Semana de la Feria!

Every June and July on Lake Atitlán, the towns that surround the lake celebrate the patron Saint's days of their respective towns with about two weeks of a city-wide celebration called "La Feria". Complete with ferris wheels, gambling games, fried food booths, and live music, if there wasn't a large volcano looming in the distance behind the festivities, you might not even know that you are in the quaint evangelical town of Santiago Atitlán when La Feria comes to town. The normally quiet town at night livens up to celebrate, and luckily for me I am here to experience La Feria in my last week in Santiago!

All of the towns around the lake have the festivities, but the event corresponds with each town's particular patron Saint's Day. For Santiago Atitlán, the Saint is Saint James and the festivities cumulate on July 25 each year (thanks to my boyfriend Patrick for his wiki-investigation that provides a bit more detail on the Saint and the meaning behind the festivities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James,_son_of_Zebedee).

The games and booths have been up for about a week now, but Tuesday was a parade kicking off the final week, and Wednesday and Thursday nights were parties, packed streets, live music, beer tents, and tons of fun! Here are some photos! Enjoy!

Ferris wheel with volcano views

Ferris wheel at night

Games

The music truck preparing for the parade

Parade clowns on stilts

All of the local schools had performances

So many bands!

There was a dragon...

And Jesus, of course. 

Boys dressed as men from the countryside

Crazy masks

Hawaiian girls

The gringo crew at Quilas

Limbo!

Live band at a bar on Feria night

Only About One Week Left in Santiago!

You wish surprise, will never stop wonders

You wish sunrise, will never fall under

We should always know that we can do everything 

- “Go Do” by Jonsi

This weekend I visited the city of Quetzaltenango, known to locals as Xela, which is the second largest city in Guatemala. The town is known for its language schools, universities, cultural history and music scene, and what I had heard about the town proved to be a rather accurate assessment of the city. It really does seem like the perfect place to study Spanish and experience cultural immersion. While Antigua felt domineered by tourism, Xela is a much more workaday town, so there is an overwhelming sense that you are experiencing the "real Guatemala" when you are staying there. The city has the perfect mix of just enough infrastructure to make tourists and language learners feel welcome but the vibe isn’t overwhelmingly touristy. Instead of being outsiders looking at the Guatemalan way of life through the lens of an expensive camera or through the window of an air conditioned bus, Xela seems inviting and accessible for the international community that comes there to truly learn about life in Guatemala.

I arrived on Thursday night and indulged in some of the town's live music and restaurants in Xela's Zona Viva, which was within walking distance from my hostel. I highly recommend the Black Cat Hostel if you are looking for a hostel in Xela. It was clean with friendly staff, has good group of backpackers to connect with (at least on the weekend I was there), and is very centrally located. Your stay includes a huge breakfast, and the staff offers lots of tips for activities to do nearby.

Church in Parque Benito Jaurez

Parque Central

Parque Benito Juarez

On Friday morning I headed to Fuentes Georginas, a natural hot springs located in Zunil, Guatemala which is about a 30 min drive through the countryside from Xela. I met some new friends, Casey and Lisa who are studying Spanish in Xela, and spent the morning enjoying the pools with them and hiking around the jungle trails that surround the pools. It turns out that we will be traveling on about the same route in the beginning of August through northern Guatemala, so we have temporary plans to meet up again and travel together in a few weeks!

Enjoying the hot springs

Fuentes Georginas

Fuentes Georginas

 I did a two-hour walking tour of the city on Friday afternoon, and on Friday night I went to Salon Tecun, which claims to be the oldest bar in the country (opened in 1935), with another group of backpackers that I met at the Black Cat. I fulfilled my pizza and beer craving and had a lot of fun getting to know the group and sharing travel stories.

Saturday morning I hiked the ridge outside the city up to the church and enjoyed the view of the town.

