Guatemala: Day 3

This is the third day of my journal for the 2004 trip I took to Guatemala. This is a transcription from the notebook I took, but if there is any additional explanation necessary, I put that information in [brackets]. This is how it reads:

Long day. Got up. Breakfast. Had it with Meg and Tiné, although they were a bit late. Afterward, we walked to the Museo Arcaeologica. Tiné invited me. Although I didn't have much time since I had to catch a ride to the airport by 11 am. We got there around 9:40ish. I rushed around while the other 2 kinda took their time. I don't blame them. The beginning was cheesy with diorama shit with Eskimo-like people crossing over snowy pastures. Their map was kinda off too. Had the people coming on the wrong side of the Rockies. Other stuff was cool. That big slab with slaves and conquerers that I'd read about [along with royalty]. Vessels and bones, etc. They had a skeleton with an abnormally small head with two twin skeletons infront of it in an odd position merely to gain attention. I swear I've seen the exact thing before, maybe Egypt (?). Anyway, I busted outta there and was in a hurry so I didn't haggle down [the taxi fare] from 30Q [quetzales]. The driver said he knew where "Dos Lunas" [my hostel] was, but he lied. Luckily, by then, I had my bearings.

The walk to the museum was crazy. Not only are Meg and Tiné two blonds, but they were wearing hot-weather clothing. Tiné had a long, unrevealing skirt, but a fairly low-cut shirt with that strap around the neck revealing a lot of back. Meg had a what-you-call-em, farmer pants, can't remember the real name [capris], a [thin] sweat shirt and bag covering her ass. As for a shirt, it was a white tank top with barely any straps and she was showing heavy nippage... must have been the brisk walk. Anyway, every 10 seconds on our 40 minute walk, somebody driving would honk or whistle [cat-call], as would the people we passed by or passed us. Whistling, that is. I gave the evil eye to everyone we passed walking. The guy would always look to me after checking out one of the ladies. I guess I can't blame them. They're good-looking Anyway before I left for the airport, I slipped a little note into Meg's bag with email and wishing them good luck. I would have rather put it in Tiné's, but Meg's was more accessible. I didn't address it to anyone, so I hope they realize it was meant for both. I should have put their names, but I don't know how the fuck to spell Tiné.

Finally met the group. I wasn't sure it was them at first, but they were the only bunch of gringos around, so I guessed right. We had to sit around and wait until 12:25 for the last person's flight, although we were supposed to be there at 11.

People: Chris and blond, curly guy [Adam] aka father and son from Phillie. Chris reminds me of two face. You see him from one side and he's fine. On the other, he's got excema or whatever all over his neck [port-wine birthmark]: a bright purple. [Actually he turned out to be a really nice guy, so I'm kind of sad that I wrote this about him, but it was my first impression.] We walked down the streets [in Chocolá], the 3 of us, and I don't know whether we're getting stares because of that or not. But they're cool. Adventurous. The other three guys stayed inside while we walked around town. The other three guys: two [Brett and Xan] are 17 years old, like the son [of Chris], and are from Denver. They go to this uppity-sounding private school there where daddy has enough money to throw around where ever for their kids. [I don't know why I'm so bitter here, my parents sent me to private school through 7th grade.] The other guy is also from Denver and teaches Spanish at their school. A knowledgeable guy. Doesn't seem like your average high school teacher, but I guess it is private.

Da Women: all older. Char - not Charlene! - is the oldest and from a 15,000-acre farm in South Iowa. She really likes to talk about boring things and also seems to like to complain. [In her defense, she hadn't been away from home in, well, maybe forever, so everything down in Guatemala was new and completely different to her. She ended up being a caring woman.] Gail's another chic, from Manhattan. Does the corporate thing and has a brother in the same part of Denver where the other 3 live/work. They know the same restaurant locations. Susan's also cool, although kinda quiet. I'm sure that will change with time. She kinda reminds me of a mix of my mom and Paula [a friend from Spanish classes I took at Shoreline Community College]. Last is Molly, just as she was coming off the plane. She's about the same age as the not old women (not Char), and looks to be a teacher's pet. She already got a gold star. Forgot to mention Chris works for an NGO Rodeal - they do fitness magazines on the side to get their money. Helping Kaplan [the head archaeologist] is Camelo [a Guatemalan student]. Knows English, but prefers Spanish. Don't know much of his story, but he seems cool. Kaplan knows his shit, but covers when he doesn't as I've seen most profs do. Seems like a decent guy. We'll see what's in store.

