Expanding My Vocabulary

Learning a new language is always tough.  I've got three years working on Kaqchikel and I'm just getting to where I don't have to have a translator.



While a lot of people have taught me, most all of my real Kaqchikel learning has come from this woman--Ixkamey.  She has taught me nearly everything I know and her patience is incredible.

Perhaps most importantly, she's let me become part of her family.  We joke that I'm the taller, whiter sister.

This year has been no exception.  Some of the gems I've learned this year:

wuxtuxil- my heal

ruqül nuq'ab- my wrist

päk- the scaly dry skin on one's heal

xiq'ol kan- I was deceived

xajan- a sin

e tioxi'- twins (people)

patax- twins (fruit)

peyon- contract worker

tzaqät- even

ninbutz' wuq'- I pleat my skirt

I don't know how many times I'll work päk into my interviews, but at least now I know if someone is talking about how scaly my skin is.

Hobbling to Interviews

I'm back for another vuelta of fieldwork.  The transition has been a lot easier this year than last.  I cam straight from the LASA conference.  While this was incredibly frustrating and tiring, it was also energizing.  I had great fun with my fellow Guatemalanists.  Also, our panel has been approached about doing an edited volume on gender and indigenous migration so fingers crossed.

The biggest obstacle thus far has been a fall in Antigua on a free weekend.  It is not broken, just horribly bruised. One week out the swelling has decreased, but it is still pretty bruised.  So I've been hobbling around and trying to rest as much as possible.  Tomorrow, I'm off for my first interviews in the aldeas- rural hamlets-post fall.  We'll see how it goes.

On the upside, this has given me something to talk about in those odd silences that come when you live with a family, but only kinda know each other.  There is no limit to how many times people will want to comment on the state of your bruised foot.

Also, I'm going to try to actually keep my professional blog this year.  We'll see how it goes.  In case you forgot it is: http://pajotol.wordpress.com/

Chwaq Chik!

Daily Life

TAC asked what my daily routine is like here.  And to be honest it is a hard question to answer because  for the most part there is not a daily routine.  I've been super busy conducting my own research, co-running an intensive Kaqchikel program, and navigating issues of female modesty and of course rain.  On the days that I haven't been taking language classes or running them this is more or less what my life is like:

I wake up early.  The buses start going by about 5 or 5:30.  Living on the main road in the city means that I wake up then too.  While this is early to an Americana, it is not so early for women and men here in Guatemala.  Most mornings I can hear the women I live with at their pila-already washing the dishes from dinner the night before.  Typically I read a little or just lie in bed because it is too cold to get up, just yet.  Then I tidy up a little and eat some breakfast.  Some days I wash the dishes of the family* whose kitchen I use (it is 2 doors down).

My pila- it has a great view

Depending on the day I then get to washing some clothes in my own pila.  I can't say that I am an expert.  I can navigate washing clothing, but sheets are beyond my abilities.  I wish that there was a video of me trying to wrangle a wet sheet in the pila.  Also the fact that I'm about a foot or so taller than the average Guatemalan woman makes the washing experience a little harder.  I'm just too tall for optimal pila usage.
For the most part I wash all my clothes in the pila, except for jeans.  They just take too long to dry and come out pretty stiff.  Jeans and other things that need shrinking I take to the lavanderia down the street.
After clothes washing I do a loop around town.  Stop in the central park for a bit.  And head to the market and/or the Dispensa (Guatemala's version of Kroger).  Then it is back to the house for cooking lunch.

I live on the second floor of this building-
store below and apartment for Peace Corps workers and Anthropologists above.

After gorging myself on toasted tortillas (which is really the only way to get them down).  I  do some transcribing as it rains.  I try to work on typing up notes, but I've been exhausted.  Plus there is the noise of kids and buses to contend with.  It is at these times that I get a coke of desperation from the store below my room.  I spend a little time chatting with Rolando, day-keeper and store owner.
For me, the afternoons are long.  We don't typically eat dinner until 7 or 8 (I often eat dinner with the family whose kitchen I use).

