Todos Santos revisited

Back again to one of our favorite spots in Guatemala. As you can see from the pictures, our arrival was during an unseasonably foggy, cold, drizzly four day period. (I know, those at home el norte would jump at this 'cold' compared to the cold you are experiencing!) Since Todos has already been described in quite a bit of detail, I'll just mention some of the fun and interesting events and experiences that have come our way since our arrival here a week ago.

First off, I have to mention a sighting we saw on the last day of the 4 days of clouds, drizzle and cold we had here in Todos. The time was late in the afternoon, when the sun was low enough on the horizon so that only the mountain top tips would be lit. Low and behold, there was a window through the clouds, exactly as baroque pictures and especially ceiling paintings were depicted, excepting instead of bursting forth with angels and cherubs looking through this opening edged in clouds and the most beautiful deep blue sky back drop, we were looking at the perfectly framed rocky cliffs of one of the mountains boxing Todos Santos. Unforgettable. Also easy to see how the inspiration for that style of baroque painting came about...

Our friend here in town found us the house pictured to the right. It was built by a Guatemalan with money earned in the states, the funding source for almost every large house built here. The owner is currently back in the U.S. and his sister with her family was to live there. After trying out this grande casa for awhile, she decided she preferrred her own, smaller casa (less cleaning, more the feeling of home, etc.) and the big house sits empty most of the time. Since we had good references and intending to do some volunteer work, she let us rent it for a week. It is not furnished except for one bed, a dining room table and five chairs, and a kitchen stove. However, that is all we needed, and feel quite fortunate to receive this gift. The house is pretty darn new, built entirely of póured concrete and concrete block walls. Quite an echo chamber. We quickly learned to speak in quiet voices! And unheated, wood or fossil fuels are too dear to use for room heat. So we sit around with many layers of clothes on, or in the sleeping bags!

Writing about accomodations reminds me of a young Canadian I met yesterday who is travelling alone. She is staying for free at places she finds through some organization on the web called 'couchsurfing.com' where people all over the world have signed up to host travellers in their house free of charge. Thus far, the system has worked wonderfully for her, she is well into her one year long trip.

What have the kids done with rainy days since we haven't been doing our hikes? This last picture shows a game arcade set up in a temporary structure on the plaza in front of the church. Since school is still out of session, there is a ready market. The kids have enjoyed being there a couple of times.

And what of our volunteer work? Turns out to have been pretty thin here. Our first day, we 'helped' at a baby health clinic monthly weigh in to make sure kids up through age 3 are gaining weight as they should. Linda and I helped weigh some babies. Linda gave a short speech in Spanish as requested by the director, who had to translate that speech into Mam, the local Mayan tongue as most of the 100 people at the meeting do not understand Spanish. After the weigh in, a demonsration and give away of a nutrition supplement for babies and pregnant women was done. Interesting experience, wish we could have contributed more.

Here is another fun and educational experience of travelling: upon arriving in Todos Santos, we discovered that there were 8 Norwegian students at our favorite Spanish school. A very friendly group, we had great fun talking with them. They signed up for a program that takes post high school students on their way to university for about two months to various parts of the world to learn the local language, travel, do volunteer work. What a great group of young, open minds that will help shape the world into a better place! Willa's great Uncle Gordon had taken the time years ago to teach her the Norwegian names for the fingers. This sparked Willa's interest for more Norwegian, which she learned from this group of travellers. (Is Willa thinking of visiting Norway in the future, perhaps after her African trip????)

After writing about the market yesterday, I thought to comment about tienda's, Spanish for a small shop. Since everyone's house fronts onto a street, right up to the edge of the sidewalk, anyone can use their front room for a tienda. They seem to buy up a supply non-perishables such as soda, cooking oils, various packaged items (chips, etc.) rice, noodles; well you get it. Most also sell eggs since they turn over quickly. Typically, one can't walk more than 10 houses without going past a tienda. We have one just across from our mansion, making shopping quite convenient. I don't know how anyone sells enough volume to make any money at this, but their existence does make life easier!

Sunday morning I was heading down to plaza to see if I could attend mass when I caught up with a procession being led by a small boy carrying a cross. They also ended up at the church. One fellow broke away from the crowd following and explained to me that a relative had died and was buried that week. This procession was in that relative's honor.

Which brings me to something else I wanted to reiterate about travel here, how friendly pretty much everyone is. Walking these streets means frequent greeting all those around you, young, old and in between. Few people travel here in town isolated in vehicles, so you are constantly in contact with people surrounding you.

One last note. If you remember from some of the earliest postings, I believe I managed to get a picture of people lined up at the upper plaza railing what all was going on in the street and plaza below. Well, we were sorry to see that upon returning, a row of 4 two story tiendas are being built opposite the upper plaza, blocking the view to the lower plaza.