On to the Next One

Resurrection Priory: Fulfillment of Life & Spirit

The above video (click on link) is a finished product of countless hours of editing, recording, and translating during the dates of November 25 - December 5th. While most of the filming had been completed prior to our vacation, we had hardly cut any scenes and/or translated interviews, much less construct a cohesive plot to the movie. Most of these days were spent working for the full 14 hours, only breaking for meals. Why the rush? Our goal was complete by December 3rd, when Saint Patrick's Church (sister parish of Resurrection Priory) was having a dinner with our visiting Superior Padre Pedro. Unfortunately, we ran into trouble with some subtitle problems, and were delayed a bit. We finished the movie by the 5th, and (with a few uploading problems and copyright issues to resolve) we got the video live on the 8th. I hope you can take some time to enjoy it...

"Behind the Scenes" for Resurrection Priory: Fulfillment of Life & Spirit
Justin and I split the work according to our strengths and resources. While Justin worked tirelessly on historical context, translations, and cutting interviews, I spent time developing a plot, cutting transitional scenery, and writing the script. We worked together on the thematic element of the documentary, and it its truly amazing how easy it was to put the final product together. Lots of interviews matched themes from other interviews. They tied in well to the historical context and "feel" of Guatemala, and we are very proud of what we were able to accomplish. The video was shot mostly by my new D3100 Nikon SLR camera, yet a few scenes (more than you might realize), were actually taken with an iPod video clip recorder when the SLR's battery died. Many of the photos in the beginning of the movie were taken from the monastery's photo lab (the same one from which I rescued old photos from water leakage earlier this fall).
Questions during interviews were created and posed by Justin, while I filmed. Questions included, "What was your calling to the monastic life? What makes the Benedictine life different? What is your calling (responsibilities) in this monastery?, etc." I was impressed with the answers that were given. The  whole experience was very enlightening in learning the ways of the monastery and its supportive efforts towards a very needy community. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and I can see filmmaking as a developing, ripe interest.

December 8 - December 12
Since its release into the cyber-world, the documentary has ranked up a couple hundred views (probably a dozen from myself, checking for any mistakes and, of course, raising the view count). The birth of Resurrection Priory's presence has sparked an interest in further online exposure. Next step / project? Making a website. I've found that this is easier said than done. Plenty of information has to be complied. Once more, Justin and I have to sit down, talk about themes, what we want it to look like, what we want to emphasize, and draft a few ideas. Obviously we will show history, photo gallery,  current events, etc. I've never actually constructed a website before. I have confidence in myself to learn, but I am intimidated by one outlying factor: everything's gotta be in Spanish! We'd like to have a running product up by the end of the month, but it's most important to get a basic foundation of ideas first. I'll keep you all updated.

Lately, its been the same-old work routine, enter website publishing work. On Saturday, the Spanish Classic was on (Barcelona vs. Madrid). We all watched the game in the Gringo room, ate snacks and drank pop. Today, we met up with some girls from the university to play basketball down at San Marcos Park. We formed 6-on-6 teams against a few young guys playing there. Justin and I ran nonchalantly up and down the court while these young Guatemalan guys tried to show off their ball skills. Only problem? They didn't have any. In fact, it was a surprise to see these Guatemalans not double dribbling.  Basketball is the next most popular sport to soccer here, but they must lack coaches. In general, Guatemalans stink at basketball.

Not so bad for us! First time I've seemed like the hotshot on a basketball court in... well, forever. It was a fun time, and the girls (who we met teaching English at the university) were fun to hang out with. They want to take us on one of the tourist stops next weekend (Semuc Champey, possibly!), so we've got some nice local guides to show us around now. All is well... December is passing quickly.

Last week, Veronica (Texas girl on the Nitewinds Snorkeling Tour) sent us her pictures from the trip. We didn't have a camera, so we were very thankful for these. Take a look at the fine places we got to visit:

Silk Caye 

Bubbles, Veronica, Gas

Image from Hatchet Caye

Paradise is in Placentia

I apologize for the delayed completion of my last entry. This past week has been the craziest week of work I've experienced so far, but it has yielded terrific results. More on that later...

November 20
Ahhh... where was I? Oh, yes. So there we were, stuck on the middle of paradise with nothing but the packs on our backs. Raul and Donal took off around 9:00a.m. Our journey quickly turned from a rushed calamity to calm idleness. Justin left for a run as I swapped all our gear from our sea cabin that was just inside the treeline to the "Parrot Fish" sea cabin right next to the ocean. It cost us an extra $20 overall, but it was so incredibly worth it. The view was unbelievable... check out photos below..

The rest of the day was chock-full of absolute nothing. Picked up a pizza from a burnt-out 50 year-old gringo surfer dude, stopped by the grochery store for some food and refreshments, and relaxed in the hammock with the occasional dive into the ocean. Placentia is the perfect place to escape. No worries in the world: only you, the sand, and the ocean..

Well, that is, until the sixth set of beach venders stops by your cabin and asks if you want to buy anything.   As long as you are bold enough to tell these beachers to carry on, you won't be bothered by anything else aside from the beach bum dogs that like to post up by your cabin's deck. Here's a picture of one frequent visitor...

Justin and I got some dinner that night at Omar's Crab Club. While we looked around, we noticed one thing particularly interesting about Placentia: if you end up staying there for a few days, you begin to recognize EVERYONE. We later found out that the village of Placentia holds about 800 people, most of whom work within the tourist business. We saw our waitress buying grocheries AND taking her kids for a walk (two separate occasions), we saw the hotel receptionist eating at the same place as us, and we even saw the same woman who had sold us our places on a snorkeling tour for the next day.h Tourists were similarly easy to recognize. Placentia is a peninsula into the Caribbean... with one main road out to the point. Aside from that, it's filled with square sand-lots and stilted beach house. Everything is worn by the sea air, yet the town still holds a very warm feel. Anyway.. all you have to know as a reader is that I found this place to be absolute paradise.

November 21
We began our day at 8:30a.m. because we were due for a 9:00a.m. launch for a snorkeling excursion we had paid for the day before. As we began to walk towards the boat launch, clouds rushed over-head. Soon, we were drenched by tropical rain.

Rainfall was constant for at least a half-hour; a true raincheck was in order. Since we couldn't head to the Cayes for snorkeling today (they let us delay the trip for a day), we took a walk around town and explored the shops (typical chintzy tourist stuff... go figure!). After a coffee shop stop (house in the trees!) and the purchasing of a couple Hawaiian shirts, the sun was shining again, and we headed back to the beach. Repeat actions from previous day.

