HUMP DAY!
Topic: Guatemala
Today is my hump day. It's all downhill from here on out!

My first weekend
Topic: Guatemala

Time to check in…sorry that it has been a while and much has happened since I last wrote something.  Sorry, but more pictures will have to wait so that I may conserve space on my blog.

My first weekend came and my seminarian buddy, Brion, and I went to Lake Atitlan and visited four cities there.  One of them being Santiago where Fr. Stanley Rother worked with the Mayan people and was eventually murdered by the government.  But first information about Lake Atitlan.  It is like a crater surrounded by two volcanoes and mountains.  It is fed by the water that comes from the rains on the mountains.  Also, the mountains come pretty much up to the shore so the towns that are on the lake are pretty much built on the side of the mountain.  All the cities, except the main city--Panajachel--can only be reached by boat.  One of the ways to make a living on the lake is to fish, but there are only three types of fish in the lake…two indigenous species and black bass that, America, I think, introduced to try and make the lake a hotspot for sport fishermen. What ended up happening was the black bass fed on the other fish and the hotspot never made.

The first town we visited (can’t remember the name) was a small Mayan town that, as all the others, produces textiles by hand in a loom.  The dress is particular to this town.  The men and women wear a type of skirt with a shirt specific to their gender.  The skirt turns out to be a long piece of material that is wrapped around the body at the waste and tied off with a belt.  Not much else to say about this little town except a story.  When our boat arrived at the docks there was a man about 40 years old soaping himself up getting ready to rinse himself off in the lake.  It was interesting, but hey free water for a bath why not?

The second town was Santiago.  As we entered the city I saw the corn fields reach all the way to the bank which was interesting for me to see.  The city was built on a flatter part of the mountain so that it is easier to get around without getting too winded.  Our tour guide brought us to the see the Mayan God, Maximón (mashimon), where we had to pay Q2 (~$0.27) to see him and the men who hold vigil with him 24-7.  Maximón is a “god” who was a man pre-Spaniard time who helped the Mayan people out.  This God’s favorite things are smokes (cigars or cigarettes) and drink…don’t worry this guy is well older than 21.  After this we went up to see the church where Fr. Stanley’s heart and blood are laid to rest as well as the room that is now a chapel where his life was taken.  For me, it was quite a moving experience to see this place.  I do plan on returning to stay longer and talk with the people about Fr. Stanley to hear their story with him.  I have read two books that tell his story; now I want to hear their side.  Not much else was done in Santiago this trip, except to see the different dress for the Mayan’s here.  The women wear basically the same thing as those in the other town, but on their head they wrap a long piece of material that is 1-2 inches wide around their head ‘til it makes a kind of halo.  Men wear vertically striped shorts that are made there in Santiago with a shirt of similar material and a regular type hat.

San Pedro the third town we visited is basically a hippie town now...many came and settled there.  That is at least what they told me, because I didn't see many running around.  There wasn't much to see according to our guide...we only ate there and saw an avocado tree and coffee tree.  The one thing that was interesting was that while we were eating a cat jumped up in our laps several times.  I guess it was used to receiving food from diners.  Nothing much else exciting happened in San Pedro...at least worth writing about.

Panajachel was merely the city of rest for us.  We did nothing but wonder the streets looking for the church and then our way back to the hotel after Mass and supper Saturday night.  One last thing about the lake that I thought was amazingly interesting...as we crossed the lake I would look out in the water and see what I presumed to be trash, but later found out was pomace from the volcanos that surround the lake.  I had forgotten that pomace is greatly made up of air and thus floats in water...or at least this pomace did.

Finally, on Sunday we traveled to Chichicastenango which is basically a market city...literally.  Everystreet within a 20 block sqaure was lined with open air stores that funny enough pretty much sold the same things.  As a matter of fact, Brion was looking for a bedspread and we found out that the times people at our store would leave to go get some from "stock" they were really going to get them from other stores in the street.  I said nothing as did Brion, but I wanted to laugh so hard.  We found a Catholic Church in the middle of all the hub-bub of the market, which was just as busy as the market.  People were constantly praying and adding votive candles to special tables or raised platforms--these platforms were only 3 - 4 inches tall down the center aisle of the church so you had to watch where you walked else be in danger of going up in smoke.  People would kneel at these platforms and pray as they added their open votive candles to it.  Also, there were pray-ers outside of the church constantly with thuribles--insensors--made from coffee cans that kept a constant flow of smokey insense bellowing around the door of the church.

