Back home!

Photos: Me on top of Tajamulco at sunrise, our group of hikers with the mountain in the background, and nacatamale-making at the centro

I made it back to Managua safe and sound on Thursday night. The trip back from xela to guatemala city to Managua was long! But I had the chance to see some beautiful countryside. Guatemala is more mountainous than I imagined. My bus wound through the Western Highlands, past farms with a patchwork of fields, roughly rectangular, conforming to the sides of the mountains. The bus careened around a switchback turn and into a patch of fog that looked like wisps of smoke. We rose higher and the fog was below us, blanketing the villages below, breaking up into rain. Indigenous women wearing huipiles (skirts made of thick strips of woven fabric that are wrapped around their waist) worked in the fields, alongside their children and husbands. In Xela and in San Marcos, where we left for the hiking trip, indigenous women worked in the markets, restaurants, corner stores, tortillerias and selling fresh squeezed orange juice in the streets. They wore fabric around tightly knotted braids on their heads and carried baskets of breads and fruit on top, covered in another piece of fabric. They spoke to each other in K'itche or Mam, with a bit of spanish thrown in here and there. Indigenous culture seemed more a part of life in Guatemala than in Nicaragua. The government is now allowing indigenous law to supercede the national law in some cases. I also learned about some interesting ecotourism projects between foreign travelers and rural indigenous communities. And if anyone reading this is looking for a spanish school, xela is a great place to go. One of the schools is on a farm, where students learn about rural life and support the collective through their study.

It's really nice to be back in Managua, which feels like home now! I washed a mountain of laundry by hand and got caught up on all of the gossip. Ana and I went to the market to buy food for the week (and some vigorón packed in banana leaves, and cacao drinks in plastic bags) and I made spaghetti with veggies and loads of garlic for dinner. I also visited with Brenda to see how the little girl is doing. She had 5 chemo treatments this week and took them all very well. She's playing like normal and still her cute self. Brenda is still not doing that well, but is making it through day by day. Elipsia will have the surgery to have her eye removed Jan 8th and then have one more chemo after that. Things are looking better.

Have a great holiday for all of you who celebrate!!