"You Mess With My Phosporous!"

One last entry before I leave my Guatemala experiences behind. I feel like I have hardly done this trip justice. Had I been near a computer or had Internet access been more readily available, I would have been so much more detailed and consistent in chronicling my experiences. I am upset about this, more for my own self, than for yours. Little notes I jotted down in my journal just aren’t the same. Details are already fading away and it’s only been a week. And it’s funny what kind of stories come out depending on who I’m talking to. Everyone wants to hear about a different aspect of the adventure. Some want to know about all the crazy insects and spiders I encountered on my time in the jungle (and much to my surprise, I am able to go on about this for at least 10, 15 minutes.) Others want to hear about the Spanish, or about the coffee, or about the macadamias, or about the people or about how a community of 250 people can live in the middle of nowhere without fridges! No fridges, for goodness sakes! In 2007! That means no dairy, no fresh fruit, no ice cream. Nothing kept for longer than a few days before it spoils. (I should say that the Finca has received some government funding for housing. They will also soon be hooked up onto the electricity grid, which will revolutionize their entire lives!) I tell some people about the funny/stupid things that happen. Others still about the plight of the coffee bean. I could never properly do it justice here on the wee lines of this blog. But here’s my best kick at the can.

First of all, for those of you who donated to my trip, I want you to know that your money went to a good place. The group spent $400 on school supplies and books for the Finca. Now while this may not sound like a lot, the books that we brought now account for a 1/3 of their library, which only contained a hundred books before we arrived. Also, the $150 which we spent on school supplies will be used next year to help defray the cost of school for the children. At the beginning of every school year, the Finca purchases all the supplies it will need for the whole year and divides the price between its members. At most, it likely costs each family about $10 per child per year. Some cannot afford even this, and therefore don't send their children to school! Because of your donations, our school supplies will help defray next year's costs so drastically than many more students will be able to attend school next year that otherwise wouldn't have been able to! So thanks!

OTHER THINGS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:

*One of the more, shall we say, “authentic” meals at the Finca included a plant called ishpalula, which tastes as disgusting as it sounds. This Spinach-resembling plant tastes like dirt. Yes folks. It actually tasted like dirt. You know how beets have that ‘earthly’ flavour to them? Well, ishpalula goes right on beyond that. And there was just no getting around it. Oh, you can try and mix it up in your spaghetti and hide it in with your tortilla all you want, but it still tastes like dirt. Tortillas, spaghetti, with a side of dirt. That’s actually what we had for dinner one night. Also, ishpalula is a plant that can be used to make women lactate if they are having difficulties breastfeeding. Hard to complain since the volunteer coordinator had been stressing the importance with the cooks to make sure they served more greens for the gringos…

*It was hard to see the poor nutrition in some of the children of the Finca. There were actually a few kids with distended bellies. They eat a diet predominately of starch. This is particularly (and you’ll pardon the pun) difficult to stomach when there is fresh fruit rotting on the trees. Avocados, mangoes, papayas were everywhere, relatively untouched. It’s all a question of education, made all the more frustrating by the fact that no one from outside of the community can go in and start telling them how to eat properly.

*Another word I enjoy saying: chichicasta. There is a plant called chichicasta (say it ten times quick!) which is basically poison ivy and makes you itch for about 10 minutes. And actually, they use it for people suffering from arthritis to dull the pain. Also, they have a plant on the Finca which if you eat it will cause abortions! I didn’t write down the name, but man! I wish I had. Abortion plant. Huh. And who was the unlucky sod who discovered THAT out?!

*I figured out a few days into my trip how to take videos with my camera. It made me chuckle for the rest of the week. We were at a nightclub listening to this INCREDIBLE salsa music and I was sat there thinking, “If only there was some way I could capture this all with motion and sound…”

Some quotes of the day I jotted down:

PURSUANT TO A FIRE ANT INVASION IN THE GIRLS’ DORM ROOM:
-“Would you guys mind eating a bit earlier tonight so that the cook can clean up the poison in your room? She doesn’t want to do it before dinner on the chance that she might contaminate your food.”
-“Uh, yeah, Nick. That would be fine. Great idea.”

-“Hey you guys, I’m going to see if there are still any fire ants left on my shoes.”

-“Hey, Erin had a great idea: Put my shoes IN the poison to get rid of them.”

FROM AN OLD GUY AT THE MARKET WHOSE MATCHES WE ACCIDENTALLY KNOCKED OVER WITH OUR BACKPACKS:

‘You mess with my phosphorous!”

ha!
Well folks, I think that's it. Beautiful Belize Beckons.