The job site

I have said it before, this is such a beautiful place. You are on the side of a valley, with 360 degree views, volcanoes in every direction and nothing but sky all around. It's absolutely spectacular!! 

Today was probably the hardest physical labour day I have had since I have been here. We were making adobe eco-bricks out of mud and pine needles. They will eventually be the wall that surrounds the houses and keeps the children safe. All day, slumped over with a large hoe packing mud into a wheel barrow, then taking the wheel barrow over the workers with the mold. Then using the hoe to drop mud into each mold. One by one. My body forgot what its like to my on a shovel all day! Each shovel full of mud must have weighed between 5-10 lbs. Im so very tired but wow, did the work feel good. It's amazing how hard work doesn't feel so difficult when it's for such a great cause!! But again, I sat in awe of these workers. All day, every day, they work this hard. I was watching these small, skinny mayan men, hour after hour, mixing the mud like an art. It's grueling work, and they are so strong, that they made each shovel of mud look like feathers. They had such a way of doing it, that each swing was meticulous. It took me about an hour to even start to use my shovel like they could. I had a great day though!! At points, I could hear them "something something la gringa". How I wish I could have understood what they were saying! They were all smiles with me all day so I am going to guess is was all good. I would like to think that I was a bit of an ambassador for women today. I was right there beside them, swinging my shovel all day. By the end of the day, by biceps were shaking and my back muscles aching but I feel like I accomplished so much!! It was good to see the guys slowing down by 2:30. I was glad I wasn't the only one getting tired.   :)

Now, I will head off the local coffee shop, have a tasty latte ( $2) and play a little blokus with the barista. 

I forgot to give you a puppy update

So Jenga has come so far. She goes out of her way to come say hi, regularly sniff's my face and lets me pet her back now. Sometimes I can't move to quickly still, but when I came in the house after my walk, she let me give her a good two handed belly/back rub. tika gets super excited when I come back. She actually slept in my room last night, which she hadn't done the first night without her people. And of course, Bindi. What a little cuddle bum! She spent the majority of the night in my arms, snuggled up tightly in my neck. They are all such sweet dogs and I know I will miss them tons when I leave!

este manana (im sure I used the wrong word for "this" lol)

Good morning. This morning I decided to take my morning walk and dedicate it too all the puppies I see on the road. I walked around taking pictures of all the street dogs. Its so sad to watch them cower and quickly move away from every time I pulled out my camera because they are so used to having rocks, etc thrown at them. This morning I even saw two children throw rocks at two dogs minding there own business soaking up some of the sunshine. Just another day in a Guatemalan street dogs life. The locals look at me so funny when I take pictures of the dogs. They just don't get it. lol

It is also Sunday which means market day! I wanted to go get some pictures of the market. The Guatemalan people are all very short so I get laughed at regularly as I walk through getting close-lined by ropes, bags, belts, you name it. Everyone walks under with no problem, but every so often I'll hit my head pretty good and I hear a couple chuckles out of the near by locals. They all like to tell me "muy alto" which means very tall. I get such a kick out of how often I get told that down here. I'm 5'8!!! I don't consider myself tall at all but I feel like a giant walking through the market, with most tarps strung up at height of about 5'5.

As I walked to the market I had the usual passer by's wish me good days. but one gentleman stuck out. He had a bit of a limp and I couldn't tell if he was drunk or not. As I got closer, I could see he looked as if he was in his late fifties, early sixties. Dirty some what disheveled clothes. His face hardened with a life of hard work and sun. In Canada, this guy would have made me nervous and I probably would have crossed the street. I watched him with caution and kept an eye on him. As we got near each other, I finally decided to smile. When he looked up and caught the warm look on my face, his hardened features instantly warmed up and his tired eyes became filled with an almost youthful exuberance. "Buenos Diaz" he said with such an enthusiastic tone of voice. I was instantly reminded how hardened North America has made me. Here I was, ready to just walk right by, and possibly even cross the street, when all I needed to do was smile. It was this moment that it really hit me how isolated we make ourselves in North America. I frequently catch myself walking down the street here, head down or unconsciously avoiding eye contact, focused on getting to my destination but missing everything in between! We have built habits that create a bubble for our own individual lives and as a result, we miss so much around us.

I spent two hours sitting on a step in the square of Tecpan, just watching the daily lives take place in front of me. Children and their mothers, 3 generations of cowboys, the smallest maybe 6 years old, all dressed in jeans and identical white cowboy hats. Small boys working shining shoes, their clothes beaten but their eyes still innocent. One young boy, clearly tired from working in the sun all day sat down beside me. He had a shoe that had completely split open, his toes exposed, dirty from head to toe, but when he smiled at me, it was as if none of that mattered. Was he aware of my predetermined North American notions? Did he see himself the same way your average person back home would see him? Full of pity and an idea that he is not of the class North Americans are. Does he feel less of a child because he works all day and after schools, to help his family put food on the table? We come down here with these ideas, many of us full of compassionate, yet so ingrained with our stereotypes. Why can we not look at poor children back home through the same pair of eyes?

