Field Work - La Maquina

Previously, I was able to give a quick overview of two of the communities (Willywood and Conrado) that I work in. Since my time here is coming to an end, I wanted to introduce you readers to the other area I've spent a ton of time in over the past 6 months - La Maquina.

La Maquina is more of an area than a community, made up of tiny little 'city' centers, but I generally just use the name as an umbrella name for the whole region. Unlike Willywood and Conrado, the farmers of La Maquina are more spread out, less centered around a community and more grouped into family 'complexes' in a way. The other less obvious and yet important (at least to us Xelans) difference is the laid-back lifestyle of La Maquina. This could be influenced by the family we stay with but for me, an afternoon spent in a hammock out of the sun is the only way to spend a 98 degree day.

The family we stay with has been amazing. The head of the family, Isaias, is a 30 something year old who runs the fields with the help of his brothers and puts food on the table, that is cooked by his sisters. How many siblings he has, I will never know, but his kind, toothless laugh has always made me feel welcome, even if he was making fun of my terrible Spanish.

Isiais is constantly trying new farming methods, attempting to make his land both more profitable and more sustainable. Like most farmers in La Maquina, he is completely content with living a simple lifestyle, he just wants his land to be usable for his children and nephews. By working with Semilla Nueva, he believes this is possible.

For me, I have loved every family that I work with. However, Isaias and his siblings have made my time down here special and I wish I had had a chance to thank them before I left. However, I will always have a special place in my heart for La Maquina and its lazy afternoon hammocks.

A Positive Look At Guate

As my time winds down here in Guatemala, I'm starting to feel the sting of both wanting to leave and wanting to stay. A few weeks ago, I took a look at what makes Guatemala, well, Guatemala. Most of what I had to say wasn't necessarily positive. So, I only think it's fair that I take a look at things about Guatemala that I will miss.

• Corn tortillas: Of everything, this might be my most missed. Corn tortillas here are so so different than those in the States. In the States, they are stale and tasteless. Here, they are fresh, fluffy, and perfect for every type of meal (have you ever had tortillas with spaghetti? I have...). If I could, I'd take home a Guatemalan women to make me tortillas the rest of my life. Hmmm....



• Cheap prices: Not everything is cheap but I will miss getting fruits and veggies for insanely low prices. My mindset now has gotten to "What? 50 cents for 2 red peppers? That's way too high," or "4 avocados for $1? That's okay I suppose." Returning to Portland is going to be a bit of a price shock.



• Bus schedules: When I lived in Seattle, I had to plan around bus schedules. They only left Green Lake for Downtown once or twice an hour. Here, I can go up to the main bus terminal, looking to go virtually anywhere in the country and leave within 20 minutes (and usually much sooner than 20 minutes). This has made traveling across Guatemala much easier and more efficient.



• My neighbor, the rooster: I actually will not miss him at all. I loathe that creature. That little black and golden demon has ruined my sleep schedule so much in the last 4 months. I often have nights where I've pondered how delicious he would taste fried.



• Guatemalan dance clubs: While I did get burned out of these pretty early because of my European friends I made, I really will miss discotecas. They are entertaining, cheap to get in, love gringos, and usually a fun way to spend a Saturday night. Yes, the music does get old eventually, but there is nothing better than listen to Black Eyed Peas every other song (sarcasm). In all seriousness, they are quite enjoyable and less sleazy than the ones I've seen in the States.



• Tortix: I will find a way to take a bag of Tortix home. I can't imagine life without Tortix. Tortrix is a Frito-esque chip that has much more flavor. The best: bean flavor. They don't taste exactly like beans, which is a good thing. The flavor is unlike any snack I've ever had. My carry on might just be a plastic bag full of Tortix. We'll see.



• The farmers: I will address this more when it gets closer to going home but I feel so attached to some of the farmers and their families, it's going to be really hard leaving them. Before I start getting all weepy, I'll move on and blog about this at a future date.



