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!