November 22
We woke to happily find a sunny day on the horizon. We met up with the "Nite Winds" tour guides, Gas and Bubbles. Each had the "Caye Life" style- suave with shorts and shades. Rastafari. We packed up our luggage (snorkels, raw chicken floating in water in a white mason bucket, potato salad, island punch), met our tour companion (Victoria, a young, independent lady from Houston), and we were off. It took us about 1.5 hours to get to.... our destination?

Silk Caye, a collection of islands about the size of 10 small college dorm rooms. The island was scattered with 12 palm trees, a few picnic tables, a crude grill on one end and an outhouse on the other.   Surrounding these islands were beautiful coral reefs. It was prestine. Perfect. And of course... no pictures for this either. Sorry! we were afraid of ruining our good cameras. Still, no cameras did NOT ruin an incredible experience.

After exploring the coral reef (which wasn't as good as Hawaii) We ate a very tasty fried chicken (the marinade was incredible), had some delicious punch and potato salad. After lunch, off to swim with the sharks, rays, and turtles! Even though I knew there was nothing to be nervous about, I was nervous when I first jumped in the water.  I've never swam with sharks before! They were, of course, harmless. I saw plenty of huge sting rays, some shark, barracuda, but my favorite of all was the turtle. All the turtles swam very peacefully, and were always followed closely by fish that were using the turtle as protection. Occasionally the turtles would mosey on up to the surface for a gasp of air. After getting just a tiny breath, they'd float right back down the ocean floor, almost as nonchalant as they had left.
Our journey back to mainland was graced by a stop at the "Hatchet Caye" Resort
http://hatchetcaye.com/

Okay... wait. Go back. You really do need to click on that link. This place is incredible. It's a resort on a private island. I don't know who invested in this (recall Hurricane Irene absolutely trashed Placentia a few years ago), but for now, it seems like one of the best kept secrets in the Caribbean. We were offered free beer by the bartender. One of our tour guides, Bubbles, told me that the owner of the island permitted all tour guides in the area to stop by for a beer on the way back. It makes sense: 1) Keep the locals happy. 2) Advertising. I thought about this for awhile as I sipped on a delicious crisp Belkin (the ONLY Belize beer, better than Gallo in my opinion) and watched the sun go down as a let my feet sink into the sand..

We returned to mainland in time for another dinner (Wendy's Restaurant, Placentia. Order the Garlic Cheesy Shrimp-awesome). On our way back to the cabin, we ran into Victoria, who was heading to the bar. She was traveling alone, and I felt like I'd be a twit if I didn't offer her a drink from us. She gladly accepted. We went to the Barefoot Bar, where Victoria called the drinks... "Bailey's on ice please." I watched Justin's expression as his eyes rolled into the back of his head (it was previously determined Justin's card had the next tab).  We chatted with Victoria for a bit until Bubbles, our tour guide, found us and began to be flirtatious with Victoria. A couple of head nods, handshakes, and "good night"'s later, we were relieved of the awkward situation. An expensive $30 bill went towards a story at least.

On our way home, we stopped by the Tipsy Tuna for a game of pool. The interesting thing about this game of pool, though, is it's played in... sand. In fact, the whole bar floor was sand. Locals say that you can walk all of Placentia without shoes. Most of the bars are barefoot (not to mention THE Barefoot Bar), and there is never a hint of trash on the beach (which is constantly combed), much less anywhere else. The locals find it in their best business interest to keep the place immaculate. Even though Placentia is run-down, its surprisingly clean.

November 23

As fast as the vacation -erm- visa trip came, it went. As we packed up, I knew that I would be back to Belize many more times in my life. While traveling can sometimes be trying, our way back to Guatemala was painless. We took two water taxis, and a bus to reach Puerto Barrios. We stayed in a cheap hotel in Puerto Barrios and caught the El Rancho Bus the next morning. Our only true obstacle was the microbus between El Rancho and Coban.

(Aside)
microbus  n. - in Guatemala, illegally oversized vans used to cart people like cattle between cities. A microbus has 5 passenger benches, and will usually operate containing 10 people over the legal capacity.

About 45 minutes into a 2 hour ride, a young woman's daughter was extremely sick, and vomited in the middle of the van. Damn. Lucky I choose a window seat. I spent the whole trip trying to keep warm while I gasped for the icey-cold mountain air. Justin, who was directly behind the whole fiasco, was not so lucky.

Justin's luck continued to sink. When we had finally returned to the monastery, he realized that he left his North Face jacket and passport on the microbus. We spent an hour driving around and talking to microbus drivers. For some reason, I knew the whole time that we'd eventually get it back.
"These kind of big-time loses usually end up better than you think," I told Justin. I was right, thank goodness.

November 24
The next day, while Justin was out for a run, his phone got a call from the driver. He said that he would be in Coban in less than 5 minutes with the jacket. I knew I had to make the rendevous. As I ran down to retrieve the brown Suzuki (the only car I've ever driven here), my heart sank as I realized it was gone.
"Puedo llevar un carro?"
Only one left... the giant white Jeep / monster truck. I swear the wheels run parallel with my waist. While a bit intimidated at first, I quickly realized that I was king of the road, and drove so. I reached the Coban taxi station just in time. As the man gave me the jacket, he asked for 100 Quetzal. At first I refused... what the hell? (Little had I known that Justin told him over the phone earlier that he'd pay him) I thought twice, and decided it was actually a fantastic trade ($12 for a $125 North Face and invaluable passport), and pulled out the only bill I had in my wallet, a 100 Quetzal, and gave it to the happy driver. Knew it'd turn up.

Road Trip

Ahhh… and the adaptation of "Cobanero" life has gotten the better of me, and once again I've fallen behind on my journaling. As with many other young travelers' blogs, it almost seems as if I might forget my familial audience of four or five readers. Fear not! I've been busy, but I intend on inundating you with stories and photos over the next day or so. For now, let me recap the last few weeks.

November 7 - 17

A majority of our work has been focused on the documentary project. We shot video 9 days out of those 10, and sometimes even twice in one day. We're now left with hours of footage to revise, narrate, translate, etc. We have the next week (November 28 - December 3) to solidify themes and a storyline. Our release date (via YouTube) is December 3, when Padre Pedro presents it to St. Patrick's Parish in Edina. Again, this video will serve as a informational video to heed new or further financial support from donors.

While I don't want to give away what is in the video, I can say we've shot over 10 interviews with monks and different community members (including the Bishop of Alta Verapaz). We got further exposure to aldea life, and furthered our understanding of the community's interaction with the people of Coban.

Aside from video work (which truly took up a lot of time), we did the typical routine: a few Sopranos here and there, a few late-night whiskey drinks, some cat-naps on the hammock and PLENTY of coffee breaks.

ROAD TRIP PART 1 November 18

As you folks may or may not know, the visa situation in Guatemala is very interesting. As an American citizen, I am permitted a 3-month visitor's visa very easily. In order to renew that visa for another 3 months, I must leave the country for 72 hours. For our first trip, Justin and I determined that our destination was Placencia, Belize. Translation: "Required Trip to Paradise"

We were even more excited when we heard that Raul and Donal were going to Road Trip up to Placencia with us.

