Parramos

el 2 de julio 2011

We got up at 6:15 and got ready for the day. Amber headed over to the house a few minutes early to help Enrique get things ready since Elvira wasn’t going to be there. I read a bit and then I went over, too. We had frosted flakes and cocoa crispies with strawberries and bananas with milk and I had tea. We left for school a few minutes later than we should have. It really takes the full 20 minutes to walk there.

School the second day was not quite as good for me as the first day, but still good practice. I learned a few rules that I was lacking. However, Amber’s day was not good at all. Her teacher does not even look at her when she talks and she doesn’t correct her mistakes. She also does tons of worksheets from the book. During the break, we walked to the candy store (Dona Maria ______’s) and bought some candy for Bernabe’s family and a few things for us to try. While I was waiting to pay, Amber walked across the street and bought bread from Dona Luisa’s. We headed back to school a few minutes late, as usual, but our teachers were not waiting for us this time. Maybe they realized that we are always late! They came a minute later. I talked a lot about education in the U.S. and my travels with my teacher. I don’t have any homework for the weekend. Part of Amber’s homework is to look through the workbook and choose exercises to do next week! That is crazy!

After class, we wandered back to our house, going slightly out of our way. We went back to our room and tried some of the candy we bought. It was delicious. We got our stuff ready to go for the afternoon in Parramos and then it was time for lunch. We had chili with beans and meat in it and rice on the side. We had a small bowl of strawberries covered in sugar and some kind of thick, sweet cream on top. We talked for a while and then we headed out to start our afternoon. Amber wanted to go to an internet café before we headed to Parramos, but the one near our house was not open. It was threatening to rain, so since we didn’t encounter an internet place on our way to the bus station, we decided it would be better to find a bus first.

The open air bus station is located behind the huge market at the edge of town. We somehow ended up going through the market instead of around it. I had never been through the market before, and I was surprised at its size. There were hundreds of women selling vegetables and fruits, but you could also buy shoes, meat, toys, packaged food items, make-up, clothes, and just about anything else you could want. I think this market is as big (or possibly bigger) than the market near the bus terminal in Xela. We finally wove our way through the venders and found the exit to the bus station. We looked around for a bus to Parramos and finally found a bus assistant (ayudante) who told us that the buses to Parramos are in the second row. We squeezed between two parked buses, but we were behind them, another bus came and turned and we were literally trapped between four buses. It was a little bit scary, but we eventually made it safely around the buses and found the one for Parramos and got on.

The seats were nearly full when we got on, meaning we were the last two people to get a sit with only one other person. However, in Guatemala, just because there are two adults sitting on each seat of a school, that doesn’t mean that the bus is full. People kept climbing aboard until there three adults in each seat. I was squished between a young man and an old woman. I talked a bit with the woman and she gave me a lychee to eat! It was hard to understand here because it was loud in the bus. As the bus left Antigua, it started raining and pouring. The bus ride cost 3Q and took about 25 minutes to get to Parramos. We got off in the park, in the rain. I had my umbrella, so Amber and I shared. We went under a roof for the bus stop and looked at the map Jenny had drawn for us. We were trying to figure out which direction we needed to turn the map when a teenage boy who was also under the roof on a bike offered to help us. His name was Flavio. Together we looked at the map and figured out which way to turn it. He offered to accompany us to the church. Jenny is a good cartographer because we made it to the church (Iglesia de Dios Galilea) without any more problems. We saw Anderson as we walked down the street, but he went into the house before we got there. We rang the bell and Bernabe came to greet us. We said farewell to Flavio and went in to see the family. I was introduced to Nirma (the mom), Anderson (12 years old), Kayla (9 years old), and baby Nirma who is getting ready to turn one on July 14 (I think). We sat in the kitchen and talked for a long time. Then we gave them the candy and bread. I had brought a rubber toy mama goose with three babies for Nirma and a cool collapsible ball for Anderson and Kayla. They played with their new toys and then we took pictures with them. We heard a lot of baby Nirma’s story. I already knew most of it from Jenny, but it was somehow even more real hearing it from them in the environment of their house, which is very simple. Here is a summary of Nirma’s story:

Bernabe and Nirma (the mom) had three babies between Kayla and baby Nirma, all of which died about a week after their birth. The doctors didn’t know why because all of them had appeared to be healthy when they were born, but shortly after, they became sick. When the same thing happened with Nirma, about a week after her birth, they took her to a hospital in Guatemala City. For a while, the doctors could not figure out what was wrong with her. One doctor, in particular, took interest in her case, especially when he heard that they had lost three babies before her. After much testing and time in intensive care, this doctor figured out that she had Maple Syrup Urine Disease, a condition in which her body cannot process certain amino acids and proteins correctly. As a result, if she eats those things, they act as a poison to her and she would die in about a week. She had to have special formula that is only available in the U.S. The hospital could get it, but once she left the hospital, the family would have to provide this expensive, rare formula for her. She was in intensive care for about a month and in the hospital for three months in all. During this time, either Bernabe or Nirma had to be with her. They took shifts of two nights at home with their other kids and two nights in the hospital, which is more than an hour away by bus. Finally, a Guatemalan donated some of this special formula to the hospital to give to whoever needed it. I am not quite sure why or how this happened other than that God was answering prayers. They were able to leave the hospital and with the help of Jenny, they could get the milk sent from the U.S. It really is amazing that she is alive and doing so well!

