Working hard

Hola amigos,
last Friday we finished our Spanish School and moved from San Pedro to San Marcos, another beautiful, little village located directly at the lake Atitlan.
We stayed in San Pedro with a very nice, local family. They told us many interesting stories about the life in Guatemala. The following might give you an impression. Every night at 7 pm 20 year old Nery showed up at our host family. Nery grew up in San Juan, a small village next to San Pedro. Since last year he is studying at the university of Xela to become a teacher. Nery is the boyfriend of Judith, the oldest daughter of the family. Judith is studying as well, and as the university is closed now the two could spend some leisure time together at the beach ...
They could, if there would not be the need to support the own family. So, in the morning hours Nery is helping his father in the business of a butcher, and in the afternoon he is painting pictures of the lake, hoping to sell one of it to a tourist, which actually only happens once in a while.
As a teacher Nery will probably earn 150 Euros a month. With this money he can hardly afford to rent an apartment or to buy luxury goods like beer, chocolate or butter. Nery has to work hard every day like everybody here. Children are no exception.

Fly like an eagle

Hola friends,
we were trying to follow the dark bird of prey right in front of us. He was flying without any effort, spreading its large wings majestically. "This bird knows better than me where to find the best thermal", said Roger, the flight instructor, who was sitting right behind me, adding a brief command shortly afterwards. I obeyed immediately and moved the weight of my body to the left side of my seat. This operation is called steering without decelerating and allows to fly bends without loosing much height. We made a turn to the left side, a turbulence was shaking the wing, and my stomach told me that we were going up like the elevator in the empire state building. The thermal was working efficiently, fields and houses beneath us were shrinking. After a full turn we tried to catch the next thermal, this time unfortunately without success. "Where´s the bird gone? I´m afraid he´s cheating us!", Roger asked me. The two of us catched sight of some birds high above us, but our personal guide had left the scenery, leaving us alone.
Roger is a very experienced pilot, and he could find the elevator for two more times. Our wing can be used for two persons with a total weight of 180 kg. We both came to 150 kg, which is not so bad. But even a solo flying pilot can not stay in the air for hours without any thermal support. It was now only a matter of time when we would touch solid ground again. I had a camera with me which was placed in the chest pocket of my wind jacket. Without Roger who reminded me to use it, I would have forgotten it, beeing too distracted of all the gorgeous impressions.
"I think you will love this!", said Roger and he was right, the last sharp bends were like riding a roller coaster.

This was all about me, and I know you are interested, how Sabine is doing. Here are some more information. Yesterday we spent a day in San Marco, a 15 minute boat ride away from San Pedro. San Marco is equipped with a wonderful beach and nice hotels. People usually come here for meditation and massage. We had a nice time, and at the end we visited a lovely hotel. This place might be the destination for our next weekend. Unfortunately during our time at the beach Sabine did not change her swimsuit and is now suffering from a disease we try to cure with our last package of antibiotica. Please, do not worry too much, today Sabine was still fit enough to enter the rooftop terrace of our little house, so she could observe from there the most part of my paragliding adventure.
By the way, news arrived in Guatemala that there are some of our friends suffering from a disease too. To all of you, especially to Alex and Sabine M., our wishes go for recovering soon!
All the best from Sabine and Jorge from sunny San Pedro, Guatemala.

Good bye Xela, hello San Pedro

Hola Amigos,
how would you react, if you were requested to start the engine of your car inside a small, closed garage and to push down the gas pedal for at least 90 seconds? Beside thinking: Why should I do this?, you might say: That would be no big deal!, under the condition the car`s windows were closed and I was able to escape immediately afterwards. But imagine now, you were not allowed to get out of the garage?
Exactly this was the situation we encountered in Xela, when we were walking down the narrow streets particularly at 6 pm during the rush hour. We never suffered from headache so much like in the last two weeks, even without drinking any alcohol.
Actually the air pollution was not enough to make us leave Xela. The people and teachers in our school were so nice, our family we stayed with so friendly, the served food so delicious and the nightlife so inspiring that we were willing to stay 4 weeks, strictly following our anouncement ahead. But the last drop to overflow the cup, was the lack of a heating in the tiny learning boxes of our school. Xela has an elevation of 2200 m (7300 ft). In November the temperatures drop down in the night to 5 celcius (46 fahrenheit). Although I was wearing woolen socks, five layers of shirts and fleeces my hands were cold like ice cubes and my nose was prolongated by a drop of salty water dangling on the tip. That is why my dear wife refused to kiss me all the time.
Yesterday she has done it again, because we are now staying in San Pedro, a little, beautiful village which is located next to one of the most famous lakes in Central Amerika, the lago Atitlan. The lake fills the bottom of a huge crater (ca 300 m, 1000 ft deep) and is surrounded by a bunch of volcanos. It invites its visitors to different sports activities like hiking, kayaking and swimming. Water and air are clean, and the temperatures move between 19 and 28 celsius (66 - 82 fahrenheit). This is definitely one of the most gorgeous places in Guatemala and all we can say is: wow!
Yesterday, when we were passing some fancy restaurants, the smell of burned gasoline was replaced by the sweet odor which usually is released by smoking a dried, green plant. All over the world the consume of this plant is related to reggae music, dread locks, hippie fashion style and a more then laid back attitude. San Pedro is no exception.
On monday our Spanish classes will continue outside in a nice garden next to the beach. We are looking forward to having some wonderful days in San Pedro ...

