M*A*S*H

This winter my husband and I watched all 11 seasons of this popular TV series that began in 1973.  Though watching it was hit and miss throughout its run, it was one of my favorite TV shows.  It was a treat to see every episode during the cold, dreary months of this winter/spring.  I found myself laughing out loud one minute, only to be teary-eyed the next.  When the cast all packed up and went home on the grand finale, I was left with a huge hole in my heart.  I will miss them.  Did you realize that the final 2 hour episode, aired in 1984, had the largest audience ever tuned into a program, and held that record until one of the Superbowl games in the early 2000's?  Amazing!

~Photo courtesy of Dercum Over

This Guatemalan cowboy reminds me of Colonel Potter and his beloved horse, Sophie from the series.  What a cool older man, with his lovely peacock feather-bedecked horse!

Kites, Colors and Crispy Critters

Bethany blogged about the Sumpango Kite Festival, a day when folks commemorate their loved ones that have passed on.  To read more about it and see more awesome photos that she took click (here).  Here are a few more from Derc's photos:

Love all the festive colors!



Splaying and roasting an entire pig in the public squares and markets was a spectacle to witness!  I was never able to photograph one while there due to safety concerns, but here is one photo, and Bethany has one on her blog of the entire pig.  True delicacy :o}

Overcomers

The rainy season of 2010 in Guatemala came in with a ferocious roar on June 1 with Tropical Storm/Hurricane Agatha, and proceeded to be the wettest, stormiest season on record for the country.  It was extremely wet and muddy during my visit.  The hardships all this caused for the weary people cannot be adequately expressed.  I do not know which storm these photos represent, but it gives you an idea what the aftermath looks like, and the struggles they have to overcome.

~Photos courtesy of Dercum Over

Don't pray for rain if you are going to complain about the mud.

~Proverb

Chimaltenango Circus

Making my way to Antigua on my final bus ride out of Bethany's PC site, we passed several vintage circus truck/trailers on their way to Chimaltenango.  One was filled with monkeys hanging from the cage bars that engulfed the trailer, and I swear I saw one daring little guy swinging on the outside of those bars as they bumped and jostled their way along the muddy, uneven roads in the traffic.  Another trailer held many majestic tigers.  Bethany and Derc were able to attend one of the apparently quite fascinating shows a few days later!

~Photo courtesy of  Dercum Over

Worth a Thousand Words

As you recall, I was unable to take good  photos when I visited my daughter in Guatemala last Fall, as  I was not known and trusted. Therefore it was not wise for me to have my camera out of my pocket very often, and when I did the picture needed to be snapped quickly,so no time for much if any thought regarding the composition of the shot.   Bethany had a few different fellow PC volunteers come and go from the same aldea where she lived, and one of them has a good eye and camera for great photography shots.  Being known and more trusted, he has had some opportunities for some spectacular photographs, and was kind enough to pass them on to Bethany before she left.  Some speak such volumes, so I would like, with his permission via Bethany, to post a few here and there.  So courtesy of Dercum Over here are the first on that list.  I took the liberty to add borders to them, but otherwise the credit goes to him!

A man's age is something impressive, it sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, griefs and despairs overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Happy Birthday Girl!

I was able to celebrate Bethany's 24th birthday with her in Guatemala, the first time since she was 17 years old!

Two other Peace Corps Volunteers live in her town, Carolyn and Derc.  Carolyn made a fabulous lasagna dinner for us all, and we ate, drank and played several games that evening!

She had 2 cakes, one at our dinner, and then when we returned to her room, Fátima's family had cake and hot cocoa for us!  Such a nice birthday :o}

This finally ends my blogging on Guatemala, and gives me a record of my trip. Thanks to anyone who might have suffered through all of this with me :o}

  I had a wonderful visit with Bethany.  Thanks so much for your hospitality!

Country Folk

Though I could take frontal shots of animals, remember that the only way I could snap photos of adults was from behind........

Look at those big, sad eyes on the injured calf!  What a sweetie :o} 

Pigs have been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl. 

The tall legs on these chickens were something else! 

The woman in the middle shot is weaving ~ something many women do for selling.

 My favorite people shot that I was able to get!