Raul and Donal fit in a very similar character description. They are both in their mid-50's, only speak Spanish, and are rich family men. They both appear rather passive but LOVE to drink scotch whiskey (and their bellies show it). Raul started a radio station in Coban in the early 80's (his connection with Bernie) and knows everyone in town. Donal works in the cardamom import business but has struck hard times recently due to a loss of a daughter, wife and aunt all in the same year. They seemed worthy enough travel partners, and we were happy to get a free ride up with two locals.

The trip started out rough. I awoke at an early 6:00am to find myself with a massive headache. Raul and Donal picked us up at 6:30am, clearly excited to "road-trip it" with a couple of young rascals. On the way out of town, we stopped at a gas station for the famous "Abre de ojos" (eye-opener) drink that Bernie had told us so much about. As I sipped on my so-called "Something Special: Fine Scotch Whiskey" and tried to get into the spirit of things, I realized that I felt worse. 

We packed up and headed out in Raul's Jeep: old guys in the front, young guys in the back. As soon as we were on the open road, Raul pulled out a burned CD Titled "Ingles," put 'er in the CD player, and CRANKED the volume. A variety of Pop blasted over the speakers, including Spanlish cuts from Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias, and other unbearable artists. While this music can be fun to some in a bar or club setting, I can assure you it is no fun when it's 7:00am and you're about to find out you have food poisoning. 

After a few feeble attempts to car-dance and look like I was having fun, I began to curl in to the fetal position, feeling my stomach tighten up in complicated knots. With each curvy turn in the wandering mountain roads, I realized I didn't have much time.

"Necesitamos PARRAR!" 

Click. Plunch. Burp. BLAHHHH!

I dropped out of the car on my knees and could barely hold myself up as I revealed what was inside my stomach. After I was done, I was bound in a cold sweat, drenched in my "100% Guate" Gallo shirt that I won at Oktoberfest. After I had my intimate vomiting session with the side of the Guatemalan mountain road, we carried on (blasting music and all) to a place for breakfast.

I ordered up a nice meal of steak and eggs. This did not work very well. My stomach didn't even ponder the situation; I threw up in the restaurant bathroom. As I returned from my second hellish episode, I resolved I would only be eating what I felt like. All I felt like doing, though, was lying down. This was something I was not able to do until 8:00p.m. that night.

The rest of the day is rather hard to recount, as I was either sick as a dog or sleeping. I excused myself once more on the side of the road and was dry heaving for most of the day. I consumed several glasses of sparkling water with Alka-Selzer, as well as a few pieces of pineapple. We made several stops along the way, doing this or that. Raul stopped several times to say hello to friends and relatives (during this time sat hunched in the car, hoping to be struck by lightning). The whole trip was plagued with 100% volume from the speakers. We hear our far share of Reggaetone, Pop, and awful Maringa music. Our playlist was also fairly concentrated. The next few songs were played the most; often times twice or thrice in a row..

(I'm convinced this is the worst song I've ever heard)

Pitbull...

and more Pitbull...

I was exhausted but relieved when we reach Raul's cabin in Peten that night, and in no condition to explore the place. I found a half-inflated air mattress in a small cement room covered with a thatched roof. I briefly looked for a pump (didn't realize it was in a bag hanging from the bed post) and flopped down on the bed. That was it. lights out.

ROAD TRIP PART 2 November 19

I woke to find myself on a rugged but pristine lake shore property. It was like something out of Robinson Crusoe: thatched roofs, dirt stairs, simple structures (see photos below). 

Donal, me, Justin, Raul

I felt better, and although I was not inclined to have fried fish and an "abre de ojos" with Raul, Donal, and Justin, I was game enough to go for a swim in warm Lake Iztbal. I caught a pretty good one of Justin with an "abre de ojos" after swimming.

(see photos below).

Abre de Ojos

The second road trip day was as the first: less conversation, more loud music. This time, Raul pulled out matching Coban Radio shirts (you can see mine in the banner picture below). We courted around Belize with these matching jerseys.. looked like one heck of a crew. We stopped several times to visit more friends of Raul. Crossing the boarder was easy, and Belize was fun to sightsee. After countless stops and drive-bys, I was able to pull these two gems out of the camera:

Guy riding horseback, wearing Do-rag

Banner

I hope I win the drawing...

Turns out everyone in Belize speaks English: what a wonderful break for us! In fact, the roles were reversed: no one spoke spanish! Our position was "translator" for the rest of the trip. We arrived in Placencia late at night, coincidentally the same night as a Garifuni (remember Livingston?) celebration. Thus the town was shut down and booked out. After talking to a few of the locals, we ended up lucking out and getting some rather expensive sea cabins which were only yards from the beach and ocean. We settled in, got cleaned up and went out for dinner on a seaside bar and grill. Food was typical American (Thank God!), and I had my first meal since the previous Thursday: a grilled ham & cheese, fries, and onion rings. It tasted wonderful, but I was full immediately afterwards and I still couldn't stomach beer. We at and watched a few local rastamen dance with some touristy young white women. While this was incredibly entertaining, we were tired from our journey, and retired to our rooms soon after dinner.

Documentary Days

Recently the multimedia project was put on hold. Several factors, including Giovanni's accident and the closing of the Guatemalan academic calendar, have recently made us leave our beloved Dell 1998's. More news to come about the multimedia project soon!

Now, we've picked up cameras starting another great project. In early December, one of the monks from Resurrection Priory is going to visit Saint Patrick's Parish of Edina, MN. St. Patrick's Parish is a primary donator to Resurrection Priory's support of their 85 aldeas.  They've not only helped with the donations of the water filters distributed in August, but also have stood sponsor to several young, poor Coban students. Justin and I have been put in charge of making a documentary about Resurrection Priory. The documentary is intended to detail the monks' interactions with the surrounding community, especially highlighting instances in which St. Patrick's Parish donation dollars are at work.

This documentary will be helpful in two reasons. Not only does it signify a "thank you" to donors, but it also is intended to gain more financial support for future projects (wink wink). The movie should last between 10-20 minutes. We plan on utilizing 10 minute video interviews from around 8 monks and several Coban community members to best represent the goings on of Resurrection Priory. Thus, we've spent the last week or so catching some great footage, some of which included "Day of the Dead" celebrations, Confirmation (last blog post), and the healing of the sick. The following week will be full of interviews. Our deadline is to have the video completed by December.. we've got work to do! We are thankful for this project as it has provided to be a topic of critical thinking as well as a chance to get to know the monastic community.

