in our makeshift concert on Saturday night. (Note the inverted kitchen pot and nearly translucent water-bottle being "played" by the woman in white and Ushu, in beige.)

Pictures of Mexico!!!! :o)

Place: Cuenavaca, Mexico, home of Tere McDermot

Introducing (counterclockwise): Me, Tere McDermit (oldest Grail member in Mexico, originally of Pennsylvania), Lilia Fernandez, Rosaurora Espinosa (my host mom), and another Grail member.

This was the day we all met to interview Tere about her experience of the Grail in Mexico. It was day three in mexico for me.

My home in La Noria, D.F. Mexico. Yeah, those really are whales you see painted on the house! The idea is to discourage vandalism. They where having a problem with renagade spraypainters... This´ll show you!!!

Scorpion!!!!!!!!!!! Yep! It was on the kitchen window. And last night (Tuesday 7/21) another showed up in the carport. Woot!

Do note, in reality these guys are all of about 2 inches long...not so scare as the zoom would have you believe. But still...it´s a scorpion!

This is the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) in the main square of the neighborhood of Coyoacan. I LOVE this neighborhood! It´s like Hyde Park meets some mix of Florida and Italy. During the weekends this square fills with canvas-tent vending stalls (hundreds!) with sell all sorts of crafts and art, clothes and food. People mill about by the hundreds and it feels like an old-school Cincinnati Church festival (minus the cheesy rides).

For the history buffs among us, this neighborhood was also the childhood home of Frida Kahlo. After strolling the cobbled streets a bit I can see how she was so inspired to be an artist early on.

There were SOO many peacocks strolling about the grounds of the Olmedo Museum, where I saw my first bout of Frida and Diego. This particularly striking example was strutting his stuff when I came along with the camera...

This is a picture of only one small part of the Cathedral Basillica of Mexico. It´s kinda crazy to think about it now, but this church was basically build over, on and with the ruins of a former Aztec temple, El Templo Mayor. In the same city block excavations have begun that show the remnants of what was once a HUGE temple and plaza. Story has it that Cortes (absolutely loathed figure of mexican history that conquered the Aztec empire, for all intents and purposes) ordered the temple destroyed and the stone used to pave the new Plaza afront of the Cathedral and later, presidential palace and other colonial powerhouses. That´s SUCH a slap in the face of Natives´culture and history...and today you can see indigenous people throughout the square selling goods, giving purformances, and best of all (insofar as irony is concerned) you can be blessed by a Native Priestess (yes, woman priest!). This all happens only feet from the front gates of the Catholic Basillica. Such a culture clash!!!!

This is the sole supporting pillar of the roof over the patio of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. It´s a REALLY lovely museum with all sorts of history of the groups of people who have lived here in Mexico since the ice age. It´s a BEAUTIFUL work of architecture...indeed, the whole building is layed out with such flare!

Last but certainly not least is this picture of the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Thousands of pilgrims were gathered here when I arrived.

This image hangs over the altar of the main sanctury. (There are about 5 or 6 or more churches on the premises.)

For those who want this close-up view, there is a conveyor belt of sorts (airport style) which runs below the altar. Devotees can stand on the conveyorbelt as they glide quietly by. The idea is to give everyone a chance to pay their respects. And should someone try to act otherwise, there are a number of guards placed at either end to enforce the restricted viewing.

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Peace and love to you all! I head to Guanajuato tomorrow, the "campo" for those familiar with the term. I´ll be taking pictures for your viewing pleasure and hope to offer updates next week!

Some Pictures of Guatemala...finally!

This was my street! My house in Guatemala was the blue one at the far, left side of the street. The clouds you see in the distance, while picturesque, where a regular fixture of Xela life. Rain, rain, rain....every day. Eventually it became endearing.