My weekend of excitment did not end with roaming the streets of Chichicastinango, oh no.  The driver of the van for the return trip, which can barely hold 12 people including the driver, tried to pack 14 people in the van.  Now remember I am in the van and my friend who though is thinner than me is no small man himself.  Neededless to say it was not going to work, though the driver kept telling me to skoot over.  My repeated reply was "How?  Please tell me how?" as I showed him there was no space between Brion and myself leaving only enough room on the bench seat for another person's left butt cheek.  Finally, he talked to another bus driver who allowed me to get on the bus, thus separating Brion and myself so that all could get home.  We both finally returned to Antigua and swore never to use that travel agency again.

A few pictures
Topic: Guatemala
Here are a few pictures of Guatemala...they may change or disappear because I have limited space...not to fret. When I return to the states I can resize them so they aren?t as big and republish them in the smaller size. Anyway enjoy...here are my room, my room's view, me and a tortilla I made, and the tomb at Santiago Atitlan for Fr. Stanley Fracis Rother (for those who don't know who he was, I can tell you).

My Beginnings in Guatemala
Topic: Guatemala
Well I have almost finished my first week here in Guatemala. The trip here was mostly uneventful, except for the two hour wait (on the plane) for the medal workers to fix a part that was torn when the baggage loader hit the plane.--I should not have been surprised after the experience with flight trouble going to and coming from Albuquerque, but that’s another story.--Getting to my host family’s house was not a problem since the school sent someone to pick me up. Since I am not fed on Sunday’s, I had to fend for myself. So with their directions, I set off for “el centro” (the town center). I never found it, because their straight was different than my straight; however, I did manage to find a place to eat, but not after finding a church. Some unknown force propelled me to enter this particular restaurant. Not knowing for sure what I was getting myself into, I timidly entered the restaurant, where I was greeted with an “Buenos tardes…hello, how are you.” The man spoke perfect English, so I didn’t think my dining experience would be too bad. Upon getting a menu, I realized that this would not be the typical Guatemalan dinner I thought I would have. This restaurant offered things from the states, i.e. omelets, hamburgers, pizza, and, my favorite, wings. I will let you guess what I ordered. Though they turned out not to be anything like Wings-n-More, they were delicious. As it turns out, the chef, the one who greeted me, lived 14 years in Canada, so he knows how to cook normal American food. The rest of the evening found me in my bed asleep, earlier than usuaul.

During Monday and Tuesday, nothing really happened except familiarizing myself with the city and trying numerous time to withdraw money from my checking account using an ATM machine. The problem turns out to be that ATM’s don’t withdraw from checking accounts. I have been forced to seek other routes to get my money. With God’s assistance I will not be working down here to pay for school. :-) Wednesday came and all you-know-what broke loose. The morning started with a little uneasy feeling in my stomach and progressed to full out nauseous sickness. I went home early and began praying to God to take the pain from me. Luckily with his assistance (and the medicine’s) I am on my feet in less than 24 hours with a minor pain in my stomach. Gracias a Dios, that the sickness has subsided.

Well, lunch is calling me. Just wanted to check in…will periodically give updates throughout my stay in Guatemala. Check back soon! Hasta luego!

Perfect ADD/ADHD Game
Mood:  cheeky
Topic: Funny/Cool
Here is a link to a game I find wonderfully distracting; however, be warned it is geared more to those predisposed to short attention spans. If you do not fit this category, you may and probably will hate this game and even walk away frustrated and with a headache. So be warned.

http://www.funny-games.biz/foursecondfury.html

Since I am in the middle of finals and final paper writing, this game offers a quick one minute or so distraction to joggle my mind so I don't turn into a zombie as I finish up the semester this week.

Catch up time
Topic: Theology III '05-'06
Some of the things that have happened this semester:

BAPTISING: Well I did my first Baptism. Before anyone gets confused…the Baptism did not take. I am not a deacon or priest, thus do not have the faculties to baptize. This was merely a mock baptism to give me and a classmate a chance to go through the rite with an actual baby, water, and oils. It was an experience and as another classmate says “remarkable”…many remarks can be made about it. I am just happy that the practice was in English, because later on another practice was done in Spanish, not by me.

