Onward to Antigua

Sunday, February 19, 2011

I am up early to pack and do some writing. Sarah was out partying last night so she is still asleep. Max. Marguarite, Joe, Marg, Joanie, Jackie and I had a lovely dinner (mine was Irish stew served by an Italian young man in Guatemala) on an outdoor terrace and then tea while we listened to some Latino music.

My plan is to spend the morning at the Mikaso. When they open at 7:30am I am there. Ans so are three tables full of travelling youth. They are there for coffee. It's WiFi that I am after, although I order the Americana breakfast and eat all my scrambled eggs and bacon. A couple hours later I have a bagel and peanut butter. Now that my innards are functioning properly I am hungry. I've resigned myself to eating wheat from time to time because it is nearly impossible not to when every meal has to be eaten in a restaurant and hygiene is a concern.

Eventually, Sarah and Marguarite trail in.Sarah looks under-the-weather, not from drinking but from thinking. I've felt bad for her, always hanging out with us older people, always being the youngest adult on the project. I know that, as for me, this trip  is as much  about inner reflection as an outer journey.

She is testy with us. I try to be understanding and give her some space.

Like Sarah, I am not really ready to leave San Pedro. I am enjoying the hippie vibe and the incredible weather. I love being close to the lake. One morning I even took an outdoor meditation class lying on a grass mat and looking up at a canopy of tree tops and an azure blue sky.

Our shuttle to Antigua leaves at 1pm. The tour operator has promised to send a Tuk Tuk to pick us up with all our luggage. But first I want to have one last go around San Pedro. I would love to come back here, but the list of places I want to visit is long, so I know it will likely never happen.

After a quick stop at the Villa del Sol to drop off the computer, I begin walking up a hill leading to all the hustle and bustle of the town. At the top I run into Margaurite who is doing the same thing. I am on a hunt for a cheap pair of flip flops. Mine broke in Xela and they are good to have when you are showering in unfamiliar territory. But really what I am thinking about is a painting I saw a few days earlier.

The painting is by a local artist and done in a style unique to the area. His work is bright and detailed and graphic and incredibly appealing to me. I really don't want to leave here without one, but I don't want to pay the gringo price either. Marg has the same idea.

We get our paintings. (Mine is not for me. It's a surprise!) But I am late. When I get back to the Villa Marg's Tuk Tuk has already left. Sarah has begrudgingly moved my bags down the stairs and we are in a holding pattern until our little Tuk Tuk scurries back to get us. We make it to the shuttle a few minutes late but we get a seat and that's all that matters.

The ride to Antigua is four pretty unpleasant hours. The company is good but the roads are not, and we are crammed into the van like sardines. We are an International menagerie. Up front are two Aussies. We are four Canadians, there are two British youth behind me, a Guatemalan guy next to Sarah, and stove builder's from Maine beside me and in front of Marg.

My stove builder tells me that they build a different stove but it does the same thing -- prevent smoke from killing people. He has been leaving is construction business and coming to Guatemala for a couple of weeks a year for the past nine years. After a while the conversation dies down and we all close our eyes. Mr. stove builder has a guitar on his lap. He strums it annoying. He doesn't actually know how to play, I quickly learn. He is only holding it for the guy in the front seat. Every time he nods off his left arm drops and the guitar slips, knocking me on the head. Yikes!

When we arrive in Antigua Marg talks the driver into dropping us at the Community House on Santa Inez after everyone else is off. Max decides to follow the two British kids to the Black Cat Hostel. He still has a few days to kill before his flight back to Merrickville on the 23rd. He had food poisoning in San Pedro and is only just feeling back to normal. I think is is really missing his young family.

The Community House is the brainchild of Pembroke natives Susan and Richard Schmaltz. They both greet us at the door when we arrive. Susan and Richard are the founders of Oneness, an early childhood education program that aims to give needy Guatemalan children from 2-5 years a love of learning. It is based on a holistic, child-centred philosophy designed by Susan called, "Planting Seeds". Richard is the new Executive Director of an impressive volunteer-driven program at the Guatemala City dunmp where Oneness runs a preschool. It is called Safe Passage. Sarah, Marg and I will volunteer here.

The Community House is unimpressive from the outside. But I have learned not to expect much. There is nothing luxurious about being a volunteer. The House is on a busy road. There is a Shell station next door and a Chinese food place across the street. When the door opens we are in a garage.

But things soon change. There is a wonderfully warm Gautemalan-style home here, complete with flowery inner courtyard, well equiped kitchen and beds with sheets!

I will be sleeping on a bed with sheets! (When I get home I am never ever going to sleep on the couch again!)

Recently Susan and Richard have accepted an apartment in Antigua as part of his new posting. Shirley and Guy, from Renfrew, are the house couple while we are here. They are hosting a "team" of people representing a church in Renfrew. Their group is here building a community centre that they have funded in the village of La Pineda. This is Shirley and Guy's project.

As the night goes on we learn more about this project and the religious connection. This challenges Sarah and I. And teaches us that while questioning is good, and voicing our opinions is acceptabl, it is important not to be judgemental.

The next week inspires some soul searching. It provokes lots of questioning for me around religion and volunteering.