El tiempo todo lo cura

The second semester is completed and while the students are away on a weeklong break, I have time to think back on the past semester.

Below are some of the events that have taken place over the past four weeks:

We purchased 200 Sweet Gum seedlings and did a reforestation project on a steep Northern slope at the school.  I am hoping that the leaf-cutter ants will allow the trees to become established.

Grow little tree, grow!

The broilers only have 4 weeks left.  Julio began growing green beans wholesale for an exporter and recently used his proceeds to buy 50 broiler chicks and concentrate.  Everyone I know, except me, is anticipating fresh fried chicken.  I am hoping that these birdies get turned into caldo (i.e. soup).

Julio and his chicks.

They are getting bigger.

The pigs are staying fed and clean without any help on my part, which is fine with me.  Julio has a group of students overseeing the pig operation.  They have grown much over the past 4 months on the leftover tortillas and vegetables the students do not eat, which unfortunately is a large quantity of food.

One of the 4 happy hogs at Bezaleel.

In the garden I have been assigning terraces to each grade of students.  They must prepare the ground, plant the crop and care for those vegetables through harvest.  So far it has been going better than in the first semester.  If a terrace is weedy, I know who to blame.  Also, the students are beginning to take pride in their work.  For example, Tercero Basico feels embarrassed if their terraces are weedier than Primero's or Segundo's and this gives them the motivation to clean up theirs.

Primero's carrots.

Segundo's leeks and cilantro.

Tercero's Swiss Chard.

Cuarto's cucumbers.

Quinto's radishes and red beets.

My chili peppers are producing well in the greenhouse, except the dozen plants that were chomped on by a steer one weekend.  So far I have harvested 85 pounds and probably more than that since I cannot weigh the chilies stolen by the students when I am not around.  I am hoping to surpass my goal of 100 pounds for the entire harvest.

Roberto and Jose from Tercero helping me with the first chili picking.

During the break I have had time to make some collinear hoes for my vegetable plots.  The large, clunky hoes available here are not conducive for cultivating raised vegetable beds and while, machetes are versatile tools, they do not do a great job cultivating and my back gets tired bending over all the time.  I began with an idea in my head, angle iron, rebar and a stick welder to create my own version of a collinear hoe.  So far it works quite well.

Cultivating the beds is much easier with this beauty.

I achieved one of my goals for this year 3 weeks ago: seeing the Resplendent Quetzal (the national bird of Guatemala).  Following the advice of fellow birders here, I rose at 3am one Sunday morning and caught the Monja Blanca bus to the biotopo, 2 hours from Chamelco.  There is a small restaurant with a wildlife preserve there that the Quetzal frequents (the Quetzal comes to the wildlife preserve, not the restaurant). Sure enough, at 6am I saw the male Quetzal for the first time and watched him for over an hour.  I even was able to see the female.  I am pleased to have seen this beautiful bird before leaving Guatemala.

The picture may be blurry, but my memory of the bird is not!

It was time to renew my visa again, so last week I journeyed Northeast to Belize.  I spent the week working on Allen and Tina Reimer's farm in Spanish Lookout, one of the Mennonite communities in Belize.  The Reimers raise laying hens and broilers as well as field crops, such as corn, rice, soybeans, peas and dry beans.  I enjoyed my time with the Reimers and their neighbors working on the farm, eating the best-tasting mangos I have ever eaten in my life, and singing familiar and new hymns in four-part harmony; it was the most beautiful singing I have heard all year in Central America!

The entrance to Spanish Lookout. 

Planting rice with Rick and Jason.

"Tomi" the orphaned duckling that made her home at the Siquics has now grown into a fine young duck.  (I think she is a hen.)  She and her two comrades now inhabit a fenced in enclosure constructed by Albino, Feliza's husband.  This way, the ducks may have more freedom than being tied to a post all day with a short length of nylon twine.  The ducks seem happy enough and I try to make life better for them by donating all my banana peels to their pen.

Three ducks with the typical duck-like personalities of not having a clue what they are doing, but going about and doing it anyway!

