graduacion

Yesterday another ceremony took place: graduation. A beautiful morning, despite it beginning with Catholic mass and the national anthem - speeches by Tono and Jesus, a not-so-smooth live band, a duet by Heidi and I that had me shaking, students speaking, then marching down the graduation aisle arm in arm with their parents to receive diplomas (strangely wedding-like...), followed by a meal to share... students organized everything, from the set-up to programming and food - muy impresionante.

y por la madrugada...

In Monday’s heat I took a tuc-tuc (motorcycle taxi) to Correlajbac, meeting Juan at the Institute to finish hammering wood on wood, box-building for banana peels. I brought a blanket, dinner, and candles – for the Mayan offering, to begin at 1am. We fit hinges to the door we’d put together last week, finished stapling chicken-wire to the edges, and brought the box out for use...

Before dark I toured the empty grounds:  healthy fattened worms, beans grown from the seeds we planted, corn stalks chopped, hibiscus blooming yellow flowers.

At dusk teachers and students trickled off Julio’s green school bus. We built a fire to roast tortillas and rice, hands and bodies crowded  – flames to keep warm from the coldest night we’ve had in Rabinal, before wandering away to a dome-lit sky, ample stars glowing. Heidi and I lay on wet grass making up stories - jaguars and nahuales, venus and egg-twins, shooting stars and satellites, dipped ladles and orion, andromeda and cassiopeia... 

Sweet short sleep to a snoring Baudillo then awake again so soon, 1am. Up on the hill, by fire, the ceremony had begun. From start to finish it was in Achi, so my understanding comes from the hand-gestures and occasional Spanish word thrown in… We began with offerings: white, yellow, red petals to circle the fire, liquid from glass and plastic bottles thrown over flames, an urn spitting smoke, herbs and candles eaten by the yellow-red. Then a prayer for the dead, followed by names, to be blessed (plenty of Christianity spinning here and there). More offerings, coloured candles by nahual. My nahual is Q’anil, which means seed, food, or harvests. Green, white, grey candles. Nahual by nahual we crowded around the fire, huddling heat, shaman-voiced explanations to decipher old meanings of new know-how …  

That same evening, a Breaking the Silence delegation arrived. Tortillas, beans, and dim-lighting at Q’achuu Aloom, meals cooked by Magdalena. An early hike up Ka’jup. Breathtaking beauty. I wish the path wasn’t so dangerous to wander on your own, it would be a perfect running trail… incredible ruins, too. Milpa lining crumbling rock.

hum drum

Hello blog I have been neglecting!

As you may have heard, the torrential rains have been especially torrential these last few weeks - whole roads were washed away and landslides lined the curving highways from north to south, Lago Atitlan to El Peten. Rabinal had so much water that the pipes broke, leaving none running. Ceaseless rain kept pipes submerged, so by sheer strength we were left without any water at all for 18 days. Folks filling barrels by the river, buying Salvavidas, or visiting the municipality to collect water... and day in day out, the ringing words of "cuando viene el agua?"

Since I last wrote, the school year has winded down - classes ended, exams were  written, some final ECAP talks given (cycles of poverty, gender equity, sustainability). On the last day we climbed up el Camino de la Memoria along a narrow path of mud and blue green mountainside and tree-planted 500 seedlings with palms, shovels and machetes.

Yesterday Juan and I nearly finished a second composter box. I didn't realize putting together a few pieces of wood could be so complicated - nothing drawn, so we resorted to hand gestures and crooked angles, sawing off the bits that didn't fit so well... at one point I got a piece of chicken wire stuck in my arm, and was sent to the nurse... so proud of hammering in the nails all by myself (si una mujer se puede!). The idea is that after getting through round one, our next structure will be straighter...

Next week the ceremonies begin: a Mayan tradition with nahuales ('spirit animals') at the dawn of Tuesday's 2am, graduation for grade 9s, a Canadian delegation that will roll in for a 5am mountain summit followed by food to share and museums to behold, along with a few remaining compost boxes to build with Juan... final touches on the year. Classes start again come January.

This means plenty more time will be spent within office walls: funds to catch with flashy screens and fluorescent light bulbs, word to string together, logistics to plan for whatever lays ahead...

milpa milpa milpa

Some photos from this morning's corn harvest...! 

seed for thought

"To love, to be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated, or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget"      


-Arundhati Roy