As for the people [of Guatemala], they're short. I'm a head or head and shoulders over them. They're friendly, but the kids like to play the game of yelling out a name, and when you look, they laugh. They've taken a strong hold on Christianity. Buses and trucks have stickers on the windshield saying shit about how Jesus is all the need or "In God we Trust". Nothing like the subtle Jesus fish we got going on in "the states". Chocolá is awesome. A small clearing in the jungle, probably equidistant from Lake Atitlán on the west side as Guate [Guatemala City] is on the east. Much more rural, however, every shack seems to have a TV going. So damn humid. On that hike with father and son, I could see my breath. It was definitely not cold either. The mountains are awesome here. However, I can't help wonder if Seattle would look like this if it had the same flora and heat. Both places do have the double-plate pressure with sporadic volcanoes. Banana leave here are huge. Probably my height. OK. Gotta go. Chow at 6:45am. It's 5 til 11pm. Out.

Guatemala: Day 2

This is Day 2 of my Guatemalan trip. Again, anything in [brackets] was not in the original entry, but is added for explanatory purposes. Just as a warning, I often abbreviate Guat for Guatemala:

Lots to write. First off, "Penelope" is actually Loraina -- go figure, I was a bit off. Had breakfast with the archy dudes, 2 Israelis, and a tall blond from Lancaster, PA. Her name was Tera - no fuck, I forgot her name, but I have her email somewhere. [I think I remembered her name later and filled it into the space I left for it.] She's going into special ed stuff and is going to some lang[uage] school in Chetaltenango or whatever. I should learn Guat city names. Anyway she doesn't know any Spanish, save the bare basics. We walked to the airport, exchanged money for just under 8 quetzales to a dollar. Rode the local bus for 1Q [quetzal]. Wanted to get off on 19th Ave, but ended up getting off on 9th, 10 blocks north. We made our way back down with a couple interactions. This is where I realized that I may not be fluent in Spanish, but I can sure get around town and hold decent conversations with people. One skanky dude walked up to us and asked if we were together [Tera and I]. Wrongly, I said no. So he asked if she was my sister. I told him yes, which wasn't good enough and he basically asked if I'd give her up so he could get his. [This was all done in Spanish.] Told him no and we walked on from there. We ran into other guys that wanted to give us rides. I told them we were just going to walk around town. The chic and I parted ways on 7th. Hopefully she found her destination, I can't imagine not knowing any of the language and getting around.

Me, I had to ask two people and wasted a half hr. before I found my bus stop. Some lady standing outside a barber shop gave me good directions. As I was getting there, this bus rolls by with a guy hanging out it yelling, "Antigua, Antigua!" I nod my head and the bus stops for me [in the middle of the road]. I get stares from everyone on the bus as I enter. I now know what its like to be black in the white-man's world. [Ok, that's cheesy, but it was the first time I was different from everyone around me.] I take the first available seat and watch how the Guat bus system works. You've got the bus driver who honks every 20 seconds and at the same time gets honked at. Then there's the recruiter that hangs out the door yelling the bus's destination as I previously described. He does this all through town with the bus driver stopping whenever somebody on the street gives a nod or wave. The recruiter hops off, lets the person on, then as the bus starts rolling again, he jumps back on. At certain points along the route the bus stops for a couple minutes allowing vendors to come aboard and sell their oranges or plantanos, newspaper, candy, etc. There's also the occasional handicapped beggar or mother with a fucked-up kid -- that person got more of a response than the blind man. [I didn't explain how these people would go up and down the bus aisle holding out a cup for change. As I said, the mothers with the poor, disfigured children got more tribute than just old, blind beggars.] Eventually when the driver gets tired of it, he starts rolling and the peddlers/beggars know their cue, and the recruiter hops back on [after those people get off]. This process goes on for the whole trip but more so within the first 20 miles or so of the 1 hour-15 minute trip. After this 20 mile-ish point, the recruiter collects 5Q [queztales, the equivalent of 65 cents or so]. A lot better than the $10 offered at Dos Lunas [my hostel]. Those buses, however, can get really packed.

Once in Antigua the recruiters responsibilities extend to running out infront of the bus and checking for traffic around tight corners. Then when that's done, he jumps on again.

Antigua was awesome. Much cleaner than "Guate" [that's what the natives call Guatemala City] as the recruiter on the return trip calls it. I guess there's restrictions on building codes and window size, etc, to keep the town looking genuine with that Spanish colonial flare. Which it definitely has. [I later figured out this was a historical district made under UNESCO]. It's narrow streets with houses/shops continually touching each other as one long building on a long block reminded me of Granada and Córdoba. The bright yellow, blues, and reds added to the effect. The city itself seems to be placed in a circular valley with volcanoes/mountains/hills encompassing it. One solitary volcano looms to the south, which I thought was the most picturesque.

