Saturday, February 28, 2009

On The Way UP To Tierra Linda

This is a serious hike up, and we know the pictures just don't do it justice or capture the steepness of the climb. And our friends from Tierra Linda do this all day, every day. It's humbling to consider how lazy our ordinary lives are in Abbotsford (drive to work, sit in office, drive to store, drive home). Compare that to walk down mountain, farm onions, walk to market to buy food, walk up mountain again.

We're learning that the people of Tierra Linda are virtually all farmers, who look after the fields below the village. Very few are involved in the local fabric industry, tourism, or other related occupations. Some are involved in construction, but many of them work in the onion fields or dig gravel in the riverbed.


Hiking up to Tierra Linda



This morning, after we said good-bye to Dave's parents and sent them on their way home, we had a fantastic adventure. Our friend Adele said she would show us the trail up the mountain to Tierra Linda. We hiked for 3 hours, and it was hard mountain hiking, but it was so fun. I felt like I was on a stair climber for a good hour. It was really tough! The views were so beautiful. It was absolutely amazing to see that the people have used as much of the mountainside as possible to farm. We saw terraces and fields of onions, beans, swiss chard, herbs, and I'm sure other things that I don't know about. We tried to capture it for you, but the camera just doesn't do it justice. It is really quite steep.

In this picture you can see down into the gravel river bed where we began our hike, all the onion fields alongside the river, and then the terraced and steep fields on the mountain side.

If we can find a way to secure the computers up in the village, we will potentially do this hike a couple times a week to teach in the village. The kids only take 30 minutes to climb up, and 15-20 to come down. We're planning to try the Grouse Grind when we come home to compare the difficulty!

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Some of our students



On the way up the mountain we ran into one of our students and her mom and brother. They were heading down into town or to the fields. Notice how they are carrying their things. It has become common for us to see this, because it is how all the Mayan people carry things. The little girl is carrying a small load in the sling of material that is around her head.

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Here is a makeshift shade shelter. These two kids are two of our students. They were pretty wide-eyed to see us hiking. We ran into a number of our students and their families today, since everyone is out working on Saturday. That was probably the most fun part of it all.

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This was the biggest banana leaf plant I've ever seen!

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Zane's activity table



Here is Zane in our living room. He has come to love coloring in recent days. He has taken over our coffee table for his coloring and trucks. He also now loves stickers, and has been learning how to stick them on a desired spot on a page.

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Friday, February 27, 2009

The Last Supper



Mom and Dad leave in the morning, so we celebrated with a pepperoni-and-pineapple pizza. We'll sure miss having them around.

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At Crossroads

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Coffee



A page from the Crossroads scrapbook.

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Coffee Bags



Danaya and Zane were helping Kasia stick the stickers on the coffee bags. You wouldn't believe how many bags of coffee pass through this place.

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Crossroads Cafe



Our friends Mike and Adele run Crossroads Cafe, which serves the best coffee in the world. Really. That's Mike behind the counter.

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Tuc Tuc Train



You know, when you need a tuc tuc, they are nowhere to be found. When you don't need one...

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Chicken Bus



These are called "chicken buses", supposedly because people put their live chickens on top of the bus. It's local transit, and they get you where you need to go...fast. Sometimes too fast.

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Futbol (soccer!)

Dad was thrilled to have a chance to watch some live Guatemalan soccer, even if it was only Dave playing with some locals on the carpet field.  It was a great game with our friends.  The skill level of the Guatemalans is amazing.

La Casa Del Mundo

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Swimming in Lake Atitlan



This is our first swim in the lake. It's polluted in other parts of the lake, so we hope it was clean here. We don't have any unusual tumours yet.

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Refreshing!

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Walking on Water



Dave was walking so well on the surface for the first four steps, and then lost faith.

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Marimba



This is an antique marimba, which they hung on the wall as fragile historical art. So we took the sticks out and let Zane bang on it. We don't play it very well.

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Hammocks!

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Windows

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Huevos! (eggs)



A great breakfast of omelettes.

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Volcano



A spectacular clear morning.

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Amaryllis



These are "indoor tropical" flowers in Canada, and here they grow in the flowerbeds.

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Casa Del Mundo



This is at a hotel owned by our landlady. You can go and have breakfast at the restaurant, swim off their docks, and enjoy the flowers. It's at www.lacasadelmundo.com.

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Morning on the Lake



It was a perfect smooth morning on the lake.

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A Lancha (Boat)



This morning, we took a lancha (boat) out on Lake Atitlan. We took one of the boats for the local people, not the tourists. They're actually at two separate docks.

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Zane and Jada



This is Jada, the daughter of Massimo, our friend who makes silver jewelry here. He supports nutrition programs in nine villages with his efforts.

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Yummy lunch!