Xela from the mountainside

I spent some time reading in the Central Park on Saturday afternoon, and was approached by a university student who was doing a survey of the international opinion on the land acquirement conflict between Belize and Guatemala. I agreed and answered her survey, but I was curious to learn more. First of all, this was a conflict that I didn't even know existed. Secondly, I had noticed that the map of Central America in the main municipal building close to the central park didn’t have Belize on the map. My Lonely Planet Book had the answer:

In 1859 Britain and Guatemala signed a treaty that gave Britain the rights to the (Belize) land provided that the British built a road from Guatemala to the Caribbean coast. The treaty still stands, but the road has never been built, and many Guatemalan-made maps show Guatemala—which has never formally accepted Belize as a separate territory— extending all the way through Belize to the coast. - “Central America on a Shoestring” pg. 219

It makes me think about the subjective nature of history, and how what we know about history is greatly dependent upon who wrote the history book. I wonder what Belizeans will say about the conflict when I visit Belize at the beginning of next month?

I returned to Santiago on Sunday to visit with the scholarship students at the Puerto Abierta Library. Natik sponsors 33 scholarship students, and I was able to interview several and take photos of the students. One of my last projects here in Santiago will be collecting letters from all of the students to send to the donors who have contributed to their scholarships. I'm working on collecting, scanning and translating the letters and then drafting emails to the donors to fill them in on the dreams and plans of the students that they sponsor.

Scholarship students working on their letters

I have less than two weeks left in Santiago, so I've begun to reflect upon my time here and have started to think about my work within the bigger scale of international development work as a whole. So here I am, having lived in this community for a little over 6 weeks now, with the best of intentions to assist members of this community and help improve the livelihoods of the people here. For me and for this trip, my success is measured in smiles and small-scale economic improvements. If I've shared a laugh and contributed to the employment opportunities for a few families, I have done what I came for. However, have I really made a large difference in the community? When I leave at the end of the month, will the project be sustainable? I hope that by applying for a grant funding, we will be able to hire a fellow who will be able to continue to manage the project on the ground in Santiago, as my time here has shown that this project really has so much positive potential. However, I’ve learned that development work is very delicate work. We need someone who has a dedicated interest in the community, and who is able to triage complicated issues, and most importantly, communicate effectively and work together with the community in order to actually make a difference.

I was sitting in the park the other day watching several dozen women do their weekly washing in the lake, and saw an example of something that clearly meant well but for some reason was poorly executed. A newly constructed washing station was left completely empty, and women were still using the lake and the rocks to do their washing. It made me think about how many development projects, though usually well intentioned, can easily fail for myriad reasons. I didn't ask any of the women why they weren't using the washing station. Maybe the development workers who built the station didn't ask the women about their washing needs before they built it, either.

Washing station- not occupied

Women washing in the lake

Valuing Laughter over Laptops

This last week has been full of really productive strides towards the new Just Apparel website and grant writing process. I created the Just Apparel shop so that consumers can purchase our items in the online marketplace, and uploaded all the photos and pricing. Right now we're just working through the kinks of how to make payments, last minute editing, and making sure that everything flows and is consistent in design throughout the website. I'm really happy with how it has come out so far, and really excited to show everyone the final product!

New website coming soon....!!

I've also been working on grant proposals this week, and have narrowed down the list to four grants that I think are worth applying. Finally, we did a second round of home visits this past week to pass out the last remaining pieces of fabric for the headband project. When we made the placemats and handbags, we actually had several long pieces of fabric leftover. At first, I wasn't sure what to do with the extra fabric. However, kind of like when you spend an hour looking for your glasses only to realize that they have been on your head the whole time, I soon realized that the fabric was the perfect size for the headbands that I use so frequently to hold back my hair while traveling! Part of the challenge this week was describing the concept to the women-- the headbands that I wear are obviously a Westernized fashion, so Dolores and I had a good deal of fun explaining how to even wear a headband or why one would be useful or desirable. We had several laughs when the women were trying the pieces of fabric on their heads! I am looking forward to see how they turn out!

This past weekend I decided to explore the last few towns around the lake that I hadn't spent any time in yet. I spent Saturday in Santa Cruz, which is another tiny but lovely town on the Eastern side of the lake. The village itself is quite a hike up the mountain, which took a good 30 minutes to climb up but offered exceptional views. I also had a great lunch at Isla Verde, an ecolodge and spa with all organic "slow food" and a  very tempting massage package.

