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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Explaining Cero Labranza

For those of you who are interested in the more technical/agricultural side of what Semilla Nueva does in Guatemala, here's a post I wrote for their blog along with some of my pictures.

Another Week Away

I'm off. Again. To the middle of nowhere, Guatemala. This week, we are heading out to La Maquina, Zonas 1 y 2 to give our presentation on zero-till technology. This will be our second attempt at giving this same presentation in the same cities - due to the fact that last time we went out there, all the communities were in a crazy panic over the fact that the 'giant' tsunami was approaching the coast ("el fin del mundo! el fin del mundo!").

The end of the world didn't happen and neither did our presentations. I will be gone until Saturday, sleeping on cots with the chickens, ducks, pigs, toads, and numerous other animals. Now, I don't thrive or love the fact that I get less sleep on these trips and eat less or when I do eat, I eat the same thing (eggs, beans, rice, tortilla) for four days straight. But don't get me wrong - I really do enjoy these adventures and know that they are going to be among some of the more interesting/important stories that I bring back with me to share in the States.

No pictures today - I've stared at pictures constantly for the last three days because of work - but when I return, I will post atleast a few this weekend. I suppose I've got a few to pick from; I took nearly 1400 pictures in the last two weeks. My computer's memory is starting to get grumpy and hate me. I tell him that when we get back to the States, I will buy him an external hard drive friend and he will feel less bloated. Yes, I've started talking to my computer.

Speaking of coming back to the States, I'm nearly a third into my stay. At times it feel like I've been here FOREVER. And at other times, its hard to believe that I've been here that long. I have a laundry list of things I miss from home (family, friends, pets, beer, grassy front yards) but I think I'll save that for another post later. Until then, I'm off into the wild, living the dream, taking pictures, and eatting beans. Wish me luck!

Field Work - Willywood and Conrado

This is the first of a few posts that I plan on doing that will try to paint a picture of the communities that our projects at Semilla Nueva work with. First towns: Cornado and Willywood.

Conrado was the first place in Guatemala that I had the chance to speak in Spanish in front of a large group and the first place that I joined Darren (my boss) when he made a presentation about our technologies. It's rather small, just like all 'campo' towns, and has only one comedor (place that serves prepared food), which is often closed. However, despite its tiny size, it has a huge heart, full of citizens who are very organized and dedicated to creating long term change. It is a town full of children, always interested in our work and quickly willing to lend a hand.

Behind the Scenes Look at Semilla Nueva

I may or may not get a bit of grumpiness from my boss for posting some of these pics but I think that they give a good perspective of what actually happens on the job.

We ride around in the back of pickup trucks, going way too fast and ignoring way too many laws of the road.

Because we ignor such laws, sometimes things on our cars break. Like the brakes. Luckily Brooke and Darren are all that are man and fixed it (kinda) while parked in a McDonald's in Guatemala City.


We also have fun after work. Long trips can be stressful at times so we make sure to take a break here and there.


Yes, this is a mattress in a shed. With seed bags. We slept here. When I say 'slept,' I mean I laid there for 9 hours and didn't sleep. I hate this shed.

That's kind of a small look into the working life of a Semilla Nuevan. There will be a post on Semilla Nueva's blog eventually about something similar. Probably a little more PR friendly. I will say though, life here requires some flexiblity, which makes for some annoying times and for some fun times. It's been a geat learning experience in that reguard. How often does one change brake pads in a McDonald's parking lot? These are once in a lifetime experiences.

Thursday's Barrage of Blogging Begins

Alright friends... if you are still reading and following this blog, I applaud you and thank you fully and sincerely. Its been a fast and busy first month. I've got some writing to do with the blog, I need to shave, and a pile of laundry to do. But the goal today is to catch up on all of this.

So something I thought I'd do was take some time to explain what exactly I've been doing down here in Guatemala. I guess I could start by linking to a post I wrote for Semilla Nueva and just posted literally within the last hour. This was a trip we took two weeks ago out to San Martin (a little town northwest of Guatemala City) to visit Cruz Cún Cún, a veteran of the Campesino a Campesino movement.

What is this Campesino a Campesino movement that I speak of, you might ask? Its essentially the whole basis for Semilla Nueva. The idea (in a very small nutshell) is that we take new technologies for sustainable agriculture, teach them to leaders of farming communities that desire our help and knowledge, and then assist these leaders in promoting the new technologies to their peers, friends, neighbors, and families.

This is the idea of Semilla Nueva. Personally, right now, my current duties are:

• Learning Spanish - with the goal of me eventually working in the communities that I talked about above.
• Taking pictures of our trips - for promotional media, fundraising purposes.
• Write for the Semilla Nueva blog.
• Assisting with daily functions of Semilla Nueva - gathering materials for the workshops we put on, which can be a challenge in Xela.
• Researching and reading through scientific articles for data that we can use for grants.

That's my general 'internship/volunteering' overview. Things are nice cause it differs day to day and by time June comes, the look of my job will be completely different than it is right now.

Ok... blog #1 for today - done. More to come!

One Month in Xela

I realized two things today:

1. Its been over a week since my last post.
2. I've been in Xela for over a month now.

And while I'd like to spend some time reflecting on the month that I've spent here, time is not something I have right now. In about an hour, I'm heading off to Guatemala City for work and will be gone until late Tuesday night. However, look forward to Wednesday, because there will be new pictures, stories, and a bit of a longer post/multiple posts.

Just thought I'd let all who care that I was alive and hadn't forgotten my blogging duties.

A Posting Over at Semilla Nueva

Semilla Nueva has posted my write up about my trip last week to the coast and the farms. It includes more of my pictures, so have a look!

El Campo

So hopefully tomorrow a post I wrote will go up on Semilla Nueva's blog. But until then, here's a preview of some pics I took this last week while visiting farmers in the Campo.