Got dropped off at the market. Was totally disoriented. Thought north was east. Luckily some kid about my age on the dusty corner gave me some good directions. Walked through the market which was like a swap meet -- all crap. Was sad. So I walked into town and after seeing the "Merced" church I found Doña Luisa's place [Manuel's aunt]. I liked the ambiance: a patio with many a green plant around it. Two stories with a mezzanine, cool effect. I ordered the Tex-Mex, which was basically sloppy joe meat on a small crisp corn tortilla with lettuce, tomato, and onions with a side of sauce and chopped cucumber. Decent, I guess. Had some of the Doña's very own bottled water.

Left and walked all over town, that is after talking to Luisa, introducing myself as Manuel's friend. She told me some archaeology places to go, Capuchinas or whatever was kinda interesting, but not worth the $2.50. Checked out a textiles store with cool, brightly-colored blankets and clothes. Almost got a blanket, but didn't when I found out they didn't use cochineal [Cochineal is an insect that is mashed to create a red dye used in clothing.] They were allegedly hand-made however. The store also had some cool wood carvings -- skeletons, animals, saints, random dudes. Shot some pix there. Tried to find the Museo Colección 2000, but to no avail. Round a church south of it that was cool: Tall, vaulted ceilings with plumes of cloth hanging from the 50' ceilings, pulled against the wall and down the floor. Very pretty -- something I don't say a lot. Used the internet for 11 minutes, maybe 2 of it wasn't from waiting around for pages to load or cancel. Got out 2 quick emails to Meg. Asked directions from some hippie-looking guy on the corner in a coffee shop with grind-your-own beans. Looked cool, if you like coffee.

Got back on the bus to Guate. Saw a white chic. Said nothing until the fucking bus broke down maybe 5 miles out of Antigua. I guess it happens a lot. Everyone busted out and waited on the side of the road for more buses. [This was an almost immediate response, hence my comment that it seemed common.] People packed into the next one that came [not that there was really much room to begin with]. Some people were even hanging on the outside. Two buses and maybe 3 random pickups hauled people off with me and the white chic still standing around with maybe a dozen other people. We crammed onto the third bus. Got to talk to her a little. She's German, but I never caught her name. [She] Lived in Antigua for six months studying Spanish, bartending and working at the fire station. Four other months she was just kicking around Guatemala. We got to Guate bus stop. Unfortunately we were going in separate directions. She haggled the taxi driver down to 10 quetzales, I, although persistent, could not haggle with mine. 50 it was. (Haggled down 10 earlier when buying a shirt... good deal(?)) Had good conversation with the taxista [taxi driver, more efficient than the two words we use]. I understood probably 80% of his Spanish and he probably caught 90% of mine. The important part was that there was conversation... what I need. [What I remember of the conversation was where we somehow got onto the conversation of girls. He asked me if I like to have Russian-style sex. I didn't know what that meant so he made this motion up and down on his chest. I guess Russian sex is tit-fucking.]

Got back to Dos Lunas [the hostel I had already stayed at], met new guests. Three chix (Ever any guys? I'm not complaining...) First chic, Tera, a large-breasted girl from TN. Been around for three weeks in Guat and heading to Tikal at 6:30am tomorrow. The other two were traveling together. They've been going at it since March, starting in Guadalajara at a Spanish school. They went to Belize and southern Yucatan of Mexico. Now they're in Guatemala going to Antigua tomorrow night. I helped them out some, giving info I'd learned in my day trip.

Anyway. The more assertive one is Meg from Melbourne, Australia. We all four went to dinner together at a small place called Los Lagos [The Lakes] (I had lomito (steak)). While there, Meg seemed to be more interested in what the guy next to us was eating rather than talking to me. She has a strong personality, but she warmed up later when I was helping her plan her trip. The other chic Tiné (Tee-nee) short for Christina with a Spanish twist (I guess) is from NW Germany. Didn't catch the town, it was too German for my ears. She's been schooling in the Netherlands (cheaper than Germany) and knows English and Spanish as well as German, and I guess school is making her learn French too... We hit it off, while Tera and Meg did as well. She keeps saying "would- something", rather than just past tense. I think it's cute that she catches it and corrects herself. It's better than me, verb conjugation is where I'm the worst. I'm decent with vocab. A very nice girl, love the accent. Didn't sound like the other German chic's accent though, weird. She seemed really interested in me and offered for me to come to the museum tomorrow. Don't know if I'll have time, but I'll at least make the walk down there with them. She's never been to the US. As for Meg, she told me: Ayer's Rock in in BFE [middle of nowhere], kangaroo are like deer, they get hit on the road a lot, however their population is becoming a problem since they're protected, however they're becoming "farmed" and taste like cow. Thailand is Australia's Cancún. For vacation, Aussies do Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia. Papua New Guinea is too dangerous.