A closer look 

In case you wish to see this little cutie pie even better :o}

Countryside Homes

Homes came in all sizes, shapes and colors.  They were built from anything, from cement blocks with or without stucco, to lean-to's made from corragated metal panels.

Here is the farm I would like to live on, should I ever have the occasion to live in Guatemala! 

Countryside

The final 2 days that I was in Guatemala, the sun came out to dry things up a bit!  At times the sky was a beautiful, rich blue, but mostly it was very hazy and sometimes outright cloudy.  Bethany took me trudging up and down the mountains to visit some schools, and I was in awe of all of the beauty that surrounded us!  I will do a few blogs showing just a bit of the countryside around her town.

The farmland seems to be rich and fertile, especially with all of the rain they had this year!

This isn't a great picture, but I wanted to show 2 more volcanoes that can be seen from her area.  This is on a stretch of road to the northeast of her town.

Peas, beans, cauliflower and corn abound

The banana trees are incredibly huge!  Remember the banana bloom I posted on the Tikal Motel blog?  Look at the humongous size of the bloom in the bottom right photo!

The photo on the bottom right is of a sink hole that has been forming this last year while Bethany is there.  She is watching the progress of it, and already one cannot see the bottom of it!

Trumpet flowers  in the wild (right picture)! 

I love this shot!  I loved the sun being out!  This is not too far from Bethany's home.

Bethany's Home

The house Bethany lives in is an old convent, still owned by the nuns who rent out not only the main house, but the several separate rooms off of the patio.  A family with 2 daughters lives in the main house, the dental student doing her practicum lives in the last room,  next to the chapel, and Bethany lives in one of the other rooms.  A few days before I arrived, the niece (Brenda) of the head nun moved into the last remaining room.  A small kitchen is between Bethany and Brenda's rooms.

Top left:  Looking at the home and front gate
Top right:  Looking out from Bethany's room towards the front gate.  Main house to the right.
Bottom left: Looking from the main house down the patio hall.  Bethany's room is the open door, first on the left.  Wet laundry hanging 24/7 in the rainy season..... never really dries.
Bottom right: Looking from the dentist's room back toward the main house.  Bethany's room door hidden behind the white towel

Left:  Looking at the chapel from Bethany's doorway. Courtyard (dirt) is full of plants
Right: Pila sits across the courtyard from Bethany's room

One rainy, cold afternoon we played Quiddler in the old chapel, which is now an office for the father of the family that lives in the house.

Flowers and fungi in the courtyard 

This is the small kitchen Bethany shares now with Brenda.  Brenda brought the nice 'big' refrigerator.  Apparently Bethany's was just a tiny, bitty one. 

Bethany's tiny room where her bed, books and anything else she owns call their home.  As you can see, the ceiling leaks, the water running down the back wall onto the floor, peeling away paint and leaving mildew.  Karen and I are trying to get warm in her bed (no heat), watching a movie on her computer. The ceiling is also home to rats, mice, ugly spiders and other bugs.  The roof boasts of chickens and dogs running across it.  I have no doubt, though, that in any other season except the rainy one, her room is a lovely place :o}

Thanks for sharing your home with us!  It was very cozy!

Birthday Girl

Shortly after I arrived in Guatemala, Bethany's 'little sister', Fátima, celebrated her 7th birthday!

Top:  In her party dress

Middle:  In a hammock outside Bethany's room

Bottom:  With her dog, Rocky 

Many of the party guests, which numbered around 200, were children from the orphanage

 The piñata is the main event of the party.  There is one for the girls, and another one for the boys.

Pigtail Friends!  :o}

IXIMCHE

The first capital of Guatemala was founded in 1470 on the site of a Kakchikel-Maya city, now called Iximche. It was abandoned in 1524 when the capital was moved to a new area.  In 1980 during the Guatemalan Civil War, a meeting took place at the ruins between guerrillas and Maya leaders that resulted in the guerrillas stating that they would defend indigenous rights. A ritual was carried out at the site in 1989 in order to reestablish the ruins as a sacred place for Maya ceremonies.

IXIMCHE is just a short ride from where Bethany lives.

The ruins are mostly buried underneath vegetation, but there have been archeologists working on the excavation of the different buildings.

As you can tell, the site is in various stages of rediscovery!  So much history happened here, too!