Mi Intercambio Universitario a Guatemala

My University Exchange to Guatemala

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Okay, I finally finished the posts from our trip to Rabinal, so if you search “gira rabinal” you should get all those posts together without interruptions. Also I’m sorry I’ve been getting super lazy with this blog lately lol.

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Gira a Rabinal (10/10): Mercado y Saraliz

On Sunday, we had the whole morning free to explore the market in town, because Sunday is a market day in Rabinal. So of course I bought fruit (including red bananos de oro, although I’m sure they have a different name). Then we went to a local panadería to buy pan dulce, because we had been served this bread several times at the comedor where we had been eating all weekend, and had to ask where she was getting it from because it was so good hahaha. And we also went to a local religious shop to see where all the things we used for the religious ceremony the night before came from and bought a couple things there too.

Then the last stop we had on the way out of town was the artisan shop Saraliz, which makes traditional and modern Achi ceramics using local clay.

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Gira a Rabinal (9/10): Ceremonia Achi

Sorry again for bad quality night-time photos. But the last thing we did on Saturday was participate in a traditional Achi religious ceremony, making an offering to the gods. It was 2 and a half hours long. 

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Gira a Rabinal (8/10): Centro Cultural Maya Achi / Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala

El Centro Cultural Maya Achi is an Achi cultural center in Rabinal that is a branch of la Academia de Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala, which is headquartered in Guatemala City. La Academia is dedicated to preserving and keeping alive the 22 Mayan languages in Guatemala. El Centro Cultural Maya Achi is specifically dedicated to the Achi language and culture.

We came here to hear about the ceremonial dance of Rabinal Achi since it was not being performed while we were there.

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Gira a Rabinal (7/10): Funerales

While we were walking back to the hotel, I thought I saw a religious ceremony in progress because there were people walking up the steps to the church swinging incensarios (incense burners). Then I felt bad for taking photos because behind them came people carrying a casket, which you can see in this photo. 

This is the second funeral I have seen here. The other one was in Cantel on our other field trip. That time, we passed a procession on the bus, where the casket was in the back of a pickup truck and everyone was walking behind it (including a mariachi band).

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Gira a Rabinal (6/10):  Familia artesana productora del morro

Before we got to go back to the hotel and shower and nap after climbing this mountain, we went to visit a family that uses traditional Achi methods to make several things from gourds.

The specific way they make these is unique to Rabinal and is not seen anywhere else in the world (although there are some mimics and similar techniques used in surrounding areas). They use all traditional methods, tools, sources, paints, etc (except some of the newer paint colors that have become popular) to make maracas, as well as Achi ceremonial bowls and cups and some modern decorative items to sell at the market.

This is a YouTube video in Spanish, but you can at least see video of the process. It’s called Los Chinchines de Rabinal.

*neither of these photos are actually mine, they are from my group members, Silvia and Wendolynn

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Gira a Rabinal (5/10):  Ascenso a la montaña de Kajyub’

So on the second day in Rabinal, the first thing on the itinerary was to climb the mountain Kajyub’. After we went to eat breakfast, our professor pointed to a mountain in the distance and said that that was the one we were going to climb. And we literally just walked. From the middle of town to the top of this mountain. The climb was ridiculously steep most of the way, and it took us about an hour and a half or two hours, but it was worth it.

The mountain itself is considered a sacred area (think like a church) to the Achi community because of the ruins that are located on top of it. We were with an Achi guide the whole time, who prayed for our safe passage before we started. The site used to be a small city that dated back to before Spanish colonization, but mostly all that is left now that is fully intact is a holy building that is still used for religious ceremonies. There are also ruins of pre-colombian Achi cities on the other mountaintops surrounding the valley where Rabinal is now.

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Today we went to the city Festival Navideño (Christmas Festival) in la Plaza de la Constitución in zona 1. They had an ice-skating rink, and areas for snow ball fights and sledding.

At one point, I was telling Olivia that I don’t really like Christmas music, and the second I said that, the song that had just started remixed into a cumbia, which is potentially my favorite genre of Spanish music. So of course, I was caught kind of off-guard, but I was like “oh, oh.. okay, this is good, I like this one!” hahaha. The song is called Mix Navideña, by los Hermanos Flores (a Salvadoran group).

