El jueves part 2

   After drinking some coffee and eating their toasty bread that’s like sugar cookies, we waited in the patio for Miguel to come with his moto and guide us down to his launch. He showed us where to park and we filled the seats on his fibreglass boat. I was glad it had a shade because I already got burnt yesterday in this high elevation.

   The boat ride was refreshing. First we visited San Juan and climbed many steps up to the outlook. The view of terraced fields and lake and volcanoes was surreal. He pointed out the Maya Indian face on the mountain and the little building right on the nose. I put a picture of it up there the with the face profile showing. They used to sacrifice people up their on the nose in their religious rituals but now if they do sacrifice he assured us it was only chickens or roosters. People do climb all the way up to the Mayan nose. Miguel gestured at his nose and said it was just like his because he’s Mayan. He speaks a few Mayan languages, Spanish and also a bit of English. He was a very happy man. He brought his daughter along on our tour and she told us the folklore of the little red man, the rooster  and the bell. The three figures are old Mayan history pieces. They had images of the three up on top of the mountain. When I lived in Guastatoya they’d talk about seeing the little red man running on the streets. He is said to bring prosperity. The story of the rooster is if you see him and catch him while you’re up on the Mayan mountain you can go back home but if you see him and can’t catch him you’ll be trapped up there.

We climbed way up a mountain to an overlook that had amazing views of everything. That's where the three figures of Mayan folklore stand,

   After that we went to a honey place where they have tiny Mayan bees. One type of bee makes royal honey , some make black honey, and some make white honey. The product has many medicinal uses. They also use the wax to make a lot of things. Mel got some amazing body lotion and Mom got some honey eucalyptus mint candy that is better than any cough drop I’ve tasted. It’s helping her sore throat.

   Those Mayan bees are so tiny. One hive makes a quarter liter of honey in a year. They also don’t sting but if they get mad they bite. The bigger variety of bees builds a huge black ball and round hive holes. Their black honey is tart and tastes like lemons.  The tiny bees pollinate the coffee. The bee farm we were on was also a coffee farm. I got you girls some straws of honey to taste.

   We took tuk tuks to the house of weaving. The cotton plants were like trees that formed the shade over the walkways. They pull the seed from the cotton and beat it with a smooth stick to make it soft. Then they spin it’s fibers and connect it with more cotton onto a stick. Then they wind all those into a ball of string. After that they wrap it around a hoop of sticks or something where they tie off pieces to dye it. They dunk it into cooked dyes they make. Beetles for red, beets , chamomile, carrots and more plants for a whole variety of stunning colour. The blue is from a special plant that is royal blue if they pick the leaves during full moon but if it isn’t full moon the plant color goes into the roots so it makes a light violet blue shade. All the colours and shades are brilliant and bold as you can see from their clothes. A typical outfit costs a few hundred dollars and they'll usually have one good one and one everyday outfit if they can afford it so wash day means they can still wear clothes..

   Then our cotton farm lady demonstrated Mayan weaving on a backpack loom. It takes seven days to make something the size of a table runner but that’s three to four hours of work a day because the women have other work. I bought some woven hacky sacks for you , Jeff, so you can get back into it. The guide demonstrated tecnicas a bit for Andrew. He said in his day he could get up to 70-80 hits before the sack hit the ground.

   I also found a nice blouse but I’d bought pillowcases of typical material the day before so didn’t buy more there in their cotton corporation.

   Next we went to the chocolate factory. He demonstrated the whole process from fruit to fermentation of pulpy flesh. They dry it, roast it and it looks like perfect cocoa beans. He gave us each one to shell and then we crushed the bean and ate the cocoa nibs. It just tasted like pure cocoa we buy at home except a bit better. It wasn't bitter but maybe that's because I like dark chocolate. They grind it by hand between two stones to make a powder which they form into a paste and sweeten that to different percentages in chocolate bars. Or they sell it on little dried wheels that you break off portions to make hot chocolate. It’s amazing added to coffee so I want to try making it like the drink dad bought there. They make tea with the coffee husks and you can buy bags of husks. It’s a sort of dopamine feel good stuff. They also make body butter with cocoa butter that they get when they press the chocolate. They also use that cocoa butter to make their white chocolate. He assured us white chocolate still came from cacao, it’s just the butter that comes when nibs are pressed. It's not fake, the cocoa part has just been pressed out.

   We also bought frozen bananas and strawberries on sticks and they dipped them in our choice of melted chocolate. The 70 percent was amazing on frozen fruit.

   We walked down the street of umbrellas. It’s a very happy street with umbrellas on cables overhead for shade from the high altitude sun. They make perfect round shadows all up the hill and around the curve with fluttering pennants and ribbons adding to the fun.

   We got on the boat to another town where we watched them make ceramics. The workers grind rocks by hand on a stone mortar and pestle. They make a fine dust out of a red rock, a white rock and and a brown. Then they sift it to get the larger particles out. They mix the three colours all together and fire the ceramics, paint them, glaze them and refire them. The design they paint first as they start to decorate is a drop of rain water or a tear. They go further from there and add more colours or designs.

   After getting back to Panajachel on the boat we ate at El Kuyako. Kuyako is the name for the wooden boats the Maya have always used and you still see. Miguel said rowing them across the lake took quite awhile. It took us around 27 minutes to cross in our boat with four stroke motor.

  The restaurant named el Kuyako was good. The food was typical with some American options. I had longaniza (sausage) with a tortilla and guacamole. The guacamole is really fresh tasting.

   We headed on our way to tonight’s stay in Antigua. It started raining on the mountain pass by chichicastenango. Men were still out working in the terraced fields though.

   Our villas are nice, like two small connected houses with a courtyard and rooftop terrace. It quit raining but the mountains and volcanoes are covered in mist. Hopefully it clears up by morning. The courtyard has a large Spanish fountain and lots of vining flowers and plants.

   We’ll all be tired tonight. We each have our own beds though some are small like trundle beds. The couples have king size.

  We found a sort of American barbecue meat place for supper. No one talks English although there were quite a few other American tourists eating there. Pappy’s BBQ it was called.

   That’s it for tonight , children. Stay happy and helpful for Dad. He’s got a lot to keep track of while I’m gone. Missing you..

   Hannah’s been trying out pronouncing Spanish words on signs. Shes quite good. I’m sure you girls would be giving it a good try too.

   Buenas noches, queridas.