Behold! The smoking "cone" of Santiaguito, the wee little volcano which Santa Maria (now dormant) towers over. This photo was taken with my camera zoomed as much as it would go. Please note: I´m looking DOWN at this peak. That means I´m actually MUCH higher. Yay altitude sickness!!!! :o)

This is a view just above the clouds as I was hiking up the Volcano Santa Maria, in Guatemala. It´s about 7:30am and I´d been climbing about an hour and a half or more at this point. Three more hours to go!!!!

Making Chocolate in Xela, Guate! This is the machine which ground our chocolate seeds into paste then blended in the sugar and other stuff...

Boda Mexicana y Scorpions!

Random tidbits I wanted to add while it was on my mind:

1) Went to a Mexican wedding on Saturday. It was basically like an American wedding with one exception, SALSA!!!! Good Lord do I wish I could dance like that! Or rather, I wish I had a dance partner that could lead like that. One day...

2) Yesterday, a scorpion appeared on the kitchen window. It was about 2 inches long at most, black, and (allegedly) stingless. While normally I´m not bothered the least by insects or their arachnid kin, I was NOT pleased to learn that 1) these little buggers live in my house 2) they frequent the kitchen 3) they can climb glass surfaces and 4) in addition to glass I´m told they can climb just about any surface, including ceilings. Eep! I took pictures. I´ll be adding them soon...

Much love!
K

¡Mexico Olé!

Hello Amigos!

I´ve arrived safe and sound in Mexico City, Mexico (AKA La Ciudad). No joke, I feel like I´ve died and gone to Florida, only with less humidity, cheaper prices, and full of women who like to talk about cooking as much as I do.

I´m living with the illustrious Grail memeber Rosa Aurora Espinosa. She resides in the southern part of the city, all of a few minutes walk from the Frida Kahlo museum. (Given she´s one of my favorite artists, this is GREAT news!) It´s the first of three weeks free of classes, so this professor/activist of a woman has taken it upon herself to fill EVERY of my waking moments with as much activity as possible, and for good reason--as it stands now, I´ll have more to do than can possibly be done in the next six weeks.

I´ve assumed responsibility to record as much of the past 40+ years of history of the Grail Movement in Mexico, with its accompanying theology, philosophy, and socio-political history as I can muster in the time I´m here. And to beat all, ALL my research is in Spanish! Yep, This Spanish novice has volunteered to read unknown numbers of letters, documents, and conduct and transcribe (and translate!) interviews to piece together a history that has hardly been recorded to date. This is both exciting and daunting, as I will be the first to do so this deeply and deliberately in the course of the Grail´s time in Mexico.

For those who aren´t already aware, the Grail is an international organization of lay Catholic women who have their US headquarters in my hometown of Loveland, OH. They came to the US in the 1940s and expanded to Mexico in the late 1960s-early 1970s. They were formed, here, in the midst of post-Vatican Catholicism, Catholic Action, Student and Women´s Movements, Liberation Theology, and a world in shift. As such, this history is something to be beat! And I get to explore it all...God help me! Seriously.

I had my first interview today: American Expat Teri McDermot. She´s a marvelous woman who´s been in Mexico through the past 40+ years and before that spent about a decade serving as a Medical Missionary (shout out to Pat and Steph in Kenya!!!) in Uganda and South Africa (Hiya Kara!) before returning to the US to chillax in the Bronx (hey BC theo department a borrough or so over!!) before heading south in the 1960s to Mexico.

This woman is incredible, and the whole of the community that she helped found here! I´m so amazed and blessed at this chance to turn these six weeks into a project for the whole of the Grail community.

¡Viva el Grial! ¡ Viva Mexico!

¡Hasta Mañana!

Tortilla vs. Chapatis

Hola for perhaps the last time in Guatemala!

I just finished my last "class". My prof and I played scrabble for an hour and a half (in spanish!) and then after lunch with my family, I returned to school to learn how to make corn tortillas in exchange for teaching her to make apple crisp.

The principle behind the tortilla is exactly the same as my old friend from India, the Chapati--Flat round bread consisting of naught more than water and flour. (In India it was whole wheat flour. Here, it´s Mazeca...fine corn flour.)