Chicken bus

Hola mis amigos a fuera en el mundo grande!
Hace unos dias el nuevo presidente de los estados unidos electo. !Felicidades!
Unfortunately the Oval Office will be left in a mess. Obama gets the task of tackling some serious issues: an economic crisis, an unwinnable war, a broken health care system, and global climate change, to name the ugliest. Handing over the presidency will be like handing one man a roll of paper towels and putting him in charge of cleaning every exhibit of a dirty, depressing zoo. All of you, please cross your fingers that Obama is skilled enough to solve at least one of these tasks!
Today is Monday and I am expected to visit the Spanish school from 8 am to 1 pm, but yesterday I caught a little sunstroke on top of the volcano Santa Maria (elevation: 3772 m, 1st picture), so I decided to cure my headache with the whispering noise of a small fountain, the smell of beautiful flowers, the sound of groovy, smoothly jazz music, and ten cups of strong and tasty premium blend coffee in a fancy coffee house called Baviera (4th picture). This spot is an oasis of calm and peace amid the fast-paced life of Xela (better known as Quetzaltenango), located in the mountains of south-west Guatemala.
In this coffee house one cup of the premium blend costs 8 Quetzales (= $ 1,10). Why is it so expensive? Expensive? No joke, it really is expensive for the Guatemaltecan people. Why so? First you must know, the coffee has to be re-imported from the US, second, the average salary in Guatemala is Q 1500 (= $ 200) per month. This is really not much, isn't it? Third let me tell you that 40% of the people earn $ 30 p.m. or even less and that less then 10 rich families own 90 % of the national budget. Now you will easily understand why this country has to deal with severe problems like criminality, corruption, pollution and a lack of health care, just to name the most important. The economy of Guatemala depends very much on the US, and most of the people here hope that «el nuevo presidente« will better take care of them unlike the Bush administration did before. Have you still got a second hand to cross your fingers with?
Let me leave the field of policy now and focus on the adventurously part of our stay in Guatemala. Yesterday afternoon I returned with a group of school mates from our hiking excursion to the peak of Santa Maria. Like a couple of times before we took the chicken bus to get back to Xela. The chicken bus earns his name to the circumstance that people are usually squeezed in its small interior like chicken in a laying battery. I do not know why I was able to overlook him before, but this time I became aware of a special person aboard the bus who is outfitted with extraordinary skills. The one I am talking about is the «ayudante«. Derived from the Spanish verb «ayudar« - to help, the ayudante assists travelers, and so much more. The following might give you an impression:
Even before entering the bus, listen for that striking voice that hollers the bus's destination 27 times in 2 minutes out of the never closing front door.
Then observe as that same gentleman grabs you and practically shoves you in the bus.
Once abroad, monitor this Indiana Jones of Guatemalan transport as he risks his life to scale up the moving vehicle.
Imagine life-threatening moments when the ayudante keeps his cool, no matter that the bus is going 87 mph, overtaking other cars around blind corners, in the dark, on a dirt road a few inches beside the abyss, standing next to the open door and balancing without any hold.
This guy is damn smart. At a bus stop, say 13 people get on, 6 get off and 8.5 (0.5 = baby on back) switch seats, all simultaneously. An ayudante is not confused by this. He can instantly recall who paid, who did not pay, and who still needs change for their Q 100 bill.
If there is anybody in Guatemala you can confide your life to, you know now who it is, don't you?