Weaving Loom

Getting thread bundles ready for loom.

Dying thread bundles.

Chicabal Volcano

2/6/09
We have finished our 4th week of Spanish school. I have many verbs and scrambled verbs running around my head (when I can find them) but not much to connect them to. We have meet some other students who have taken a lot of Spanish in high school or collage and still do not understand the locals when thy talk regular speed, so I don’t fell to bad about not understanding them yet, even when they talk slow. We have made a change in plans and will go to Lake Atitlan on the 16th for 5 nights, instead of staying here for 6 weeks. We need a break to rest and study what we have before the last 6 weeks
2/10/09
On Saturday we hiked Chicabal Volcano near San Marcos. We where supposed to meet at the school at 6:30 am to go to the volcano, when we got there only one other student showed up. We thought that the other 2 decided not to go as one of them was looking for us the night before. Then after 15 minutes the guide did not show up either. We waited another 10 minutes then Elizabeth the other student knocked on the door of the school to wake up Julio the school owner. He told us the guide and other students left at 6:15. We where not happy as apparently there was a change in plans and we were not informed and they left 15 minutes before we got there. Julio said he would take us to the volcano, so he grabbed his 10 year old daughter and we headed out. When we turned off the main road to the volcano we found our guide and other students hiking up the steep road which was 5 kilometer to the volcano. Apparently they had left early to catch the chicken bus which dropped them off at the bottom of the road. Our SUV was full so Julio did not stop to pick them up. On up the hill Alicia, kids and Elizabeth had to get out and walk because the SUV was underpowered for the hill. We thought that Julio would go back and get the other students but he did not. For us it turned out nice as we did not have to hike the 5 kilometers to the entrance. We hiked about a kilometer to the top and down to the lake in the crater and around the lake. It was very pretty and quiet I could have stayed there all day. For the Mayans it’s a sacred lake so there is no swimming in it. We had taken a dirt trail down to the lake but took the stairs back up. The girls counted 635 stairs on the way up. At the top we sat in the overlook and watched Satiaguito erupt. The guide and the other students caught a pickup truck on the way down.
2/14/09
This week we finished our 5th and final week of Spanish school in Xela. We had a Valentines Day party on our last day of school as they celebrate Valentines Day in a big way here. Each set of teachers and students made a different type of “enchilada” (our Tostitos). Then our family was given our certificate showing that we had competed level one. We were asked to speak Jared and my talks were very short and Alicia and Shannon’s were longer. Shannon sounded like a native, she then broke down and cried as she was going to miss her teacher. This is the girl who did not want to be here in Xela for the first week and a half. She also stated she could live here.
On Tuesday we had a lecture in the evening about the economics of Guatemala that was interesting. Went back to Fuentes Georgians hot springs, a lot more people this time. On Thursday morning we went to Salcaja about 30 minutes from here. It is known for its weaving. At one place we watched as they dyed threads bundles by hand in a tub. Actually by foot as they put the thread bundles in the tub of and stomped on it for a while then squeezed out the excess by hand using a stick. The thread bundles are bundles of thread that are tied together at predetermined intervals that allows the dye to penetrate certain areas leaving a green area then a white area on the tread for example. They can then tie off areas to add other colors to the thread. After the thread bundles are dyed they are hung out to dry. The next place we stopped was a open field where they take the tread bundles and unravels them out into long section and connect them to other bundles. The whole length of the finished section was about 200 feet or so. The finishing drying also takes place here. These long sections are then put on bundles to feed to the looms.