We made fresh guacamole for lunch today with Mike and Adele and their girls. Fresh garlic, fresh cilantro, and fresh limes added yummy flavor. The watermelon here is also fantastic. Every one I've bought so far has been bursting open when I cut it. We are continuing our quest to figure out how to buy a perfectly ripe avocado. It's still a bit of a mystery, but we win more than we lose.

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Language education



We have figured out that we have an extra opportunity to pour into these kids' lives. We assumed that the teachers would be providing homework for those students who are waiting their turn on the computers, but many days there is no homework, and they just waste time. Because Marvin and Ursula are here and it gives us a few extra hands, we were able to start teaching some English today.

It all started when the guy with the key to our teaching house was 30 minutes late to open up, and everyone was waiting. Dave and Ursula ingeniously made up some flashcards with Spanish and English. The kids were eating it up! They were saying "good morning" for the next three hours!

This is one girl I was working with, and she was teaching me some of her Mayan language (Kakchiquel) in return.

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Ursula worked on the Canada puzzle again today, and they finished it in plenty of time. We're learning as we go, and did a much better job today of explaining what the picture was, and where we lived.

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These boys were my prize pupils today. They couldn't get enough English. They wanted to keep practicing and keep learning more. We practiced numbers 1 - 20, and basic phrases such as: hello, good-bye, my name is, please, thank you, you're welcome, good morning, boy, girl, man, woman, and a few more. The boy on the right looking down is Victor, and his pronunciation was perfect. I will forever have, "my name is Victor" ringing in my ears. It was such a fantastic morning!

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I found these great flashcards at a local variety store. They have both the Spanish and English spelling of the numbers on the back.

If anyone finds any good supplies, or has other great ideas for educational activities we can do with the students, please share them. There is so much potential, but the language barrier is quite large. Many of them speak very basic Spanish. Any ideas that transcend language, or provide basic language education would be great.

We have started to collect some good children's books in Spanish, and will start to read to them. Reading is not really a common thing to be passionate about or do here. We are hoping to show them what it is like to be passionate about reading. One of our long term goals is to put in a library in this little village.

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Ursula was so patient with these kids -- especially since she only knows a few Spanish words! It was so great to have her help with the puzzle activity. And it was so great to have Marvin's help with Zane so that Danaya could participate a little more than usual.

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Jose Chan!



This little boy's name is Jose, but the first day Dave saw him, Dave immediately thought he looked like Jackie Chan. Today Jose ended up using Danaya's computer, and it was connected to the internet. Dave searched for Jackie Chan's picture, and it was the joke of the day! It was really funny, and I think it made Jose's day. We wrote on the top of his picture, "my brother is Jackie Chan."

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Trying to learn names



We are trying our best to learn these kids' names. Danaya took pictures of everyone today in the hopes of memorizing them. It's so fun to get to know them, and watch the shyness disappear.

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Waiting for the key



We had a Guatemalan start to the day. The guy who had the key to open our teaching house was 30 minutes late. Dave and Ursula saved the day by getting the kids to sit down along the wall, and taught some English. It's so different than schools in Canada. Teachers here are definitely not as structured, as accountable, or as concerned about making the most of every minute.

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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Canada!



Great puzzle. You're welcome to join us here tomorrow morning, when we'll do it again with the fourth-graders.

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Fini! Completo!



This is Delmi, a junior-high student who works with Mayan Families. She worked hard on the puzzle this morning too.

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Una Rompecabeza (Puzzle)



A puzzle is a "rompecabeza", which translates literally as "head-breaker". The boy on the right in the beige shirt is Gamaliel, and he is Estulio's son. He's a pleasure to have in class, as you would expect.

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Fifth-Graders



I don't know if you've worked with fifth-graders in Canada, but the attention span is far greater here. You should have seen them run to get in the door this morning, racing to be first on the computers.

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Hola? What? Hello?



Zane found an old phone in the corner of the classroom today.

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The Canada Puzzle



Mom brought one of our favourite puzzles from home - a map of Canada.


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Out of Gas



Yes, the engine and gas tank are in the back of the tuc-tuc, in case you've wondered.

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Out of Gas



Our friend Abel ran out of gas on his way to pick us up this morning, so he arrived in a friend's tuc-tuc. His friend then siphoned gas into a water bottle to get Abel's tuc-tuc going again.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Sewing Class at the Community Centre



We stopped by the sewing class at the community centre in Tierra Linda as well, since it's just down the street from the school. These ladies meet 2-3 times per week to learn to use the machines, and are taught by Alberto, who works for Mayan Families.

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Sewing



The students learn to use the machines, and when they graduate from class, they are given the machine as a graduation gift. The combination of a new skill and equipment gives them a trade that they can use to support a family.

Conexions has helped provide sewing machines over the years, and they are greatly appreciated here.

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