Cacao Fest: What is the Meaning of Life? All Evidence to Date Suggest it's Chocolate. -Anonymous

Toledo hosts this wonderful celebration of all things cacao called, appropriately: Cacao Fest. Christine managed to get around 12 or so Peace Corps Volunteers to well...volunteer Friday and Saturday. There was a potential for a west side story dance off between all the volunteers in the Ketchi Po'ots (shirts) and the tiny Maya women in their mopan shirts. We were each huddled in our own semi-circles, eyeing each other. The evening was winding down and the flute man was playing the theme to titanic...I was hoping we would unleash our sweet moves, and either school or get schooled but alas I had to go back to work. It was a wine and cheese fest on the roof of UB (University of Belize). The only beverage available to drink was wine until around 9:20. We were paid in chocolate.


Sunday was an all day fest at Lubaantun. The chunk of cleared jungle intended for a parking lot at the entrance was just a huge mud puddle. The rain held off and people packed onto the ruins to enjoy the Monkey dance and a performance by the 3 kings. The Monkey dance depicted both max (spider monkeys) and batz (howler monkeys). I decided that day that Morpheus' new nick name is batz, the family agreed. The American Ambassador was there along with a British couple honeymooning who loved the 75 euro cent beers.

Did I mention it is the rainy season?

I finally got my Maya ear rings. EVERYONE comments. The standard six boys say, "Miss you fashion." Mrs. Cecilia has told me I am beautiful now every morning since and Tanisha told me, "Kevina your kind now. You know like...Indian. The Indian kind." A mopan woman and I had a little ketchi conversation and then I got to shake the hand of her grandbaby Kevin...who was 2 months.

There was a free fair in the park on Saturday. There was a lady, I will not name names or organizations but she did say...in the blistering heat, "If you're helping, you should be standing." I worked the rock painting station. Children had to sign their name then they were given 5 cacao beans to go 'spend' on face painting, story telling, puppet making, etc.

Cacao:
An evergreen tropical American tree (Theobroma cacao) having leathery, ellipsoid, ten-ribbed fruits borne on the trunks and older branches. Also called chocolate tree.
The seed of this plant, used in making chocolate, cocoa, and cocoa butter. Also called cacao bean, cocoa bean.

Cacao Uk...for 50 cents.

Water cooler cups of chocolate...good pay for a good day's work.

http://www.toledochocolate.com/

Guatemala...Heaven?

Our old sign...we just got a huge shiny one here and at our junction.
I am a little sad to see this rusted familiar sign go.

"Il'ock' Sha'an!"(Look at the old lady):
Lilly and her friend Kathleen came to visit us and our ruins. We made pizza and Brendon climbed in through the window because he was to shy to move the gate. He crawled in and stood behind me whispering about 'the one in the green shirt.' When Lilly came back in from bathing and unwrapped her hair from her towel Brendon started laughing. "Il'ock' sha'an miss!" -look at the old lady miss he repeated between giggle fests to me. I was confused and asked him why he was calling Lilly (3 years younger than myself) an old lady. He came over and whispered that "saq ismal" white hair...she is blond. The kids came over from Ofelia's house (it was Fermin's birthday) with rice and stewed chicken for us. They were afraid to walk back in the dark so Lilly, Kathleen and I set off.

The kids take us through the village way. The village way is walking through people's yards and right by their windows (Mr. Cal was pretty shocked to look up from his family supper and see me with two strange white people and 5 kids walking past his window). When we got close dogs came out of nowhere, like 5 of them, and the kids instinctively surrounded us while shooing them off in ketchi, "xik zti' " -go dog! We were welcomed in where the family was watching a Nigerian movie (very popular low budget dramas like telenovelas). We were caught up quickly; the three sisters don't know their four sister is actually their niece who was kidnapped by their parents from their dying aunt.

Mr. Santiago chuckled and then shared the story of poor Greg. Apparently Greg was being good and trying to learn some ketchi at school. He came home one day and, with a huge smile on his face, said a very offensive sentence in perfect ketchi. Mr. Santiago said Ofelia was shocked to hear such things come from his mouth. They wouldn't tell him what he said. Mr. Santiago said he shouldn't trust those rude boys from Standard 6...everyone was laughing so hard they had to turn up the telenovela. Around this time Greg made it over, they all had another good laugh about it. We stayed until the sisters plotted to set up their unknown sister and we walked back with Lynette. I asked her what it was Greg said, Greg told me he was trying to say 'I am going to go bathe.' She laughed. "He said, in a rude way, lets go...um..." If it wasn't so dark and she wasn't Maya I might have seen her blush. "Make sex." she concludes. WHAT! Poor Greg. Time to pack for Guatemala!!!

Green Guatemala: The Promise Land

16 adults in a 14 seat passenger van

Quetzales 3.65- 1BZE or 7.85- 1 USD

From my two short days...36 hours I have fallen in love with this country. Everything is so cheap...I mean their asking price is 30% cheaper than my bargain price in Belize and THEN they don't bat an eye when you take it down another 5-10 Quetzales!! We went to Rio Dulce where we ate lunch on a restaurant on the lake. Fancy. Ice cream, appetizers for free, and paper towels.