They served us coffee (which I was kind of scared to drink since it was 4pm and surely had caffeine) and some of the raisin cinnamon bread we brought. Anderson has a puppy named Perla (Pearl) and they have two blue parakeets and two chickens squished in a small rabbit cage. We heard more of Nirma’s story and then we left a little after 5pm to get back to Antigua. We waited just about 5 minutes for the bus and actually found an empty seat together, although the bus was full. Amber started feeling carsick from the hills, curves, and generally crazy driving of the bus drivers here. Right as we got back to Antigua, it started to rain again. It was really cold. Why do I spend my summers in cold places??? I was sure it would be warm in Antigua like it was a year ago, but they said this cool weather is typical for this time of the year. We have worn jeans or capris every day since being here. If I would have know that it was not going to be hot here, I would not have brought five skirts with me! (Si yo hubiera sabido que no haria calor aqui, no habria traido cinco faldas!)

We wandered through the market again, trying to find the way out. Amber wanted to stop at the shoe stalls to look for dancing shoes, but we didn’t find any, which was probably a good thing since we only had a little bit of money on us. We then tried in earnest to find our way out, but alas we hit a dead-end and had to turn around. The venders were starting to pack up all their stuff. That is so much work for them to do every single day! Eventually, after about a half hour of trying to get out of the market, we made it out. We walked back to our house, where we went to the bathroom and I grabbed my flashdrive with my blog on it before heading to the internet café near our house. We stayed there a half hour. I posted several days of my blog and checked my email. Amber’s friend Lauren is coming on a bus tomorrow and Amber was trying to tell her somewhere to meet. We don’t know if she is coming on a chicken bus or a shuttle. Hopefully she will be able to find us without too much trouble! We are meeting her in a café off the park.

After the internet, we went back to the house and washed our hands. We walked over to the house with Alex. Sharon and Lara are gone traveling, so we had a small dinner with just Amber, Alex, Elvira, and me. Enrique was picking up Dorothy and Larry from the airport. They are from Canada and will be staying with E&E. I am 99% sure that they were here last year when I was here! We had spinach soup and nachos with chili on them. After we talked with Elvira and Alex for a while, we headed back to our room.

We wanted to go salsa dancing, so we got ready and took our first picture together. Then we headed out to find a discoteca that was listed in Jenny’s Guatemala book. The first one we came to was not playing salsa music, rather English music, which was not quite what we had in mind. We walked to another place, but it didn’t appear to be there. The third choice was on the edge of the city, El Torrero, but we really wanted to salsa dance, so we headed there. According to the Guatemala book, this is where the locals come to salsa dance. We had to cross the creepy market/bus station area to get there. When we arrived about 10pm, we paid 20Q to get in. Well, the guide book had one thing right: this is where the locals come. We were the only extranjeras (foreigners) there. But they weren’t playing salsa music either. We got a free drink with the entrance fee, but it was so loud that we could not hear what the waiter was saying, so we both got a bottle of water. We sat there and sipped our water and screamed in each other’s ears when we wanted to say something. After ten minutes or so, two Guatemalan guys came up and started talking to us. They asked us if we wanted to dance, but we didn’t really want to dance to the music that was playing, so Jose went to ask for them to play salsa music. Alejandro was the other guy. After a bit, they put on some music that was not actually salsa but kind of had a salsa-ish beat. I danced with Jose and he was not bad. His cousin, on the other hand only knew the basic step and one spin. After a few dances, we switched partners and never switched back. It was marginally enjoyable. We never really got to salsa dance, but we did a lot of merengue. Finally, around midnight, we decided to head back. Jose and Alejandro offered to accompany us. We said we’d be fine, but they insisted. We compromised by saying they could walk us to the main road. We talked about dancing on the way and Jose’s travels to Canada. They walked us farther than the main road. When we got to where we needed to turn, we thanked them for walking with us. Jose insisted that he wanted to walk us all the way to our door, but Alejandro persuaded him to head back to the discoteca since we didn’t want them to come with us. Jose is going to look for us on facebook and they told us that Tuesdays at No Sin Ventura is all salsa and merengue. We said we might see them there.

We walked the rest of the way home safely. One guy said hello and asked us to come with him to a discoteca, but when we said no and kept walking, he left us alone. We started talking on our way home and continued our conversation when we got back. We talked until 2am and then finally went to bed.