• My friends: Again, I will have another 'ending' post where I'll get all emotional and what not about people I've met, but for now and list-sake, I just thought I'd say, yes, I will miss all the great friends I've made down here.

Like I said above, I will be writing about my time here in a more serious manner in the coming weeks. For now, I just thought I'd give a happier rebuttle to the other Guate list I mean a little bit ago.

"Sun City Picture House": What I Saw In Haiti

I've linked to shorter clips from this film before but this is the long version that has much more to it. It's amazing to watch this clip and say 'yeah, I saw this, I was there,' etc. There are quite a few things and people that I recognize but the main part that I wanted to point out is the morgue. For those of you who have read my blog since my trip to Haiti, you'll know that I spent a day working in a morgue that really was completely mentally and emotionally draining. It was something that I was glad I did but I don't think I could do it again. I didn't take pictures so I had to describe with my words exactly what that day was like.

When I first started watching this trailer and it got to the 30 second mark with Raphael pulling on the plastic gloves, I know exactly what was coming next. He was there that day I went out to the hospital, just as he is every week, smoking a cigar, drinking rum, and carrying the dead to a proper resting place. As weird as it was to see these scenes, I'm glad that this weekly ritual made it into the film.

I cannot wait to see this documentary. Just watching this 2 minute trailer today really took my mind back to what I saw in Haiti and, yeah, I kind of miss it. I only hope to return one day.

Tengo Soló Uno Mes Más!

Hay solamente 30 días hasta que regrese! Estoy muy emocionada!!!

* * * *

Basically, to translate some of that - I'm exactly a month from being home and I couldn't be more excited! I can't wait to be back in my own country, speaking my own language, and see friends and family.

I really do have a lot more to port about my time thus far and what remains but I'll get to that later.

Katie's Guatemala Visit, Part II

So I already wrote about when my friend Katie visited Guatemala last month but she finally got around to posting about the trip (she is much busier than I am, so I don't blame her for her tardiness). Here are the two different posts she put up on her blog, Part One and Part Two. Enjoy! She is much better at writing than I am so they'll be more enjoyable reads than what I normally manage to put together.

Some Guatemalan Observations

With a little over a month left in my stay here in Xela, I think it is time to do some reflecting on some of the things that make Guatemala, well, Guatemala. Here is what I've come up with:

• Guatemalans have tiny feet: Or, I have gigantic feet. Yesterday, I spent three hours looking for new shoes. I kept finding the style I wanted... only to be told the biggest size they have are 8's. I wear 11's. Not going to happen. This even happened in shoestores in the mall. Because of this, I gave up and bought them online instead.


• There is no time that isn't appropriate for dance music: Typically, loud dance music should be played afternoon. Or at least close to noon. Not 7am. Waking up to the Black Eyed Peas at 7am is not ok.


• Pink - not worn by straight men: I am very secure in my masculinity and wear pink sometimes. It happens. Or at least it happens in the States. Here, pink is only girls and gay men. So much for my favorite pink and grey sweater.


• Roosters are unable to tell time: The rooster that lives outside my apartment thinks that 2am is really 7am and time to crow. I have almost gotten up a few times in the middle of the night to climb to the roof and throw rocks at the thing. I'm sure it will make a delicious dinner one day. Soon hopefully.


• Bars don't exist: Everyone knows my beer sadness and lack of choices. But what also is lame in Guatemala is the fact that bars are different too. The typical bar that I like in Seattle or Portland, one that you go in, sit, have a good pint, watch some baseball, and chill and talk about life - not happening here. Here, you can go to a club. Dance. Which can be fun once and a while. Or, you can sit in a restuarant and have a beer. But its different. I miss Teddy's off Roosevelt in Seattle. And the EndZone in Port Orchard.


• GRINGO!!!: Pointing and yelling 'Gringo!' is completely acceptable. In Xela, its rare. But on the coast, very common. Just so you know, gringo is slang for a foreigner, usually white foreigners.