Monday 10/24 - Sunday 10/30
Aside from working on the documentary and a few computer repair sessions, Justin and I have been trying to meet up with a basketball league that allegedly meets on Wednesday and Fridays. We've gone to meet them twice, and the gym was closed both times. Our contact, "Emerson," another friend of one of Bernie's friends, has informed us that the owner of the gym has been sick recently, so the gym has remained closed. while we have yet to meet up with this mysterious basketball league, they are supposed to be having a game this Monday (11/7). Hopefully we'll meet up!

Last week passed by fast. Our evening events included a visit to Raul's house for a wonderful fettuccine dish, as well as a few other slightly awkward graduation parties. On Friday, we attended a graduation party via invite from one of Bernie's friends. The party was very nice, but awkward as we didn't know anyone there. The three of us posted up with Raul at a table in the courtyard and slowly sipped on Scotch. While it was awkward that we were wearing jeans and the average male guest was wearing a suit jacket, it didn't turn out to be that bad of an event.

Carlos and Eric

On Saturday, there was a farmer's market in Parque de San Marcos, a plaza-like place next to the monastery. Our friends Carlos and Eric, were in charge of a stand at the market, so we visited them. We ended up posting up outside a nearby tienda and having a few Gallo beers. Both Carlos and Eric are from Zacapa, and they've invited us to visit whenever we can.

On Saturday night, we attended the graduation party of one of Oscar's nieces. Oscar's family is Qui'Chi, so we knew that the experience would be a bit different than that of other other graduation parties we had visited. We weren't disappointed.
Alberto picked us up from the monastery and brought us right to the party. The party was held in a public park, amongst old cement and stucco buildings adorning entrances without doors. There were several tables lined up in a long line across the middle of the room. Atop the tables was a white linen tablecloth and plastic utensils wrapped with pink curled ribbon.  As we entered this long, cold cement  room with his abnormally shy wife and two young timid boys, no one said a word to us. 20 sets of eyes  stared on blankly as we quietly sat down and twiddled our thumbs until Oscar arrived. Except for the occasional whisper to another Qui'Chi relative or friend, the general population of the party was silent.
When Oscar finally got there, we went to a different table and sipped on our party emergency kit (tasty Scotch).

Alberto Playing with his Son

We hung around for a couple hours or so, mostly keeping to ourselves. When dinner was served, the young graduate (dressed in a beautiful light blue Prom-like dress) served all the attendees their dishes first. After serving all the guests, she was then required to dance with any men at the party that would oblige. Justin and I were, of course, pressured into dancing with her. As I awkwardly spun around with this young girl, I told her that the worst part was almost over, and asked if she received gifts from the guests. She blushed and nodded, saying that there were lots. As I bid her adieu for her next dance with a portly middle-aged man, and wished her best of luck with everything (especially writing thank you cards).
Before leaving, Justin and I were ushered into the long cement room with the tables again. This time, several young girls were sitting around the table. They all giggled and timidly looked at us. The other adults beckoned us toward the table, and while the awkwardness of the situation was unbearable, I tried my best to make conversation to the girls.
Conversation with these girls was a little better than trying to spark up a conversation with a brick wall. Granted, my spanish is still quite rusty, but they gave answers to conversational questions in as little words as possible. Responses were mumbled and jumbled. They said they were all in their twenties (but were most likely younger) and were in a university I had never heard of. A few were pretty enough, but uninteresting to say the least. Justin, who was engaged in conversation with only one of the girls, was a bit more successful than me. As we were leaving, suave Justin pulled a number from Mary, one of the cuter girls from the group. He has since been bombarded with text messages, and even a call at 6:30am the next day to see "what's up." Ahh... young Guatemalan love. As for now, better him than me I say.

Sunday 10/30 was fairly typical. We were invited to our friend Angel's house for lunch, which is right next door to the monastery. During the afternoon as I was playing a few folk songs on the deck, a few young teen Guatemalans asked if I might be able to play some songs for the kids in their faith formation class. I told them that I had not yet learned any Spanish songs, but they were welcome to use my guitar. I ended up shooting some nice footage of the group performing a few Church songs, along with a prayer session. Here are a few products of that Sunday afternoon...

Quite the Audience

Jump for Jesus!

Deep in Prayer

Monday 10/31 - Sunday 11/6
The past week was riddled with several opportunities to shoot some great footage. On Monday, we followed Padre Carlos to a local food shelter, where Padre goes every Monday to help distribute a lunch to poor, mostly orphaned children. On Wednesday, we followed several monks to the Cemetery to celebrate Mass for Day of the Dead. On Thursday, we visited several very poor houses to witness Padre Carlos administer Communion and Anointing of the Sick to old or disabled community members.
Because all these instances will be well detailed in our documentary, I'm being rather brief in my description. I assure you, however, these were incredible experiences, as you will soon see in our finished product.

Day of the Dead Pilgrimage 

Fulfillment of Will

Aside from brainstorming interview questions and meticulously editing footage, we did have a few parts of our schedule for  free time. Tuesday (All Saints Day) is a holiday here, and we took it as one. On Saturday we were completely open, so we decided to take a trek out to the Caves of Rey Marcos. After turning down a few rickety roads (more like a constant stream of potholes and washed-out gutters), we finally arrived at Rey Marcos. The area not only included caves, but also a few waterfalls and hiking trails. Justin and I were happy to escape the structured monastic life by exploring this terrain..

Spelunking Rey Marcos

Later on that evening, after visiting Carlos Estrada's house for a few whiskey drinks, we made our way out to our friend Chato's house for a birthday party. In the Guatemalan Constitution, it is illegal to consume or sell liquor 36 hours prior to a presidential election. Our good Guate buddies had forgotten this. We arrived to find our friend Eric, Chato, and Carlos as sober as can be, chain smoking cigarettes and hanging out. We gave Eric a crappy cigar as a birthday gift (recall, no liquor stores were open), and chatted for a bit before returning to the monastery. It was good to catch up with our friends again.

We wrapped up our weekend with a Sunday lunch at Carlos Estrada. I got the great pleasure of meeting Carlos' friends, siblings, and sons. The food was phenomenal, and the company cheerful. In the next week, we've got quite the work cut out for us in regards to the documentary. More great footage and pictures to come!

Rain and the Rest of It

In the past week, Guatemala has yielded extreme rainfall amounts. While we remain relatively safe almost a mile above sea level, flooding has inflicted severe damage in cities around Coban. Our plans for the last weekend were to visit a fellow Minnesotan and Bennie, Nora, as she visits her host family in Xela. Unfortunately, roads between Xela and Coban have proven recently to be very treacherous or completely washed out. Needless to say, I was obligated to cancel our plans. We enjoyed a nice weekend in Coban nonetheless. I must say, however, I can't wait to get out and travel again soon. After being in the confines of the monastery for most of my work periods, I've realized that I miss the open road.

