En la cocina con Lola

Cost of Living

And now, some numbers regarding the cost of living here in San Pedro:

Banana - $.06
Avocado or large carrot - $.13
Pen - $.20
Mango - $.22
A light, pilsner-style beer - $.50 - $.65
Watermelon, papaya, or a pound of strawberries - $.66
French-pressed cup of locally grown organic coffee - $.66
Haircut (male) - $.79
Haircut (female) - $2.63
One hour of one-on-one Spanish instruction - $4.50
Daily wage of a coffee-picker - $6.58
Small bottle of contact lens solution - $15.75 (demand is low because people do not stare at devices and small text all day)

Links to videos

It takes too long to upload these directly to blogger...so you get links instead.

Videos of the lake from Laguna Lodge.
¡Muchos gracias Phil and Toni!
http://db.tt/gvpCW20d
http://db.tt/6SkeChLC

This is a quick video of a small part of the procession we watched with Javier on our first Friday in San Pedro. Lola, Lolita and Magda participate in the processions that are every friday evening during lent (Cuaresma)... More of these to come because Javier is working on the large ornate floats for Holy Week (Semana Santa).

http://db.tt/vtf7JUQR

Catching up and Volcan San Pedro

The past few weeks

Water and Electricity

At home, I take these for granted...  The people in the village of San Pedro receive water 3 days a week (Tuesday, Friday and Saturday), but only if there is electricity.  Most households have one to two water tanks on the roof for use between water days. The week before last we were without electricity for several days and these several days were around one of the critical water days.  Therefore water was rationed and airplane baths were required for about 5 days. (So, glad I decided to bring dry shampoo).  According to Javier power outages are frequent and often extended for up to a week during rainy season (which begins in May).  Some of the restaurants in "Gringolandia" have generators, but most of the local stores do not and they will loose their refrigerated items very quickly.  Fortunately, the family functions very well without electricity.  Lola prepares most meals on a wood burning stove, candles are always at the ready, and the climate here is perfect (no need for heat, fans or AC).

Volcano San Pedro

Sunday February 10th, we met up with a guide at 5:45 in the morning to begin our ascent up the San Pedro Volcano.  Unfortunately, it was a little hazy.... but it was still worth the hike!

From the top of the San Pedro volcano we could clearly see the volcanoes Atitlan and Toliman... and even further in the distance, a volcano in Antigua

Photos from around the village of San Pedro

 

These town criers walk the streets surrounding San Pedro informing the residents of important events.  On this day they were telling the residents when and where they could go to apply for free fertilizer for their fields.  They also inform the residents of scheduled power outages...

BIG week!

February 25th - March 3rd

The last week in February was a big week for us... As of Tuesday we officially had a week of school behind us. I can successfully ask how much something costs at the  market, but understanding the response and converting it to dollars quickly in my head  is another story...so I just end up asking how much things cost and then move along. Felipe is doing great...he can put sentences together, understand responses, and is communicating well with the family... We still have a LONG way to go.

Wednesday...BIG day. We woke at 4 am and were out the door at 4:30 to catch the 5 am Chicken bus towards the Indian's nose... Our FIRST  chicken bus experience. It's still dark when we exit the bus and proceed with our quick accent up the mountain. (Thanks Aaron & Kat for the headlamps!!!) Before too long it's a vertical hike...  We make it to the nose in plenty of time for the sunrise. The roosters from the local village were waking the sun...it was a joyous sound ringing up from the valley below. We could also hear the horns from the chicken buses from the surrounding villages as they depart. After the beautiful sunrise we head down the mountain in a different direction; through fields of corn and groves of coffee plants and avocado trees.  Once we reach the village of San Juan we climb aboard a tuktuk... for the FIRST time. We head back to the, house for much needed coffee and breakfast...and more Spanish lessons.

We ascended from the right backside of the face and we returned to the village via the left (down the forehead, across the flat fields, and then down the mountain to the village of San Juan).

Tuesday after class we help Magda and Javier dispose of the weeks compost. The four of us board a tuktuk and head up towards the San Pedro volcano. We dispose of the compost and admire the small coffee field that was passed down through Javier´s family. We then return to the village through more coffee and avocado fields... Felipe is in heaven! On the outskirts of the village we stop to try a local treat... Orange halves seasoned with salt, ground pumpkin seeds and chili.

Men leaving the coffee fields with large bags of coffee.

