Lots of Lej

  Nahuala, Guatemala
Friday, July 11, 2008

My host mother and father had 4 children, the three girls live in Nahuala and their son in Solola, about an hour away.  Their oldest daughter, Manuela (al We'l), has three daughters with her husband Miguel (a Mikel); Glendy (8), Johanna (6), and Wendy (3).  All three love to talk, love to play, and love me.  I'm a big toy with fun hair.  Manuela told me that she wants dreadlocks like mine and her sister Catalina wanted me to give her one small dread.  I politely declined.  Catalina (Talin), the youngest of the four, and her husband Victor have a seven week old daughter named Jessica. 

In the evenings Victor (24), a Mikel (32) and I work on our languages.  They help me with K'iche' and I them with English.  Their wives are keen and pick up a lot as they cook and care for the children behind us.  They're also a big help when it comes to formal K'iche', being that they studied under al We'l too.  The four of them work as teachers in local schools, though I am unsure if Talin is working at the moment.  Yesterday I learned that Victor has a tuc-tuc (they little three wheel taxis). A Tek and al Lu's are very kind and generous. Al Lu's learned Spanish on her own as she grew up, but still doesn't speak perfectly.  a Tek works with thread.  He doesn't make it, I think he rolls into onto the spools and sells it.  For the first few days, I didn't see a Tek much, however I now see him more in the mornings.  He's eager to teach and correct me and is always proud of how fast I catch on.  In the beginning al Lu's and I did not always commincate with the greatest of ease.  My K'iche' is far from fluent and she has a way of squinting when she doesn't understand that makes me feel like I wet the carpet.  During this second week, she has opened up and has shared more of her personality.  She loves to laugh and gossip and hides this with a wry smile and a twinkling eye.

Lu's's parents also live in the same home.  Both her mother and father are hilarious and is always smiling.  The father speaks a bit more spanish than the mother, so we are able to communicate a bit more.  The family calls the grandmother qanan, which means Our Mother, as opposed to atit (grandmother).  Qanan asked me a few nights ago if I had a girlfriend (they use the word for 'partner'), she giggled the whole time while I was translated her question in my head.  Finally, I understood and answered, "No," and in an attempt to avoid more questions (Why? Why not? When will you marry?  Do you want to marry and girl here?) I continued with, " my partner is my books."  This made her giggle even harder.  The grandfather greets me in the morning with the normal "Saqarik," but he loves to hold out on the 'i' and raises his voice an octave.  saqarEEEEEEEk! 

The middle daughter I have seen only once when she was dropping of her daughter Roxanne for Lu's to watch for the day.  Roxy is just learning to speak and said my name yesterday.  It surprised everyone, they laugh and applauded.  My family and To'n and Talin all prounce Tre'x as Treesh.  I prefer the other pronunciatoin, Treh-sh.

We eat a lot of tortillas (lej) and bread (kaxlan wa, meaning Spanish food).  They use tortillas instead of silverware and napkins.  The steep hills and the hour of walking is the only reason my pants still fit. 

The family does not use the shower, but bathes in the mezcal (the tuj in K'iche').  I have tuj(ed) and enjoy it, though this is a night event  which happens nearly every two days.  I still take a quick shower in the mornings if I hadn't tuj(ed) the night before.  I'll write more about that later, maybe post some pictures!


So I play a lot, struggle through my K'iche', and am well taken care of by the family.  They were excited when I told them I would be in town for an extra week.  I told them I could find a hotel, but they were insistant that I remain with them.  Nothing has been filmed yet.  I just spoke to Manuel who will be speaking with his shaman uncle this weekend. 

I want to go to the beach everyday when I return to Delaware.