building a stove

this woman was cooking when we arrived

in many maya households around the lake, women still cook with a “three stone fire.”  this is simply an open fire with three stones placed to hold the pot over it.  while simple, it has many drawbacks:  safety, health, efficiency/cost among them.  the fact of the matter is that this method of cooking is used in many impoverished areas around the world.  I’ll provide some scary stats in a couple weeks when I get to one of my future planned posts, but for now, just know that it is a problem.



how the room started



so when we got to the school in san marcos and saw them cooking on a semi-indoor three stone fire, we were thrilled to hear they’d be interested in a more contained stove.  two people outside of our group, Christina and Monika, happened to be in the area volunteering with Charlie for natural building.  they had also seen some other types of stoves through their travels in mexico, so Christina and I got to work designing the stove we would build.

plans...

first, of course, we needed to get input from the woman doing the cooking, to make sure we were making something that would actually be useful and welcome by her.  after examining the pots they used and talking over a couple options with her, we came up with a basic type of stove to build.  after consulting a couple of natural building books from Charlie, we had a good idea of our design.  we measured, drew out the plans, and ordered what we needed, all on the first day.

the design utilized an adobe brick base, topped with “fire bricks” made into a compartment for the fire, a “plancha” (metal griddle) for the cooking surface, and a flue to direct the smoke out of the room.  adobe bricks arrived the next day and we began work, using the mud mixture from our natural building for the mortar.

laying out the bricks

and that’s when it got interesting.  we had failed to account for cultural differences in our planning.  the two local experts we were working with stepped in as we were laying out the bricks.  despite the plans we had drawn out, they had their own ideas about how to build a stove, something they’ve done before, no doubt.  they listened to us politely, but then continued laying out the bricks the way they thought was best.  they let us help, showing us how much room to leave for the mortar and how to apply it, but it was clear the design so far was not going to be ours.  to be fair, their layout was really not much different from what we had planned, so we let it go, appreciative of their expertise and help.

mortaring the fire bricks

by the time it came to laying the firebricks, it was clear that we were merely being allowed to help, rather than being the designers or even builders of the stove.  our sketched-out plan was abandoned and we continued along in the way the men determined.  in retrospect, we should have been able to foresee this cultural difference.  and we may have been able to head it off by explaining that we needed to learn for ourselves, but I doubt it.  I think it was a little naïve of us to think we could design and build something our own way in a place where people with experience and deep cultural roots were already involved.

cutting the bricks with a machete

anyhow, in the end it did look like what we had envisioned.  we used machetes to cut the adobe and fire bricks to needed sizes.  (again, me with a machete!)  we used the mud mixture for adobe mortar and the lime mixture for fire brick mortar.  the plancha was set on top, with a small space for building a fire, and the flue came out the back, exhausting to the air outside the school.  finally, plaster was applied to the base of the stove for aesthetics.  as far as I know, the people at the school were pleased with it.  I sure would have loved to see them use it!

the stove building crew and finished product, photo by Craig Harvey

humor is not dead

if any of you find my blog a little too dry or boring – or if you just want to have a little fun – check out my sister’s blog, “Cindy Dwyer:  A Reason to Write.”  she is a humor writer and is in the midst of an “A to Z Challenge” where she posts alphabetically through the month of April.  she also has lots of prior posts that are interesting and fun.

hey, and let me know if you went over there and enjoyed it!


ps -- she often features my nephew, my niece or our mother (aka "Mother Theresa or Dragon Lady?"), people humorous in their own right.

natural building

natural building is a step beyond “green building,” using only local, natural, sustainable materials.  we worked with a local expert, Charlie, and two maya men who learned their skills passed down through their fathers and grandfathers.  not only is natural building good as an environmental, energy-efficient method for construction, it also preserves the old maya ways and customs.  furthermore, it is actually more earthquake-proof than modern building techniques.


how the space started, photo by Craig Harvey



we built two walls at a primary/pre-school in San Marcos.  they started out with stone bases (with a small concession in using a bit of concrete), since earth building materials will absorb moisture from the ground if in direct contact.  three hardwood posts were mounted vertically on the base, and bamboo tied horizontally across them, on each side.  the space between the bamboo was filled with stones, and a mud mixture applied over the whole thing.  finally, a plaster was spread on the surface.  and we even put a cool design on them.

