Oh I cannot wait for rainy season to be over. I think I have made it through the day with dry feet maybe once in the past week. And there are new mudslides pretty frequently on the main roads, so I haven't been out of northern Quiche since the beginning of September. The weather should improve towards the end of the month; I just have to aguantar (tolerate/bear) a few more weeks. The only thing that saves this season from being unbearable is the fog that rolls down the mountains and hangs over everything. It is really magical looking; especially in the afternoons before the rain when the dark thunderclouds gather behind the mountains and in the valley the clouds are low and misty.
The Hearts and Hands group was awesome, as usual. I really enjoy watching the group dynamic develop over the week. By mid-week each person has their tasks mastered in the stove-building process and my job as translator isn't so much to help them understand each other to build the stove, but to let the volunteers get to know the Guatemalan technician and the families who are receiving the stoves. It was an especially fun group of Canadian volunteers because all of them had been on a H&H trip before so they were already comfortable with the work, each other, climate/food changes and it was a smaller group than usual so we all bonded quickly.
Things are moving along with the stove project in Llano Grande. I met with community leaders from the Community Development Committee to put the final touches on the SPA application this morning. We only need a few more letters/signatures about municipal support and contracts for skilled labor and we'll be able to send it off for review.
Melissa and I started teaching English again after a summer break that was then extended to include the weeks around elections and independence day. It is fun to be working with our students again. I was impressed to hear how much they remembered after a few months without classes. We did a review class last week and will be starting with new material this Wednesday. They can introduce themselves, ask where someone is from, describe their families and hometowns and other things that are useful for basic conversation.
Sunday, which is pretty much always my day to relax, do laundry and go to the market was extra special this week. While walking the market circuit Melissa and I paused by an ayote. It is pumpkin-like gourd that Guatemalans prepare by boiling in cinnamon and brown sugar for Dia de los Santos (Nov 1st). We stood for a while and debated the pros and cons of buying it. It was huge and it was clear it would be difficult to break down for recipes, but I love pumpkin things in the fall and have been thinking about all the deliciousness that I am missing out on back home. We asked the price (10 quetzales, about a $1.25) and decided that it was worth a try. Several hours and one grater accident later, we were enjoying pumpkin bread (3 loaves) and ayote prepared the traditional Guatemalan way (enough for about 5 people) and we still had a fourth of the raw ayote!
It has been far too long since I put up pictures, I often forget to take my camera with me to events and then when I do take pictures the internet is so slow because of the rain that I haven't been able to upload any. I will work on that the next sunny day that I am around and at the computer.
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