All you need to to in either preparation is make a soft dough of your two ingredients and then pat it gently by (lightly moistened) hand into discs appropriate for eating. Toss the discs onto a hot dry griddle (nonstick or otherwise) and toast on either side until done through. It takes all of a few minutes and is best served fresh and warm. We ate ours with butter and salt, but they are served at most every meal...breakfast included.

Having tried my hand at making both chapatis and corn tortillas, I´ve come to the conclusion I´m better able to make tortillas...it takes less skill and speed because the flour isn´t so glutenous. I have time to make mistakes and then fix them. Both breads, though, are delicious!

¡Buen provecho!

choh-koh-LAH-tay = YAY!!!!

Hello Friends!

Today marks the first of July and my last Wednesday in Xela. The sun has just come out here, a rare commodity between the hours of 1-9pm, and I´m pondering a walk another walk about town. Earlier today I spent most of two hours walking hither and about trying to find out where I might get tickets to a national salsa dance competition that takes place here this Saturday, my last night in Xela. Best as I can figure, I need to return to a dance studio around the corner from school during their business hours (which are, of course, not posted).

After many hours of shuffling between businesses, hotels, and friendly strangers I headed over to La Vienesa--a chocolate and bread shop frequented by locals, and highly recommend by my spanish teacher, God bless her!-- for a refreshing treat, chocolate (aka choh-koh-LAH-tay; aka hot chocolate). There´s nothing so refreshing after a too-long, too-damp jaunt in the rain as a couple of warm draughts from a steamy mug of fresh chocolate. The stuff is made locally here in Guatemala, and the taste can´t even be compared to what you´ll get in the states. It´s thicker, richer, all-around better! In Xela, it´s rather common to have a neighbor, friend, or relative that makes the stuff from scratch. Such was the case last week when Celas Maya, my spanish school, sponsored a Chcolate-making lesson.

About 15 students started at 10AM by toasting the raw seeds, or semillas, over the stove in thick, clay sautee dishes. Once the seeds had darkened, and the skin loosened, we took them off the heat and proceded to peel the seeds (about the size and shape of an almond) by hand. The skin can be a bit tough, and even with so many hands at work, it took most of a hour and ahalf to get about half a gallon of mill-ready seeds.

So 2:30 rolled around, and we´d all returned to school from lunch with our host families. Led by one of the teachers--a mayan woman with brightly colored skirt and blouse standing at a mighty 4´10´´, that might be generous--we all marched (through the rain) to the a house about half a mile from school. Knocking on the most unassuming of stucco-framed, wooden doors--there were no signs, or even address so far as I could tell--an elderly man answered and invited us into the room beyond his spindly frame. This was his family´s home, he the patriarch of perhaps 70+ years. In the front room, just through the double doors at the street, was a chocolate grinder that spanned most of the room!

Customers came ready with seeds, peeled and toasted, and he provided the rest--sugar (easily 3 parts to one part seeds), eggs (yolk only), and flavoring of your choice (we used packets of vanilla powder, but one might choose from vanilla, coffee, cinnamon, ginger and even almond). The beans were put through the grinder once, coming out in a thick dark paste the consistency of peanut butter. As it oozed from the grinding wheel it was received by the mounds of sugar and flavoring waiting below. All was mixed by hand until it was an even grey-brown tone. Then all the ingredients were put through a second grinder (part of the same machine) to be mixed and ground twice more. The final product was poured, or rather scooped, onto a clean table nearby, and the pounding beginned.

For half an hour or more, all 15 of us stood pounded the brownish mounds. The more we pounded the more the color of the beans came out, darkening the sugar into an even coffee-tone. We had beads of sweat on our forheads from the force of our blows (we were literally beating the whole mess with our fists as hard and fast as we could!) when the teacher told us we needed to pack it all up and head back to school. And so we did, but only to find that our darkened chocolate powder needed to be headed and formed, also by hand, into round discs of hand-pressed chocolate. And so we proceeded to beat the mess--back and fourth between our palms--until each portion of chocolate was a heated to release the oils enough to blend the grains of sugar and chocolate into one whole mass of meltable chocolate.

