Tz'ibaal: Nakat tinra

Let me try and paint a picture for you of the community of Tz'ibaal.

Allie and I walk up the mountain road into the community, it's about a 40 minute walk from Campur. Lots of families have homes on the side of the main road and all that do come out to greet us as we walk by, "Allison! Alejandra!" are the only words we understand as most members of the community only speak Q'ekchi, their Mayan language. But we gather from their gestures that they are all offering to have us stay at their house. We respond in Spanish and more gestures that we are going to la cancha (community centre worksite) first. The children start following us and by the time we reach la cancha a large portion of the community has gathered to greet us. The boys spot my soccer ball and toss it over, starting a game while Allie talks logistics with the community leader, Alfonso. Soon Allie gestures me over and explains that the community is so excited to host as they had been expecting the entire new OG crew who were currently all sick in the hospital in Coban, and could Allie and I stay in separate homes so that more than one family would get a chance to host someone this evening? Sure, that was fine with us. So picture like 30 community members surrounding you and all offering for you to stay at their house and now you are supposed to pick. Allie and I looked at each other and explained to Alfonso that we couldn't possibly pick, so he decided that Allie would go with him and his family and I would go with Estella.

Estella is an incredible woman. She speaks Spanish fluently which is rare for women in this community and she explains to me with great pride that it is because she went to school all the way up to Grade 6. A lot of the older children also speak Spanish as they learn it at school and the men in the community also pick it up as they often have to leave the community to find additional work when crops are bad. Estella has three children, Francisco Nicodemo (Memo) who is 12, Alex, who is also twelve and yet they are not twins (?) and Andrea who is 3. As soon as I drop my pack on the floor Andrea slips her hand into mine and we are instantly friends. She natters away in Q'ekchi and I respond in Spanish of which she understands a little. She loves to play with all of my things and stands beside me bed in the morning until I wake up and continues to watch me as I get dressed and wash and walk down to the outhouse. There is no such thing as personal space here. But I don't mind my shadow. Whenever I return to the house she runs out to meet me and jumps into my arms. She hides in my sleeping bag and waits for me to tickle her. She screams with laughter when I react in shock to the hen roosting on my sleeping bag after breakfast one morning and promptly scoops it up and runs it outside. She makes up her own songs consisting of one word, "Guatemalteco." It's a catchy tune and Estella tells her to change the word from Guatemalan to Canada because I'm from Canada. Andrea likes this idea and continues with the same melody, "Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada."

Two days later Robin, the new OG trip leader who had been recovering in the hospital, arrived in a taxi which drove past the window of our house. This was the second OG visit of the summer so the community already knew and loved Robin. Francisco looked out the window, shouted "Robin!" dropped his tortilla and ran out the door. Alex, shoved his tortilla in his mouth and followed suit. Estella laughed and said, "We will wait here." All week Estella kept asking if Robin would kill a turkey with her for dinner. Robin, being the brave girl she is agreed, and on Wednesday afternoon Estella had a turkey delivered from Campur. She brought it into the kitchen where it walked around, looking a bit confused only to be scooped up and snuggled by Andrea. Robin started to have second thoughts about killing this animal that Andrea seemed to be so fond of. But Estella and the two of us continued to make jokes about naming the bird "Supper" or "Breakfast" and telling the bird to enjoy his last day on earth. When the time came Robin picked up the machete and did the job, it was fascinating to watch how fast Estella took that bird apart, using a banana leaf as a cutting board. Killing a bird, or several in this case, is a big deal. Meat is expensive, and not enjoyed often unless it is a special occasion, in this case, having guests in the home warrants a special feast. So the next morning, her mother and mother in law and sister and niece were all over at like 4am to help prepare the breakfast feast. When you have food you share it, hence the extra guests, not to mention of few OG crew members who found their way to our house that morning and whom Estella was more than happy to feed.

My host mom from two years ago, Carolina, had also been Allie's host mom last year and really wanted to host us both again for supper. So Allie and I agreed and the next day I saw her walking home with a hen under her arm. She broke into a huge smile when she saw me and showed off the hen she just bought which was to be for Allie and I when we came for supper to her house. Supper ended up not working so we ended up having two turkey/chicken soup breakfasts in a row. These women are incredible hosts. Giving so generously of what they have, going out of their way to make our stay an unforgettable experience, every time. Normally, there is always a bowl of hot salsa on the table with every meal. There was one meal when it was not there so I asked Estella if she had any salsa, 10 minutes later Francisco came back out of breath with salsa in his hands and change for his mom as she had sent him out to buy it for me the minute I had asked for it. Now who can say that they have done the same for one of their house guests?

I get asked all the time here, "When will you come back to Tz'ibaal?" and I know, I just know that it will happen. I have no idea when, but I have to come back, the love I have felt from this community is unlike anything else I have ever experienced. Nakat tinra means "I love you" in Q'ekchi. That's how I feel about Tz'ibaal.