We went to see the weaving looms after we stopped at central Americas oldest Catholic Church. The church is 500 years old. We where not able to go in apparently the roof is in bad shape so they only use it on Saturdays.
The weaving loom was located on the upper story of the weavers home. The weaving in this area is all done by hand and the fabric is for the ladies skirts and aprons and other indigenous needs. The loom its self is wood and is worked by hand. It takes 20 hours just to set up a run of fabric. It takes 10 hours to make enough fabric for one skirt. it’s an eight step process from start to finish.
Saturday morning we took a trip up the Totonicapan to see the town and market. The town is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from here and the area is pretty with a lot of pine trees. We bought a section of cloth (the hand woven fabric) 8 feet $40, to put on the wall at home. I want Alicia to get some more fabric for a skirt. I also got pickpocket at the market they got 25 Q or about $5. On Thursday I had bought a wallet that has a string so you can hang it around your neck and drop it inside your shirt. I had seen other backpackers use these on other trips that’s why I bought one and it paid off as I was using it today. If I had been pick pocketed at the other markets we went to they would have gotten a lot more.
We went to a Indian restaurant tonight and it was very good . Another student a 18 year old girl from MA went with us. She is at the school for a month then she meets a friend who will travel with her for 2 of her remaining 4 weeks in Guatemala.
It is interesting I was reading a Michener book in which he was talking about the sound barrier to new language. The sound barrier is where the new language just sounds like noise as your mind does not recognize the language thus it is just noise as you have no understanding. But after you hear the language enough you then start picking up some words then at some point you break through and start hearing all the words (even if you don’t know the meaning) not just a lot of noise. This is when you can start learning the language. I have been hearing a lot of noise but am starting to pick up words, I hope to break the barrier soon.
For the most part temperatures have improved over the last few weeks. A few nights I went without my sweater. There weeks ago I think Xela was near a record low the temps made the national paper. They stated the Xela area was down to 5 C (=- 23 F). Last week we were down to 5 C again. Not to bad except nearly all homes do not have heat. On the warmer days the kids room is up to 55 F in the morning.
Tomorrow we pack for Lake Atitlan and warmer temps. Hopefully we can pack up our Under Amour and sweaters.
We have liked Xela a lot and would like to come back, especially at the end of the rainy season before it gets dry. Its nice to be in an area and not see many tourist, at least in our part of town. When we go out to the villages we hardly see any tourist, actually I don’t remember seeing any. I am not looking forward to all the tourist in Antigua.
2/17/09s
We are in San Marcos at Lake Atitlan. Its very pretty here the lake is 8 x 18 kilometers. Our hotel is right on the water the Jinava Bay and it is real nice. Our private boat took us right to the hotel dock, which turned out nice as it would have been a good hike up through town and back down to the hotel. The hotel is only $30 a night. And it is warmer here our room was 66 F this morning I think it was in the upper 70’s today. Its nice to have a week off of school. San Marcos is a hippy town with a bunch of holistic places. We meet a short hair hippy left over from the 60’s at breakfast. The town is small the guide book says 3000 people but I don’t know where they are. There is no banks or large stores, everyone shops in Panachel or San Pedro crossed the lake. We took a tut tut ( a three wheel transport imported from India} to San Pedro today walked around there then took a boat back. On the way back to the hotel we took a little path along the lake the path was pretty bad in places but it was pretty. There were cliffs along the way where people were sun bathing and we were told they cliff jump there. We sat on the beach, studied and swam a little. Right now

