The morning was glorious and we very much enjoyed sipping our morning coffee on the roof of our friendly hosts. When we came down the stairs, around 7:30 am, Martin was busy starting a new batch of beer, slowly pouring the cracked malt in a vat that must hold 50 liters of hot water. As he poured he stirred the mix with a big wooden pallet, looking for all purposes like a witch stirring a cauldron. Tom speculates that in the Middle Ages beer making was done by the women, using big cauldrons, and that the sign that a new batch of beer was ready to drink was a broom at the door of the house. Since men were eager to take over the production of beer they accused these female beer-makers of being witches, burnt them at the stake, and took over their beer-making assets. Sounds like another Tom story, but you never know.
Speaking of beer, I forgot to mention that yesterday the conversation expanded over the all-important issue of hops. Guatemala is not a place where hops grow, even though it has cool spots in the highlands. I believe the key is the seasonal difference of light hours that is so pronounced at high latitudes. Brewers here thus depend on imported hops, which is a cloak and dagger smuggling business if you want to impart peculiar flavors to your beers. The conversation dwelled extensively on the relative merits of hops coming from the Yakima Valley in Washington, the Willamette Valley in Oregon, or the Central Valley in California.
After saying goodbye to our gracious host we backtracked the road from Santiago to San Lucas (incidentally, I am told that there are twelve towns along the shore of the lake, each one named after one of the apostles), once again playing the topes and baches game, and amazed at the number of tuc-tucs and Qutes on the road. Tom then suggested sponsoring a race of tuc-tuc vs Qute, in a course that would extend along the string of towns and weave through their narrow alleys; as an added piece of fun the spectators could run in front of the rapidly moving vehicles, just as happen with the running bulls in Pamplona. It would be a spectacle to behold.
Just before reaching Antigua we made a stop in San Bernabé, in the outskirts of Chimaltenango, to say hello to one of Tom's old friends, Vince. Like many of the expats that came to Guatemala, Vince had the interest of doing something good for the people of his adoptive country, so he got busy fund-raising, and after helping the local elementary school decided to establish a middle and high school, the Colegio San Bernabé, to give the kids in the town and surrounding regions the opportunity to continue their education and prepare for the university. The colegio has been very successful under his direction, both in top preparation of the students in STEM (they consistently win top places in Science Olympiad competitions) and in a physical plant that is second to none, with state-of-the-art classrooms, manicured grounds, a cafeteria, a dorm for students who come from remote areas, a sports field, a laps swimming pool, and a comfortable Principal's House that will eventually pass to his successor. Part of the success of the school is the effort that Vince has put in recruiting good teachers, some of which are former students who have come back to teach after completing their university or postgraduate degrees.
Guatemala has benefited from the impetus of like-minded
expats, many of whom work with the Rotary Club. For example, Jolene and Tom
belong to the Antigua Rotary Club, which keeps close links with the Rotary
Clubs in the US. The local clubs work hard at identifying worthwhile projects,
and submit proposals to have them funded by the wealthier clubs in the US.
Recent projects have included bringing tap water to isolated communities,
introducing a more efficient type of woodstove to cut on smoke inside the house,
rural schools, and medical clinics where missions of surgeons come to help with
persistent problems such as cleft palate in babies (probably caused by
nutrition deficiencies among pregnant women). I believe that getting involved
so deeply with their communities has created a particularly strong friendship
bond in the expat community.
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