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The sun went away in the middle of this panorama but it still turned out nice haha. Finals “week” started two weeks ago and I have my last thing next Monday. - El sol desapareció en el medio de tomar esta foto pero todavía es buena jaja. Exámenes finales empezaron hace dos semanas y la cosa final para mi está el próximo lunes.

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Gira a Rabinal (4/10): ADIVIMA

La Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral de las Víctimas de la Violencia en las Verapaces, Maya Achi (ADIVIMA), or the “Association for Integral Development of the Victims of Violence in the Verapaces, Maya Achi”, is an organization that works with surviving family members of victims of the genocide against the Achi Maya communities around Rabinal. This man (in the pink button-down shirt) was very impressive, incredibly knowledgeable. 

Also in case you’re wondering, there are no Google Maps Street Views attached to most of these Rabinal posts because most of the city has not been done.

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There is a foreign student here from Sweden named Olivia who had never visited Antigua during the day before, so we went today when they were having their Festival de Flores, or flower festival. They have competitions for displays  and arrangements that are set up all over the city, and they also have a few exhibitions and events in la Iglesia de la Merced. We also went to the Cerro de la Cruz, which I have never visited, so I’m glad we did! It is a hill (cerro) overlooking the city with a cross (cruz) on the top.

[Google Maps Street View]

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Gira a Rabinal (3/10): Museo Comunitario de la Memoria Histórica

So. Prepárate para estar triste. Prepare yourself to be a little depressed.

The first day we were in Rabinal, we went to the Museo Comunitario de la Memoria Histórica de Rabinal, or the Community Museum of Historical Memory. As I mentioned before, the municipality of Rabinal is largely populated by Achi Maya. However, the Achi communities around Rabinal were heavily targeted during the most intense years of the civil war, around 1975-1985. This museum is dedicated to recording the genocide that happened in this area and the culture that was almost lost with it.

The museum is split into three rooms. The first room is dedicated to remembering the faces, names, and stories of Achi victims. The whole room was literally just four walls of photos. It was emphasized that since this population was mostly poor and rural before the war, many people did not have photos of themselves, so this display is vastly incomplete. The blue column that is titled “Niñas y Niños Victimas del Genocidio” is a double sided, floor-to-ceiling list of children murdered, including their names and ages. Since there are still people in power that were involved in these types of things and the war has been so politicized within the country itself, there are a significant number of Guatemalans who deny that these things ever happened (if you watched the short documentary I posted about forced disappearances, you saw an example of this). Because of that, these types of displays and historical records are even more important to keep.

The second room was dedicated to showing the process of returning bodies to families after an exhumation of a mass grave or of an unmarked gravesite of a disappeared person (or several together). This includes recording evidence at the site, the actual exhumations, forensic analysis, and collecting DNA from surviving community members to identify remains. The photo of the grey sign on a red wall is a list of exhumation sites with the number of bodies exhumed at each site (split into men, women, and children).

The third room is dedicated to showing the culture of the Achi community, which became dangerous to practice during the war. The practice of these traditions never recovered to their pre-war levels. The room shows both ancient and recent cultural items, including pottery, statues, instruments, tradicional ceremonial clothing, traditional medicine and religious ceremonies.

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I am going to write a short background on the civil war, because I haven’t written anything on it yet and this info is important to my next Rabinal post. 