Monday 10/17 - Friday 10/22

Most of our week was dedicated to the work with the computers… again. Also, we prepared, cooked, and cleaned a meal for Father Bernie's Rotary group. The entree included barbecue chicken and potato salad (okay, the kitchen made the salad). The rotary club is an active sponsor of Father Bernie's aldea projects, and this was a nice way to give thanks.

We also helped deliver about 50 potato sacks of assorted clothing to a local hospital...

On Thursday, Justin and I took one of our favorite community members, Julio, out for dinner. We felt that we owed Julio a dinner since he often helps us clean up dishes after meals (which we do every meal, at first intended as a good-will gesture but is now expected). Julio is what the monks here call a "licho," or layman; he is not a monk. He's very intelligent, articulate, and has an incredible life story (he also speaks English). We went to his favorite restaurant which, while expensive, was an incredible experience. If ANYONE comes to visit me down here, you will go to this restaurant with me! Here is a picture of us enjoying a nice bottle of Merlot after dinner.

On Friday, we served as camera crew at a Confirmation ceremony at a nearby aldea. About 200 "jovenes" were confirmed by the Bishop (who we've met several times now).  100 pictures and about 30 minutes of video later, I am now prepared to begin my first lesson in video editing! Father Bernie would like to create a comprehensive video depicting the monastery's efforts and involvement with the local community, especially for future volunteers of Resurrection Priory. I'll make sure to post the finished product for all of you. For now, here's a glimpse of what kind of footage I was covering..

On Friday evening, We were invited to Marines' (Chilio's daughter) graduation. Bernie intentionally neglected to tell us that dress for this occasion was formal (we don't have any formal clothes, anyway). As we arrived dressed in jeans and collared shirts, Justin and I winced as beautiful girls waltzed around in shiny red dresses while suave, hair-gelled hombres gave off dashing looks. The gringos have done it again!

Saturday 10/23

Saturday proved to be a very uplifting day for our computer project. Giovanni returned and completed the application installation of 20 computers. This means that we will possibly deliver computers to a school in the next couple weeks. I look forward so much to being able to teach the aldea communities how to use the computer's applications. We celebrated with popcorn and Fanta pop!

After Giovanni took off, we left immediately for Chilio's farm for Marines' graduation party. I got the great pleasure of talking with the whole extended family, and even met a few gringos in the mix. One middle-aged man, Seth, a California native, moved to Guatemala 10 years ago. He now works the Dusseldorf Coffee plantation and does very well for himself.  His wife is a light-skinned Guatemalan ("canche"), and his American-looking kids (one named "Thomas") were all bi-lingual. The youngest one, however, had a native look about him.

"What's this guy's story?" I asked.

"Well, he was left on our doorstep almost 2 years ago. He's been with us ever since," offered Seth casually.

Wow! Incredible story… clearly a very giving family. Seth had specialized in International Business. His advice to me (you'll like this one, Dad) after I mentioned my interest in graduate school was this, "Get into finance. You can't go wrong with it!" Good to know. It was refreshing to talk with a fluent English speaker again.

Sunday 10/24

As usual, Sunday started out quite lazy for us. We slept in for the first time in a week, and used time to catch up on things. By about 12pm, I had cabin fever and had to go out and about. Justin had already gone for a run, so for about 3 hours I wandered the Sunday afternoon streets of Coban by myself. 

There was plenty to see. At one point, I got lost in one of those tarped flea market plazas. It was clear I didn't belong; plenty of Qui-chi cat calls from passing native women and peculiar looks from men. I made it back to the city plaza and ended up buying a soccer ball for playing soccer with a few local workers at the monastery. 

During the afternoon, I met up with Alejandro, Tavo's brother, who had mentioned game of poker on Sunday. Even though I had misunderstood the location of the game, Alejandro drove 15 minutes out of his way to pick me up before getting to the poker game. It was a nice gesture.. I'm finding out that Tavo's family is just as giving as Chilio's.

Poker went pretty well. I made it to the big table but lost (It's okay though, only a 75 Quetzal game!). The nice thing about poker is that no words are necessary. Aside from the occasional numeric clarifications (of which I had quite a few), not many words are needed. This allowed me to be comfortable to sit quietly while I soaked up all the local ligo, "palabras malas" I could. After losing, I took a quick 2 Quetzal (about 15 cents) taxi back to the Priory. 

Note: I will add pictures to this post soon!

Computers and a Coban Oktoberfest

During the last week or so, it's been a straight grind with computer work. It can be very dull and slow-moving, but necessary. A very unfortunate incident has rippled into the advancement of our project. Giovanni (the tech student from the local unversity assisting with our Multimedia Project) got in an accident on his motorcycle last weekend. While he has walked away from the accident, his friend passenger did not. We want to give him ample time to mourn and return to the project whenever is best. Please keep Giovanni, his friends and family in your prayers.

Thus, aside from a few weekend adventures, our schedule has stayed very steady (8:00a.m. wake/begin work, 10:00am coffee, 12:30pm prayer/lunch, 1-2:30 siesta, 2:30- 5:30pm work, 5:30pm prayer, 7:00pm dinner). Stability is certainly a theme here. Justin has began running again. While I haven't felt the running spirit lately, I will often take time to get out of the monastery and walk around, even if its for a quick 15 minute break. it's amazing how refreshing a quick walk around the block. I've also been working on my Spanish... slowly but surely.

Thursday 10/6 - Friday 10/7

Justin took our work period for Giovanni's visit on Saturday, when many of the computers were to be installed with the new software. Aside from this, we polished off Season 3 of The Sopranos by Friday night.

Saturday 10/8

During the morning hour, we worked with Giovanni on the computers. While we had set everything up perfectly, a few computers' softwares malfunctioned when they were rebooted. All in all, we got 6 completely installed, while trying to figure what was wrong with the others. We ended the session a bit distraught, planning on meeting with Giovanni later in the coming week (that night, Giovanni had his accident). 

In the afternoon and after the first half of the Notre Dame game (ND dominates Air Force!), I met up with some friends from Tavo's party. They had found my hat at the party and were nice enough to come by and drop it off. I decided to buy them some beers, and got the great opportunity to know Carlos and Eric, my two new Guatemalan friends. Both are from University of San Carlos, and both know a little bit of English. They're very friendly, genuine, and easygoing, as well as educated. When going out for beers, they each paid for a round or two. I returned back to the monastery later that evening feeling excited in knowing that I was becoming even more familiar with the young generation of Coban.

Sunday 10/9

Ocsar took me to Coban's futbol match. This time, it was held in Coban. Once again, I neglected to bring a camera, but next time I go I'll snap a few pictures for you all. The field is positioned in forest-like bowl. Many people prefer to sit atop a few cliffs or grassy hills above the stadium, just like in Collegeville. 