Lunch at Isla Verde

View of the lake, looking down from Santa Cruz

I spent the night at La Iguana Perdida, a local hostel with communal BBQs and costume parties on Saturday nights that make for a very fun and friendly backpackers experience! I actually ran into Julia, the girl who I climbed the San Pedro volcano with a few weeks ago, and got to know some of her friends as well. Their wifi-free policy encouraged interaction and we really had a great night!

Poster explaining why WiFi isn't allowed at Iguana Perdida

On Sunday I hiked over to Jaibailito, which is about a 45 minute hike along the ridge overlooking the lake. It was a gorgeous hike, and when I got to town I decided to check out a restaurant called Club Ven Aca which offers an infinity pool and great pasta dishes! Super relaxing afternoon.

Relaxing at the infinity pool in Jaibalito

Only two weeks left in Santiago and one month of my trip left. Some days it feels like I have been gone for much longer than five weeks and four more weeks seems like an eternity, and some days I feel like I can't believe that this experience is already over half complete. I sure am grateful for technology to be able to keep in touch with my loved ones while I am away. However, it has also been kind of nice to log off the internet and fully log in to my surroundings, and by valuing "giggles over Google" I have met so many new wonderful friends along the way as well!

Buscando por Zen

"All this wandering around 'Our America with a capital A' has changed me more than I thought." 

The Motorcycle Diaries

After a long week of traveling last week, I was in the mood for some rest and relaxation, so I decided to check out San Marcos La Laguna for the weekend. My Lonely Planet guidebook had mentioned that it was "without a doubt the prettiest of the lakeside villages" as well as "a magnet for global seekers, who believe the place has a spiritual energy that's conducive to learning and practicing meditation, holistic therapies, massage, reiki and other spiritually oriented activities." On my boat ride over to San Marcos, I met a couple from Colorado who literally live only a few blocks away from my house in Denver, so I had a feeling that the universe and I were on the same wavelength even before I arrived.  

View of the lake, from the jungle

San Marcos is an incredibly serene and beautiful pueblo. The town is very quaint, with only one road that is actually accessible to cars. Most of the attractions are located on one of two small cobblestone paths that are perpendicular to the main road and parallel to each other. The jungle weaves through the small paths, and there are only handmade signs pointing you to your destination, so I was glad that I had time to find my bearings before the sun set and had packed my flashlight for the evening. I walked around the town for a while with two women from my boat ride, and ate a delicious veggie burger at Restaurante Fe. Note that vegetarians and vegans are very welcome here. Although it was available in some restaurants, I didn't eat meat the entire weekend because of the wide variety of delicious vegetarian options. For accommodations I chose La Paz, as I was drawn to the A-frame huts with bamboo thatched roofs-- rustic but relaxing.

La Paz hotel

Paths leading to the hotel

I had some time to get stuck in my new book, the Motorcycle Diaries (great movie, but really awesome book too!), and I also watched a movie at a neighboring hostel before calling it an early night on Saturday. On Sunday morning I opted to take a yoga class, as La Paz offers 90 minute classes each morning at 9 am. As I suspected from the town vibe, it was more mystical than other courses I'd taken, and involved meditation, introspection, a bit of massage, some chanting, and a gong. It was actually a really pleasurable way to start my morning!

Some of my yoga classmates mentioned taking a lucid dream course later that afternoon (who knows what that entails...) but I opted to seek my zen through a hike, so I walked over to the Cerro Tzankujil Area Protegida. It's a beautiful nature reserve, with about a 45 minute hike to the top of a hill overlooking the nearby lake and volcanoes. There was also an awesome cliff jump that must have been about 40 feet tall and beautiful swimming cove. I certainly couldn't resist jumping in the aqua-colored water after my hike. Although the jump was actually kind of painful (how do you say "wedgie" in Spanish?) it was exhilarating and the water was the perfect temperature. What a wonderful weekend!

Nature reserve

Relaxing after a swim

View from my hike

You can't tell here, but this is a 40 ft jump to the water!

