Dogs, Trash, Yoga, & Temascal

This is an empty lot that I walk past on my way to the gym. Trash and dogs are two of the most visible problems in Guatemala. The dogs aren't stray; they actually have homes. But they are sent outside during the day to roam freely and are let back in and fed at night. 

I read an article about the trash problem that said the following:

"Nowhere in Guatemala is there a system for the final disposal of solid waste. In the urban areas it is estimated that 47 % of the population has the benefit of solid waste collection. The rest of the people burn, bury, or toss out their trash. In rural areas only 4% of the population has the benefit of trash collection services.”

Recently, there was a news story here about a house the police raided. It had ten living dogs, and several that were recently slaughtered. They appeared to have been operating an illegal dog-meat business. Having seen the amount of dog poop on the streets, and having read Will Harlan's book about Carol Ruckdeschel's eating habits, I'm thinking maybe it's not such a bad thing to put all these dogs to good use in the 4th poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Last week, my teacher took me on a little field trip. We set out to visit a professor friend of his who sells a Spanish<>K'iché  dictionary and to eavesdrop on K'iché people in the town square. We were successful in the latter but not the former. On the way, however, he showed me the public library, the community center and two coffee houses that are good places to hang out and study. 

This is El Cuartito. It has become my daily hangout spot to do homework, have pot of jasmin or calendula tea, or a green smoothie. They have an excellent menu and play groovy tunes. It's only three blocks from my house so I feel okay about walking home at 10pm. Also, check out the beautiful patio below:

I finally made it to the local yoga studio. It's not the prettiest place in the world; as you can see in not my picture below, showing the main hallway and the door into the yoga room. The classes are in English. I've taken two of the intermediate classes so far and they kicked my ass.  I bought a one month membership which set me back about $19. They also have a donation jar for new mats which I happily donated to because the mats are horrendous. There isn't place to buy a decent mat in Xela and I didn't have room to bring my own. The two classes I have been to so far were taught by an American dude, and a chic who appears to be from a German speaking country. They live in community there with 7 or 8 other people. 

My iPad wouldn't let me edit this poor pic.

Today I did something very exciting. I did a temascal. It's the Mayan version of a sweat lodge. I met up with a woman that I shall call V. V and I rode a bus, and then climbed a mountain path to get to her house. 

These are some turkeys we passed on the mountain path. 

When we got to her house, I changed into my bathing suit. I changed in the house, but this is the latrine where I went pee. It's the only toilet for V's entire household of 12 people. While I changed, V went to light the fire under the stones in the temascal.

Then we went out to the garden, where V cut fresh Rosemary, Peach tree leaves, and three other herbs (that I don't know the English names of) with which she created a large bouquet of herbs.

Then, we got inside the temascal. I in my bathing suit, and V in her "bloomers" and nothing more.

Inside there is a low platform made of wood about the size of a queen-size bed, several buckets for water, and in the corner, another platform with a pile of large, black rocks on it. V had me lie down on the platform, closed the curtain and began filling the buckets with water. As the tiny, dark room got warmer, she offered me a bucket of hot water to splash on my skin. She told me to relax, and then she poured more hot water over me. Then, she began to beat me with the herb bouquet. She had me roll over to my stomach where the hot water and the herbal flogging continued. Then, she soaked the bouquet of herbs in the hot water, and beat me with the hot, wet herbs. This continued, alternating herb beatings and hot water pourings and sometimes cool water pourings. Finally, she poured water on the hot rocks and the tiny space filled with steam. We lay and talked for a few minutes and she told me about her American boyfriend. When we got out, she had me come inside the house and lie down on one of the beds. She covered me with a thick blanket and made me a cup of fig leaf and cinnamon tea.  I plan on going back soon. 👍😁