Coban won 1-0. It was a close game.. and my favorite  player #12 William something (who I call "William Wallace"). This Costa Rican has a full-head of dreads, and kind of looks like "Predator" on the soccer field. Very fun guy to watch. I even bought a jersey afterwards for 50 Quetzal. Coban is first place in their league, so I think I might just start following them (not many teams to follow in MN anyway). 

Monday 10/10 - Friday 10/14

Donations to Hospital (Justin Left, Alberto Right, Oscar center)

We discovered the news of Giovanni's accident on Monday. Knowing that Giovanni wouldn't be coming soon, Justin and I have moved back to the old towers and hard drives that were malfunctioning. While the process is slow, I seem to be gaining ground on it. I've fixed on average 3 computers per day. Assembly of these computers were almost from scratch. We did get a break during the week to help paint more projector screens and to assist in the transportation of a few donated crutches, wheelchairs, and walkers to a local hospital.  Steady work, fast week.

Openin' up a computer

Saturday 10/15

After a week of quite steady work, Justin and I were prepared to cut loose a bit for the weekend. Coban's Oktoberfest provided for exactly that. 

Picture that church-like fall festival mixed with a ritzy country club atmosphere The proceeds from the event goes to some charitable cause that no one knows about. There are several overpriced bottles of liquor, gift baskets, cakes, cookies and auction items for bidding. Everyone dresses to impress and talks local politics while sitting at roll-out tables and folding chairs.

There were all the major beers on tap (which made for about 5 different taps), as well as other beers for sale in the bottle. Lots of beer was given out for free, and the entrance ticket provided for a nice meal of weinerschitzel, german potato salad, and a giant soft pretzel. We stayed there for the whole afternoon and enjoyed each other's company. Chilio, Maria, Raul, Raul's wife, Justin and I all sat at a table. Tavo and Ines were working one of the pastel stands, and Carlos and Eric also stopped by to say hello. Once again, that community-welcoming feel came on, and I felt very lucky to have gotten to know so many nice cobaneros.

The event was sponsored by Gallo Beer, Guatemalan's national brew. While other beers were distributed by girls dressed in typical Bavarian style gear, the Gallo girls were scantly-clad with half a bra-top and tight leggings. Some skinny guy with a nerdy red "Gallo" polo was courting these two floozies around, taking pictures with pleasantly surprised 60-year-old rich men. Any country club member in the U.S. would have been mortified, but this seemed to be normal here.

Anyway, at one point, the Gallo girls were in pursuit of a few male volunteers for some terribly embarrassing stunt. Several of my friends all pointed at me, and I naturally refused 5 times. Finally, I relented, approached the stage (beer still in hand). Two other young Guatemalan men soon joined me.

The competition was simple: do a runway routine with a liter bottle of Guatemalan beer. The biggest challenge facing my routine? The bottle was empty. My first two competitors walked suavely forward and back, trying to look cool and collected. You've got to be kidding me guys! Warm the bus.

I played the whole runway, starting with a Michael Jackson-like figure snap. I utilized my wide hips in a sexy duck-waddle walk up to the front. In meeting front stage, I thrust my buttox forward, then the bottle of Gallo over it with my arm. The crowd roared. I returned as I had come, blowing away the imaginary gunsmoke from the tip of my left index finger.

The winner was determined by a "Crowning for Homecoming" style finger-pointing, electing me as winner by loudest cheer. My prize? A crappy women's running hat and a boring white Gallo shirt. 

The biggest tragedy out of the whole event? You guessed it. No camera (actually camera was there... batteries died). Typical.

Sunday 10/16

Today I've spent all day relaxing and blogging. I'm know we've got more work to go on the computers in the coming weeks. Soon, I will have to plan my trip to Belize. My visa ends in mid-November. Can't wait to hit the road for another adventure.

The Coban Community

In the last week or so, I have gotten the great privilege of meeting and befriending many local cobaneros. From enjoying a few sips of whiskey with distinguished, middle-aged folk to swapping tunes over a loud set of speakers from a fast-speaking 19-year old, to even sharing a good view of a mountain with some kid hikers, I've become familiar with the persona and thought processes of each "cobanero" generation. While the work with the multimedia project has been very slow in the past week, it has been comforting and  encouraging to familiarize myself with the community in Coban.

Saturday 9/25
I began teaching English at a local university in Coban. There are three classes (2 classes intermediate, 1 advanced) that Justin and I have signed up to help out with. Each class has a bi-lingual Coban-native teacher (some who really don't speak the best English); we've been brought in to help with pronunciation, grammar, and to help the students adapt to the English/American accent. I began my introduction saying (in Spanish) to not be worried, because my Spanish was probably worse than their English.

This turned out to be half-true. Some students spoke almost fluent spanish; some spoke barely at all. I tried to speak slow enough so as to be understood but not to offend. This seemed to help. The class time (8:00a.m. - 12:00p.m.) went really fast. I had basic English conversations with several students, helped them with their homework, and even improved my Spanish vocabulary a little bit. As Justin and I left the university knowing that we were going back the next week. It was incredibly helpful for everyone involved!

During the afternoon and evening, I attended my friend Tavo's 24th birthday party. Tavo is Bernie's friends' daughter's boyfriend; a nice guy who's just finishing up his education at the University. After just meeting me once, Tavo was nice enough to invite Justin and me to his big birthday bash at his college buddy's place.

The fiesta was just like any college party; actually, it was like any Saint John's college party. Plenty of booze, plenty of great music, and plenty of ... guys. The only girls that showed up to the party were inevitably dating someone already at the party. Even though fraternizing with girls would have been nice (remember, folks, I've been in a monastery for a full month now), it was still a hoot. I found it uncanny how similar some of the Guatemalan guys were to my friends at home.

The only difficulty? Language barrier. Even without the addition of a few drinks, Tavo's friends (Vjango, Tosho, Carlos, Juan Miguel) all spoke very fast. With beers, they spoke even faster. I had a hard time understanding anything at times. I would nod, say "Si!" or "Como no?" or "No entiendo." Responses ranged from blank stares (usually warranted by my previous attempt to respond to their comment in Spanish) to laughs, to an awkward silence. Ideal? No, of course not. But what are you gonna do? The kids were very forgiving. If I didn't understand something or couldn't respond, the young men would chuckle and continue a different conversation on with themselves. It gave me time to recover and again translate in my head what was going on in the current conversation. If I had nothing to contribute, I would just busy myself by picking the next song on the speakers. I am especially thankful for Tavo, who not only throughout the night asked me if everything was okay, but also got one of his friends to give me a ride home in the late evening. I hope to see more of my friends in the future!

