San Andres: Staying with Elviz's Family
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2011
1
7
14
Trip End
Aug 17, 2011
Where I stayed
Elviz's Mom's House
San Andrés, Petén, Guatemala
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
(At the time of writing, 1 USD = ~8 Quetzals)
The Strength of Family is the Greatest Wealth of All
I became pretty close with my El Mirador trek guide, Elviz, and in one of our conversations on the trail he invited me to come stay with his family when we got back. The chance to meet his family and see the everyday life of chapins was too much to pass up. The day after the hike, Elviz met me at my hostel (Los Amigos) in Flores and we relaxed listening to music, drinking a few beers and watching sick nature videos on YouTube (Elviz showed me an Aquila Arpia grabbing a monkey and a goat and I showed him the Battle at Kruger amongst other things). By mid-afternoon, we walked to Santa Elena and grabbed a collectivo for his hometown of San Andres, which is about 20 minutes west of Flores, also along Lago Peten Itza. (Collectivo Q10)
As soon as we arrived, I met Elviz's mother and felt like I had walked into my Patti’s (grandmother) home in Chennai, India. The mom was very welcoming with a big smile, not letting me lift a finger and nicely setting up a guest room for me. Elviz is one of 8 children (4 boys and 4 girls). His father, who was also a guide and spent some time living in New York, was murdered when Elviz was 10. His other brother’s father died from an illness. As a result of these tragedies, it is clear that this family is run by a very dominant and doting matriarch. Elviz, his older brother Adolfo and his younger brother Dadi, all live with their mom. Elviz’s sisters live either up the street or in the next town. However, the mom’s kids and grandkids are all constantly at their mom’s place, eating food, bringing their kids over, hanging out or doing their laundry. It is clear that she has a dominant presence in their lives and none of them take their mother’s love or care for granted.
While the family does not have a lot of material possessions, they are wealthy when it comes to their inter-connectedness and community. They seemed genuinely happy and content with their lives. People who are many, many multiples richer in the western world are definitely not content. There is a collective consciousness that is sorely lacking on a grand level in our society. Both in Guatemala and the poorer neighborhoods of US cities, people give generously to those less fortunate. Family comes first before everything else to Guatemalans (and most people of the developing world). On the way back from the El Mirador trek we stopped on the side of the road and Elviz gave some money to a woman in front of her house. He explained that she was Ronaldo’s sister. Our cook from the El Mirador trek, who worked very hard and has a wife and kids of his own, gave his entire tip to his sister because she clearly needed it more. The hard-working immigrants (both skilled and unskilled) that really keep the US running, send home millions of dollars in remittances every year. I wish many of my students had such loving and supportive families and homes as I have seen time and time again how this can compensate for a lack of material wealth.
Just Like Patti’s Home
Their home is a concrete-block house that was partially built with the USD that Elviz’s dad sent back home when he worked in NY. There is a small porch in front and a nice tropical garden on the side that also serves as the "hallway" between the house and the shacks that have been built to serve as the kitchen, sink/shower area and the outhouse. Inside the home are two main rooms, one in the front and one in the back. In the main rooms, there are 2 old TVs, an old stereo, two ancient couches (I was reminded of the good ole green couch from 2030 Blake St. Shout out to my Cal brothas!) and a couple of hammocks slung in the front room. This is where Elviz’ mom sleeps (the few hours that she does in between seemingly cooking all day, cooking, cleaning and watching soaps. This family, like all low-income families in developing countries use everything until it is truly useless and use ingenuity to re-use products that we would deem waste. For example, Chuck generously gave his muddy boots to Elviz and he meticulously cleaned every inch of them and his boots until they looked brand new. When seeing the value people like this place on the utility of goods, it makes me feel guilty of how we are so quick to throw something away because it is “old”, not en vogue or we simply want the latest and greatest. We are so wasteful.
Elviz and Adolfo share a small side room with a couple of twin beds and a simple dresser (and many pinup posters of Guatemaltecas to the chagrine of their mother), with a sheet as a door. Dadi (who is 6 years old and always smiling) has a small room as well. I was sleeping in the final small room that serves as the guest room (and had a poster of Bob Marley: Legend). Everything in the house is open, there are no screens or glass in the windows, and the roof is constructed from corrugated sheet metal, which directly vents outside.