• Rainy Season: People at home in the Northwest always complain that rain in Seattle never stops. It does stop. In Guatemala, rainy season means rainy season. Like, rain every day. To be fair, at least it is on a schedule. The rain holds off until at the earliest 1pm, allowing for erronds and walking to be done in the morning. So that's nice of the rain gods.


• Guns: I don't even flinch anymore when I see men standing outside of stores holding shotguns. It seems like every store that sells anything has a shotgun toting security guard. The stat I heard was that there are 3 armed private security guards for every police officer in this country. I'd believe it.


• Guatemalans are terrible baseball players: A two examples to back this up. One, when I go to the coast for work and I attempt to toss something, be it fruit or a ball, to the children, they can't catch it. They mostly look like they've never even had to use their hands to catch anything. Ever. It's painfully awkward. The second example - I went to an athletic complex to work out a few weeks ago and stopped by the baseball field to check out the adult league that was playing. The teams, made up of mostly mid 20-somethings, were aweful. After about 10 minutes of watching, I concluded that one guy might have made my high school's Jr. Varsity team. Maybe. There is a reason there are no Guatemalans on MLB rosters right now and only 3 have ever played professional baseball.


• Guatemalan men don't clean themselves: OK, this is not true and a hugely incorrect statement. But what I'm trying to say is that there is no such thing as men's body wash here. Not even at Walmart. Only bar soap. Gross.

For now, that's all I got. I'm off to go work out, before it starts raining. Only 40 days, 13 hours, and 10 minutes until I land in SeaTac. Not that I'm counting.

Semilla Nueva - Boise Event

For those of you in or near Boise, check out theinfo on this event that Semilla Nueva is putting together in July. Should be fun times. Plus, you can buy photo books there that consist of 90% my photos. (The girls eating corn used in the advertisement... my picture).

Xela Photography Show

As some of you may know, I like to think I'm a bit of a photographer (or at least I take pictures and people seem to like them). So I'm happy to announce officially that now I'm going to be an "Internationally Shown Photographer." Starting the 15th of June, my photograhy will be shown at local Xela café El Cuartito. They have a monthly rotating art exhibit and I will be featured from June 15th until likely the end of July. On the evening on the 24th of June, is the 'official' opening event, with live music, good drinks, and fun times. For all of you who are in the Xela area, I hope to see you there. For those of you in the not Xela area, I wouldn't be upset seeing you there either. Here's a bit of a taste of what will be shown that night:

Back in the States...

Okay, first check out my friend Katie's recent article she wrote for Back Bay Patch, an online magazine. Then check out the pictures (aka I took one. Kind of published in Boston! Woot!). Finally, make her drink. She has yet to let me down drink wise.

Semuc Champey and Other Adventures

A week ago, my friend Katie visited me down here in Guatemala (hence the long, long break in blogging; blame her). As I waited for her to arrive at the airport, I was still torn between taking her to Monterrico, a place I'd already visited, or trying some place new in Semuc Champey. The only problem with Semuc Champey is that it is 12 hours by bus away from Xela. In the end, I decided we could brave it and caught a bus to Lanquin and Semuc Champey. This was a great decision.

Instead of dealing wih a bunch of 'chicken buses' and the uneasiness that comes with my terrible Spanish, we elected to pay a little bit extra for a tour. The tour provided everything - transportation, food, a guide, entrance to all the sites - plus it made for a completely mindless day aka no worrying about when the buses come and go, etc. The first stop on the tour: K'anba Caves.

I have no pictures from these caves and there is a good reason for this - in order to enter these caves, one must swim (actually swim) and about 50% of the tour consists of swimming. And when I say swimming, I mean swimming while holding a candle, your only source of light in these pitch black caves. These caves were absolutely amazing. Throughout the tour I kept thinking 'This is the coolest thing ever!' About 30 minutes into the caves, our guide stops us and tells us "Climb up this rock face. Then jump into that pool 15 feet below that you can't really see." Ok, yeah that sounds safe. Yet, despite my hatred for heights, Katie and I both managed to do it. And we lived! Our blind faith in a Guatemalan tour guide wa rewarded. We left the caves, adrenaline at a all time high ready for the next part of the day.

