Yo escale el Pacaya el 2 dic 2014

solo para que sepan que todavia puedo....
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Escalando el Volcan Pacaya

Estimados amigos,
Irlanda tiene colinas, Guatemala tiene montanias
No son las Rocollosas de California
pero son montanias, de 2, 3, 4 mil metros de altura.

Nunca en la vida he subido y bajado tantas montanias y colinas como hoy viajando desde La Antigua a el Pacaya, el volcan activo cerca de Amatitlan....asi se llama? !con tantos nombre mayas me confundo!

Me costo 12 dolares; los hay de 10 pero me parecio un buen precio: viaje en camioneta durante 90 mins.  luego la escalada con guia local, moderadamente dificil durante otros 90. No llegamos al crater pero llegamos muy arriba a una area cubierta de lava amontonada desde la ultima erupcion grande en 2010 y una menor en marzo de este anio; a no habia lava liquida ni fuego; solo quedaron unos agujeros en la piso de lava de donde salia humo y calor para derretir los malvaviscos (marshmallows, brodi!) La bajada al caer el sol era dificil por las piedras. Pero el ejercicio cardiovascualr fue muy saludable; y los muslos como piedras despues de esa subida... Mejor que el gimnasio!

Hermosa Guatemala, tienes tantas maravillas en tan poco espacio;
Yo, amante de los arboles vi un roble magnifico, y el guia nos ensenio el hormigo, donde viven las hormigas y del que se hace las teclas para la marimba...

Bellas vistas de Guatemala City, del lago Amatitlan, del Volcan de Agua, del laguito de Calderas...
y la buena compania de dos jovenos voluntarios y de una familia brasilenia....

La Antigua, a Polite City..."No tenga pena"", "Don't Worry"

The people of La Antigua are courteous, polite and helpful. And, to this old Irishman who has lived a few countries, it seems very genuine. La Antigua is "provincial" in the good sense of the term. The pace of life is generally slow and the local people greet each other -and you if you communicate with them- with "Good morning" -Buenos Dias- and Good Afternoon -Buenas Tardes,  as the case may be.

When vendors offer you something and your refuse they will say very politely, "No tenga pena" This is a great turn of phrase which appears typical of La Antigua; not sure if in the rest of the country.

If you bump into someone on the street they will say the same thing.

If you dont have enough money to pay, they will smile an say "No tenga pena" [but they wont give it to you for nothing!]

The phrase is not that easy to translate. It means something like "Don't Worry", "That's alright", "No problem." "You are under no obligation"

Sellers in the market have their own little formulas "Take a look. You can ask. You are under no obligation"

Literally it means "don't be embarassed"....

In Ireland it might like "No bother"

Honey of the Maiden in La Antigua, GTA - BILINGUE- Miel de doncella

"Honey of the Maiden", "Miel de doncella"

As we were strolling along Calzada Santa Lucia in La Antigua we were approached by a woman in native Guatemalan garb offering us honey. Her demeanor was kind and not pushy so we tarried with her. Under her shawl she had a large store of bottled honey. It seemed like she had brought them with her from one of the nearby villages to sell near the market. We asked the price and she gave us two although the large one liter glass bottles were the same size. According to her one was the regular honey; the other, more expensive one, for Q35, was “de la doncella.” This term intrigued and amused me because my Spanish was good enough to grasp “the maiden.” I thought this lighter-colored honey was “of/for the maiden” or meant for virgins or young women as opposed to the darker-colored destined for male consumption.

Until another local woman disavowed me as I told my amusing story about my encounter with the indigenous woman selling “honey for the maiden.” She explained that “doncella” was the species of bees that produced that lighter-colored, sweeter and more liquid honey. So much for my ignorance! That poor, humble native woman had been right in offering us “miel de la doncella”, the superior class honey coming from that peculiar species of bee a rank above your regular big honey wild bees.                                                                                                                                                        

 La anciana indigena se nos acerco por la Calzada de Santa Lucia, no lejos del mercado. Bajo su chal en un bulto llevaba varias botellas de vidrio lleno de miel. Cuando preguntamos el precio nos dio 2 cifras; una para la miel ordinaria y otra para la miel "de doncella"... Yo crei que doncella significaba que la miel era para doncellas, esa palabras de castellano antiguo, para senoritas, virigenes.....

hasta que otra persona me dijo que las abejas que producian esa miel mas clara se llamaban "abejas doncella". Ai, !que ignorancia la mia!

(Bilingue) Sprained ankles in La Antigua, Guatemala/ Tobillos torcidos en las calles de La Antigua

This beautiful city is going through an administrative crisis for the past several months (years?) and the city is looking the worse for ware because of the lack of leadership and responsibility.

Guatemalans agree that one of their greatest defects is to complain and not to anything.- When things get really bad there may be protests or violence, sadly.

In this beautiful and dear country corruption is rampant. The separation of powers is in its infancy.
The latest news I seem to understand from the local newspaper is that the congress or some other political entities have sworn in the countries supreme court judges...