Sunday 9/26
With whiskey still coursing in our veins, Justin and I woke early the next day for our first soccer game in Guatemala. Oscar offered to take us to a neighboring pueblo to see Coban Imperial vs. Carcha. Oscar's whole family was in attendance; which includes his wife and daughter, Ashanti. We weren't the only ones to be seeing our first soccer game in Guatemala: Ashanti is only two years old and it was her first game to ever see. She seemed pretty excited when we gained entrance to the stadium.

Ashanti's first Futbol Game

The actual game was as good as any other soccer match. There were a few yellow cards, a few goals, and Coban Imperial even won the match 3-1. The atmosphere was crazy. While getting into the stadium with booze was supposed to be impossible, apparently entering with fireworks was no problem. Spectators sporadically ignited and threw LOUD crackling fireworks onto the field throughout the game. While not one machine-gun-sounding string of dynamite landed on the actual playing field, several were thrown just in front of the visitor's dugout. Visiting players and coaches would hastily cup their ears before the sonic boom erupted from the dynamite. I couldn't help but laugh in amusement over the scene.

During the game, we were offered everything from action figures to pizzas to peanuts every 30 seconds. After the end of the game, I happily dashed through the crowd of celebrating cobaneros, chanting, "CO-BAN! CO-BAN!" I was received with a few high-fives, laughs and smiles.

Oscar offered to take us to more games throughout the year. I told him I'll always be there.. I'm buying a jersey next time!

Before turning back home, we went out to the local "centro" to get some post-game beer and pizza. As I entered the mall, I was greeted by not 1, not 2, but 3 people! First, Bernie's friend Otto said a quick "Hello!" as he went into the supermarket for food. Afterwards, I briefly had an awkward hello with one of Tavo's friends from the party. I had forgotten his name because I had been introduced to about 15 people the night before. Finally, the beautiful girl working the Tigo cell phone stand (who I now know is named "Melisa") said hello and asked if my credit card trouble went through alright. I felt so welcomed by a community that, less than a month ago, was a mystery to me. 

Monday 9/27 - Friday 10/30

More computer and paint work

This week was filled with more of what was before: we painted several more white screens for projectors, and also advanced a bit with the computers. Giovanni was able to come in on Thursday and install the educational programs that will help the people of the aldeas. While I wasn't impressed with Linux's Tux Paint, I will say that the typing, geography, science, and grammar programs are quite nice. The installation process is slow, however, and it takes lots patience to do it correctly. Giovanni as only installed a few.. and we've got at least 25 more to go. More work with computers to come I suppose.

Aside from the work week, we did get a chance to meet up with a few of Bernie's friends for dinner. Last Thursday we drove over to Carlos Estrada's house. Maria and Chalio were there as well. We enjoyed fine whiskey, steak and tortillas, and... Dudo? We played a game called "Dudo." This game was very similar to "Liar's Dice" from the Loon Inn, but the dice were encoded with "9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace" instead of the normal numbers. The game ended in a face-off between Maria and me. I let her win.

On Friday afternoon, during siesta time, I found myself restless. Instead of reading, I decided to grab my camera and take a hike up San Jorge, a scenic hill about a quarter mile from the monastery. From here, I was able to see the whole of Coban for the first time. While taking pictures up there, I met Brian, a 14 year old student from a neighboring school. Soon, Brian's friends arrived and invited me to try Fresh Sugar Cane found on the side of the mountain. I offered my pocket knife to aid in their stripping of the bark. Afterwards, I took a picture with my friends. Here is my proof!

 On Friday evening, we made it over to Doctor Luis Torrebiarte's for another wonderful meal and fascinating conversation. Dr. Torrebiarte is very smart and speaks English. He is also well-traveled.  I've tasted the best coffee, coffee-cake, and steak in my life in this house, and I reminded the Doctor of this with our last visit. Of all people to visit with in Guatemala, I like Dr. Torrebiarte the most.  He is an eloquent psychiatrist and historian, native to Guatemala but also fluent in near perfect English. Conversation is always interesting with him, and every time I walk away from his house I feel as if I should've paid for the session. Both Justin and I feel more intelligent after every dinner.

Saturday 10/1

Our first peaceful, normal Saturday in the monastery. During the morning we finished up a few paint jobs and computer work. Our afternoon was lazy and relaxing. I spent my time reading and took a walk around the city. It's funny the number of people that I recognize on a day-in-day-out basis. This city is turning out to not be that big! Notre Dame won against Purdue (a highlight for Bernie and me). We turned in for the evening with a movie and snacks.

Sunday 10/2

Justin and I woke to the sound of marimbas blasting outside of our room. The courtyard below was full of people. Apparently the parish had planned a big "bake sale" kind of event. Kids chased each other around as parents relaxed and conversed. At first sight of this scene, I had a flashback of St. Hubert's Fall Festivals, 3rd and 4th of July parades, and even the 'post-mass' doughnut sessions. Justin and I got the chance to wander around and meet people. A big match of futbol on the basketball court was the main attraction. Teams were already organized, otherwise I would've definitely gone out there (to be laughed at, no doubt). Between the god-awful Vikings game, Skype, meals, and prayer, everything... there was still the booming Reggaeton, Marimba, and American-pop songs blaring from the speakers.

While most of the day was spent at the monastery, we did get the opportunity in the morning to go to the monastery's "finca" (farm) which is about an hour's walk outside of the city. There, Brother Nicholas showed us the sheep (of which I took SEVERAL great picture, see right), trees, a raging, overflowed river, and cows. The farm is primarily a tree farm, and a majority of the trees were planted by either Brother Nicholas or Brother Alejandro. The finca spans for acres, and I believe pictures will do a better description that what I can detail.

The river was high...that's a cement bridge behind me... almost submerged

Monday - Wednesday 10/3-10/5

This week has been (you guessed it) more computer work. I'm now actually learning about hardware set-up with Bernie. Sometimes we need to switch hard drives, memory sticks, functional CD-ROM readers, etc., in order to make one computer functional. I can now locate and name the basic parts inside a Dell 1998 computer. Useful? Doubtful, but we are saving quite a bit more computers than I had anticipated. Even though these computers are slow, they'll make a huge difference to the people that will be using them (especially considering most aldea members have never operated a computer before).

We've heard great news this week! Padre Bernie heard back from the bank. A $25,000 grant from the bank was rewarded to Fr. Bernie for the multimedia project. Also, Justin's 500GB crashed hard drive was recovered by one of the professors from the university that we teach at. Finally, we've saved 4 computers this week. Time to celebrate! Bernie has invited his friends over tonight for White Horse whiskey drink and good times.

 Hope all is well!

Forming a Routine

For those of you still left reading this potentially long-winded blog (Hi Mom and Dad!), I have some good news! We've now started to follow a rather solid routine here in Coban, and that means a bit more repetition of things. The importance of this to the "I'll-scan-the-text-and-look-at-the-pictures" reader? I have less to tell, so you have less to read!