2/6/09
We have finished our 4th week of Spanish school. I have many verbs and scrambled verbs running around my head (when I can find them) but not much to connect them to. We have meet some other students who have taken a lot of Spanish in high school or collage and still do not understand the locals when thy talk regular speed, so I don’t fell to bad about not understanding them yet, even when they talk slow. We have made a change in plans and will go to Lake Atitlan on the 16th for 5 nights, instead of staying here for 6 weeks. We need a break to rest and study what we have before the last 6 weeks
2/10/09
On Saturday we hiked Chicabal Volcano near San Marcos. We where supposed to meet at the school at 6:30 am to go to the volcano, when we got there only one other student showed up. We thought that the other 2 decided not to go as one of them was looking for us the night before. Then after 15 minutes the guide did not show up either. We waited another 10 minutes then Elizabeth the other student knocked on the door of the school to wake up Julio the school owner. He told us the guide and other students left at 6:15. We where not happy as apparently there was a change in plans and we were not informed and they left 15 minutes before we got there. Julio said he would take us to the volcano, so he grabbed his 10 year old daughter and we headed out. When we turned off the main road to the volcano we found our guide and other students hiking up the steep road which was 5 kilometer to the volcano. Apparently they had left early to catch the chicken bus which dropped them off at the bottom of the road. Our SUV was full so Julio did not stop to pick them up. On up the hill Alicia, kids and Elizabeth had to get out and walk because the SUV was underpowered for the hill. We thought that Julio would go back and get the other students but he did not. For us it turned out nice as we did not have to hike the 5 kilometers to the entrance. We hiked about a kilometer to the top and down to the lake in the crater and around the lake. It was very pretty and quiet I could have stayed there all day. For the Mayans it’s a sacred lake so there is no swimming in it. We had taken a dirt trail down to the lake but took the stairs back up. The girls counted 635 stairs on the way up. At the top we sat in the overlook and watched Satiaguito erupt. The guide and the other students caught a pickup truck on the way down.
2/14/09
This week we finished our 5th and final week of Spanish school in Xela. We had a Valentines Day party on our last day of school as they celebrate Valentines Day in a big way here. Each set of teachers and students made a different type of “enchilada” (our Tostitos). Then our family was given our certificate showing that we had competed level one. We were asked to speak Jared and my talks were very short and Alicia and Shannon’s were longer. Shannon sounded like a native, she then broke down and cried as she was going to miss her teacher. This is the girl who did not want to be here in Xela for the first week and a half. She also stated she could live here.
On Tuesday we had a lecture in the evening about the economics of Guatemala that was interesting. Went back to Fuentes Georgians hot springs, a lot more people this time. On Thursday morning we went to Salcaja about 30 minutes from here. It is known for its weaving. At one place we watched as they dyed threads bundles by hand in a tub. Actually by foot as they put the thread bundles in the tub of and stomped on it for a while then squeezed out the excess by hand using a stick. The thread bundles are bundles of thread that are tied together at predetermined intervals that allows the dye to penetrate certain areas leaving a green area then a white area on the tread for example. They can then tie off areas to add other colors to the thread. After the thread bundles are dyed they are hung out to dry. The next place we stopped was a open field where they take the tread bundles and unravels them out into long section and connect them to other bundles. The whole length of the finished section was about 200 feet or so. The finishing drying also takes place here. These long sections are then put on bundles to feed to the looms.
We went to see the weaving looms after we stopped at central Americas oldest Catholic Church. The church is 500 years old. We where not able to go in apparently the roof is in bad shape so they only use it on Saturdays.
The weaving loom was located on the upper story of the weavers home. The weaving in this area is all done by hand and the fabric is for the ladies skirts and aprons and other indigenous needs. The loom its self is wood and is worked by hand. It takes 20 hours just to set up a run of fabric. It takes 10 hours to make enough fabric for one skirt. it’s an eight step process from start to finish.
Saturday morning we took a trip up the Totonicapan to see the town and market. The town is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from here and the area is pretty with a lot of pine trees. We bought a section of cloth (the hand woven fabric) 8 feet $40, to put on the wall at home. I want Alicia to get some more fabric for a skirt. I also got pickpocket at the market they got 25 Q or about $5. On Thursday I had bought a wallet that has a string so you can hang it around your neck and drop it inside your shirt. I had seen other backpackers use these on other trips that’s why I bought one and it paid off as I was using it today. If I had been pick pocketed at the other markets we went to they would have gotten a lot more.
We went to a Indian restaurant tonight and it was very good . Another student a 18 year old girl from MA went with us. She is at the school for a month then she meets a friend who will travel with her for 2 of her remaining 4 weeks in Guatemala.
It is interesting I was reading a Michener book in which he was talking about the sound barrier to new language. The sound barrier is where the new language just sounds like noise as your mind does not recognize the language thus it is just noise as you have no understanding. But after you hear the language enough you then start picking up some words then at some point you break through and start hearing all the words (even if you don’t know the meaning) not just a lot of noise. This is when you can start learning the language. I have been hearing a lot of noise but am starting to pick up words, I hope to break the barrier soon.
For the most part temperatures have improved over the last few weeks. A few nights I went without my sweater. There weeks ago I think Xela was near a record low the temps made the national paper. They stated the Xela area was down to 5 C (=- 23 F). Last week we were down to 5 C again. Not to bad except nearly all homes do not have heat. On the warmer days the kids room is up to 55 F in the morning.
Tomorrow we pack for Lake Atitlan and warmer temps. Hopefully we can pack up our Under Amour and sweaters.
We have liked Xela a lot and would like to come back, especially at the end of the rainy season before it gets dry. Its nice to be in an area and not see many tourist, at least in our part of town. When we go out to the villages we hardly see any tourist, actually I don’t remember seeing any. I am not looking forward to all the tourist in Antigua.
2/17/09s
We are in San Marcos at Lake Atitlan. Its very pretty here the lake is 8 x 18 kilometers. Our hotel is right on the water the Jinava Bay and it is real nice. Our private boat took us right to the hotel dock, which turned out nice as it would have been a good hike up through town and back down to the hotel. The hotel is only $30 a night. And it is warmer here our room was 66 F this morning I think it was in the upper 70’s today. Its nice to have a week off of school. San Marcos is a hippy town with a bunch of holistic places. We meet a short hair hippy left over from the 60’s at breakfast. The town is small the guide book says 3000 people but I don’t know where they are. There is no banks or large stores, everyone shops in Panachel or San Pedro crossed the lake. We took a tut tut ( a three wheel transport imported from India} to San Pedro today walked around there then took a boat back. On the way back to the hotel we took a little path along the lake the path was pretty bad in places but it was pretty. There were cliffs along the way where people were sun bathing and we were told they cliff jump there. We sat on the beach, studied and swam a little. Right now