But back to the ankles/ de vuelta a los tobillos

Local sidewalks are by their very -colonial/ancient- nature problematic; many are of stone, stones of different shapes and sizes. Steps up and steps down have no pattern and are unpredictable; stones that can be flat or uneven.-

Las banquetas son peligrosas y facilmente se puede torcer eyyl tobillo. por su naturaleza- colonial y antiguas, las piedras son de diferentes tamanios y formas. Hay bajadas y subidas repentinas sin ton ni son, las piedras pueden ser lisas o onduladas, o curvas...

No local authority has taken charge of that -as far as I know; there is little money to be made -or ripped off- out of providing good sidewalks to the citizens and visitors.

La Merced, La Antigua, Guatemala (BILINGUE)

LA MERCED, LA ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA

To the northwest of the city lies the historic La Merced Church and neighborhood. We were visiting a small property in the area, 125 thousand dollars, for an apartment in off the street passing through a shop; one bed, one bath...small and no views; "paso"( I pass) as they say in Mexico. We were able to chat with the local priest who is a Catalan; the Mercedarios have been at this parish since the Conquest excepting a hundred years or so when "The Reform" = separation of Church and State with the religious orders been expelled and their properties confiscated. They came back again and continue at this parish. Their original mission was to rescue captives in foreign countries and give their lives in exchange. We took a moment to visit the ruins of the original convent -which is said to have the largest monastery patio fountain in Latin America -judge for yourself!

La ruina de la Merced se gloria de tener la fuente de patio interior mas grande de American Central...?Que le parece?
Al noroeste de la ciudad de La Antigua, encontramos la parrroquia y la vecindad de la Merced .
La parroquia fue fundada por los Padres Mercedarios, una orden muy antigua cuyo apostolado original fue de rescatar a los cautivos en las guerras y cruzadas y si fuera necesario dar su vida en rescate de los peregrinos. 
Los padres vivieron en la parroquia hasta la Reforma politica de Guatemala, siglo XIX? cuando fueron expulsados. Cuando se levanto la prohibicion volvieron a lo que quedo de su parroquia y reconstruyeron la Iglesia. Actualmente la iglesia sigue fungiendo como tal y los padres siguen administrando la parroquia. Las ruinas del monasterio original son muy grandes y se pueden visitar. La reconstruccion del recinto esta a medias, seguramente porque el gobieron local no ayuda y los padres carecen de recursos para devolverlo a su estado original.

Tuk-Tuk, Transportation in Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala tuk tuk, rickshaw

One of Guatemala forms of transportation is called a tuk tuk or in Asian countries a rickshaw. Guatemala is loaded with these little three wheel vehicles running around taking people from place to place. A Central America form of a taxi.

In Antigua this is best way to get around besides walking. Present rates as of today at Q15 = 2 dollars a ride, mostly fixed price for around Antigua. Taxis are more expensive; we have not taken one yet -and we have been here a months.

ANTIGUA AN EMINENTLY WALKABLE CITY.... more about this later.

Motociclistas sin casco/ no helmets for motorcyclists in Antigua

We were curious at first and then waxed cautious: one, two, three people on motorbikes, a man, a woman and a child in her arms but no helmets....Do they have a lot of head injuries in local hospitals? Not that traffic is going very fast on the cobblestone streets of La Antigua

  Como un sentido de descuido  La Vida no vale nada, o poco...


Al principio se ve curioso pero despues de un rato uno se pone a pensar....one, two, three poeple on a motorbike and nobody wearing a helmet; could be a father, a wife and a child in her arms -but no helmets.

Kind of like a lack of precaution....who cares? Death happens when it happens....

Crow on a Cold Tin Roof - Danza de los Zanates en La Antigua, Guatemala

CROW ON A COLD TIN ROOF

Scratch, scratch,

Scratching from above.

Not the rough scratching of the raccoon

In the Virginia attic;

A lighter scratching

And “the patter of little feet.”

“Zanates” 

The smaller, sleeker, Central American female grackle:  

brown, light-eyes, sleek coat and a broader voice range; 

from a couple of whistles to grating;

As mischievous as a magpie.

Crows on a cold tin roof are enough to wake you up.

Tune it out.

Lie on your back and try some relaxation exercises.

But competing diva roosters,  feeling left out,
pipe in,  interrupting your mindfulness meditation.

As they die away and the zanates move on to greener roofs

Your neighborhood dog barks loudly,

Engaging another section of the orchestra.

“Dong, dong, dong!”, the cathedral bells drone,
Summoning to work.

LA DANZA DE LOS ZANATES

Rasca y rasca.desde arriba.

No la rasca pesada de los mapaches en el desván de Virginia.

Más leve, con pasitos de bebé.

“Zanates”;

La versión centroamericana, más liviana, color café, 

plumaje brillante, mejor voz que su primo norteño: silbidos y graznidos.

Tan traviesa como la urraca.

La danza de los zanates en el techo de cinco

Despierta de todos modos.

Tratando de ignorar das otra vuelta en la cama.

Empleando la técnica de respiración pausada casi logras reconciliar el sueño

Pero los divos gallos sintiendose discriminados

Comienzan a ejercitar sus cuerdas vocales, 

Cantando en competencia por el barrio.

 Al irse alejando estos gritos desaforados 

el perro de la casa vecina quiere añadir su voz a la orquesta.

?Será hora de levantarse –pues, despierto ya llevas una hora?

“!Din-dan-don! las desentonadas campanas de la catedral...