The kitchen outside is contructed from wood walls and corrugate sheet metal roofing. It is simple, but effective with a wood-fired stove for grilling and making tortillas and a propane-fueled burner. Also in the kitchen, which has as dirt floor, is the dining table with three chairs. Elviz and Adolfo, both excellent and earnest students always looking to improve their English, have affixed a cheat sheet of common food names on the side of the fridge (huevo = egg, etc.). It’s pretty much the exact opposite of the cheat sheet that I am constantly adding to in my journal. They have running water that is fed from an oversized black tank that collects rain water and that feeds into the standard Guatemalan sink: the middle basin is for collecting clean water that hasn’t been used, the left basin is for cleaning dishes and the right basin is for cleaning clothes. Both the sink and the black tank are ubiquitous throughout the country. There is consistent electricity that powers several lights and fans throughout the house. While a simple house, it is perfectly comfortable and with all of the love and life, a complete home. My bed was the only one with a mosquito net setup.
While they had a simple home, it was a fairly nice one on a relative basis. Across the street was a home that was made out of wood and that had very little furniture: a couple of hammocks, a TV and a couple of plastic chairs. There were several kids in that family and I observed their mom performing lice checks on all of them before allowing them to go out and play. I had taken a few pictures of Suani and Dadi and shown them how to use my camera and take videos. This was the greatest thing they have ever seen as they and the kids on the block spent a couple of hours taking pictures and video of everything possible: each other, people motorcycling or driving by, the homes and store, me, dirt, their hands, the sky, walls, etc. There were some cute ones, but they didn’t exactly seem to understand the concepts of focusing on an object or letting the video run for more than a second.
The Power of Education
While the walls are mostly bare, there are several old photos of Elviz’s mom when she was 15-years old and with her mother. This was exactly like in Patti’s house with the similar almost lithographed photos of Kalkan Thatha up on the wall. Similar to my family, education is heavily emphasized within Elviz’s family. Dadi’s kindergarten graduation diploma is framed and on the wall as are several graduation photos of one of Elviz’s sisters. Many of Dadi’s projects from school are visible throughout the house. Several of the decorations on the wall are the sort of cartoon-smiley-face-graduate kitsch you would find in a party-store around graduation time in the US.
Three of Elviz’s sisters are K-5 teachers (or maestras as his mom called them). I met one of his sisters (and her incredible 4-year old daughter Suani who is Dadi’s partner-in-crime) and we enjoyed talking about education. In fact, the entire family had tremendous respect for my profession and was very keen to here details of my students, class sizes, the subjects I teach, how my school is etc. This, also, was very similar to the sentiments of my immediate and extended family.
Home-cooking, Peteno-style
Just as with my Pattis (and frankly my parents when either my sister or me are home), the mom’s life revolves around feeding her children. She is up early and everybody’s routine revolves around meal times. Shortly after arriving, dinner was served to Elviz, Adolfo and me first and consisted of beans, eggs, tortillas and a cucumber/tomato salad. Breakfast the next morning was avocado, beans, fried plantains (yum!) and tortillas. And for lunch, we ate a delicious chicken, vegetable and rice soup with tortillas. The mom, like all good Guatemalan women, is a tortilla-making machine. Just as my Patti serves up food to my Dad before she will even think of eating, the mom served Elviz, Adolfo and me first, then Dadi and Suani and then she ate herself. In fact Dadi and Suani started one meal eating on the floor in the living room and once the elder boys were done eating they moved to the table. In a wonderful tradition that all shows their affection for their mother, the boys would always say “mucho gracias” after every meal, to which mom would respond “provencio”.
Cross-Cultural Exchange with Elviz and Adolfo
From a young age, both Elviz and Adolfo, had to find work. Given their dad worked in tourism, both Elviz and Adolfo earned certificates in flora and fauna and Elviz works as a guide. Adolfo, who is a few years older than Elviz, now works directly with the archaeologists and excavates Mayan ruins (he has worked at El Mirador and Quirogoa amongst other sites). Given their professions and also because they have a thirst for knowledge, we engaged in a wonderful cross-cultural and language exchange.
I had already been doing so with Elviz for our 5 days on the trail, writing down every new Spanish word I learned and writing down all of the English expressions/slang/colloquialisms that I had taught him (his favorite by far was “that’s awesome”, since I exclaimed that about a million times in the jungle). Elviz, Adolfo, mom and his sisters all complimented my Spanish and were impressed that I learned only from traveling and meeting others. Elviz also commented that I was a good student who was always writing down every word and practicing them. I helped Adolfo and Elviz with a lot of work-specific vocabulary, such as terms for animals, plants, and common directions/expressions they would use while working with tourists and archaeologists. I also provided them with some classic slang that they loved: friends with benefits = amigos con dereche, awesome = muy calida, bada$$ = muy calida, etc.