CANDIDACY: March 21 was a big day that I was admitted to candidacy. This is the time when those being formed for the priesthood formally states his intent to be ordained. This is the “final step” before diaconate and priestly ordination. I now am looking toward my diaconate and priesthood ordinations Nov. 4, 2006 and June 9, 2007 respectively, God-willing. You can go here to see a countdown to the days, down to the second. Just my way of expressing my excitement. Please keep me in your prayers

SUPER BOWL: We enjoyed a Super Bowl party where I was part of halftime entertainment. The game was enjoyed by all of us, especially our resident Stealer fan who was actually born in the steal city. We also had a wing eating contest, and of course you know I was a part of it. You can see the concentration in my eyes as I took my turn in the tag-team effort. It ended with a tie between my team and the first year team.

MADI GRAS: We, like many good Catholic, celebrated the last day before the 40 day fast. We had a grand ol’ time with Cajun food and king cake, complete with little plastic babies, for dinner.

AD CAMPAIGN: There was a short ad campaign that ran in the canteen (our snack bar/store) that featured me endorsing certain foods in the canteen. The slogan was “Rother Approved.” Below is the only ad that ran.

I think that about does it for now…I hope you enjoyed this long awaited installment that catches you up to the present. God Bless.

'69 Charger
Topic: Theology III '05-'06
Midway through the semester some students at St. Philip Catholic School adopted me praying for me, send care packages, and the like. In my first major care package, my classes sent me wonder goodies and other sundry items. One included a ’69 Charger glue model. I figured this was a chance for me to have a directed break in my studies. It wasn’t until I really started putting the model together that I realized that it is a car from my childhood per se. In other words, the car was a “character” in a TV show I watched religiously with my brother as a kid. That car was the “General Lee” of The Dukes of Hazard. I decided then and there that is what the model would be. I went into the planning stages of how I was to pull off the paint job and decals. The paint job was easy…all I needed was orange paint. The decals presented the problem, but after a few tries with my printer I came up with the decals I needed. Below is the finished product (and an in-process pic)…all I need now is a little Bo and Luke to stand by the car.

Shocking Sight
Topic: Theology III '05-'06
You will never believe much less guess what I saw tonight. A seminarian buddy and I were going to dinner after ministry when we came upon a money peddler on the median at a light. However, this was no ordinary peddler. His gimmick was to sing songs to the cars at the red light. You may be saying to yourself, “I’ve seen this before. So what.” I’ll tell you what, this man had two speakers and a microphone…but that’s not all, oh no. The speakers and mic were all hooked up to his very own karaoke machine. I kid you not, we were having “Red Light Karaoke night” Westheimer. I wanted a picture so bad, but only had my camera phone that has no flash so the picture would not have come out. I still laugh about it. So if you ever find yourself on Westheimer at a red light…you never know, it may be Karaoke night.

Mass-Luncheon with Sr. Helen Prejean
Topic: Theology III '05-'06
I finally get back on to update this with an event I went to today; however, there are many things I want to share to catch you up on what's happening lately, but you will have to settle for the events of today. I do however, plan on doing a catch-up entry soon, with pictures. But getting on with this entry...

Today, I had the oportunity to attend a Mass and luncheon honoring Sr. Helen Prejean. "Who is she?" you may be asking. Well, she is the religious sister who wrote the book that became a motion picture with Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, "Dead Man Walking." The Jesuit Volunteer Corps was honoring her with an award for her minsitry to the death row inmates.

She spoke at the dinner about her views on the death penalty, the dignity of the inmates, as well as the dignity of the victoms and their families. This was all done in light of her two books on stories of three convicted killers who were put to death. She hit on many truths regarding the country's and the Church's conflicting views of the death penalty. One of John Paul II's enciclicals deals with the death penalty directly in a section (the title escapes my mind right now). In in he argues for the dignity of the human person, even the person who has commited such a heinous crime as to make a nation think he/she deserves to die. Sr. Helen commented on this document and share some stories of men she has accompanied to the death chamber. One such story struck a cord deep within my heart and I offer it to you for your reflection:

Someone (prosecutor, prison guard, I can't remember) asked an inmate on death row who would soon be put to death, "Why should we not do this? Give me one good reason why you should be allowed to live in light of the crime you commited."

He respond, "I have only one reason. Becuase, you are better than me."

What a profoundly packed statement. This brings to question the dignity we offer men like this and if we put him to death, are we really better than he is?

I will leave you with this: A sticker that I had to have as soon as I read it and now can be seen displayed on my guitar case that is riddle with stickers says:

"Why do we kill people to show that killing people is wrong?"

For those with teens with braces
Topic: Funny/Cool
If you have a teenager with braces who is absolutely mortified with them, i.e. always complains about them or never smiles because of them, there is a solution.

Move to Thailand...evidently they are a fashion statement.

http://davesdaily.com/out.php?id=13127