Time Just Passes!

It’s quite amazing how we have settled in here on Lake Atitlan. Even though we had to move apartments for a couple of weeks, we still marvel at the beauty of the place and recognize how easy it is to make things work around here. Our room now is very small, with room enough for our bed and a table. There are two chairs that we move from the inside to the outside depending on where we want to sit. The kitchen is small enough for one person at a time, so when we make our meals, we either leave it to one of us, or we bring the food preparation part outside. There is a stove with 4 burners, and no oven. A table sits on a small patch of grass outside. There is a small bench there, and when we carry the chairs from the inside out, we can sit four people at the table. The shower leaks and has a low ceiling that makes it hard for Paul to stand up straight! It took a bit of adjustment from our spacious, elegant apartment from before, but I’m going to say, it’s still pretty fine. I think of this place a little bit like Gabriola! And....when I look out from our small bench at the table outside I can think of no other place I’d rather be!    

Our work with Casa Hillel has been great! We didn’t go there this week, even though it’s been two weeks, because Rabbi Elyse is there for the weekend and they need to concentrate on their own relationship together. But Paul and I have still been busy creating for them and working with them. One of the boys, Ardany, is having a Bar Mitzvah in November. It’s not the first Bar Mitzvah in the community, but it is the first Bar Mitzvah where the child will read directly from the Torah. We have started that process together. Also, the members of the community have begun taking turns writing a Dvar Torah, and there are many songs that they know now. Paul and I recorded many of the prayers for them. I have to say I really liked singing into a microphone. Maybe I chose the wrong profession! Yeah...that’s it! Maybe I’ll ‘go on the road’ with Paul!!! Ya’ think?

I started a course in massage this week. I decided to go for it because the hours are really flexible, it’s something I’ve always wanted to learn, it’s really inexpensive, and I love the couple who are teaching it! Jaina is British and Fernando is Mayan. Their approach is body and heart! I understand that concept and really appreciate it. I want to learn massage so I can give massage to friends and family. It’s not about work. I never expect to be ‘paid’ for it. I just think it’s such a great way to share. I love the idea of putting my whole body into what I’m doing and connecting with my heart and soul. (It’s a little bit like carrying my babies during pregnancy. It takes mind, body and heart.) The course is really good. I think it comes a little naturally to me. And Paul is, so far, the one who has benefitted the most!  Anyway, the weirdest thing, as it turns out, is that Jaina is best friends with Philip’s girlfriend’s sister in Mexico! The connection is so bizarre, and yet, with the way our universe unfolds, I’m not the least bit surprised! It’s only natural that I would meet the friend of my son’s girlfriend (Toronto) sister (Mexico), while I’m in (Guatemala).

Our friend Susan from Java Mama has been visiting us this week and so we’ve gone on several excursions together. Yesterday we went into San Juan to visit the indigenous communities and shop in the various homes of women who sit and weave and make absolutely gorgeous woven and knitted work. I even got to play with one of their handmade “backstrap” weaving machine. Susan purchased many things. She’s a bit of an activist in the world, and was intentional about spending her money directly with the people who create the items that she bought.

I am continuously blown away with the simple joy and openness that the people here exude. It is so common to find children laughing and playing together so positively. I have never seen any foul playing going on, even amongst those who we think are of typically aggressive ages. People just seem to be pleasant, happy, grateful, and open. I just love interacting with those in the streets who are quick to wish me a ‘good day’ or a pleasant evening.
We’re going to Antigua this weekend. We’ve passed through there several times on our way to Guatemala City, but we never stopped to experience it. Since we’re in this smaller apartment for a couple of weeks, we’ve decided to spend some time travelling. We’re going tomorrow and meeting our friend Elyse there on Sunday. She’s coming back with us to spend a couple of nights before she flies to Mexico where she’ll be accompanying Casa Hillel in their first participation in the Reform Convention, before she returns to Toronto

Our Spanish teacher, Andres, “abandoned” us for a while, so my Spanish is at the mercy of the people I get to speak to in the streets. Fernando (my massage teacher) also speaks only Spanish so I am practising when I’m with him. Of course, I’m disappointed that I’m not fluent yet, but, I have to say, I am getting better. There is so much to learn!! There’s just so much to learn!!!