A view of Solola, Lake Atitlan, and Volcano Toliman from the roof of a friend's restaurant, "el gran mirador".
I lived with a wonderful host family who graciously welcomed me and gave me a taste of daily life in Solola. To give you all a brief context of what Solola is like, 90% of its inhabitants identify themselves as indigenous Maya (Kaqchikel or Kiche) and 10% as non-indigenous. I passed most of my days without seeing another gringo, even though Solola is only a 30 minute bus ride from Panajachel- the region's largest tourist spot- very few tourist make it up the mud/rock-slide prone mountain pass to Solola. However, the almost nonexistent tourism in Solola lies in stark contrast to the enormous amount of local traffic. Solola is the capital of the Department and boasts the largest market in the department, attracting people from all of the nearby municipalities. As you can imagine, this region is rich with a unique history and colorful, thriving culture. Thus, it is the perfect location for an ethnographic field school. As a Sociology/Anthropology major with graduation on the ever-nearing horizon, I wanted to use my summer months to study aborad and gain some valuable experience "in the field". I spent my days designing and conducting my own ethnographic research project, collecting data by interviewing and speaking with Sololatecos. I was curious to learn about local perspectives of Lake Atitlan, focusing on its importance, health, and current and future preservation efforts.
Me with my host Mom, Olga and three of her ten grandchildren.
This was an entirely new challenge for me; there were certainly days when the culture shock; constant thinking, interviewing, and speaking in Spanish; and pressures of my research were exhausting and overwhelming. However, after a lot of hard work, my field notes, interviews, and data slowly morphed into a final paper. This unique challenge provided me with an equally unique sense of acomplishment and excitement, one that eludes my ability to translate it into words. I learned so much about Guatemala, Solola, Lake Atitlan, Mayan culture, anthropology and field methods, improved my Spanish, and gained valuable personal insight.
Making tortillas at a traditional Mayan oven/stove in the town of Santa Lucia. Tortillas were served fresh with every meal. The constant "pat-pat-pat" of women making tortillas could be heard on nearly every street in Solola, at all hours of the day. I never quite perfected this art, as my tortillas tended to be mishapen and uneven thickness.
Since my research was based in Solola, I was unable to do a whole lot of traveling around Guatemala. But I traveled to a majority of the municipalities found within Lake Atitlan's basin, each with its own micro-culture. I also spent some time in the colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala's largest tourist attraction (Lake Atitlan is the second most visited area). I hiked Pacaya, Guatemala's most active volcano- it last erupted in May 2010.
Yoga near the rim of Pacaya.
Recently Guatemalan history is tarnished by the horrific bloodshed of its civil war, which was instigated by the CIA in 1960 and only ended in 1996. In many ways, post-peace Guatemala is more violent, and equally dangerous. Guatemaltecos are still searching for peace and stability as they heal the wounds left by the civil war. Despite this, they are very warm and welcoming. Instead of harboring resentment and expressing hostility toward me, they shared their infectious sense of pride for their country and their culture. I made amazing friends in Solola and was quickly considered my host mom's 'hija de Solola' (daughter of Solola). I have already begun formulating plans to return to Guatemala to visit my friends and family and explore more of its grogeous landscape!
Four boys watch and cheer on their favorite, local football team from the hill above. A typical playing field... quite a contrast from Watt, huh?
On an endnote: explaining the sport of lacrosse in my limited Spanish vocabulary and questionable grammar proved to be very difficult! No one I encountered had ever heard of or seen our sport! I eventually created a suitable explanation that, when combined with a few pictures, painted a somewhat discernable picture!
Apologies to Acker, as technical difficulties did not allow the post to show all of the accents used in the names of people and places in Guatemala. Visit the blog next week for a bit of a summer surprise!