9/15 Thursday (Guatemalan Independence day)
Guatemala gained its Independence from Spain on this day in 1821, and, must like our 4th of July de Los Estados Unidos, they've been partying on that day every year since. A long, fancy parade marches down the street. Kids show off their exorbitant "Indepencia" costumes while marching in lines. I found it quite amusing, and reflected upon what it would be like for one of these Guatemalans to attend the 4th of July Parade through Chanhassen. Below is a video of the experience.

Our morning consisted of taking in the parade. During our afternoon, a monk invited us to lunch with one of the local "jovenes" (young people) from the parish. After stopping in a nice roadside restaurant neighboring a dairy farm and an endless range of looming mountains, we stopped by a bar on the way back to the monastery. It was still light out, but eh...what the heck? You can only celebrate Guatemalan's Independence once a year.

The bar session was interesting. I sampled several different beers, and I settled on Moza as my favorite. When I say "favorite," this doesn't mean I was impressed. These bloggers describe the beer well: http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Beer/Beer-Ratings.asp?BeerID=6975
I like dark beers, and this had to be the closest thing that I could get to a Guinness. Everyone likes "Gallo" down here, but the taste of it reminds me of a rundown multiplex in Saint Joseph, MN. Good memories, not so good beer. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get used to it.

A few necessary events to recount from the bar: 1) After several plays from random latino singers, my jukebox pick of Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There?" blasted loudly from the speakers. The locals were slightly confused but seemed to enjoy it. 2) I was able to explain the concept of "icing" to the locals of the bar. 3) A street vender came in trying to sell ripped-off CD's to everyone. After declining a CD, I bought the guy a beer instead. He happily enjoyed drinking the one beer and talking for about 20 minutes with me. Before taking off, he offered any CD on his carry-along rack. I asked him for the CD with the best party music. He gave me some ridiculous Reggaetone CD that I have since lost.
Biggest disappointment about the whole ordeal? Forgot my camera. Sorry folks! There'll be a next time.

We arrived back at the monastery in time for a quick bite to eat and a Sopranos episode before retiring for the night.

9/16 Friday

Montezuma finally turned his ugly head. I was up several times during the night. No nausea, just... well... bad times. Having seen Justin suffer for just under a week, I wasn't messing around. Time for stool sample testing (costs about $3). Verdict? Parasites, or as they say here, "Las amoebas." Got the proper pills from the pharmacy and spent the rest of the day in my room. Even by 3 or 4pm, I felt better. No further problems after the administration of the antibiotics. Dinner and Sopranos once again capped the night.

9/17 Saturday

Notre Dame finally wins! I think Bernie was more excited than I was.. I'm too used to seeing these guys tank in clutch situations at the end, like another team I know (Damn it Vikes!). After the Irish victory, our relaxing afternoon consisted of reading, plucking the guitar, and munchin' on our football game snacks. Nothing exceptional; just a day in the life. Livin' the dream!

9/18 Sunday

A similar approach was taken to the Vikes game on Sunday (unfortunately our team for the day didn't win this time). Justin and I bought fried chicken from a cheap restaurant down the road from the monastery and explored the town a bit. The day ended as it always does: Prayer, (Mass, maybe), dinner, Sopranos episode.

9/19 Monday - 9/21 Wednesday

Our work for this week has resulted in slow progress. With the installation of Linux on the computers, several CPUs will sometimes fail to install the software. Seeing as all these computers were made in the 90's, downloading and operating are slow. Way slow. I think the paint for the screens dried faster than some of these old Packard Bell towers.  While it can be frustrating, it still gives me a chance to practice my Spanish with Alberto, the fellow Guatemalan worker that actually opens these computers up and fixes them.
The wires are mangled... yellow here, blue there, orange under this and that. I am amazed that this guy knows all this computer mechanics, but I've began to notice that many Guatemalans are mechanically inclined. Cars are a rare purchase here, so more people choose to learn how to address mechanical issues themselves. This is, after all, the reason there is a hardware store in every block of this town. Ethernet cables, audio splitters, tools, gizmos, power cords and surge protectors are sold in the stores and on the street like they're the next big thing.
While quite shy, Alberto is great company and is doing his best to make us feel welcome. After morning work on Tuesday, Alberto invited me to a pick-up futbol game on the basketball court. 3-on-3, and the goals consisted of wooden boards constructed into a small 4'x4' square. I wore running shoes, shorts, and a workout shirt while the Guatemalans wore jeans, polos, and either hiking or rain boots.
To make a long story short, I was embarrassed beyond belief. I did manage to score 3 goals, but that didn't come without a long breather break in the middle of the game, as well as very slow walks to either end of the court during the game, which lasted about an hour and a half. During my break, I did manage to snap some great photos of the guys...

Rubber boots?

Can't lose your footing on this pavement... you'll bust your knee open

Alberto about to score

After work on Tuesday, Alberto and Oscar (another worker and great friend, a bit more outgoing than Alberto) took us out to a chinese restaurant. The food was great; very filling. During dinner, Oscar and Alberto invited us to a soccer match on Sunday between Coban Imperial and a neighboring pueblo's team. We're very excited to be in the crazy atmosphere of a fubol match... rivalries get intense down here!

9/22 Thursday

Thursday was a rather eventful day. I was able to recommence my Spanish lessons and set a schedule with Mirna, my Spanish tutor (now I will be having lessons twice a week, Monday and Wednesday at 4:00p.m.). We also were fortunate enough to meet Carlos Estrada, another friend of Bernie's. Carlos had us over, along with many other Bernie friends (Raul, Chilio, Maria, Donal), all adults from the ages of around 45-60. We dined on a wonderful steak dinner with plenty of whiskey for all.

9/23 Friday

Today was a slower day. We went out for breakfast in the morning, and Bernie told us to take the afternoon to catch up on things like blogging. I'm anxious to get more work done around here, but it is just a slower process than the fast-paced work environment in the United States, and I've come to accept that. I always have a laundry list of things to do when I have spare time, so I don't ever anticipate being bored here. This evening, I experienced my first migraine ever in my life. It wasn't too bad after a nap and a couple Advil, but I now know from experience that migraines are not fun.

Tomorrow morning I wake early to go help teach English to students at the local university. This will be a great way for me to work on my Spanish a bit as well. Hope everyone back home is having a good fall. To all those attending Homecoming this weekend, cheers! Have a blast and go Johnnie Red. Thanks for reading... more to come!

P.S. I forgot to mention in a few posts back that when we went to mass at Livingston, the offertory song at the Mass was the same exact tune as Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." The words were different, but I was baffled by the fact that some cantor had taken Dylan's tune and put religious lyrics with it. Unique, huh? It's simple things like that that help define the contraction of the "travel bug."