It was past 6pm before we retired, dripping in sweat in a room with steamy windows (steamy from our body heat alone!). It was great! By the time we scuttled into the next room, tired and achy from a hard day´s work, we were relieved and refreshed by a hot pot of none other than our own hard-earned chocolate!

I will never again underestimate the wonder of this most lovely confection --

¡Viva el Chocolate!

Samuq Champey

Hola!

It´s nearing the end of week three here in Guate--the end is, sadly, in sight. I´ve been so busy since I last wrote that I´ve hardly had time to check the email...let alone update the blog. But that leaves me with all sorts of things to tell you about; I´ll go chronilogically.

Thursday-Sunday: Samuq Champey, La Cueva Maria, y Carros Rotos

The drive from Xela to Samuq Champey-a national park here in Guate-is twelve hours of lush vistas and curvey volcanic hills. The ups and downs had my stomach in a lurch, but by the time our engine failed us about and hour and a half outside of Coban (the last major city before the park) it was getting dark and my nausea was subsiding. We huddled, all sixteen of us, by the side of the highway as the sun set on the verdant countryside. Unlike most of the day, the rain had stopped and it was clear enough for us to enjoy the fading light of day as cars and trucks passed us with a friendly--perhaps mocking?--honk or whistle.

Shortly after dusk, we were able to flag a large tour bus which welcomed us with open arms. We waddled on board with our backpacks and bottles of agua pura--our high-end Nikons and Canons are what really set us apart as Gringos--and proceded to find a place to squat on the floor of the bus. It was dark by now, and a movie was showing about the civil war in El Salvador. Goodbye Xela tour van and driver, Hello open road!

Around 9:30pm we arrived at our hotel--a nice gringo-oriented place with a decent (though highly overpriced) menu, clean beds and hot water. 11 hours, two meals, and a new rental vehicle later we were on our way to Samuq Champey.

The last 11km of our journey was naught but winding switchbacks on gravel and mud. There were sweeping hillsides on eitherside of us (more like cliffs really, the sort you wouldn´t want to vere off of lest you want to meet your maker...) with huge blankets of fog in between each ridge. We passed coffee groves, banana and plantain trees, the occassional coconut palm, and loads of corn patches (I think they were too steap to qualify as fields) along the way.

When we arrived in the Park the weather was hot and 110% humid. It was lunchtime, but we were late. No time for lunch! But not to worry...it would only be a friendly 6+ hours until dinner, and we had the park to explore!

First we went to see the river, a natural wonder which has carved its way through miles of limestone to form pristine pools in concentric curves of built-up mineral deposites. The water floows down from one to another, ending in the most lovely gentle waterfall. It then flows on to its final destination...the Atlantic...a long and winding way further east.

The clear water pools are full of little minnows, and the grasses which grow on the mineral deposit edges of the water are filled with crabs. Though I never saw the real things, I did overhear the distressed cries of a man who seemed to have found them...pinching his feet that is. :o)

We followed the wooden boardwalk all the way back to the start of the pools, to where the water has carved out a huge overhang/hollow under and into which it gushes and surges before flowing more gently into the pools downstream. We sat hear for a time and took it in.

Not long later, though, we were on our way again, this time up the cliffs along a trail of steps. Up and up and up...hundreds, then a thousand, and still more steps...until we reached an overlook at the very top of the gorge. It was incredible! If Morning Glory Pool of Yellowstone and Ramsey Cascades of the Smokies had a kid, this view would be it.

After a much appreciated down-hill climb, we were literally soaked through with sweat and the pools were just too inviting. We dropped off our cameras and various items of clothing with a student and went for a swim!

