Guatemala: Miercoles de Ceniza (Ash Wednesday) notes

Since Cuba in January (no internet, no blog, but highly recommended), our travels have taken us to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.

At this time of year (the dry season), the views of the lake and the surrounding volcanoes (not to mention Michele!) are reliably spectacular:

 

 

1.  San Pedro Spanish School

Michele and I are three days into studying at the San Pedro Spanish
School (http://www.sanpedrospanishschool.org/ ).  Even though it feels in vaguely poor taste, honesty compels me to mention that studying at the school is incredibly good value:  US$120 for a week (20 hours) of private tuition on idyllic wooded slopes overlooking Lake Atitlan.  Here is a picture taken from their web site:

My tutor (he's 33) has the drive the drive to overcome all odds with his student, and the patience to gracefully tolerate constantly repeated errors.

The school arranges homestays at a cost of US$100 a week for a clean room with an en suite, great wifi and three full meals a day.  Michele and I are staying with separate families so as to maximize exposure to the Spanish language.  At these rates, it feels like exploitation.  However my homestay family has gone to considerable expense to build new rooms.  I imagine they would not have done so, if it was not worthwhile financially.

The family consists of the 38 year old dad, 37 year old mom and three children: girl 20, boy 18, and boy 6.  In her capacity as cook, the poor Mom is lumbered with trying to teach me a little Spanish at every meal.  The rest of the family seem to run some sort of shift system to lighten her load when it comes to having stultifyingly  limited conversations with the stuttering gringo.

2.  Volunteer opportunities at Ninos del Lago Community school

The icing on the cake is that even at its very modest prices, the language school manages to support the nearby Ninos del Lago community school (http://www.ninosdellagosanpedro.org/index.html ) .

Even better, they welcome dilettante would be volunteers like me.  The kids are very patient with my linguistic ability. 

All the inventiveness that Michele brings to Teaching English as a Second Language has proved very useful in keeping the kids engaged during our scheduled Art slot.

 

3.  Misa Miercoles de Ceniza

My homestay hostess very kindly invited me to the Ash Wednesday Mass.  The Mayans are very religious.  Their religious loyalties are split roughly 50/50 between the Roman Catholic church and the very numerous, very beguiling, "happy clappy" Evengelical faiths. 

Given my Roman Catholic upbringing, there was something oddly familiar and comforting about the service despite the exotic location - the interminable length of the service, the crying babies, the kids that could not sit still, and the general air of distraction.

But there were of course differences.  Out of an estimated congregation of 600, I was one of only 5 non Mayans.  Mayans are not the tallest of people.  When I stood up, I had the odd feeling of being on a podium as I looked around.  Some of the mass was said in the local Tz'utujil language.  The adult women covered their heads with their wedding shawls. The  shawls are hand woven and take months to make.
 

 Many of the readings and prayers were read out by teenage girls in bright traditional costumes.  The hymns were sung in a pleasing, measured manner.

 Even if I could understand Spanish, I would not be qualified to judge whether the Catholic church is part of the solution or the problem in these parts.  I will limit myself to two observations:

In today's sermon the priest referenced Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated in 1980 while offering mass in San Salvador, after speaking out against the country's death squads.

The priest mentioned Pope Francis during the service and there
was a huge picture of the pontiff in the church.  I have not taken the time to find out how far the church's position on contraception has moved under Pope Francis.  What I can say is, that if there was one country that would benefit from a favorable stance towards birth control, it would be Guatemala.  According to the "Wings" non profit's website (http://www.wingsguate.org/what-we-do/why-guatemala ) more than 40% of the population is under 15 years old, and indigenous women in Guatemala average 6.2 children each.