We are writing from San Andrés, Guatemala, a small town on Lake Peten Itzá. We have been here for two weeks studying Spanish and learning about the culture, traditions, and present day issues of this lovely community. Our time here has coincided with an annual festival to celebrate the patron Saint of the town, Saint Andrew (San Andres). We have had the pleasure of being woken up at 4am every morning by a tremendous bang of firecrackers signaling the beginning of the day´s prayers. The whole town seems to be enjoying this time of praying and partying.

The following photo is a view of San Andres when arriving by boat from Flores.

We have been staying with the wonderful family of Don Alberto and Dona Sonia, their two grown children, daughter in law and granddaughter. The family is jovial and welcoming and they have treated us very well. We have enjoyed beans and tortillas and many cups of instant coffee. From our room we have a view of the lake and a nice cool breeze.

This is Richard having a blast with Dania, the granddaughter of our hosts, and the two neighbors, Angela and little Baldy (an interesting nickname), who practically live at our house.

Eco-escuela is a community cooperative which benefits 50 families in San Andres. They have been operating as a Spanish school for 15 years and their goal is not only to teach Spanish, but also to teach the students, who come from the US and Europe, about the culture and traditions of this area. During the first week in the mornings we studied “ser y estar” and el subjuntivo, and in the afternoons we went on excursions to visit protected forests, traditional doctors, animals who have been rescued from poachers, and we learned how to make tamales.

Below is a photo of my teacher, Elga, explaining to me the difference between “por y para”

One of our favorite excursions was to visit Dona Fernanda, a respected traditional doctor for children. We learned from her about how she cures children when they suffer from symptoms that often cannot be cured by modern medicine. She uses prayers, which are a mixture of Mayan and Catholic beliefs. She also uses plants to give the children herbal baths, the plants are also taken orally. Because of her faith, and the faith of her patients, she has cured many children over the 20 years that she has been working as a “curandera”.

This is Dona Fernanda showing us a cotton tree in her garden.

For our second week in San Andres, Richard continued to study with a teacher at the school in the afternoons, and I spent that time studying on my own. In the mornings we worked in a neighboring town, San Jose, with the “Association of Mayan Itza Women and medicinal plants”. Last weekend my Spanish teacher, Elga, had introduced us to Dona Irma, an elder in San Jose who was instrumental in the start-up of this women´s group. We asked Dona Irma if she needed help with anything and she invited us to help in the clean up of the plot of land that the association has turned into a garden of medicinal plants. So every morning we walked an hour up to the garden and helped to rake and haul wood. In exchange for our work, Dona Irma taught us about medicinal plants. She also taught us how to make aloe vera lotion, a tincture of Jackass Bitters for amoebas and malaria, a cough syrup made of honey and herbs, and gave us allspice leaves that help to calm the stomach. After two weeks in Guatemala we can now identify at least 20 medicinal plants and what they are used for. The people in these towns have an incredible wealth of knowledge of the many uses of the plants in this area of massive biodiversity. There are many plants in this area which are now being researched for their value in healing cancer and HIV/AIDS.

This is Dona Irma showing Richard the “Vicks” plant – it smells just like vicks!

These are two of Dona Irma´s many grandchildren who are learning about traditional medicine so that the knowledge is not lost.

The 21st of November is the first of nine days of the annual town festival. On that night there was a reenactment of a town legend of the dancing woman, “La Chatona”. To celebrate this legend the children of the town make huge dancing dolls and there is a competition to see whose doll is the most similar to the original “Chatona”. In this photo you can see the reenactment along with three of the huge dolls. It was a great display of town folklore, highlighted by fireworks that left us practically deaf at the end of the night!

Tomorrow, being Sunday, we will leave San Andres to continue our travels through Guatemala, with our first stop being Tikal, the famous ancient Mayan city. You can look forward to more photo updates. Thanks for your emails and comments. It has been fun to hear from you!