Divertirse

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.

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.

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.

The stir-fry.  How many vegetables can you identify?

Steamed Amaranth is very good.

Traditional Guatemalan cheese and toasted sesame seeds added the finishing touch.

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!

A sketch of my favorite instrument here in Guatemala.

Tyson likes pretending to play the guitar, but is unwilling to commit to regular practice.

Ingri, Stefan and Tyson

El Verano

It is summer here in Alta Verapaz and with the heat comes some of the most interesting and delicious fruit I have ever tasted.  My favorite fruit is changing about every two weeks and most recently I am happily feasting upon Injerto (Green Sapote), a green-skined, acorn-shaped fruit with deep orange flesh.  My host family has a large tree on their property, so I am well supplied.

It's good!

Though I am working from dawn to dusk, I am beginning to see some of the vegetables of my labor.  We are harvesting a few vegetables from the gardens.  The first plantings of cabbage and broccoli have been cut.  Cilantro and radishes are harvested weekly.  And the students are happily snacking on carrots each day after their work period.

Wormless red cabbage (the worms seem to prefer the green cabbage).

The broccoli is coming.

The squash. Notice the difference between the 2 rows?  The secret ingredient is cow urine.

The squash are coming!

The greenhouse chili is my pet project.

The fruit!

New seedlings.

New onions.

Natanael and Julio sorting green beans.

Julio, Elfedo, Edgar and Matio harvesting radishes.

 

The organic garbage collectors.  Natanael and Raymundo faithfully gather the leftover food and kitchen scraps for the pigs and compost pile each day.

Carrots! They are small, but tasty.

Jorge, Ernesto, Roberto, Minor, Mateo, Simon, Allan and Elfedo happily eating carrots and showing off their soccor jerseys.

 

We are also focusing on reviving the banana plants around the school by trimming them and applying compost.  My first batch of compost is finished and ready to be spread around the farm.

Albaro, Juan, Hector, Jaime and Mauro spreading compost on the newly planted bananas.

One of the new developments here at Bezaleel is that I now have a nickname.  The boys from Segundo Basico gave it to me the other week while we were working together.  As we weeded the beds of carrots and onions, they shared their nicknames with me and wondered if I had one.  I explained that the only nickname that I could remember was the term "Veggyman" given me by the chiefs when I worked in my college´s cafeteria.  What kinds of vegetables do I like, the guys wanted to know.  I like practically all vegetables, but one of the vegetables or rather fruits that fascinates me here in Guatemala is the tree tomato or tamarillo.  This member of the Solonaceae family is a perennial tree that produces light-red, orange fleshed fruits with a sweet, mild flavor.  I read about these tomatoes in grade school and now am finally able to see and taste them.

Chet pix!

One of my chet pix seedlings.

So now when walking around the school I respond to my nickname: "Chet pix" (Chet pish) which is the Kekchi translation for tree tomato.  We have 30 tree tomatoes started in the greenhouse and this week the Segundo Basico guys transplanted them out into rows.

Mauro, Jaime, Cesar, Hector Tiul, Juan and Moises carrying their tree tomato plants.

Hector Raul carrying his plants to their new home.

Moises, Jaime, Hector Tiul, Hector Raul, Mauro and Edgar busy planting tree tomatoes.

Cesar with one of the tree tomatoes he will be caring for.

One of Edgar's tree tomatoes.  I assigned 3-4 plants to each student.  They are responsible for keeping the tomatoes watered and weeded.  I am hoping this will give them a sense of ownership of the tomatoes and ensure that the tomatoes will be cared for over the long-term.

By the way, my favorite way to eat tree tomatoes is in a sauce with dried chile peppers and spread on a flaming hot tortilla fresh from the comal.

Yummy!

iDescanso!

The first semester of school is over!  Last week, Julio and I passed out final grades and listened to endless excuses of why a student did not deserve the grade he was given.  We enlightened each complainer with the fact that three semesters remain in the school year.  Therefore, if they want to improve their grade, they need to improve their punctuality, quality of work and attitude on the job.

