Well, this past weekend we returned once again to the beautiful mountains and peoples which we have grown to love. And this time, we carried along a fellow Spanish student by the name Dominique. On Friday morning we began talking to him about our project in Benitzul Ulpan and our return there for more research, and during our morning break between classes, he asked if he could come with us. We checked with Christian and said, "Sure! We would love for you to see another side of Guatemala." (We also warned him of possible rain and of tired feet and legs following an eternally long hike.) So after classes, he threw together a few things in his backpack and joined us on our third journey.
We arrived at our hotel fairly late, ate some dinner, and headed to bed b/c we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Early Saturday morning, as arranged by Christian, we met with another landowner of an adjoining finca to the one in which Benitzul Ulpan is located. Apparently two of the pueblos that we had looked at during our last trip were located on his land, he had heard of our work, and he wanted to offer his support and help with our projects. This was great news, and although we have no concrete plans made as of now, we see his partnership as a great advantage for the future!
We proceded after breakfast on to the mountains, and we were very happy to find that the gate at the river was not locked, which meant that we had less ground to cover by foot! We were forced, however, to leave our car a little further away than we had hoped because the roads- if you can call them roads- were too muddy. First, we hiked up a pretty good mountain to look for a water source in one pueblo Secaj (that we had not yet visited) that could be gravity fed to the pueblo Sejabal that we visited last time (the one that has no good water source and mainly uses rainwater catchment systems). We found one great water source, but it was a bit below the school of Secaj (which we decided could also use a clean water system), and then our guide led us to two more sources higher up. God provided three very useful springs in this one village that we are thinking can possibly be used to deliver clean water to three pueblos. Praise be to Him who always provides!
We descended the mountain much more quickly than we had climbed it, and we headed to a meeting of the leaders of two pueblos- Sejabal and Ulpan 2. Ulpan 2 is situated between Secaj and Sejabal; therefore we would have to route the water for Sejabal through Ulpan 2. Apparently at first, the leaders of Ulpan 2 were not too fond of this idea, especially if nothing was going to be done for them as well. So, we met with the leaders all together, and Christian led the meeting. Christian shared our dreams of helping all the villages in the area (not just one or a few) by establishing clean water systems, secondary schools, a literacy class for women, etc. Over and over again Christian impressed upon them the importance of "Kekchi helping Kekchi." He told them that we would never be able to help with their community development if they could not learn to help one another. Throughout the meeting, it seemed as if the men began to understand this concept, and not only did Ulpan 2 seem to agree that the water system for Sejabal could travel through their village, but the men of Sejabal seemed to agree with the idea of helping Ulpan 2 meet some of its own needs (such as filling the road with gravel to make it easier for driving), and we also agreed that although Ulpan 2 has a very nice creek running through it, we should probably seek to provide them with CLEAN water as well. Hey, we may not have degrees in Conflict Resolution, but somehow God worked through our feeble efforts to strengthen the bonds between these Mayan peoples. We left with spirits uplifted. (Mine and Kris's spirits were uplifted also because we were able to understand almost all of the meeting IN SPANISH... woohoo!)
We returned to Sejabal for one last meal of Kacik, this time with beef in it... we will never cease to be surprised at the sacrifices these communities make to treat us hospitably. We also had a "town meeting" to explain to the people our plans to help ALL the villages and to tell them that we could not promise specific dates for the water project to be completed. They seemed to be a bit let-down but understanding nonetheless (who can blame them for being eager to receive clean water for the first time in their lives?!).
We made one last stop at the furthest village- Sesache 2- to talk with them a bit more about which water sources would be best to funnel to them and to get a better contact number. Then we began to head out, ready to return to the hotel and rest, and we ran into one of the leaders of Sejabal who said he thought the gate was locked to get out of the finca (the land owner requires that it be locked so that his cows don't get out or get stolen). We tried our luck and went on to the gate, only to have to return once again to the furthest village to find the ONE man with the key (why the man with the key lives in the furthest village, we have no idea!). It took a bit of a fight to convince the man that we would lock the gate back and return his keys immediately, but we finally got them! And two very humble gentlemen from Sejabal accompanied us to the gate so that they could take the keys back (mind you, this meant walking 5 kilometers or more in the dark). After our last trip over the bumpy mountain roads, we returned to the hotel for the night.
We left from Coban fairly early on and had some good talks with Dominique about Catholic traditions and their heirarchy of leadership... I forgot to mention that he is a seminarian from Indiana studying to be a Catholic priest. We had some really nice discussions about the unification of all believers, as well. I believe God was telling us that maybe we should research more and learn to respect other churches and their beliefs and traditions. We arrived in Antigua around noon and ate at one of our favorite restuarants- Mono Loco, i.e. "Crazy Monkey," then took a nice stroll around the city because it was the first completely clear day (with no afternoon rains) in several weeks.