TIG

All Operation Groundswell Guatemala alumni are well familiar with the saying TIG (This is Guatemala) which basically refers to the fact that in Guatemala, things do not tend to run as smoothly or as predictably as we are used to back home in Canada or the U.S. For example, one Friday morning Allie and I set out for the day, it being Allie's first day back in Guatemala she had to take out cash. What should have taken 5 minutes ended up taking over two hours as the ATMs did not accept her card and we had to wait in line at the bank and then they gave her the wrong amount and it was just a huge ordeal, TIG. So we finally hopped on a chicken bus around noon to Guate after being warned by the ladies at the hostel to only take the red taxis with the phone number on the side and not to ask for directions because then people would think we were lost and take advantage of us.

So we found the taxi and got the Monja Blonca bus station where the two of us and one local paid our fees and boarded. I went to sit by Allie and the driver says, "No, you can't sit by the windows."  Ok, so we are both sitting in aisle seats at the back of the bus and when we are about to pull into another bus station the driver says, "Can you just hide please?" So Allie and I look at each other with TIG faces on and duck behind our seats along with the local guy who also looks amused. After the bus comes to a stop we sit up and the local explains to us that the bus is not supposed to pick up passengers from the terminal where we were and that coming into this terminal they could be fined which is why they asked us to hide. Makes sense, again, only in Guatemala.

This is how we roll...hiding on a bus while travelling through Guate.

We hop off the bus upon reaching the first of our destinations knowing that now we need to catch a micro to take us all the way to our hotel. While walking up the road we come across several ladies selling tortillas and grilled corn by the roadside and we ask them where to catch our transportation, and they point across the road to a micro that is actually full. For those that are unfamiliar with Guatemalan transportation-chicken buses, micros, pick up trucks-none of these are ever full, even when I was riding in a micro (which is essentially a 15 passenger van with extra seats) with at least 32 people inside, we still stopped to pick up more passengers. But this one had people inside, on top, and hanging out the doors. There was no way that Allie and I were getting on with all our backpacks.
So we turned around and asked when the next one would come. The ladies told us that was the last one, so we said, "Oh well, if we just start walking up the road maybe we can catch a pick up going in the same direction?" The ladies unanimously respond with a firm "No, it's too dangerous, it's after 5:00pm, it will be dark within the hour, the road is not safe, you have to go back to Salema to find a hotel, try again tomorrow during the day." Well, thank-you ladies, I'm glad you are looking out the naïve Gringas.

So we hopped on a chicken bus with standing room only and headed into a city where I'm sure Allie and I were the only tourists and checked into a hotel as there were no hostels around and after eating the most delicious burritos of all time headed to bed around 8:30 after an exhausting day. But just as I turned out the lights a marching band started blasting music right outside our window and continued to march around the block for the next hour, it was so loud and ridiculous that all I could do was laugh and say TIG.

But to be completely honest, I was so happy all day, to be in this country, to be travelling this way with my OG pal. TIG is a part of travelling in Guatemala, I had missed it, it felt good to be back.

Lessons Learned

First Lesson: There are Good Samaratans everywhere in the world
The first day of travel I left my passport in a shop in the Toronto airport. Someone turned it into my gate number and the flight attendant called me over to return it to me. The same day we arrived in Monteverde and did not know where our hostel was, when we asked around at the bus station, a man who runs a different hostel offered to walk with us and show us the way. In Leon, we got lost on our way to the bus station and a man on a bicycle hopped off and walked with us not only to the bus station but the the exact bus that we needed to take. This morning again, in Antigua, someone took time out of their day to walk with me to find a store that would change the phone chip in my card. And in Esteli, when I got really sick with a high fever and did not have the energy to go get food, the guy who ran the hostel offered to go get it for me. I hope that I can show the same amount of kindness to a stranger in need.

Second Lesson: Amazing experiences aren't as amazing without the right people
I went on a Canyon tour in Somoto, Nicaragua. I hiked through fields and around some rocks until jumping into a river surrounded by huge canyon walls and floated downstream. It was beautiful and yet it was missing something, I kept thinking, how fun would this be with all my best friends? The day before I had been on the internet looking at pictures of my friends attending the Color me Rad event in Winnipeg and seeing how much fun they were having together. The thing about my friends is that it doesn't matter what we are doing, whether enjoying some grand adventure, being stranded in a snow storm, or just sitting on the couch in a living room, it always seems exciting and fun because that's how my friends are. Sometimes we think we need a grand adventure to enjoy life but I think that all we need is the right people and all of life feels like a grand adventure. This is my way of saying, even though I get to do some pretty cool things, I still value the time I get to spend with my friends even more, and I miss you guys.  

Third Lesson: Sometimes unmarked taxis are legit

Fourth Lesson: Learning to surf in El Tunco is rather difficult and a beach full of rocks should be your first clue of how the day is going to go.

Fifth Lesson: Sometimes good friends are easy to find
On the five hour shuttle ride from El Tunco to Antigua, three strangers shared conversation the entire way, covering topics of religion, politics, education, relationships, and travel. They found a hostel together, ate supper together, gave each other travel advice, and wished each other well with intentions of finding each other on Facebook. These are the unplanned moments that I love about traveling.