Zane was awake by 5:30 this morning, so we were out away from the tents and the house soon afterwards. Since that meant we watched the sun rise in a Guatemalan mountain valley, we weren't complaining.
In the cool of the morning, we had a timeless conversation with a Mayan lady who was out working already. She explained her cornfield, and we compared how differently we plant corn in our countries (they plant at the bottom of the hills for maximum moisture).
Our conversation soon turned to education, economics, and cornfield farmers who make six dollars a day. We talked about children who eat only tortillas, and hugged her as she cried. She thanked us for caring for her "paisanos" (countrymen), and we replied that they are our paisanos too. She told us how tourists see the volcanoes, but not the children without shoes in the mountain villages who are lucky if they learn to read.
She told us that her parents split up when she was little, because of her father's drinking, and how all the kids were divided up to different places, one by one. A teacher took her in, until his family fell apart when his wife ran off with the local priest. She was one year away from her dream of becoming a teacher, married a fine man (who can't read), and they have worked the fields ever since.
Her age is thirty-five, and her face is seventy.
Zane was awake by 5:30 this morning, so we were out away from the tents and the house soon afterwards. Since that meant we watched the sun rise in a Guatemalan mountain valley, we weren't complaining.
In the cool of the morning, we had a timeless conversation with a Mayan lady who was out working already. She explained her cornfield, and we compared how differently we plant corn in our countries (they plant at the bottom of the hills for maximum moisture).
Our conversation soon turned to education, economics, and cornfield farmers who make six dollars a day. We talked about children who eat only tortillas, and hugged her as she cried. She thanked us for caring for her "paisanos" (countrymen), and we replied that they are our paisanos too. She told us how tourists see the volcanoes, but not the children without shoes in the mountain villages who are lucky if they learn to read.
She told us that her parents split up when she was little, because of her father's drinking, and how all the kids were divided up to different places, one by one. A teacher took her in, until his family fell apart when his wife ran off with the local priest. She was one year away from her dream of becoming a teacher, married a fine man (who can't read), and they have worked the fields ever since.
Her age is thirty-five, and her face is seventy.
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2 comments:
thanks for the story Dave. felt like I was walking along with you guys for awhile. a powerful story.
What happens to a person when they've had 5 cups of Mike's coffee before lunch? I'd really like to know! :)
MelodyG
Hard to see the good at waking up at 5:30 in the morning, until you get a story like this. Thanks for the reminder to see the possibility of good in unexpected places and times!
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