After a horrific 30 minute hike that neither Katie nor I enjoyed we finally made it Semuc Champey!

These naturally formed limestone pools are crystal clear, deep enough to jump into, warm enough to spend the whole day in, and full of little fish that love to nibble at your legs. As Katie swam off and practiced her synchronized swimming moves, I took the time to just relax and marvel at the beauty that surrounded me. The place was so tranquil and perfect (minus the howler monkeys off in the jungle). I can honestly say that of all the things I’ve seen in Guatemala, this was the one that will least likely be topped. Breath taking.

Our guide pulled us away after a few hours and we headed back to our amazing hostel, Zepher Hostel, in Lanquin. Happy Hour followed and with a little liquid courage, we checked out another group of caves, Las Grutas de Lanquin. These caves are famous for the bat show that it puts on during sunset every night, where thousands of bats leave the cave to go feast. The sun had set and Katie and I were just about ready to call it a batless night when the mouth of las grutas filled up with these little fliers. Insane! We stood at the entrance with a few other gringos and marveled at the bats that swarmed us as the left for the night.

One Guatemalan tour guide claimed that if you eat one hundred bats, you develop the ability to fly. I decided that I’d pass and be earth bound for the rest of my years.

This was one day of Katie’s stay in Guatemala. The rest of the trip, while fantastic, was full of things that I’ve done before – Lake Atitlan, Xela, Antigua – and there is no need to blog about the fun that was had in these places. But I know Katie had fun, as did I. Guatemala never ceases to amaze me with new things and old things alike. I’m so grateful that I got to travel with my friend and take my mind away from work for a while. However, work is back so I prepare myself for the uncomfortable sweatiness that is the Campo.

I Return!

So I'm back after a bit of a sabatical. I will be posting pics later today but let's just say that I went traveling this last week or so and, to put it mildly, some crazy things were seen and done. Look for updates tonight!

Doug Franz - Compiler of Stats, Writer of Blogs

Over at Semilla Nueva's blog, I put together some numbers and reflextions of Guatemala's Economy. It's an interesting read if you have any interest in seeing what kind of situation we deal with down here on a regular basis.

Things I Miss At Home - My Things

I am generally not a materialistic person. I don't buy lots of things or toys or electronics. That was part of what made leaving for Guatemala possible - I wasn't tied down by a whole lot. Occasionally, I've found myself thinking 'Man, things would be so much easier if I had this' or 'Wow, I never thought that would have come in handy.' But for the most part, Xela has everything that someone would need and I don't seem to be missing 'things' much. People, places, and experiences - yes, I miss them. But things, not so much.

Recently I've started feeling the creative bug that sweeps through me every once and a while. The need to express myself in some form, be it photography or guitar playing. While photography has helped fill this void, it can never take the place of music and guitar playing. With this being said, I present the 'thing' - aka materialistic item - that I miss the most:

This is my guitar. I am quite sad without her. I can't wait until the day that we are reunited. There is a decent acoustic down here that I get to use but it is really nothing compared to my baby at home.

Seriously though, I miss live music at home and real guitar playing - not this terrible salsa stuff, where every song sounds the same over and over again for 2 hours straight. Silly salsa.

Rave Green with Envy - The Hardest Day Away

In my entire 6 months of being away from my family, friends, and city, I can easily say that tomorrow will be the hardest day for me to miss. I've dreaded it like a college final that I didn't study for - you know it's coming but it'll happen no matter what you do and you just have to get through the day the best you can.

For most of my friends and family, what I'm talking about is pretty obvious. For the rest who are confused, let me clear it up for you - tomorrow is the first meeting first league meeting for the Seattle Sounders FC and Portland Timbers. It is the biggest rivalry in all of North American soccer, the biggest rivalry either of the cities of Seattle and Portland have, and one of the top 20 soccer rivalries in the world.

