My weekly routine features long hours of work each day from Monday through Friday on the Bezaleel farm. While I generally find most of my work enjoyable, I still make time for really fun activities unrelated to the school. One of those activities is riding my bike. I purchased a bicycle back in February and have been enjoying riding around the area and the freedom of travel that a bicycle offers me. Bicycling here in Alta Verapaz is great exercise because it seems like I am always going up a hill or climbing mountains rather. Because of the rigorous course, my machine must be in good repair with quality parts. I am now on my third freewheel since I bought my bike. The 50Q freewheels I had been purchasing just did not hold up to the trials I put them through for more than a month. Most bicyclists here walk their bikes up hills, which I attributed to physical unfitness or the lack of knowing how to downshift gears properly. Now I am beginning to wonder if people walk their bicycles up hills to protect their freewheels! I have now purchased a 150Q freewheel and it his holding up much better.
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| Climbing the mountains of Alta Verapaz. |
My free time between classes each monring has allowed me to begin a new hobby. Learning how to use a sling accurately has been an interest of mine for years. This past April, I braided my first sling. My accuracy has been improving over the past eight weeks of practice. I am now able to group my shots within a 3 foot circle at 20 yards. I am hoping to achieve groupings of 3 inches at 30 yards soon. One of my biggest challenges with accuracy is finding quality ammunition. Round or egg shaped rocks 1.5-2 inches in diameter are the most aerodynamic for the size of sling I am using. Yet, it is difficult to find rocks meeting those criteria around the school. I am planning some biking expeditions to find creeks with rounded stones.
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| My sling and stones |
My host family provides most of my meals and I am barely expected to lift a finger to help, though I do occasionally help shell corn and beans. Nonetheless, I miss rustling up food in the kitchen. Galen and Phyllis permit me to relieve my pent-up passion to cook when I visit them on Thursday evenings. The other week I used some of the vegetables I grew to make a colorful and tasty stir-fry.
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| The stir-fry. How many vegetables can you identify? |
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| Steamed Amaranth is very good. |
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| Traditional Guatemalan cheese and toasted sesame seeds added the finishing touch. |
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| Yum! |
When I am finished with a day of work, I usually can relax in my room by napping, practicing my guitar, pencil sketching or reading a good book. Usually, because I never know what ticks Tyson (Alfredo Jr.) or Ingri are going to play on me. They receive much amusement by hiding in my room to scare me when I return, stealing my water bottle with the hope that I will chase them to retrieve it or sticking their fingers on my guitar strings to mute the sound while I am practicing (they seem to like the muted sound whereas I prefer clear notes). While they are annoying at times, I do enjoy having them around (most of the time) and cannot imagine the house without them, then again, I guess it would be a lot quieter!
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| A sketch of my favorite instrument here in Guatemala. |
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| Tyson likes pretending to play the guitar, but is unwilling to commit to regular practice. |
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| Ingri, Stefan and Tyson |