San Andres is a fairly small and very sleepy town at night. The one place available for all youth is the local library, which is free for everyone, open to 9pm and kept running by volunteers. Students looking to learn Spanish in an off-the-beaten-path way come to San Andres. So, the library was full of local petenos learning English from some westerners. It was a safe and well-lit place where kids could play board games and read anything they wanted (there was a decent and eclectic collection of books and newspapers) in a poor town.
The following day I got to ride Elviz’s motorcycle (yeah!) as he let me drive his brother and then him to the neighboring town of San Jose where we chilled on a dock on the beautiful Lago Peten Itza. This is what his brother and him do when they have a day off to unwind and relax. Adolfo played music from his phone, including having “Rat Race” on repeat for awhile. He asked me to translate the lyrics for him and I also explained the message of both “Rat Race” and “Exodus”, especially within the context of when Marley wrote the song 30+ years ago. When I framed it in a historical context (they were aware of apartheid in South Africa), they had a greater understanding of Bob Marley’s music, which they had loved for years solely because of the infectious rhythms and harmonies. I was reminded of standing on the side of the road in darkness with Ankit in Tashiding, Sikkim and meeting Chris, an Indian who was a victim of police brutality, and explaining the meaning of “Get Up, Stand Up” to him. Bob Marley is THE universal artist and his message is clear to everyone. Jah, Rastafari!
While munching on chips and swimming, the boys asked me how you ask a girl out in the US. Not that I am any sort of expert, but I explained how dating works in the US and was reminded of riding on back of my cousin, Preet’s motorcycle in 2004 and having a conversation of east vs. west and love-based vs. arranged systems. This area of the lake was gorgeous and super clean. Elviz was wearing a shirt that said "No soy perfecto" and on the back, "soy Chapin!", which means I'm not perfect, I'm Guatemalan! I was reminded of "Pobody's Nerfect in Australia. It's clever, just like you!"
Hello, Moto; Goodbye, Elviz’s Fam (for now)
When we returned home, we ate lunch and I met Elviz’s nephews (see what I mean the extended family is always congregating at mom’s house). Before leaving, Adolfo proudly showed me photos of him excavating (he was wearing of University of Illinois t-shirt and a Pittsburgh Pirates ballcap in many pics) and gave me a few of his photos as a gift. I played “Nothing Else Matters” on my iPod, one of Elviz’s favorite songs, and wished he had a guitar I could teach him to play it on. An Australian named Reuben had stayed with them once and played “Redemption Song” on his traveling guitar; the family repeatedly mentioned Reuben’s visit and I hope they refer to me in the same positive manner in the future. I took a bunch of family photos and was asked to be in the all-family photo as well (since I was basically the mom’s adopted 5th son) and then I gave everyone big hugs and said my goodbyes. His Mom gave me an amazing and long blessing for safe travels, which was so genuine and full of love. I told mom that I would come stay with them again as I need to pass back through the area as I make my way back to Cancun to fly out in mid-August (and this time I better come with gifts!).
As Elviz realized my love of driving motos, he let me drive his motorcycle (with him on back) back to Flores instead of taking the collectivo. With the wind blowing through my hair (as they ride sin carpas or helmets in Guatemala; sorry, Dad, but we were riding pretty slow), I was instantly reminded of all of the wonderful miles of riding I did in SE Asia. It was a beautiful ride with the lake on the left and lush forested hills on the right and in the foreground. I really missed riding a motorcycle. Once back in Flores, I hung out with Elviz and Adolfo at their friend’s tourist agency (watching Copa America soccer and throwing back some icy colds). We ran into Borut while chilling at the agency and we all caught up and I showed him pics of Elviz’s family. I burned Elviz a DVD of all the trekking and family pics and printed a few family pics for his mom to put up on their wall. Elviz asked why I didn’t print the one that included me as both Adolfo and Elviz said that I was a brother to them and a member of the family.
What an honor and privilege it was to be welcomed into their family and their home. They have so little, but were so generous and full of love. Just as with Samith in Cambodia and Rakesh in India, I will never forget Elviz and his family and I will cherish this experience forever.