As a Sounders season ticket holder, one of the hardest decisions about leaving the States for 6 months was whether I wanted to miss this game. You would think 'Oh Doug, 6 months in Guatemala has got to be a greater experience than one soccer game.' And that's a valid point. However, it's not just a game - it's a full day of excitment, of true community unity over a love for one thing and a hate for another. It's an experience that I almost was willing to pay $800 to fly back and see. But now it's a day I will have to wait another year for. The hype and build up for this game has been unbelievable - every single pre-game converstation my friends and I had last season invloved some form of 'Man, I CANNOT wait 'til we play Portland next season. That's going to be amazing.' But ever since they released the schedule three months ago, I've dreaded tomorrow. Normally I read ever single blog and newspaper piece written about the Sounders - not this week. This week I've avoided the blogs and papers. I just can't handle reading about the hype. It just makes me too sad.

I'm not upset about coming to Guatemala. I'm really glad I came and in the long run, I will get to more Seattle-P*rtland games. In the long run, I will realize that this trip was important in my growth both personally and professionally. Until this realization somewhere down the line, tomorrow will suck. So to everyone at home - enjoy tomorrow. Somewhere far away from the madness, I will be sitting in my apartment - fully decked out in Rave Green, yelling obscenities at the ref, making fun of Portland for playing like a minor league tam still, and being the biggest Sounders fan Guatemala has ever seen.

Coming To America - Why People Do It

So let’s play a game – the following pictures show houses in the same community. Both are owed by amazing families. I personally have spent significant time in both. Both have at least 5 family members living in the residence. And the heads of the households are related to each other. But there is one major difference: one house has a family member who worked in the USA and the other didn’t. Any guesses which house is the house funded by working in America?

It’s pretty easy to see the difference. The first house (top picture) is owned by a family that has 9 children and at least 10 people living in the house at a time. It’s sufficient to cover heads during rain and provide space for eating, sleeping, and storage. The second house has 3 children and a total 5 people living there, including Don Cirilo, the house owner.

At 36, Don Cirilo already has an amazing family with his wife. But when he needed a bigger and better place, he somehow ended up in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. I’m not aware of what means he took to get to the States, but he ended up busing tables for 2 years in a Mexican restaurant. One would assume that at best he made minimum wage although it likely was less. Cirilo returned to his family two years later, and was able to afford to build a nice house, mostly funded by his trip to the States.

What’s interesting about this case is just how far a poor paying job in America will go south of its’ borders. Cirilo likely could not have been able to pay rent in Boston suburb with his wages in Massachusetts, but back in Guatemala, he owns one of the nicer houses in his town. This is why people still risk their lives and come to America by any means possible; they dream of owning a better house, providing a better education for their children, or buying more land to farm on. Instead of sleeping on wooden plank beds that are built above a dirt floor, one can build a cement house, with real mattresses, a TV, and a refrigerator.

I’m not advocating illegal entry to the States. My point is that one must try to understand why people do what they do and these housing differences are a simple illustration to see why people come to America at all costs.

Bullet Points and Innocent!

So I'm not quite in the mood to completely write a whole blog. Or to think about a full fledged, witty and interesting write up. I just want to give a quick update on a few things that have happened in the last week or so, just to keep everyone up to date. So tonight, we shall go to bullets!

• I almost got in a bar fight last week. We were drinking a beer, enjoying the evening, and some random El Salvadoreno (someone from El Salvador) came up, called my friend a 'clown', burned his arm with a cigarette, grabbed our beer bottle, and wound up to swing with it. Luckily, people intervened, the guy was removed and no one got hurt. Bar fight story: check.


• Today is officially my 90th day in Guatemala. Tomorrow, I'm officially living illegally in Guatemala . So tomorrow I'm going to Mexico to renue my visa. Excited? No, not for about 10 hours of chicken buses, but maybe some Oaxacan food will brighten my spirits.