*The two houses aren't connected, but are both owned by one extended family.  I live with the mother, sons and daughter(s)-in-law.  The kitchen and wifi is at the house of the daughter's family.

2 weeks in country

I've been in Guatemala for 2 weeks.  So far I've only had one batch of illness which cleared up with cipro.  Ah, the miracle of modern antibiotics.  Work has been a little slow since it's the rainy season... I've been encerrada, because of both the rain and the lack of things for women to do in Tecpan.  But all is well.  Here's an update:

Week 1: Caught up with my ladies in the park in Antigua.  Readjusted to Guatemala.  Made the trip to Tecpan and got established in my apartment.  The apartment is good- no frills (by that I mean no kitchen), but I walk down the street and eat at the daughter/son-in-law's house to use their kitchen.  The apartment is on the road to the highway which means that buses drive by at all times of the day.  My Kaqchikel cram lessons also started and have been going along well.

Why I get up by 5 am every morning...

Week 2: More Kaqchikel and a near death experience with my electric shower head.  Despite the albañil coming to work on it, the shower never had much water pressure, but such is life.  So I tried to do my best and shampoo and condition as usual.  But the water was WAY too hot--a problem I've never experienced in Latin America.  Within seconds the water completely quit flowing- it was only steam!  I quickly wrapped up in a towel, got the water and electricity off, and got out of dodge.  As I looked back the PVC pipe connecting the shower head to the wall melted.  Then I got to go explain the situation to the house owner whose Spanish isn't perfect and my construction Kaqchikel needs more than a little work.
After a crazy and tiring week I went to Antigua for a little R&R.  It was a good trip.  I got to hang out with my friends in the park and eat some delicious food.  My schedule is busy enough that I won't be able to make it back to seem them or the city for at least a month.
But perhaps the best/funniest part of the trip was the bus ride back with AC (fellow anthro grad student).  We ended up on a bus to Xela not Tecpan.  These buses are notoriously fast, because the route is so long. So your "stop" comes up fast... but I was a little overly excited and got up a little too soon.  Only to have the ayudante take my bag (holding my new laptop) and start heaving it towards the front of the bus.  Luckily he didn't throw it from the bus, but in the madness we got off the bus too early- 1 mile too early.  So we had to walk, with all our bags 1 mile along the side of the Pan-American highway.

At the beginning of the walk

"Professional Blog"

I'm setting up a "professional" blog about researching and what not.  Here is the link...

http://pajotol.wordpress.com/

Xkis (It's done)

I head home tomorrow.  Matyöx Iximulew, it's been a good run...

Some of my favorite guate memories in photos...

Acting out new Kaqchikel words with Ixkamey.  This is batz (monkey).

Weaving with Magda
and laughing as Herlinda (background) calls me abuelita,
because I walk down the hills so slowly.

Chatting and making trensas with my ladies in the park.
Hearing them call "Meggie" went I walk up.

Meeting those from the aldeas who "sigue luchando."
Note the mudslides from Agatha in the background.

The volcano and the arch.

Big skies

The path at Victor's house.

Riding the camionetas with Antia... our bus face so we aren't over charged.

The amazing Ixim Nik'te' and Ixkamey

Yibison roma k'o nukisib'äl q'ij pa Iximulew.  Po, chuqa' nikikot nuk'u'x iwoma rïx.  

I'm sad because today is my last day in Guatemala. But my heart is also happy because of you all.

Xaxe 

Great Day for (Another) Parade

Another procession for Corpus Christi kicked off my last week in Antigua.

You can never have too many fireworks

Well actually my last week kicked off with a diagnosis of amoebic dysentery... but the parade is more picturesque.  I've been put on an antibiotic and will take a dewormer too, just for good measure.  Best guess I've had the my amoebas for about 6 weeks! And while I've enjoyed the weight loss it's time we part ways.  Good bye amoebas, see ya next time!

