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.
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