Terremotos terremotos!

Today I had a long conversation with my Spanish teacher about earthquakes. He said that the last major earthquake was 1976 and they guess that major ones are 25 years apart. We are way past due. He told me about how people buy food and have shelters but it does not really bother anyone that their city could be flattened in minutes. This blows my mind. He said there was a micro earthquake 2 nights ago and asked if I felt it. He said the small ones happen about 100 times a day. I am determined to feel one.

Today I went to Pollo Campero which is like Guatemala{s KFC. They are on most blocks here. I have been thinking alot about how diabetes has been a major problem here, completely changing the life of guatemalans for the past 10 years. I am sitting in Pollo Compero and there is a indigenous Mayan women eating a piece of fried chicken in her traditional Mayan garb, and drinking a giant drink. Something here feels so weird. Globalization does not fit in here. (also the sweet tea at PC was WACK!)

Yesterday Alex and I went to visit a comodrona, which is a Mayan midwife. We made the long drive in the truck in the afternoon, during the after school rush. The contrast between the main highway (that leads to the capital) and the village we arrived in was startling to say the least. The highway is always full of cars and buses and trucks, but then we turned onto a dirt road. From a far the village looked like a slum, from close up it was colorful. Mostly Mayan which means it is poor. It was a vibrant community, we walked past many cardboard and tin rooved houses. Always clothes hanging out on a line which I love. There is one part of a Guatemalan house that is never cheap/flimsy/weak, and that is the front doors. They are always heavy duty metal, usually with bars and a buzzer...or you just yell. When someone comes to the door, they always look through the peep hole before they move the lock. I see it as a direct influence of the U.S....how so? A few years back, the CIA and our government aided the Guatemalan military to put down what we thought was a guerrilla movement. What happened was the slaughter of countless innocent [suspected[ men, mostly mayan. During the civil war you never knew whose door would be knocked on neext, or whose father or brother would be taken.
Last night Denis told me his father was dead. I knew it was in the civil war, but that is something you would never ever ask someone in Guatemala. It is just off topic, out of the question. I still do not understand the giddy, happen attitudes of all Guatemalans. I attribute their happiness to family. Here is my theory.

When colonialism happened the conquistadors basically siezed all the land and forced the indigenous people to work. Eventually if the Guatemalans were allowed to own land they had to divide it between their children when they died. But after a certain amount of time, the sons were only inheriting tiny pieces of land. Denis told me this over dinner last night. He said "we are happen because we have family all around us". Meaning....because of how land works, their ENTIRE extended family is within a square mile. Their parents live next door, cousins behind them, etc. It is beautiful. But pretrty soon the overcrowded land will force families to spread out around the country. This is why denis says he is sad about the future. But family is why I think Guatemalans are content.

Anyway we got to the office of the Mayan medicine women, and we were asked to wait in a small hall. All the doors were as t}I ahve seen in most guatemalan homes- simply blankets or sheets or scraps of cloth. I am sure they are to keep the bugs out because I donot think they do much else. The woman was beautiful. Colorful. and Beaming. She wore the traditional colorful Mayan blouse tucked into a patterned ankle length skirt with the belt cinching it tight. She spoke in broken Spanish since Mayan language is her first language. I asked her all the questions I had prepared and was able to follow most of her answers. Thje majors things I took out of it were 1) she uses only herbs that she grows. Never modern medicine. 2) She does not take money from her clients. If someone wants to pay or can{t....they can bring a pig, or milk, or a blanket they made. Or maybe she will let them pay 5Q which is about 75 cents. TO DELIVER A BABY. She talked about how she feels the baby instead of using any equipment like a ultrasound machine. She talked about a tea she makes for the women with high BP and how she helps mothers manage their diabetes. Even when she lost me, I stared at her. The woman was poorer than I could imagine and she delivered her neighbors babies for a blanket. I was too pensive and embarrassed to ask Alex about all the things I did not catch when we drove home.

Next week I am volunteering in the clinic from 9-5. I will not have alot of computer access. Please pray for me to have enough emotional strength. Also I am going to Lago Atitlan this weekend, supposed to be the most beautiful lake in the world.