The rest of the day was spent lounging about and exchanging travel stories as we waited for a dinner and lights-out (the place was so remote the electricity was generator-only, and only for a few hours a day, immediately after dark).

The next day we were up early and grateful for the sun, since our bathing suits and swim trunks had failed to dry over night due to humitity. But not to worry, we were going swimming...in a cave!

La Cueva Maria (Maria Cave) is a privately owned place just by the National Park, Semuq Champey. We took a boat to the entrance, or rather, the base of the waterfalls which drained out of the cave into the river below. A guide, one-candle-per-person and some more uphill steps (curses!) later we were trekking through the dark as bats fluttered out behind us. Only the dim glow of candles gave us light--flashlights, it seemed, were taboo in that sacred Mayan space.

For 2k we trekked into the dark, through pools many meters deep, under subterranean waterfalls, and through "the toilet"--a hole in the rock through which water gushes its way from one large passage into another. Our guide spared us passing through it in the beginning, but the on our exit we weren´t so lucky. I think he thought it funny; most of us would have preferred the original route--it didn´t involve scraped knees and water-filled ears. But we persevered.

The rest of our time in the Park was spent, once again, lounging and exchanging stories. It seemed the many teachers in our group--so that´s what they do on their summer vacations!--had lots to talk about. I drifted in and out of their chatting...too much on my mind with my mom.

The next day, Sunday, we headed out for Xela. It was only 930am and we´d not yet cleared the gravel road before our truck stopped. Brakes rattling a disturbing amount. All dismounted the back of the pickup and waited, once again, for a different vehicle to rescue us from our stranded state. This time it was another pickup, red with bars drilled, tied and duct-taped to it so that its inhabitants ( and more of them!) could stand while traversing the gravel switchbacks. horray!

In Lanquin, a little town just before the main (read paved) road, we met up with our original tour van (all repaired) and were on our way.... Only fog (thick as I´ve ever seen), constant rain, and 12 hours of road separated us from our homebase of Xela.

A weekend well-spent!

Missing you all!!!

An ongoing saga...

I learned yesterday, post-blogging, that choco fruta also comes in choco coco (aka chocolate dipped, frozen coconut). Enough said. But for those who dwell on details...

My favorite flavor of Graeter´s ice cream is choconut chip. It´s heaven on earth. To have found choco cocos here in Xela is like stumbling into my own little paradise AND a home away from home, at least for as long as it lasts.

In other news, I´m heading to Semuq Champey tomorrow. It´s supposed to be the most beautiful place in Guatemala according to locals. I´ll be MIA from the blog until next Monday or so, but when I come back I hope to have stories of lush forests and candle-lit cave swims. Stay tuned!

P.S. This is a photo of me, Tony, And Liv at Lake Atitlan, near the dock at San Marcos, the town we spent Saturday night in.

Chocofruta--yum!

Hi friends!

You all should know by now that I have an inordinate love of food. So I thought I´d take a moment to share with you the wonder of choco fruta (cho-ko froo-tah).

The general idea of this Central American delicacy is that you freeze fruit with a stick in it, and then dip it in melted chocolate (and nuts, if you like). Not so complicated, right? Indeed, you might have had a similar treat with chocolate dipped bananas. But don´t go so quickly!

1) The wonder of chocofruta as a student at Celas Maya is that the nearest vendor is literally across the street! I could be at the door to the family-run business in all of two steps. (It helps the streets are narrow.)

2) It costs 2.5Quetzales, about $.25, for a piece of chocolate-dipped loveliness! Cost effectiveness/joy= check plus plus!

3) And perhaps the best part of it all is that there is a far superior variety of chocofruta than our american chocolate-dipped bananas. Here in Guatemala you can indulge in refreshing choco pineapple, delightful choco papaya, lucious choco strawberries, and perhaps best of all --it needs no descriptors--choco mango! (Where have you been all my life?!) But if this exotic collection of delectible treats doesn´t suit your fancy, if what you´re looking for is a bit of home, then you can even go with the American classic...choco bananas.