Tiné told me how cool Europe is cuz 4 hours [of driving] = a different culture. Her town has the most vacationing people cuz the weather there sucks. I think I did a lot more talking with her because she was more interested in me, unlike Meg, who was also trying to plan their trip.

Other random shit: I was too scared to pull out the camera in Guate, my bad. I'd feel Japanese [I've gotten over this to a degree, and Americans are really just as bad anymore] and or scared for my camera's wellbeing. Same on the bus. Maybe in two weeks things will change. I want to get a pic of Campero: Guatemala's answer to KFC. Also here, Playstation = Funstation. About it for now.
-Saw 1 Native wearing shorts today out of thousands.
-There's some nice-ass cars here, as well as really shitty ones.
-A lot of nice cell phones too.
-Got "¡Gringo!" yelled at my back while in Antigua bus stop.
-I enjoy learning about other people's culture and country, especially those I can easily speak with.
-I know now why there are racial cliques in the US: people looking for some similar bond - here = whiteness = English = traveling foreign country = where am I going and how do I get there? = kindred spirit. [In a normal sentence structure, what I was trying to say was that when out in the city where you're completely lost, there is some instant bond of solidarity when you see a white person because they are more than likely to know English. They are also more likely to be in the same position as you are where you're not completely familiar with your current surroundings. Therefore there is an immediate bond, even before there is any interaction.]

Guatemala: Day 1

While in Seattle, I happened to stumble upon a journal that I kept while I visited Guatemala back in the summer of 2004. I went to Guatemala to take part in an archaeological dig headed by Earthwatch, a non-government organization. As it turns out, it was not the best way to get the knowledge of how to or how not to do archaeology, but I think the experience outside that scope paid for itself.

Here I'm going to write out the journal exactly as it appears on paper. If I see fit to include an explanation or to complete an abbreviation, I will put it in [brackets]. I will start this first post with Day 1:

Guat Day 1

Thoughts: Met a cool Danish chic on the way to Dallas [who] works for some chemical company on [Carillon] Point. Live in Queen Anne. She does abstract art on the side using acrylics, cotton, coffee, tea, and roses. They have a cool texture to them and are mostly from natural materials... Slept from Dallas to Guat. Young, boring couple next to me.

Guatemala City is somewhat like Cairo, [Egypt]. It gets tourism but still has that slummy look to it. Forgot to mention: Dallas Airport definitely had a Tejano flare. Dunno if that's for tourism, or that's just the way it is. Back to Guat... First person I encountered was Polito holding a "2 Lunas" sign, my hostel['s name]. He reminds me of a darker Sancho Panza, a short, round man who has trouble breathing, but is very friendly nonetheless. I think he's my opposite[: he] speaks fluent Spanish and can understand but not speak English. I spoke some Spanish with him on the ride to the hostel. I asked how many blocks (cuadras) away the hotel was. He mistook me for asking how many rooms the hostel has (cuartos). Apparently my Spanish is kinda shitty. But what I did learn from it is that Guatemaltecos say "habitaciones" vs. cuartos. Once I got to the hostel I met the front desk chic. Her English was surprisingly good and I think I only heard one or two errors or things worded oddly. That's more than I can say for myself. Caught her name once, but I can't remember it now. Something long and starting with a P -- maybe Penelope(?) Anyway, a very friendly person answering all my questions. Oddly she reminded me of an Indian (India) but is full-blown Guatemalan. Maybe from Trinidad/Tobago or something(?) [The majority of the population in Trinidad and Tobago have Indian ancestry but the state language is Spanish.] She was cute, nonetheless. Met a guy from Riverside[, California], Sergio, and his buddy going for a masters in Mayan cuevas at S. Illinois. They both shared 2, 1 litres of Sol cerveza. The Illinois guy looked pretty drunk but I guess Sergio can hold his liquor. So the 4 mentioned people [the 2 guys, the driver, and the hostel owner] conversed in Spanish for most of the night. We all hung out in the small lobby. I enjoyed listening to them talk, although I probably catch about 60% of what is said or can't put the words together quick enough. No, I take that back, maybe half of the time, like Sergio having a run-in with a bad Guatemalan cop who jacked his watch at gunpoint. Crime is bad here. I guess no one really goes out after dark save the hoodlums. So I assume there's no real nightlife. "Penelope" said she likes Europe because you can walk around. That's pretty sad to not have that liberty. Surprisingly, she's been places, all over Europe, all over Mexico, Ecuador, and even places in the US I've never been to i.e. NY [which is not true anymore]. Overall, [Guatemala] is treating me well so far. I got my hiking backpack in one piece and getting to the hostel was no problem. Tomorrow I have to exchange cash then hop on a bus to Antigua[, Guatemala]. Hopefully it's worth it. "Penelope" recommended Antigua over [Guatemala] City, however I want to go to Ixchul and Popul Vuh museums sometime. Hopefully I can get it in on the 25th before I meet Kaplan [head archaeologist] at that airport at 11 am. Shouldn't be too hard. Although I gotta walk through the shittiest part of town to get to Popul, I think.