But you can have too many amoebas!

Busy Times in Guate

Dad came for a visit for a long weekend last week.  It was great fun but too short.  We spent Thursday and Friday in Antigua.  We really enjoyed a museum at Casa Santo Domingo.  It is now a hotel, but used to be a Franciscan monastery.

At the Chapel in Santo Domingo

Dad at Casa Santo Domingo

On Saturday morning we went to Monterrico beach.  It is a black sand beach with BIG waves, but not much else...

Monterrico: no monte, fewer ricos

Dad left on Sunday and then I headed to Chocola for some interviews.  Chocola is in the coffee piedmont.  I was there with my friends and their 8 month old baby... very cute.

Kimmie and Sophia

I had 3 good interviews... one opened with "I can't talk long, I'm leaving for the US"  it turned out he was leaving in 30 minutes.  Hopefully he'll make it and we'll be able to talk in the US.

Also, after 5 weeks tromping across the countryside in Chacos I need a pedicure!

Into the 3rd Week

Even though I've been in Guatemala for 3 weeks, I've only had my own unlimited internet for 2 days...so thought it was time for an update.
Week 1: San Juan Comalapa
In Comalapa I lived with one of my Kaqchikel teachers, Magda (Ixbatz), and her family.  By US standards it was a little rustic, but very typical of the average Guatemalan family. (And not that different from life deep in the country in the US)

I spent many hours joking with the family around the stove while we made tortillas.  Everyone in Magda's family has such a great laugh and sense of humor.  The biggest hit was my mispronunciation of "Ri Ajaw xya'on." After the meal everyone says, "Matyöx chi nuway"(Thank you for my tortillas).  The response is "Ri Ajaw xya'on" (God has given it).  Day one I said, "Ri Ajaw xa'oj" (God threw up).  Then we also came up with "Ri Ajaw xajon" (God danced).  But it was a source of amusement for at least 6 days.  We also got lots of laughs watching Sabado Gigante together.  Particularly when the audience members had to do a choregraphed dance that was pretty racy.
But my favorite thing, besides getting to know the family, was learning how to weave on a backstrap loom.  Magda and her sister Cristy are excellent weavers.

This loom is smaller and used to weave pa's (belts).

Janila nikikot nuk'u'x koma rije' (My heart is very happy because of them).

Week 2: Tecpan
Tecpan is a bigger city than Comalapa.  There are more people who don't speak Kaqchikel, but it is still a distinctly Mayan town.  All of the 5 students lived together with another one of our teachers Ixim Nik'te'.  Tecpan was colder and the rain seemed to last longer.  This requires advanced rain gear, or a fancy red poncho...

During this week we also went to Iximche, the original capital of the Kaqchikeles.  The ruins there are nice, but it is the surrounding scenery that makes it so wonderful.  There we also had a Mayan ceremony with an ajq'ij (Mayan day keeper) to commemorate a successful language class.  Everyone had jobs to do.  I was in charge of preparing the pom (incense).

The saturday after class was over Jillian and I went to Paquip, where we both will be doing research later on.  It was greatly affected by Agatha (there were at least 5 feet of mud in the streets) and is slowly rebuilding.  We spent a couple of hours just getting to know the town.

Week 3: Antigua
Now I'm in Antigua.  A colonial city that is so beautiful.  The plan is to bum around here for a few days/weeks and get to know some of the people and try to collect some stories and jokes about immigration.   I made friends with a Mayan woman in the parque central today.  She's from a nearby village and speaks really good English. We spoke some Kaqchikel.  She might be someone I can talk with.  But have to approach these things slowly... Ethnography is a LONG process.  
Off to eat lunch at a touristy restaurant, but they have a deal on focaccia sandwiches that look too good after 2 weeks of only beans, eggs, and boiled squash.