From the Highlands of Guatemala: Always bring a towell



Road past Chicaman

It has been an exciting few days! Yesterday we had a free morning, so we tried to figure out what to do in Uspantan.  Whenever we Googled the name, the page refused to load... which was appropriate, because it turns out there isn't really much to do in Uspantan. 

We wandered around town (all of it), read our books, and then met the Peace Corps volunteer who took us to lunch (she also loaned us her guidebook, so we are now generally better informed about the options). 

Our driver came for lunch too, and then we headed to his home town, which is about 30 minutes away.  On the way, we met with the host family of the former Peace Corps volunteer who connected us with our driver.  It was fun to meet them, and it also cleared up some confusion! 

When Elana called Cara´s host dad, she told him we´d gotten his name from ´La Cara´... which in Spanish means ´the face!´.  Understandably, he was pretty confused, and we were confused as to why he claimed not to know the person who´d lived in his house for over a year.  Turns out in Guatemala, her name was Ana!

White and black beans, plus a bit of Elana's shirt

We chatted with a couple of people after we met with Cara´s host family.  Both men were extremely knowledgeable about agriculture, and actively sought out more information from all available sources (training classes, the university, NGOs). They are information resources for all of their neighbors, and they were really knowledgably about where to find ag-related info.  We learned a lot! 

It was fun to talk to individuals who are information sources, since thus far we´ve spoken only to farmers who need information and organizations.  We also got to see Obidio´s home town, which is gorgeous, and meet his family! 


We are tall here!

Today, we drove several hours to a Poqomchi, a Maya town high in the mountains - this was another connection that came from a former Peace Corps volunteer who we worked with at UC Davis Horticultural Collaborative Research Support Program.  Francisco, a local school teacher, met us and arranged an interview with several of the cocoques (similar to municipal leaders, I think) in the town.  They had a pretty different perspective from some of the other people we've talked to, so it was another really interesting interview. 

On the way home, we went through a town that was celebrating a fiesta - there were people EVERYWHERE, wearing really beautiful, brightly colored traditional clothes from their region.  Another interesting thing was that almost all of the women had orange towels with them.  We asked Francisco, and he said that women use them instead of sweaters or sweatshirts.  I just reread Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy at our hotel in Antigua, so I was pretty excited! Always bring your towel!

Soccer game during the fiesta

Tomorrow, we head off on a very long drive to the north Uspantan, to a community that grows a lot of cardamom.  Nos vemos!


Kelsey Barale, graduate student, International Agricultural Development, UC Davis

Elana Peach-Fine, PhD candidate, Plant Pathology, UC Davis