the wall in process

 

as simple as that sounds, a wide variety of different materials were used in the process. 

me chopping prickly pear

prickly pear goop

one of the very first things we did was chop up prickly pear (aka nogal cactus).  yep, me with a machete.  the pieces were put into a large bucket to soak in water.  it wasn’t until near the end of the week that the mixture was ready.  by then, the fluid had become so viscous that a stick would stand up among the pieces of prickly pear.  we poured it through a sieve and what came out could only be described as nightmare snot.  in the end, the goo was used as a type of glue in the plaster for the outside surfaces of the wall.

mud stomping - we did a lot of this

the mud mixture also took some time to develop.  it was wetted down and worked over for three days to reach the right consistency.  in addition to clay-rich earth -- gathered from a local area known for good earth -- water, sand and chopped pine needles were added.  we used our feet for most of the extensive mixing.  the pine provides fiber to hold the mixture together.  once the proportions and consistency were right – a process simply done by feel by the maya men – the mud was ready.

maguey sliced for rope

even the rope we used was natural and local.  the sisal rope comes from the maguey plant, sliced the long way, dried, pounded, wetted, and dried again.  it can then be twisted with a special tool to make traditional rope, or – as in our case – used as is.  it makes a very strong, regular-looking rope.

finally, we made two different types of plaster.  both started with a lime and water base (which incidentally heats up and smokes when first combined).  the lighter plaster used fine sand and, of course, the prickly pear goop.  the darker had the addition of finely-sifted horse poop.  both were layered onto the wall with trowels for the finish.  (the experts were able to do it by tossing the plaster with a flick of their wrist, perfectly filling every spot with a flat finish.  my attempt did not meet with as much success.)

by the end, the space we started off with became a classroom and community room.  when we arrived it was being used for storage and open-fire cooking, otherwise unusable for the school community.  after building a wall, cleaning, painting and fixing up the space (and building a stove nearby.  more on that in a later post), the whole space was transformed.  it was very satisfying!



the final space, photo by Craig Harvey



(hope this wasn’t too boring, but we learned so much and I wanted to share.)

Iximche, maya ruins

Iximche is a pre-columbian archaeological site between Lake Atitlan and Antigua.  basically, a Maya ruin from a long time ago.  it was the capital of the Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until it was abandoned in 1524.  their history includes alliance with the Spanish against their neighbors to the north, the K’iche’ Maya, followed by domination by the Spanish and near destruction.

the site includes a number of pyramid-temples, palaces and a mesoamerican ballcourt.  none of it is preserved especially well (in my opinion as a renowned archeologist), but considering how old it is and that it was looted even for its building blocks, it is still a cool site.

interestingly, the majority of visitors to iximche are maya people or other Guatemalans.  it is not a heavily-visited site in general and even less so for foreign tourists.  (the big maya ruins in Guatemala are up north near mexico, at Tikal.) 

ballcourt, photo by Gerri Barr

I found two things especially interesting.  the first was the ballcourt, which brought back memories of a report I did as a kid.  the game involved a “ball” which was a large stone that could be struck only with hips and knees.  the object was to get the stone through a ring mounted at head height or higher on the sides of the court.  only royalty could watch, so it was a great honor to be chosen to play.  and here’s where it gets good:  the winner was put to death as a sacrifice.  and it was an honor.

the second was a sacred area near the back of the city.  it’s not quite a pyramid like the other temples, though it is stacked like one.  (see the picture.)  there are fire circles in front of it and small grottos up the front for memorial candles.  but it is two-sided.  like everything with the maya, there is a duality in their beliefs.  on one side people pray for good things, and on the other, bad things.  like broken legs.  and death.  for real.  while we were there, we actually saw a smoldering fire in one of the fire circles on the “bad” side.

sacred area with candles

sacred area with fire circles

iguana found!

