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Adrento las Cuevas de Gumarkaah
Keeping an open for the ghost of Tecun Uman
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For a field trip last
Sunday we went to the ruins of Gumarkaah
just north of town. This was the capital of the Quiché region in ancient
times, and the last stronghold of the highland Mayas. The fierce warlord Tecun
Uman assembled a huge army here to combat the Spanish when they inevitably
arrived. He lost both the battle and his life.
We toured some of the
nearby caves, which date back to the time of
the city. Constructed by hand, they are about 4 feet wide and 12 feet high,
going straight back into the earth. We found candles burning in some of the
alcoves, but a flashlight was very helpful.
On Monday I went to
Chichicastenango to buy a cell phone for the new orphanage in Lemoa -- although
there are no telephone lines in Lemoa, cell reception is excellent. On a
previous trip in June, we had located a phone suitable for fax and email
purposes at the local Telgua office. When I returned, of course, they denied
all knowledge of such a device. I decided to return the next day when the
manager was in. |
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Chichi relaxing with an ice cream bar when I noticed two locals assembling the
flying pole. The pole was about 4 stories high, and they were stacking wooden
ladders up it to provide access to the top. Twine was the key binding agent. At
the top the pole was whittled to a point, upon which they balanced a sort of
spindle. The flying was scheduled to start a few hours later, so I hung around.
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Sopa del
Dia
A welcome break from rice and
beans
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Usually this only happens around Christmas. It turns
out that INGUAT, the national tourist agency, had arranged this as a photo op
for their new brochures. They had a complete festival scheduled:
- Elders, dressed in traditional garb carrying staffs
that must date back to the Spanish
- Plenty of incense, smoke, and rose petals
- All the women of the town asembled on the steps,
with flowers and blankets of their own design
- Dancers everywhere, wearing masks of Spaniards,
deer, jaguar, and monkeys.
The "monkeys" were the fliers. They wore wooden
masks and suits of red and black. Four of them climbed to the top of the pole;
two sat themselves in hanging loops of rope and the other two lay on top of the
spindle, presumably to keep it from popping off once the flying was underway
(something tells me this was a lesson learned the hard way). When the fliers
weighted the rope, it unwound from the pole and over the spindle, rotating it
and swinging the them in a circle. Descending slowly, they made 13 revolutions,
which has some significance in the Mayan calendar. Once airborn, I watched as
the more adventurous monkey performed acrobatics. The other simply sat there
and took it.
This display was outlawed in Mexico, probably due to the
mortality rate. After all, the contraption consisted only of wood, twine, and
some home-made rope. It did look fun, though. |
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Walter
retrieving a week's worth of balls from the roof for
certain careless
niños |
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On Friday I took another trip to Xela with Elisa, Féderico,
and Andrés. Andrés
had yet another appointment with the doctors. He has a rare
condition which results in very fragile bones, and the hospital
in Xela was looking for a fix. He's been in a wheelchair for
years, and is in constant fear of breaking a bone.
I helped out at the Guatemala VIM office, which was
having some problems with a virus and their email system. We were able to get
everything done by early afternoon, and drove back early. Clouds hung close to
the mountains, very reminiscent of the cloud forests of Costa Rica. It was a
beautiful drive. We returned to the hogar in the evening, where it was pouring
rain.
Out of the blue, Andrés took a fall and broke his leg and
arm. We got him back into his wheelchair and called the local bomberos
(firemen). They took him to the hospital. It was a pretty somber dinner what
with the darkness, downpour, and Andrés in the hospital. It was another
reminder to me that all was not fun and games here. These kids live a tough
life.
This is my last entry for a while. There's a wedding in Guatemala
City that I must attend, and then a few more in the States. Check back in
October, though, for more updates. |
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| De Los Niños |
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Hola! Como estan? Tengo 12 años, y estuve aqui
para 4 años. Me gusta deportes, como futbol. Cuando esta mas grande,
quisiera ser un doctor. Yo me siento bien estar aqui. Espero que puedan ayudar
el Hogar del Niño.
Hello! How are you? I am 12 years old, and
have been here for 4 years. I like sports, especially soccer. When I'm bigger,
I want to be a doctor. I am doing well here. I hope you can help the Hogar del
Niño.
Eduardo |
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