Greg with a ketchup packet...a ketchup packet! Melissa, Ruby, and Raquel.

Then we packed back in the van to drive to El Estor. My new favorite place in the world. It is a large ketchi town. ALL the women and girls wear the ketchi skirts and shirts and also they have a crochet over shirt shall like thing they wear. Shops are on every corner. Language choices: ketchi or Spanish. After a few attempts where Greg informed me I am asking "When?" not 'How much' I gave up on the Spanish and just went to ketchi shops. Success... 'Na qwa nim uuk.' -I want big skirt. I was blown away by Greg's Spanish, I stared in disbelief as he responded and spoke when I picked out only one or two words. Greg will tell you he can speak it, but not understand it. And speak it he does. He later told me he felt the same about my Ketchi. Casalettos; available languages...3.

Tiny girl in the market, for sale? The beauty of bags...I had to have them; water, cola, OJ, Downy, and bleach!

Guatemala has more pastures and horses. They have this smooth lovely road, you might have heard of it: the Pan American Highway. I was too awestruck to think to take a picture, my apologies. There is also not a monopoly on every industry hence- Pepsi. Dad I don't know how you drink that stuff. After not drinking soda for 5 years, then only drinking coke here in Belize, I've been branded...bad.

I felt so guilty...cheating on my brand.

Guatemalans love tiny vehicles.

Greg's teachers were hilarious. The rides were filled with constant teasing and banter. They were all so 'jokey' my cheeks hurt. There were 15 of us total that went. Surprisingly there were no fights but it was hard to get everyone in one location. Embarrassingly there were two 'street meetings' where everyone stared at the Belizeans hashing out their money and where to go next, and how much they should get back from the kitty. But we recovered quickly with a game plan and went with the flow for the most part. Boat tour of the lake and a 'family dinner' at our nice hotel for 24 Belize (TV, Air, and a shower shocker!)!!!!

Longest bridge in all of Central America


Fish market

Most of Greg's teachers...minus Teacher James who was on our row.

Castillo de San Felipe

All showered up talking about our crazy day.

Mother's Day decorations in Guatemala and MY LOOOOOOTTTTT!!!

"Here's Some Hair and an ORS"

Saturnina gave me my first lesson on child rearing in Belize:
1. Do not throw babies up and down because it will make 'their water drop' i.e. their soft spot sink.
2. Do not tickle their feet they will be rude.
3. Do not kiss their hands or neck...they will have a stutter.
4. If you frighten a child they will get sick.
5. The remedy: get a piece of hair from the offender, burned with the child breathing in the hair smoke. If no hair can be found rinse the shoes of the offender and pour the water over babies head.

All this was explained to my on my back veranda as she held a naked Seaford. Saturnina told me she was ashamed to ask for some of Greg's hair when Sheldon got sick so she rinsed his shoes with water and poured it over his head...he got better. Then she told me Ofelia took some of the hair in the yard from Greg's haircut for Hermin but was afraid to ask for mine (all the kids have been getting sick). I told her that I would gladly give a little piece of my hair. Saturnina, throughout our conversation, kept saying, "it's just what we believe." I felt it was important to validate that you should never be ashamed of what you believe in...while also saying how when babies are dehydrated their eyes and soft spot will sink in too. Saturnina said that the doctor gave them pedialite. They are using a combination of tradition and modern medicine. The fact that Saturnina could tell me these things, and both of us not judging the other it felt really good. I asked for another 'lesson' soon.

The next morning, after hearing Hermin cry all night, I went over to their cocine and handed them an ORS package and a piece of my hair. They were all laughing but, Ofelia looked me in the eye and said, "Tanks Keveen." Hermin was better later that day...go figure:)

Mr. Santiago got sick a few days later...there have been lots of cases of illness in the village. Andres said it is because they haven't cleaned the water tower in a while. The water board is supposed to clean it inside and out every 3 months. I guess I should have been brushing my teeth with the filtered water because when the family gets sick...so do I. Greg told them all that I was sick and to keep an eye on me. This prompted most of them to come stare at me from the door. On one of my trips back from the latrine Ms. Cecilia taught me how to say my stomach hurts in ketchi and 'loose stool.' She laughed so hard when I tried to say my stomach was hurting...so I just said "ra in'chool" (my spirit is not well) and she gave me a smile and went back to washing the walkway. Mr. Santiago came to the door and gave me an ORS (oral re hydration salts) package and said it really helped him when he was sick. I was so excited that he used it, so to show that indeed ORS are the best thing for dehydration I mixed it right there and started drinking it. Sheldon and Margarita quietly played on the floor, Brendon said he doesn't like sick kevina.

When I got back from my medical stay at the hospital Brendon asked if I got an injection (everyone gets an injection for everything). I told him no I got two kinds of pills. He paused, looked confused, then said, "Oh you mean the pink pink? I like that." AKA amoxicillian.