Tuesday, March 27, 2007
March is the month for planting corn (maiz). We are still in the dry season and powdery dust is a constant of life here, but the days are warmer. I did not need a jacket today. During one of our recent Spanish lessons, Vitoriano spoke with me about what maiz means to the Maya. It is more than a crop and more than just a tradition, although those are certainly parts of it. It is the very essence of being Mayan. The Maya believe that mankind was created not from the earth but from maiz. The ancient Mayan ruins are full of symbols of maiz. All meals here, including breakfast, are served with unlimited maiz tortillas (or tamales or tamalitos). For the very poor, meals may consist of tortillas and nothing else but water or broth. Not only is maiz sacred itself, but so too is the process of growing it. Thus it becomes hard to introduce changes and other ideas, such as terrace farming to reduce erosion or rotation of crops to replenish the soil.
It is important for every Mayan man to produce enough maiz by his own hand to feed his family for the coming year. The field must be prepared individually, using a hoe (azadon) to create a series of ridges. Shallow depressions are made in the ridges and the maiz is sewn in clumps of seven seeds. The first seed is for the poor. The second for the birds. The third for animals. The fourth for thieves. The last three are for the farmer and his family. When the maiz has grown to an inch or so the farmer will walk his field to be sure that every clump consists of seven plants, adding seeds to those clumps that lack the full complement.
Until a generation ago, the planting would be followed by a Mayan ceremony in the field to bless the maiz for the production of a bountiful crop, give thanks for the regeneration of life, and to celebrate the sun and the rain that will come. This ceremony is rarely performed any more, and instead there will be a special service and a blessing of the maiz held in the Catholic church.
Tonight I shared a DVD with Vitoriano. Xela is only an hour away, and it actually gets many first-run movies from the US. The movies about Africa don't stay long, though. I just missed seeing The Last King of Scotland in a cineplex, and had to buy the DVD instead. Pirated, of course, but still a pretty good copy. Last Saturday I went to Xela again, specifically to see Blood Diamond, only to find that Friday was the last day of its run. Again, I found an excellent DVD on the street, and watched it in English last night.
So Vitoriano and I shared Blood Diamond tonight, in dubbed Spanish. I actually understood the Spanish fairly well(!). As I expected, Vitoriano found many similarities with Guatemala in the scenery - the rugged mountains, long views, desperately poor villages, crowded village markets, the contrast with upscale cities. But more. He remarked repeatedly on the plight of the population violently caught in the middle between the gov't troops and the guerillas, and the rampant corruption that fed it all. He said that this was exactly the situation in rural Guatemala during the long civil war here. Villages laid waste, women raped, men killed, children abducted, people running into the forests and hills for their lives, and it was the same whether it was the army or the guerillas who suddenly appeared without warning. All fed by money and power from outside the country.
Really, Guatemala still hasn't recovered, even though Peace Accords were signed in 1996. The country is still awash with handguns and automatic rifles, the justice system is almost non-functional, impunity is rampant, and gross corruption is apparent even in the hightest levels of the National Police. Petty criminal violence in Guatemala City is out of control - the Peace Corps headquarters is moving to a safer rural location, the US State Department and European Countries have issued tourist warnings. We PCVs are under strict orders to avoid the City if possible, and when in the city not to use city buses or roving taxis.
It came to a head about a month ago, when three visiting Congressmen and their driver from El Salvador were abducted, tortured for several hours, and then assasinated. Surprisingly, only two days later four members of the secret police were arrested for the killings and placed in a high security prison. But the following day all four were found dead, shot in their cells. There is still no word on who killed the policemen or how this could happen inside a high security prison, nor any information about who was behind the attack on the Congressmen or why. Two high-ranking police officials were sacked. One showed up two days later "vacationing" at a beach in Costa Rica having shaved off his mustache and beard. He immediately left for Panama and then on to Venezuela, from where he is currently trying to negotiate "security" before returning to Guatemala for questioning. The other official apparently is in Mexico, fighting extradition.
It is important for every Mayan man to produce enough maiz by his own hand to feed his family for the coming year. The field must be prepared individually, using a hoe (azadon) to create a series of ridges. Shallow depressions are made in the ridges and the maiz is sewn in clumps of seven seeds. The first seed is for the poor. The second for the birds. The third for animals. The fourth for thieves. The last three are for the farmer and his family. When the maiz has grown to an inch or so the farmer will walk his field to be sure that every clump consists of seven plants, adding seeds to those clumps that lack the full complement.
Until a generation ago, the planting would be followed by a Mayan ceremony in the field to bless the maiz for the production of a bountiful crop, give thanks for the regeneration of life, and to celebrate the sun and the rain that will come. This ceremony is rarely performed any more, and instead there will be a special service and a blessing of the maiz held in the Catholic church.
Tonight I shared a DVD with Vitoriano. Xela is only an hour away, and it actually gets many first-run movies from the US. The movies about Africa don't stay long, though. I just missed seeing The Last King of Scotland in a cineplex, and had to buy the DVD instead. Pirated, of course, but still a pretty good copy. Last Saturday I went to Xela again, specifically to see Blood Diamond, only to find that Friday was the last day of its run. Again, I found an excellent DVD on the street, and watched it in English last night.
So Vitoriano and I shared Blood Diamond tonight, in dubbed Spanish. I actually understood the Spanish fairly well(!). As I expected, Vitoriano found many similarities with Guatemala in the scenery - the rugged mountains, long views, desperately poor villages, crowded village markets, the contrast with upscale cities. But more. He remarked repeatedly on the plight of the population violently caught in the middle between the gov't troops and the guerillas, and the rampant corruption that fed it all. He said that this was exactly the situation in rural Guatemala during the long civil war here. Villages laid waste, women raped, men killed, children abducted, people running into the forests and hills for their lives, and it was the same whether it was the army or the guerillas who suddenly appeared without warning. All fed by money and power from outside the country.
Really, Guatemala still hasn't recovered, even though Peace Accords were signed in 1996. The country is still awash with handguns and automatic rifles, the justice system is almost non-functional, impunity is rampant, and gross corruption is apparent even in the hightest levels of the National Police. Petty criminal violence in Guatemala City is out of control - the Peace Corps headquarters is moving to a safer rural location, the US State Department and European Countries have issued tourist warnings. We PCVs are under strict orders to avoid the City if possible, and when in the city not to use city buses or roving taxis.
It came to a head about a month ago, when three visiting Congressmen and their driver from El Salvador were abducted, tortured for several hours, and then assasinated. Surprisingly, only two days later four members of the secret police were arrested for the killings and placed in a high security prison. But the following day all four were found dead, shot in their cells. There is still no word on who killed the policemen or how this could happen inside a high security prison, nor any information about who was behind the attack on the Congressmen or why. Two high-ranking police officials were sacked. One showed up two days later "vacationing" at a beach in Costa Rica having shaved off his mustache and beard. He immediately left for Panama and then on to Venezuela, from where he is currently trying to negotiate "security" before returning to Guatemala for questioning. The other official apparently is in Mexico, fighting extradition.