Sunday we traveled with Javier via boat to Panajachel and from Panajachel we rode in the back of a pick up to the beautiful village of San Antonio.  Here we had lunch with a group of women from Canada that are involved with several not for profit missions in the area.  Their projects range from more efficient and clean burning cooking stoves to education (including Javier´s organization Trek For Kids).  From San Antonio you can see all three of the volcanoes on Lake Atitlan (Volcanoes Atitlan, Tolliman, and San Pedro).

Below are a couple of shots from around town.  We´re very close to the catholic church and everyday we pass through the area and are greeted by the statue of San Pedro and his rooster.  The statue is also a fountain... and in the fountain there are two fish and a crab.  Yes, they have crabs in Lake Atitlan. 

 

Almost everyday after lunch with the family we head down to ¨Gringolandia¨ for coffee and homework.  We found this great cutthrough in the heart of the village.

Andrea (my teacher) took me on a quick fieldtrip to her friends local store. The store was established to preserve the villages art of dying (using natural dyes) yarn and weaving various textiles. A couple of their specialty items included embroidered mayan symbols. This symbol is associated with the exact date of your birth on the Mayan calendar and is said to influence your demeanor... So, of course they looked mine up for me and as it turns out it's the same mayan symbol that is associated with the school (Flor de Maiz).

...and then we return to school.

We arrived at the San Pedro la Laguna and began our search for a place to rest our heads for the evening.  We ended up at Casa Elena on the lake shore (approximately $4 per person per night for a private room with a shared bathroom... in case you were wondering).  After locating a place for the evening we met up with Javier to visit Flor de Maiz Spanish School. The school is located in the heart of San Pedro (for most villages around the lake this entails a short walk up a steep road).  The school is located on the third floor of a home in a residential area.  We decide to begin with 4 hours a day, 20 hours a week... and that we´d start the following morning at 8 am. We also expressed an interest in homestays and it just so happened that a homestay was available with Javier´s family in the same building as the school.  After meeting the gracious family  we knew this situation would work well for us. Javier and Lola are gracious hosts ... and as an added bonus they have two beautiful daughters Lolita (12) and Magda (2).  The following morning we packed up our things from Casa Elena and arrived in Lola´s kitchen at 7am for a delicious breakfast before class beginning class.

A view of the courtyard from the second level (yes, that is another giant poinsettia... they´re everywhere!).

Another view from the 2nd floor.

Philip admires the buena vista from the 2nd floor balcony... you can see a little bit of the orange tree in the courtyard.  Philip knocks them down with a long pole (see picture below) and I attempt to catch them before they bust on the ground... so far I´ve only caught one.  I hope to improve, but Philip´s not holding his breath... the busted oranges still taste the same.

The orange tree and the long pole...

 Our cozy room.

A painting of a Mayan god on the wall in our room.

This is our shower!  It´s great... there´s no hot or cold, you just turn it on and it´s the perfect temperature every time... and it must save a tone of energy!

This is where you´ll find Demiss and Felipe... unless they´ve stopped for a break.

You can find Andrea and I at this table Monday through Friday from 8-12... unless we´re on a little field trip in San Pedro.

This is the view from the school (the 3rd level of la casa).

Another view from our classroom.  This is a shot of the Indians nose.  In our next post, we´ll share the pictures from our journey to the top of the nose for a beautiful sunrise and view of the lake.

This is a Mayan picture... we hope to learn a little more about it in the future.

If we´re not in class, you can find us studying at one of the cafe´s down in gringolandia... Cafe Atitlan has become on of our favorites.

Javier took us on a hike out of the village and through a coffee plantation for some great views of San Juan and San Pedro.

Coffee grows abundantly on the bases of the volcanoes in the area and in their surrounding foothills, and many locals earn their living picking it.  Most of the coffee is shade-grown, under avocado trees....not a bad combination at all.  Avocadoes are about 15 cents each in the markets, or you can just find them yourself...

A coffee processing plant.  The "first skin" is removed (in a process similar to grape stomping at wineries in the past), then the beans are set out to dry in the sun for a week or two.  The first skins are used as fertilizer.

San Pedro

San Pedro from a little further up.

San Juan and the Indian´s nose (it´s a profile of the Indian´s face).

Ahhhh.... Sunday.... a little reading by the lake after an exhausting 3 days of Spanish School.

Hasta luego!