July 17th, 2008
Three days ago I began traveling to a small Guatemalan Highland town calledMomostenango, about 1.5 hours outside of Xela, to help my friend Robin Blotnick film a documentary about both the traditional folkloric dances and the more modern Disfraz dances preformed in this town every year as part of their Feria, or annual fair.
Momos, as the town is called by Guatemalans, is in the mountains above Xela, along a beautiful road which passes first through a town called San Francisco El Alto and afterwards through a green, dry forest. The layout resembles that of many Guatemalan villages, namely a collection of adobe and (more predominantly) cinder block homes and businesses, centering upon a church, plaza and central mercado. The people are probably 95% of indigenous Mayan descent, if not more. Quiche seems to be spoken by everyone, with Spanish as a second language. Momos is a traditional Mayan town in the sense that it adheres to the 260 day Mayan Calendar and has altars spread out throughout the town in which ceremonies can be performed, including in the central plaza.
The town is very much NOT touristy, with no real restaurants, only the Guatemalan comedor, more or less akin to a U.S. diner, which serves typical Guatemalan food at cheap prices, more or less $2 for a complete meal. Most of the hotels are pretty basic affars, though we have found the Hotel Otono, a nicer affair (we hope) where we will beliving for the next two weeks starting Saturday.
In spite of, (or maybe because of?), the fact that Momos is not a tourist town, the people are incredibly nice. My role in the making of the film is serving as both a translator & interpreter for the film’s producer within the context of the film and as more of a guide & negotiator within the town, helping us to get permission from officials and from townspeople to film the town and its events. Its been an amazing experience to be able to get to know a Guatemalan pueblo in this manner; not merely passing through, but actually getting a chance to talk to all sorts of people about their practice of their own traditions, as well as observing said traditions. I’ve been working hard at helping folks feel comfortable with the fact that there is a film crew around, and by and large this has been possible. I’m sort of in disbelief that I’ve been able to pick up enough Spanish and Guatemalan customs to make this possible, and am really enjoying being able to do it.
In the course of making the film we will be watching the process of putting together the dances, observing the dances themselves and speaking with dancers, musicians and the townspeople. I’ll update more with pictures and more specific info about the dances as I learn more.
July 9th, 2008
Sitting in the wooden room, listening to the old man talk, its as if we could have been anywhere. Not necessarily on top of a ridge in Guatemala, not necessarily in a small town called San Martin Chiquito (Little San Martin). The placelessness grew stronger as the clouds started to enter the building: what were wisps of cloud could have just as easily been smoke entering from a fire.
This man is a Mayan Spiritual Guide of the Mam tradition, and was merely talking to our group as a friend. He began speaking about the ways in which life is related to nature, and as an example spoke of the way that many Mayan names derive from names given to aspects of the natural world; for example women named after trees. However, this naming tradition changed “when the Spanish invasion came.” (Amazing to think of the Spanish arrival as an invasion upon a people who still feel it 500 years later). The coming of the Spanish brought many new things, including a naming convention consisting of hard to pronounce names such as José and Maria (which has in this generation progressed further to gringo names such as John and Mary). Only the Quiche people, one of 23 Mayan peoples in Guatemala, have retained their Mayan names.
He spoke also of the changes brought by music and movies to the Guatemalan culture and spirit. One more change brought by the Conquistadores. How now the Mayas are being more and more incorporated into el mundo a fuera through hearing and seeing things that are nor part of their culture. I found this interesting, really seeing from the point of view of a man who lives an hour outside of Xela, in a town of 2500 people, which has suffered invasion, dictators and civil war massacres, just really wants to be left alone to practice his religion and culture. However, he was also quite happy to share aspects of this culture with this group of foreign visitors, his guests.
We ended up at his house as part of a visit to Laguna Chicabal, a small volcanic crater transformed into a lake, which is a Mayan sacred site, surrounded by 20 altars representing the 20 Nahuales of the Mayan Calendar, as well as a generally beautiful place to hike and visit. Its also unfortunately a site of some intense civil war battles, and on our hike our guide pointed out old Guerrilla camps, as well as the mountains across the way where the army attacked from. We walked up through the corn fields that provide the town with some of its annual corn harvest, though our guide was quick to point out the harvest is not nearly enough. Coming to the lake after a two hour hike, we were lucky enough to get a beautiful view from the lookout spot just before the clouds came in and obscured it. After looking over the lake, we took 620(!) steps down and spent some time on the shore of the fogged over lake before hiking up and returning down, for a lunch of Caldo de Res (Beef soup – squash, carrots, potatoes, a chunk of beef and a delicious broth) and the aforementioned conversation.
On the hike our guide pointed out man medicinal plants, such as a tree whose bark contains a watery substance which is drunk as a cure for stomach problems. Also a beautiful, sweet smelling form of mint used for liver infections and flowers that can be used as soap. Its great to see how the Mayans learned to benefit from their natural world and incorporate it into their lives.
(I have since hiked back up on a second trip, this time led by the shaman dad. I appreciated being able to travel to the lake with the dad, seeing him pray and give appreciating to the lake, as well as telling some local Mayan cuentas or tales. He also baptized me with a Mayan name, which I can’t spell, but comes out more or less as Jorge Ve, and signifies a descending path with stairs.)
We took the hike with Rogelio of Chicabal Tours, based out of San Martin Chiquito, who is as a friend of mine and head of Conocimiento Para Todos (Knowledge for All) a small project which brings satellite internet to the tiny town in which it resides. The project is all volunteer, and is run out of the same small room we spoke to his father the Shaman in. Quite a site – a small wooden room containing 5 computers and a satellite internet connection, looking over a ridge out over mountains to the Pacific beyond. Rogelio teaches classes seven days a week to provide basic computer & internet skills to the children of the town who would otherwise have no way to acquire these skills. Seeing the dedication of this man, who received a scholarship and actually studied agriculture and computer science in Fresno for two years, is something to behold. He talked about how he could easily leave and find other work, but his calling is there in the town (and home) of his abuelos.
Truly a beautiful day, and inspiring to see people doing the work Rogelio is doing.