¡Buen Provecho!

Week One: Guatemalan Highlands, School, and Class Trips

¡Hola de Guatemala!

Life here has been pretty good so far. My school, and especially my spanish teacher, excede all expectations. As crazy as it sounds (for those who ever knew me while studying a language other than English) I´m actually enjoying my studies here in Guate. Class is basically an ongoing conversation about my teacher and my´s cultures and families and experiences in life. Little by little my gramar improves with each passing comment on life. It´s quite therapeutic even...

This past weekend my school took a trip to El Lago Atitlan (ah-teet-LAHN), a big freshwater lake in the Guate Highlands. I had the great suprise of meeting up with my friend from BC, Olivia Amadon...the girl I lead a faith group with. She´s traveling around central america seeing the place with her friend Tony (also of BC) after they completed a semester in el salvador. It was the second time I´ve travelled like that with a friend....the other being my two weeks with Jess in India.

It was nice to be able to see a new...and beauteous!...place with someone I know. The lake was a cross between the entry scene with the helicopter in Jurasic park, filmed in hawaii, and lake cumberland in KY. There were lush forests and volcanic mountains, mountains a local mayan girl told me are sacred. "people bring offerings of chickens and vegetables..." Sweet! There is also a bit of gatlinburg (sp) in the place b/c all the little towns around the lake--and there are many--cater to tourists.

There are so SO many venders in the town of Santiago. With about 10,000 people--the majority of which speak an indigenous dialect that sounds much of "shsh"ing and gutteral stops--Santiago hosts a big craft market every thursday and Sunday. There are shops for wood carvings and handmade woven goods, jewelry and other goods. Every vender will tell you "my mother made this..." "I spend all week working on these..." But I´m pretty near certain that these are only the final stop on a road of middlemen from artisans. I wish I could buy directly so that I could ensure the producers actually received fair compensatino for their work. But I don´t see a way around this at present.

I spent two nights at the lake, one in Panajachel (pahn-nuh-HAH-chel) (pop. 15,000) and another in San Marcos (pop. 3000). Half the latter town was nothing but coffee groves and avocado trees with hotels thrown in the mix. Muddy paths predominated between the town center and the docks where boat-taxis dropped you off. Though there were roads between the cities, it was faster to take a boat across the lake. And I couldn´t have been happier--cool air and water vapor spashing your face while you watch lush mountains and small villages enter and pass out of view is a welcome change of pace.

I didn´t do much but sit quietly or talk with my friends through the afternoons and evenings. I did some fun reading and chatted with locals. The latter was interesting because it was always two people speaking in their 2nd languages...both making mistakes, both helping each other to understand. I think I enjoy that particular process.

So, besides passing a weekend in a touristy hotspot that is actually peaceful as can be, I´ve been hanging out in Xela (pronounced shay-luh) where I have spanish school. I live three blocks from school, in a neighborhood about four blocks from the city center. The roads are all cobblestone and the buildings colored in a rainbow of stuccoed hues. My own house is pale blue with a courtyard beyond the front door. The school has a courtyard too, with a garden in the center. Roses and canas are in bloom now. The patio around the courtyard has tables every few feet, at which sit teachers and students during the day. The kitchen in the school always has coffee, tea and hot water at the ready for sluggish students (and teachers!). Coffee break is at 10:30 am, after 2.5 hours of class. We get sweet bread and cookies along with caffein while we chat for thirty minutes or so. And after class...with time to race home for lunch....we have a daily activity--one day visiting natural volcanic saunas, hiking to hot springs in the forest, listening to a lecture by a women´s cooperative....basically, it´s all super well organized and as peaceful as could be hoped for in a place far from home.

The people of Guatemala, so far, have been the warmest of hosts. I´m grateful for their hospitality... a recurring theme of my international travels. With their respectful demeanor and quiet, kind words I am glad I chose to study hear.

Missing you all! ¡Con Abrazos!