I'm here in Guatemala City, alive and well. I leave in about 5 minutes for my community. More later.
Love,
AlPop
28 May 2007
25 May 2007
Chabik chwek! (or something similar...)
Well, folks, this is my last post in the U.S. of A. for a while. I head to Arizona for my sister's wedding in a few hours, then it's off to the unknown in Guatemala. I ain't gonna lie - I'm a little scared. Mainly because I haven't had time to prepare this time like I have in the past. And I'm still a bit hazy on what I'm expected to do while I'm there. But I'll get it figured out soon enough, and I'll likely be wishing I didn't have to come back to the U.S. so soon before I know it. 10 weeks really isn't very long.
On an 'oopsie' note, I'm looking at the kakhi pants I found at the second-hand store today, and the directions say to "wash inside out on gentle cycle." Hmm. How gentle are river rocks?... Oh, well. Good thing I got 2 pair (and that they were only $5 and $6 each!). At the same store, I also picked up a bedrobe. This will be particularly important in order to stay modest as I enter and exit the tuj (pronounced "tookh") or steam bath - a dome-shaped structure made for people much smaller than myself. Sounds like I'll have to either crawl in or fold myself in thirds and waddle to enter. That's not the tricky part. The tricky part is staying clean on the way back out. I'm actually really looking forward to it. There is a lot of beautiful symbolism regarding life and human experience connected with the tuj. I hope I'm ready to open myself to the reality of another's experience. It's impossible to go into a new culture pure and ready to understand life from a native's perspective. One's view is always tainted by what one has come to understand from previous experience. But I hope the past few years have prepared me to enter this experience without being too blind and wrapped up in my own vista.
I'll post again when I can. It may take a bit of time to get pictures up - I want to make it clear to those I'm with that I'm not going as a tourist, and keeping the camera out of the way for a bit may help.
Ciao for now!
On an 'oopsie' note, I'm looking at the kakhi pants I found at the second-hand store today, and the directions say to "wash inside out on gentle cycle." Hmm. How gentle are river rocks?... Oh, well. Good thing I got 2 pair (and that they were only $5 and $6 each!). At the same store, I also picked up a bedrobe. This will be particularly important in order to stay modest as I enter and exit the tuj (pronounced "tookh") or steam bath - a dome-shaped structure made for people much smaller than myself. Sounds like I'll have to either crawl in or fold myself in thirds and waddle to enter. That's not the tricky part. The tricky part is staying clean on the way back out. I'm actually really looking forward to it. There is a lot of beautiful symbolism regarding life and human experience connected with the tuj. I hope I'm ready to open myself to the reality of another's experience. It's impossible to go into a new culture pure and ready to understand life from a native's perspective. One's view is always tainted by what one has come to understand from previous experience. But I hope the past few years have prepared me to enter this experience without being too blind and wrapped up in my own vista.
I'll post again when I can. It may take a bit of time to get pictures up - I want to make it clear to those I'm with that I'm not going as a tourist, and keeping the camera out of the way for a bit may help.
Ciao for now!
23 May 2007
Where?...
See where it says L. Atitlan toward the bottom left? That's the region I'll be in. It's in the department (like a state or province) of Solola, close to the cities of Nahuala and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan.
21 May 2007
Off to Guatemala I go...
OK, so I don't actually leave for Guatemala until May 27th. But stay tuned, folks... stay tuned.
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