In 1944, a revolution broke out in Guatemala which overthrew the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico. Between 1944 and 1954, Guatemalans elected two presidents in it’s first ever open and fair democratic elections. These presidents were both elected in landslide victories; they were immensely popular, and for obvious reasons. While definitely not perfect, these governments gave many civil rights to citizens that they had not had before, trashed oppressive legislation that was in effect during Ubico’s regime, and worked to modernize the country in general outside of agriculture. Long story short, the US government was convinced that these governments were communist, and helped orchestrate a coup against the democratically elected president in 1954 (CIA operation PBSUCCESS), replacing him with the dictator Carlos Castillo-Armas. His government and the ones who succeeded him were the targets of the rebellion which became a full-blown civil war in 1960. The war was fought by rebel guerrillas on one side and the Guatemalan government and military on the other. During this period, pretty much all Mayan people were assumed to either be guerrillas or have sympathies for the guerrillas (or at the very least, be against the government), and were targeted for mass slaughter on numerous occasions. In fact, out of the estimated 200,000 people killed or disappeared during the entire 36 year long war, 93% of these killings and disappearances have been attributed to the Guatemalan military and government. 93%. Let that sink in for a sec. Many of these murders and disappearances happened within the most intense years of the war, around 1975-1985. The Guatemalan government has since been determined to have carried out a genocide against its own people, specifically targeting Mayan communities. Since the end of the war, which was resolved with peace accords in 1996, many of the people who perpetuated this violence have continued to hold positions of power in the Guatemalan government and activists who speak out too much are still sometimes assassinated.

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I just realized I never posted about this day back in October when we went to la Plaza de la Constitution together! We went here then to el Mercado Central and to Dobladas San Carlos.

I also noticed these two plaques near where the other “para que no nos olvidamos, somos 43″ memorial is. The first one is dedicated to the 41 girls who died in the incident at  Virgen de la Asunción Orphanage earlier this year. The second one is impossible to read but is dedicated to all the victims of the civil war.

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Gira a Rabinal (2/10): La ciudad

Here’s some photos around the city from all 3 days including some important landmarks, like the church and municipal building.

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Gira a Rabinal (1/10): Camino a Rabinal

Last weekend (Nov 3-5) we went on another three-day field trip with my Cultural Anthropology class to Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, which is about 60 miles (about 3 hours and 40 minutes) north of Guatemala City. If you were driving from Guatemala City straight north, this region is kind of where the temperate highlands of Guatemala begin to transform into tropical lowlands. Still very mountainous, but much hotter. While we were there it was probably about 80-85°F every day during peak heat hours. Rabinal is a small municipality with a (mostly Achi Maya) population size similar to Laramie’s. On the way there, we got stuck in a ton of road work traffic at one point and we got stopped several times throughout the whole trip by traffic police check-points randomly checking bus drivers’ licenses. Rabinal is also located in a deep valley, and the road going down to Rabinal is honestly scary in a school bus. Think very narrow, sharp turns, steep grade, and no guard rails. But we made it!

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Top 40

Here are links to some popular songs in the Top 40 here in Guatemala City. While there are a lot of songs in the Top 40 here that are American songs, I only included songs in Spanish. I also included where the singers are from.

Aquí están unos enlaces a unas canciones mas populares en la Ciudad de Guatemala. Aunque hay muchas canciones populares que son estadounidenses, solo incluí canciones en español. También incluí de donde son los cantantes.

Despacito, Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee (both/ambos de Puerto Rico)

Reggaeton Lento, CNCO (Miami, USA)

Me Enamoré, Shakira (Colombia)

Hey DJ, CNCO (Miami, USA) ft. Yandel (Puerto Rico)

Me Rehúso, Danny Ocean (Venezuela)

El Amante, Nicky Jam (USA/Puerto Rico)

Mi Gente, J Balvin (Colombia) & Willy William (France)

Escápate Conmigo, Wisin (Puerto Rico) ft. Ozuna (Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico)

Súbeme la Radio, Enrique Iglesias (Spain)

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Update:

Que Va, Alex Sensation (Colombia) & Ozuna (Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico)

Como Antes, Yandel & Wisin (both/ambos de Puerto Rico)

Una Lady Como Tú, Manuel Turizo (Colombia) 

La Rompe Corazones, Daddy Yankee (Puerto Rico) ft. Ozuna (Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico)

Criminal, Natti Natasha (Dominican Republic) & Ozuna (Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico)

Mayores, Becky G (USA) ft. Bad Bunny (Puerto Rico)

Felices los 4, Maluma (Colombia)

Perro Fiel, Shakira (Colombia) ft. Nicky Jam (USA/Puerto Rico)