Si, pues!

pictures from Antigua, Guatemala:

in the central parque


from our hotel, "Lazos Fuertes" (from the rooftop)



So, it's been a long few days... good, but long. We've done and seen so much, and I can't possible tell it all here now.. I'll elaborate later. Last night and tonight we're in Panajachel, located on Lake Atitlan.. tomorrow we take a boat across the lake to see three towns.. today we went to Chichicastenango (Chi Chi for short),the famous Mayan market place, church, etc.. But, for the sake of time and quetzales (the Guatemalan currency-we're paying for this internet by the 15-minute interval), here are the highlights..

On Thursday, June 1st, we took a shuttle from Antigua which was heading for Panajachel (Pana), but dropped us off at the entrance to Tecpan, on the Pan-American highway... Julio picked us up and drove us, in his rickety Toyota, to the Ordonez home in Santa Apolonia. Seeing the entire Ordonez family was great for Jim and me... Julio, Isa, Julissa (17), Annelisse (15), and the abuelos, Julio's parents... Other highlights from Thursday: laughing with kids at the School where Isa works, seeing progress at the Belen Church where we helped out last year... church service, incredible Santa Apolonia coffee with an amount of sugar that can pay for dentist vacations, church service that night without too many expectations of us (whew!), singing hymns in Spanish, seeing some church people we met last summer, and eating dinner at 10 p.m.!

The next morning, (Friday, June 2nd) we woke up before 6 to take a "Julio", which is a walk with Julio. Someone on last year's mission trip coined this term. This one was more than 2 hours, and a reverse of last year's first walk... beautiful, informative, fun... we met people along the way, talked to them, asked questions, asked Julio questions about his experience during the recent years of violence in Guatemala. As with last year's time in Santa Apolonia, this was an experience that many tourists never get to have, so we are grateful for it, and for our education in the process. Though the scenery was initially misty and foggy, the mountains and fields and people heading to work and school in traditional and modern day clothes are images I'll never forget.

Friday morning we visited Pasquala, the pottery lady.. Pasquala makes pottery with no wheel. She brings clay from the neighboring mountain, pounds and grinds it, makes her own paints, adds water... and literally turns around while bending over, molding the clay into a pot or some other such thing that she eventually sells.



We spent a good time there, taking photos, talking and laughing. Pasquala's most commonly used phrase is, "Si, pues!" (sorry, I can't figure out this keyboard to make the appropriate Spanish markings...) Si, pues.. basically means, "Uh-huh", or "a-ha"... something like that. An agreement, a sigh, a Pasquala comment... it's used by others, too, but often by Pasquala, and I loved hearing her say it with her inflexions and animation. Pasquala's 80-something year old aunt-Pancha- showed up carrying a load of wood on her head for Pasquala. Pancha also makes pottery still.. hearing the two relatives speaking the Mayan language of Kaqchikel was a treat. Julio speaks and understands a bit of Kaqchikel, so would translate sometimes, but I didn't care.. I just liked listening.

Years ago, Pasquala walked to Tecpan to sell her pottery ... (it took about an hour to walk there) but no longer, since she ran into her husband. They are separated, though not divorced. Apparently when they were together her life was not good, and he continued to take advantage of her financially even when they separated. She is afraid of running into him again, and so no longer sells in Tecpan, only out of her house. But after telling us the story of her husband, she said, matter-of-factly, (in Spanish) "But there's a God."




Si, pues! Yes, Pasquala, there is a God. It's been an incredible journey in Guatemala so far, seeing people like Pasquala who make ends meet barely by working out of her home, and the Ordonez family (Julio and Isa) who are trying to help their girls get good educations, and people along the side of the road who live in literal tin shacks or adobe shacks... God is for them, God is for us... Si, pues!