“La Iguana Perdida” (translation:  the lost iguana) is the hotel where we stayed around Lake Atitlan.  it’s a fabulous place and very comfortable, right off the dock at Santa Cruz La Laguna.

photo by Gerri Barr

along the front of the iguana

the place is full of flowers, colors, and open air.  the rooms are nice and the showers (at least mine) even nicer.  the people are very friendly and English seems to be the main (almost only) language.  the main workers are from various English-speaking countries and seem to settle there for a while before eventually moving on to another adventure. 

dinners are served family style and are delicious.  that night’s dinner and dessert is posted on a chalkboard outside the main room each day, and they even changed the tables around a couple times to get people to mix and mingle with others outside their party.  it’s not unusual to find yourself talking to people from three different groups, comparing experiences and plans.  as a matter of fact, they purposefully do not have wi fi, and the internet computers close at 7pm, in order to encourage people to socialize and get to know one another.

the bar and main area, from John Barrie

the whole main “room” (reception/bar/restaurant/lounge/central place to hang out) is open-air.  there’s a roof

of course, but the walls have large arched openings to the outdoors.  in fact, I’m not even sure there’s a door to close the place.

there are a bunch of hammocks swinging in the breeze.  there’s a happy hour each evening before dinner.  and there is yoga available most mornings.  relaxation is key.

balcony in front of my room, photo by Craig Harvey

hammocks in the breeze

one of the coolest things is that all tips from the bar/rooms/anything go to the maya women who cook the meals each day and clean the rooms.

I think the iguana may actually have been one of the highlights of the trip.

view in front of the iguana

spanish, redux

ok, so remember back when i was brushing up my spanish skills for the peace corps?  you may remember that I had almost seven years of spanish classes and passed the CLEP test with the equivalent of two years of college spanish credit.  so my spanish should be serviceable, right?  well, not so fast.  not only was that about 100 years ago, but the classes I took were very poor on the speaking aspect.  add to that the fact that I subsequently learned german and my brain seems to operate in a dichotomous english/non-english fashion, and my ability to recall and speak spanish is located somewhere between “slim” and “none”. 

so I’m taking yet another spanish class.  (if only my memory was really sharp, I could practically teach it by now.)  i wanted to take conversation 2 to kick-start my memory and get me actually speaking, but that class got cancelled.  so I’m currently taking spanish conversation 1.  it’s a bit of a task to sit through this class, I must admit.  if we have to count to thirty or recite the days of the week one more time, I might scream.  it’s way too basic, and yet it’s probably good that I ended up starting here.  I still have a hard time coming up with words in spanish (though I recognize them when I see them), but I am able to speak some basic sentences and name some core things.  I even left a voicemail in spanish for someone the other day.  ok, I had to practice it 20 times before I called, but I did it.

I spoke a little bit of Spanish while I was in Guatemala.  not much, but it was enough to make me smile.  there wasn’t really much need for it, but I tried to use it to order food in restaurants and a little bit at the hotel in Antigua  I also had to do a presentation in my class the other day, which wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.  it was very very simple, mind you, but I wrote it pretty much off the top of my head and only had to look up one or two words.

just don’t ask me to say anything extemporaneously.  or in german.  now my brain is completely befuddled.

the Maya

the indigenous people of southern mexico and central america are the Maya.  the mayan civilization dates back to about 2000 BC and peaked around 250-900 AD.  they were known for being a very advanced culture, including the only known fully-developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, their art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems.  they flourished until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16^th century.  after a difficult history at the hands of the Spanish and subsequently the various Guatemalan civil wars, the maya still survive today in small indigenous villages throughout the region.  though generally quite impoverished, the people and their culture are still found in their language, traditions, beliefs, clothing, crafts, celebrations and general way of life.

market at Panajachel

traditional dress of San Marcos;
Atole, a corn-based drink

traditionally, each village has its own dress for men and women, though it is mostly only women wearing traditional clothing now.  you can see this in the villages around Lake Atitlan and in the people selling wares in Antigua.  weaving is a significant skill and source of income for families, who also work day in and out simply to meet daily needs for food, firewood, and other essentials of daily life.  the fabrics being sold in the markets are just beautiful and full of color.  the designs can be quite extensive, as well.

in Antigua, there is a jade museum that has replicas of death masks put on ancient Maya rulers after their deaths.  jade is considered to be like gold for the Maya, and was a sign of eternity.  some of the masks are quite elaborate, as you can see.

to me, the indigenous Maya culture was one of the highlights of the trip.  I always enjoy going new places and experiencing new cultures.  although as an outsider, I would never truly see the culture completely, I loved soaking up what I could see and experience.

women still carry loads on their heads, sometimes
with a baby on their back and a child by hand