As I continued to watch the world go on around me, another young boy sat down beside me. He had his shoe shining kit and it looked as if he wanted to convince me to let him "shine" my white running shoes. He would look at his kit, then at my shoes, then back at his kit just to look at my shoes again. He noticed the camera in my hand and he so wanted to have a look. He gave himself an opportunity to take a break and talk to the "gringa". He eventually got bored and continued on his way. Motorcycles passed with small children riding between their dads arms, some times 3 or 4 people piled on weaving in and out of traffic. I even saw a police motorcycle pass with two officers on it. Women in traditional clothes carrying heavy loads on their heads. Their children in training following close behind. Children playing in the street with whatever they could find. One child played for over an hour with a green plastic milk crate, pulling it behind him with nothing but a rope. Heaven forbid he ever discovers "game station" (the guatemalan equivalent to playstation). You couples walking hand in hand, enamored with their new found feelings. Horses, old style buggies being pulled my hand, collectivo trucks packed with at least 30 people. Local cell phone company trucks with music blaring from their speakers attached to the roofs. Tuk-tuks (local taxi's that are essentially identical to a golf cart but smaller) whipping in and out of people and other vehicles. I watched this very young, (no more than 2 years old) girl playing with her older sister as mom manned the kiosk she was running. She was so adorable dressed in traditional clothes and a toque on her head. I think her feet were still learning how to keep her body upright, because she kept wobbling as she ran after her sister. Chicken buses, men carrying large bags on their backs and the ice cream man's obnoxious bell 3 feet from where I sat. It was one of the best afternoons I've had yet!

Update

Hello everyone. Its been a week and a half so I'll give you an update on my trip.

After the tour ended I stayed in Antigua and studying spanish for a week. It was fun and I would like to have a month of nothing but spanish everyday. I love Antigua, but once everyone left, I did feel a little limited on what I could do. There only so many streets to walk down and I couldn't be out by myself after 7 or 8. I loved my teacher though and I plan on taking more lessons with her in the future. Its amazing how quickly it leaves you though.

I have been in Tecpan for the last week volunteering with project somos. The houses are coming along so quickly! All the volunteers and the project founders area great. I've really enjoyed getting to know everyone! I've been doing a little of everything. Carpentry help, glass work, gardening stuff. All of it has been so fun. The workers are great and its awesome getting my daily dog fix both on the land and in the volunteer house. The dogs are so sweet here! And of course there was the soccer game. For those of you who are familiar with the field, it is now twice as big!!! You don't realize your at 7500ft until you try running. But I had a great time. The field reminds me of apex. (apex is a ski hill in bc that holds hockey tournaments every year. The ice is really bad and it can be pretty hard to skate on) The field here is uneven, fully of obstacles like hills, rocks and dirt piles. I think it evens the playing field quite a bit, just like apex! At least this time it works in my favor!!!! lol The volunteer house is very much like living with your family Everyone gets there turn on lunch, dinners and clean up. The town here is small but at least there is a great coffee shop run by such a friendly family. The kids are so cute. They are really trying to learn english so they like to show off their sentences some times. I love going there some times in the evening and next week Im going to start playing board games with them. Now if only I can teach them that we canadians need our coffee before 3pm!!

I miss my little man so much. Dad, I hope you are taking good care of him!! Tell him I love him and give him a good ear scratch from me!! Heather and Greg's dogs are a wonderful temporary replacement for me though. Tika is a corgi shephard x who is as sharp as a tack! I like to brag about how smart cosmo is, but I think Tika may take him in this department. Jenga is the street dog they rescued and Bindi is one of her pups. Bindi looks sooooo much like cosmo when he was a puppy! Though Bindi has a bit of a diva attitude. I think she thinks she owns the place! Jenga has taken some time to warm up to me though we have made HUGE strides the last few days. Unfortunately dogs aren't respected or treated well here so she is a little apprehensive around new people. She's been hanging around me a lot more and even lets me pet her now. This morning I was pretty convinced she contemplated even playing with me, but changed her mind at the last second. I think Bindi and I are going to be a little bonded by the time I leave which will suck, because then I'll just be missing a dog when Im home too! :(

My weekend will be spent studying spanish and drinking lattes while watching my patriots KICK SOME GIANT BUTT!!! 10 seasons as a starter, 5 super bowl appearances, 3 wins! One more is being added tomorrow!!

I really do truly love this place and I get asked regularly by locals why. "They say Canada is the best place in the world." It's hard to explain, particularly without the ability to articulate, however this country is something special. Everyone I have ever talked to comes back saying it was amazing. Im not sure there are even words in English I could use to truly let you understand. It is a diverse, beautiful country where culture runs deep. They have held on to 23 (?) mayan dialects and many of the mayans speak spanish as a second language. In every community, you see the women wearing vibrate colours on their traditional mayan clothing and even the occasional man. Each community has their own designs and colors that set them apart. Even though it hard to look at the positives of another culture coming in and overtaking, the spanish architecture is beautiful. The colours on the streets of antigua is spectacular. And of course the people. They are so warm and friendly, and it doesn't seem to matter where you go, some will always smile and say hello. It's amazing how good a simple little smile can feel. Even on the job site, as we work in the shed by the road, people walking by never hesitate to make eye contact and wave, often accompanied by a "buenos.. diaz/tardes". The children here are beautiful! Their HUGE gentle brown eyes, perfect smiles and innocent laughter will melt your heart!! Its absolutely adorable to see a little 4 or 5 year girl dressed up in traditional mayan clothes looking identical to her mother as they walk down the street!

The markets here are definitely a sight! Booths and people everywhere and dogs hoping they finally getting an opportunity to eat. Fruit, clothes, dishes, you name it, its here. After they are done, they throw all their garbage into the streets and the dogs have about an hour to feast. I once saw a mound of garbage about 3 ft high with apx 15 dogs gorging themselves. Thursday I saw the cutest small little black dog running with a massive bag of who knows what. There was no stopping this guy! He looked like he'd just won the lottery! After everyone has taken down their stands, it seems as though the garbage just disappears. It literally takes about an hour and the streets are empty again, no sign of the garbage, and its business as usual.

As I write this, I just had a little break through with Jenga. She nosed my face for the first time and let me pet her with two hands. I'm winning her over!!!

I had a truly latin american experience yesterday, though I can't share because my mother reads this. She'd kill me!! But I had to do it once and it was a blast!! I understand why Cosmo loves it so much!

Well, here is my trip for the last couple weeks