Xela from Volcano Santa Maria 12,440 ft and Xela at 7,700 ft

Volcano Satiaguito

Alicia, Shannon and Jared on top

Volcanos to the south, one erupting

Pueblo San Juan, Beach

archeological site, Volcano Satiaguito, glass factory

2/1/09
Fridays field trip was fun. We caught the chicken bus for the 30 minute ride to Cuatro Caminos to see a glass blowing factory. These chicken buses are used school buses from the states that are hauled down through Mexico, then refitted with larger engines and better six speed gear box, fitted with roof racks (yes we have seen chickens up there) and painted usually with bright colors and chrome. We have learned that out side of Xela there have been some problems with gang extorting money from the owners of the buses, Some drivers and their assistance have been killed recently, but passengers have not been bothered.
When we got to the factory we where told that they were not working we where not to happy as I had heard that the last group got the same thing and the workers where on vacation. The teachers told us that the workers where taking a early lunch then they told us that something was broken down. Any way they took us to a church a crossed the valley a nice walk and climb about a mile away. After the church we decided to walk back to see if the glass factory was running again and luckily it was. It was interesting to see the men blowing glass into bottles, cups and chalices. There were about 20 men working, no one had any eye protection no gloves or any other heat protection. We did buy some of their products after the tour.
On Saturday we met the other students at the school at 6:30am for our trip to the archeological site and beach. It was nice to get off the mountain and down to the warm tropical area west of here. We started to drop down hill right out of Xela and where in the low lands in about one hour. The volcano Satiaguito erupted as we where driving down (like a giant Old Faithful it erupts about every 45 minutes). When we were eating breakfast it went off again except not as strong as the first time we saw it. The Abaj Takalik ecological site was neat it is a lot older than Tikal about 800 BC while Tikal started about the time of Christ. They think its one of the original Mayan sites in the area, it’s a big site but only a little has been excavated. The temples are not that high or large. A German botanist accidentally found it as he was studding plants he saw a stone sticking straight up and looked at it closer and found that it was carved.
We went to El Tulate Playa It was a nice drive there through the mostly flat farm land. At the beach we had to take a boat over to the beach on the island. There are a two hotels there and a few restaurants and houses along the beach. There were only about 20 - 30 people on the beach and in the covered areas. We were told that on Sunday they get a lot more people, which was evident by the number of seats in the covered area. It was nice to see the ocean again and walk along the water in the sun. We did not bring our swimming suits as we thought we were going to a different beach that was not as nice. We stopped in Retalhulea on the way back for dinner. The dinner was not to good but the town square was pretty. We also passed a water park in Xocomil. The park is very large and attracts people from all over CA and South America. Its sort of out in the middle of nowhere I think about 3 hours or more from Guatemala City and a hour from Xela that has no major airport..
2/4/09
Volcano hike “Santa Maria”
Well Shannon, Alicia and Jared and the other students Elizabeth and Gordon climbed Santa Maria a close by “non active” volcano. They started out about 4:30 AM on the trail. The trail at first was very easy, but of course worsened towards the top. It was a pretty hike, Lots of plants and tree’s all though the littering even up there was bad. It was cloudy at first but here in Xela it is all ways cloudy in the mornings. It was neat to work your way up and stop at clear places to look at the big city Xela and think how nice it is to get away! Once we got to the top huffing and puffing boy was it worth it! It seemed like you could see the whole world. Volcano Satiaguito sits right next to Santa Maria. Satiaguito is the most active volcano in Guatemala and we got to sit down and eat our sandwiches while we watched it smoke. Satiaguito was formed when Santa Maria closed it’s crater and then created Santa agito on her side. From the top of Santa Maria you can see seven volcano’s. Not all active of course. That I would have to say was a hard but worth while day. Shannon
John rested and walked Mercado democracia looking at all the stalls
2/6/09
We have finished our 4th week of Spanish school. I have many verbs and scrambled verbs running around my head (when I can find them) but not much to connect them to. We have meet some other students who have taken a lot of Spanish in high school or collage and still do not understand the locals when thy talk regular speed, so I don’t fell to bad about not understanding them yet, even when they talk slow. We have made a change in plans and will go to Lake Atitlan on the 16th for 5 nights, instead of staying here for 6 weeks. We need a break to rest and study what we have before the last 6 weeks