As of today, we only have one week left of classes... which is really hard for us to believe! It seems as if our time has flown, but it also feels like we've been studying Spanish and living here forever. We can tell that our Spanish is getting better and feeling more natural day by day... our main challenge will come as we try to keep it up when we return home!
We arrived at our hotel fairly late, ate some dinner, and headed to bed b/c we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Early Saturday morning, as arranged by Christian, we met with another landowner of an adjoining finca to the one in which Benitzul Ulpan is located. Apparently two of the pueblos that we had looked at during our last trip were located on his land, he had heard of our work, and he wanted to offer his support and help with our projects. This was great news, and although we have no concrete plans made as of now, we see his partnership as a great advantage for the future!
We proceded after breakfast on to the mountains, and we were very happy to find that the gate at the river was not locked, which meant that we had less ground to cover by foot! We were forced, however, to leave our car a little further away than we had hoped because the roads- if you can call them roads- were too muddy. First, we hiked up a pretty good mountain to look for a water source in one pueblo Secaj (that we had not yet visited) that could be gravity fed to the pueblo Sejabal that we visited last time (the one that has no good water source and mainly uses rainwater catchment systems). We found one great water source, but it was a bit below the school of Secaj (which we decided could also use a clean water system), and then our guide led us to two more sources higher up. God provided three very useful springs in this one village that we are thinking can possibly be used to deliver clean water to three pueblos. Praise be to Him who always provides!
We descended the mountain much more quickly than we had climbed it, and we headed to a meeting of the leaders of two pueblos- Sejabal and Ulpan 2. Ulpan 2 is situated between Secaj and Sejabal; therefore we would have to route the water for Sejabal through Ulpan 2. Apparently at first, the leaders of Ulpan 2 were not too fond of this idea, especially if nothing was going to be done for them as well. So, we met with the leaders all together, and Christian led the meeting. Christian shared our dreams of helping all the villages in the area (not just one or a few) by establishing clean water systems, secondary schools, a literacy class for women, etc. Over and over again Christian impressed upon them the importance of "Kekchi helping Kekchi." He told them that we would never be able to help with their community development if they could not learn to help one another. Throughout the meeting, it seemed as if the men began to understand this concept, and not only did Ulpan 2 seem to agree that the water system for Sejabal could travel through their village, but the men of Sejabal seemed to agree with the idea of helping Ulpan 2 meet some of its own needs (such as filling the road with gravel to make it easier for driving), and we also agreed that although Ulpan 2 has a very nice creek running through it, we should probably seek to provide them with CLEAN water as well. Hey, we may not have degrees in Conflict Resolution, but somehow God worked through our feeble efforts to strengthen the bonds between these Mayan peoples. We left with spirits uplifted. (Mine and Kris's spirits were uplifted also because we were able to understand almost all of the meeting IN SPANISH... woohoo!)
We returned to Sejabal for one last meal of Kacik, this time with beef in it... we will never cease to be surprised at the sacrifices these communities make to treat us hospitably. We also had a "town meeting" to explain to the people our plans to help ALL the villages and to tell them that we could not promise specific dates for the water project to be completed. They seemed to be a bit let-down but understanding nonetheless (who can blame them for being eager to receive clean water for the first time in their lives?!).
We made one last stop at the furthest village- Sesache 2- to talk with them a bit more about which water sources would be best to funnel to them and to get a better contact number. Then we began to head out, ready to return to the hotel and rest, and we ran into one of the leaders of Sejabal who said he thought the gate was locked to get out of the finca (the land owner requires that it be locked so that his cows don't get out or get stolen). We tried our luck and went on to the gate, only to have to return once again to the furthest village to find the ONE man with the key (why the man with the key lives in the furthest village, we have no idea!). It took a bit of a fight to convince the man that we would lock the gate back and return his keys immediately, but we finally got them! And two very humble gentlemen from Sejabal accompanied us to the gate so that they could take the keys back (mind you, this meant walking 5 kilometers or more in the dark). After our last trip over the bumpy mountain roads, we returned to the hotel for the night.
We left from Coban fairly early on and had some good talks with Dominique about Catholic traditions and their heirarchy of leadership... I forgot to mention that he is a seminarian from Indiana studying to be a Catholic priest. We had some really nice discussions about the unification of all believers, as well. I believe God was telling us that maybe we should research more and learn to respect other churches and their beliefs and traditions. We arrived in Antigua around noon and ate at one of our favorite restuarants- Mono Loco, i.e. "Crazy Monkey," then took a nice stroll around the city because it was the first completely clear day (with no afternoon rains) in several weeks.
As of today, we only have one week left of classes... which is really hard for us to believe! It seems as if our time has flown, but it also feels like we've been studying Spanish and living here forever. We can tell that our Spanish is getting better and feeling more natural day by day... our main challenge will come as we try to keep it up when we return home!
A beauitful young boy of the Secaj community.
Famous Arch and Volcan Agua on an awesome Sunday afternoon.
Enjoying a great Sunday!