"If you want to know how well you worked, ask us before you leave."  Julio advised. "You guys always ask, 'Is our time up yet?', but we want to hear, 'What else can I do?' and 'How did I work today?'"  

I could not agree more.

Easter break has arrived and I took the opportunity to visit one of my student's family in Chiquibul, Alta Verapaz.  Moises León invited me to go home with him this past weekend.  He overheard that I wanted to visit Playa Grande, a region in this department, and since he is from that area, he invited me to go home with him to eat fresh tilapia and visit the picturesque lake of Lachuga.  With such an offer as that, how could I refuse?

And so this past Friday, we set out for hot, sun-scorched land of Playa Grande.  Moi, as his family calls him, has seven brothers and one sister.  His father, Julio, owns about 35 acres of land and practices the most intensive version of agriculture that I have seen in Alta Verapaz.   His fields are an excellent example of intensive companion planting.  One of his maize fields was bordered with two rows of bananas and a row of oranges.  Chile was interspersed among the bananas.  Where Julio had planted hardwood trees, cardamom was planted in between the rows.  I also enjoyed hearing about Julio's plans of a future vanilla cash crop business.

Moises' mother is a busy grandmother who cares for her 5 grandchildren on a daily basis.  Most of the children and their spouses live nearby, so the León home is quite a hub of activity.  One of Moises' older brothers, Jaime, enjoys fishing with a harpoon gun he made.  I accompanied the León brothers on a fish hunt one evening and enjoyed tilapia fish soup the next morning.  Marcos, Moises' younger brother, is responsible for operating the family molino business.  This machine runs early and late, keeping each home in Chiquibul supplied with the masa used for making tortillas.

And we did visit the lake called Lachuga.  It is a beautiful lake amidst a preserved forest.  We had a 3.5 km walk through the forest from the preserves' entrance until we arrived at the lake.  It was a nice hike!  The water was crystal clear, allowing us to have a good view of the large fish inhabiting the lake.  Jaime lamented that fishing was forbidden at Lachuga.  He wanted to try to bag some of the prize specimens!

All throughout my visit, I sensed that the United States is viewed as the promised land in the eyes of everyone in Chiquibul.  One thing they knew for certain: one earns more in one day of work in U.S. than what a worker earns in one week in Guatemala.   Having a family member working there is the best way to save for land, a home and to put one's children through school.

"Moises is smart." one of his older brothers told me. "He should go to the United States to work."

"But if all your smart people go the the United States, how will your community improve?" I replied.

I did not get an answer, but I hope they will think more about developing industry in their community.  Practically everyone in Chiquibul has at least one family member working in the U.S.  Two of Moises' brothers are working in the States.  Hearing their rosy view of the U.S. reminded me of college classmates who complained of the boring Pennsylvania life and the excitement of international travel.  I suppose we are never content with what we have or where we live.

I thoroughly enjoyed tasting all the fruits Moises' family has growing around their home.  I drank cool, refreshing coconut milk from the palms growing outside the house to beat the heat, while others in the family settled for buying the imitation fruity-flavored kool-aids at the neighboring tiendas.  I snacked on mangos, rose apples, pineapples, annona, bananas and gnawed on sugarcane while others preferred the little bags of chips and cardboard-like cookies from the neighborhood snack shops.  "You have so many wonderful fruits for snacks growing right by your doors that I do not have in the United States!"  I exclaimed to the family.  "Why do you buy snacks from the tiendas, when you have these free ones?"

I am grateful that I had the chance to learn to know one student and his family better.  I hope to learn to know the other students at Bezaleel more each day as we continue into the next semester.

Moises and his mother in the smoky kitchen with the family parrot and dog.

Moises father, Julio, sharpening the molino blades.

Marcos cleaning the molino.

Jaimes' harpoon gun.

Moises and me enjoying some of the tastiest things in this country: fermented blue-corn atol along with sweet and sticky annona fruit.

One ripe annona fruit in hand...

...is worth three in the tree!

Marcos, Jaime, Stefan and Edin drying-off after a swim in Lake Lachuga.