Here's a video I made of San Marcos-- some really amazing panorama shots of the lake and the volcanoes! Enjoy!

Viva Mexico!

Last week I traveled to San Cristobal de las Casas (SC), Mexico to visit with the Natik team in SC and the surrounding towns as well as run some administrative errands for our upcoming projects. What was supposed to be a long weekend turned into a weeklong adventure due to a transportation strike— I was stuck in the city for three extra days due to blockades on all of the streets exiting the city limits! However, I was able to share the adventure with Anita and her partner Manuel, Anna and her husband John, and my Uncle Marc who came down from his home in Merida to visit with me. Overall it was a very successful trip filled with fun memories and productive work!

I spent last Friday— my first full day in Mexico— busily working on some of the approaching projects that Natik has in store. In the morning, Anita and I visited the Intercultural University of Chiapas and had meetings with several representatives of the university to plan an intercultural exchange program with Edgewood College in Wisconsin.

At the Intercultural University of Chiapas

Natik is collaborating with a university professor who is teaching a course on Chiapas this fall at Edgewood, and we are coordinating so that the US-students can come down to Chiapas during their winter break to work on a development project with university students in Chiapas. Natik is really excited to help facilitate this intercultural exchange and this is something that we hope to encourage in the future as well. I believe that getting young, passionate people involved and working with Natik—both from the US and from Chiapas—is an incredible way to expand our reach and help the local community in a very unique way!

On Friday afternoon, we visited the town of Zinacantan, which is about a 30 minute collectivo ride from SC. Known for their flower gardens, we visited the lovely church there.

Church in Zinacantan

I've never seen so many flowers and candles

After visiting the church, we met up with Xunca and her family at their home. Xunca is a very well established woman in the Zinacantan community, and has been working with a cooperative of 150 women in the area for the last 15 years. Many of the women that work with Xunca have been recipients of Natik’s Veredas Micro-loan Program.

Picking out items at Xunca's shop from the cooperatives in Zinacantan, Mexico

Xunca allows Natik to take some items from her shop on consignment, so we chose several items from her store which we will place on our Etsy store and other online marketplaces that myself and the Natik team is working on. Once the items sell, we pay Xunca for the cost of the product and hopefully sell the item for enough to invest a little bit of money back into the microloan project.

Over the weekend, I spent some time sightseeing with Marc and exploring San Cristobal. The town is colonial with walkable cobblestone streets, numerous gorgeous churches, several interesting museums, and tons of global restaurants and cafes.

Cross in the town center

San Cristobal cathedral, lit up at night

Colonial streets of SC

View of San Cristobal from one of the cathedrals on the hill

View of the city from the cathedral

A highlight of the weekend was our visit to San Juan de Chamula on Sunday. The town is much more indigenous than SC, and the people wear a very unique dress that Marc and I inevitably ended up calling the “hairy skirts” because their attire is made of thick black, fuzzy wool. It was market day so the streets were extremely busy, and the church was truly fascinating. Apparently, the indigenous people of Chamula have very unique religious practices, involving a mix of traditional indigenous beliefs with Catholicism. It is forbidden to take photos in the church so you won’t see photos here, but the entire church was blanketed in pine needles and people worshipped in indigenous tounge amongst thousands of candles. It was a very interesting experience.

Marc and I in San Juan de Chamula

Through the rest of the week, I spent time working in many of the plethora of cafes—my favorite was TierrAdentro, a cultural café owned by Zapatista supporters. Brenda, a young Mexican woman, volunteered to take professional photos of the Just Apparel items that I had brought with me to Mexico, and Anna offered to take the items back with her in her suitcase to the US for shipping to buyers. I’m working now with Roisin to upload all the photos to our e-commerce stores as well as designing the store for the Just Apparel website. I also picked up a computer from Anna and John, which they kindly donated to Dolores. I set up the computer so that she can work on it in Spanish, and I brought across the border for her. Finally, I bought elastic from a store in SC for use on the headbands which will be the next project for the JA women, using the leftover strips of fabric from the handbags and placemats. This week, Dolores and I will visit the homes of the women again to distribute fabric for this next project! Moving forward!