Hasta.

SHE-P

Now girls can pee underwater.

Possible Summer Projects

Getting back from the SHA conferences in Albuquerque, I seem to have now obtained 4 possible projects that I might be able to partake in this coming summer. Each will take luck and perseverance on my part if I would like to join the people working on them. Two are projects in Alaska, and the other two are projects down south near, or on, the US Pacific Coast.

1) There is a shipwreck near Port Graham, Alaska which sank in 1868, and is reported to be the first American shipwreck in Alaska. It was headed up to establish a new fort in the area. They landed across the way to what is now Homer, Alaska, but it was decided it wasn't a good location. So they headed south and hit a rocky outcropping. Everyone escaped, but the ship didn't make it. The people were stranded for 2 weeks, but were eventually saved. The shipwreck is called the Torrent and you may have heard about it in the news, it was out a month or two ago.


2) There is a project that went down last summer up near Wainwright, Alaska where the area was being surveyed for shipwrecks, namely those involved in the devastating loss of a whaling fleet in the winter of 1871. We will be using side scanning sonar to see if anything can be found underwater. The problem remains, that about 70 feet out, even though its very shallow water, there is a scouring of the landscape from icebergs that hit the ground. There are other shipwrecks that have been found or scavenged. The inhabitants of the town have used some of the ship's wood to create their own homes (as wood is very rare up there), and some have used the metal scrap to make knives or other such useful items. The first summer out wasn't too successful as the weather wouldn't cooperate, but they did get to do a shore survey for items that had washed up.


3) Off the coast of Santa Barbara are the Channel Islands. There is a professor from the University of Oregon, Jon Erlandson, who has been working there for 30 years. This coming summer him and one of his students are going to be doing an underwater survey around San Miguel Island, which is the furthest west island. At the conference they were asking for additional help. What they are looking for is to survey the west side of the island for inhabitation and possibly signs of seal hunting for people from 4,000 years ago or earlier. On the island they have already found two burials, one dating to 10,000 years ago and another 9,800 years ago. On the south side of the island there is a kelp forest which would hold a lot of sea life and again may have been good for hunting. On the east side of the island is a possible rock quarry for making stone tools, so we'll be looking for that. I met the student, so maybe I let somewhat of a good impression.


4) There is a National Park Service branch called SRC (Submerged Resources Center) who goes around looking for cultural materials underwater. Generally it's things like shipwrecks, they did the USS Arizona and even found a Japanese submarine in the Aleutian Islands up in Alaska. This summer and for a few years they are going to be looking into Lake Mead to see what has been submerged by the flooding of the area. They will be looking for shipwrecks but also to see what structures or Native American items they might be able to find. I met one of their crewmen who introduced me to Dan Lenihan who co-founded the organization. I'm going to see if they'll let me work with them this summer.


Hopefully I'll be able to do one. If I'm fortunate enough I might be able to do some combination of these four projects.

Wish me luck!

Progress Report

Blogs are scary, especially when you divulge most of your life to them.
I came upon some old postings from October 2001 (I've been blogging since April 2001), and aside from being shocked or bored at the content, it's funny to see that with just a month's snippet of my life from 'back in the day' I saw some cementing of ideas that make me who I am today.

One of the posts from October 1, 2001, where I was pondering my life's direction.
It seemed like such a pipe dream back then but now I seem a bit closer to that goal, and only just over 6 years later:

"what the fuck to do with my life?
megan asked me last night.
"if you could do anything in the world you wanted with no restrictions, what would you do/be?"

i came up with... not as a job, but i'd like to SCUBAdive.
back in archaeology, there was this article i read about scientists that would explore underwater caves in the mediterranean sea that have been covered up since the passing of the ice age.
that seems like cool shit.
i also dig rocks. but that seems so boring...
animals..... plants..... chemistry.....
yeh, science is definately the right direction, but which way?"

Submarine Boat

New submersible boat made in Florida.
Not really sure how it differs from a regular sub other than the fact that they say it has greater horizontal mobility.