• I salsa danced with 3 Guatemalan girls until 3:30a this morning. Speaking spanish, salsa dancing... Guatemala and I are slowly starting to rebuild our struggling relationship.


• Starting in June, my photography will be displayed in a local cafe called El Cuartito. Hopefully I'll sell a few pieces and make a couple of bucks. We shall see.


• While I was in Haiti, I met a kid named Innocent. This 'kid' really was 29, but he had some disabilities that made it impossible to understand his speech. This is beside the point. Innocent could at times be overwhelming but he had a huge heart and just wanted to be your friend. Earlier this month, he turned 30. Here's a link to an article about him and his birthday. Check out the picture of him and Molly in the article. Pretty awesome. Below is me and him in Kenscoff.

That's all I got for now. I promise promise promise that I will get up some new photos on the blog and a well thought out and written post early this coming week.

A Self Serving Post

Alright, I know I haven't posted anything in almost a week - it's been Semana Santa (Holy Week) and 95% of Guatemala shuts down and goes to the beach or the Lake. This includes me. I will go into further details about Semana Santa tonight or tomorrow but until then, I have a large request for anyone who wants to throw some information my way.

For you followers in the Seattle (including Tacoma and Port Orchard) and Portland areas, I was curious if anyone knew of any places that do rotating art/photography, like coffee shops or restaurants? I'm hoping to get some of my photos hung and displayed for sale when I return and I need to start inquiring soon. Email (dcfranz22@gmail.com) or Facebook any suggestions/ideas. Thanks everyone!

El Clásico

At least twice a year in the soccer world, FC Barcelona plays Real Madrid FC in what is called "El Clásico". The two storied teams have one of the longest running and intense rivalries in all of sports, dating back to 1902 and being contested 240 times (with three more matches against eachother in the next month alone).

One thing you learn about living in a soccer crazy country like Guatemala is that you are either a Barca fan or a Real fan. Example: Here's an interaction I had recently:

Guatemalan friend - "Who's your favorite Spanish team?"

Me - "Oh, I like Valencia."

Guatemalan friend - "No, no who's your favorite Spanish team."

Me - "Uh...Valencia...?"

Guatemalan friend - "What? No. I mean, Spanish team. Barca or Real?"

Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of either club but gun to my head, I'd go Barcelona any day. So with my brain not always thinking about soccer, I was unaware that El Clásico was on Saturday and I decided to take a walk with a few friends up to the local market and mall for lunch and to run a few errands. On the hike up there, nearly every other person I passed was wearing either a Barca or Real jersey (I'm not exaggerating. Literally, every other person). It dawns on me what is happening and I realize that I should try to find a TV to check the score when I could. This was not an issue...

The mall was in shut-down mode. Shoppers, workers, cooks, animals in the pet store... all watching Ronaldo vs. Messi. The scene was unreal. The food court was completely full of people taking breaks from work (I mean, some of these workers had closed their stores to watch the game).

We snagged a standing spot and checked out the action just in time to see a foul in the box and Ronaldo drive home a penalty kick to tie the game 1-1.

As the game ended, wild applause from both sides of fans (it was pretty evenly split, maybe a few more Barca fans) and within 3 minutes the food court was desserted. The whole scene was insane and I learned a valuable lesson: never forget what day El Clásico is when living in Central America. Today, they play again in La Copa del Rey. This time I'll be ready, rooting for Barca and arriving early enough to get a seat.

A Taste of Home

Grocery store visit last night to get some water, milk (unrefrigerated, from the shelf... that's a whole different story), crackers, and cookies. As I'm walking around, I notice this apple.

Delish looking right? Any guesses of where it was grown?

I'm oddly proud of the fact that Washington produces the best apples in the world, and also very sad to think about the craziness that is a Washington apple in a country that has an economy based so much on agriculture. But either way... WASHINGTON!!! I definitely smelled the apple, hoping to get a wiff of the Cascades, salmon, and Safeco Field. Alas, no luck. Still, nice to see a bit of home so far away.