Greetings to Stephen and all the good folks who live and
hang in the Corridor and beyond!
Just a few lines from Manfred Kohl, Katie Reed, and Tim McGuire, all
long-time denizens of the Cass Corridor,
to share a little bit of our extraordinary new life in the Western
Highlands of Guatemala and what drew us here.
To begin with, Guatemala is a mountainous swatch of Central America
located just below Mexico. It spans
the isthmus from the shores of the Caribbean to the Pacific
connected by mountain chains including more than
a dozen incredible volcanoes, several of which are still actively
belching smoke, ash and lava. These active
volcanoes can be hiked for an awe inspiring adventure and an up
close experience with the power of the earth.
Interspersed throughout this rugged landscape are strung spectacular
forested ridges, lakes, gushing streams,
hot springs, cloud forests and lush valleys sprinkled with remote
villages where life goes on much as it has for
centuries.
Lago de Atitlan itself is surrounded by three of these volcanoes,
San Pablo, Atitlan and Toliman, none of which
are active, but nonetheless add to the spectacular landscape around
the lake that lead Aldous Huxley to fa-
mously label it the most beautiful in the world. The western
highlands are considered by many to be the most
fascinating and beautiful part of this country, and Finca Bosque is
conveniently centrally located in the midst of
it all.
While the beauty of the country was a strong draw for us, perhaps as
important, the western highlands are home
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Katie at Nahuala fiesta |
to one of the western hemisphere's largest groups of surviving
indigenous people, the Maya, who made Guate-
mala the center of their culture and have lived here continuously
for the last two thousand years. They make up
the vast majority in the region and still maintain their society,
languages, distinctive, colorful dress and traditions, despite efforts over the years to assimilate them into Latino
culture. In the area closest to Finca Bosque
four villages speak a Mayan dialect Tzutujil, with many speaking no
other language. Finca Bosque's caretaker
or guardian Emiliano Ixcaya and his novia Sonia, from the nearby
village of San Pablo, live on the Finca with
us and are a great window into the fascinating Maya culture and
language. They are simply wonderful people as
well. Emiliano is a great guide for excursions to San Pablo where
you will still see local women drying Maguey cactus leaves, then
shredding them and winding them into rope along the streets. San
Pablo is one of the few remaining villages where many of the hand-crafted skills are still in
use, including weaving reed mats made from
reeds harvested from the lake right in front of Finca Bosque.
Guatemala is justly renowned for the hand woven
fabrics and embroidery that make the local markets a riot of color.
For a glimpse into Maya religious tradition, Emiliano can take you
on a hike into the mountains to a small cave
where religious ceremonies are held. The cave itself is small, but
nestled under a giant boulder the size of a
house on the side of the mountain. It is blackened by the smoke of
fires and copal incense from unnumbered
ceremonies and littered with candle stubs and the shells of
armadillos that are used in some rituals. And it's just
a 20 minute hike from the Finca gates.
All three of us really enjoyed the recent coffee harvest here.
Guatemala is one of the premier growing areas
in the world and our side of Lago de Atitlan is one of the best in
Guatemala. The climate that makes fine cof-
fee also makes for beautiful living. Warm, sunny days followed by
cool evenings, often leavened with a soft
fog. The coffee harvest is a time of great excitement, with people
working late into the evening with the roads
lined with campesinos with huge bags of the fruit strung from tump
straps from their heads carrying their loads
to weigh stations. Harvest starts in late November peaking at
Christmas time and going on for another month
or more with many religious festivals sprinkled along the way.
People are happy to be making money, making
Christmas a time of prosperity and celebration. Easter is the
biggest celebration of the year with the streets cov-
ered with fantastic designs made from flowers, pine needles and
colored sawdust on the Saturday before Easter.
That night The body of Christ is carried over these designs by
hooded bearers followed by a candlelit proces-
sion. It's incredible.
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Katie Emiliano Sonia coffee picking |
Coffee is almost a religion here amongst some and we all got into it
this year, even though it was our first. All of
us joined Emiliano and Sonia in picking, cleaning and drying the
coffee. We were happy to send a few pounds
back to some of the folks in the Corridor and pleased to get an
enthusiastic response. It is a labor intensive
process-hand selecting the beans, cleaning and drying and we took
great care with our coffee, wanting the best.
With about a half acre of coffee planted on the Finca, we harvested
about 600 pounds of the cherry red coffee
fruit this year. Next year we hope to keep most of it for ourselves
to process and share with our friends back in
the states.
After months of repairs, cleaning and painting we are finally ready
to accept reservations for our bed and break-
fast guest house. We've had some great guests so far including
friends from Detroit (Hi Ralph Koziarski, Carol,
Becky & Karin) and we hope other friends will visit in the future.
In the meantime, we are proud that we are becoming an important part
of the economy of San Pablo, the village
closest to us. It is the neediest village on the lake and we have
made an impact by employing many of its work-
ers to do much of the work here. Everyone from stone workers who
split the local rock to make stone floors to
plumbers to workers to cut and split wood has felt the benefit. It
is amazing to see their work, much done by
hand as has been for centuries, and it feels good to see it make a
difference in their lives. Your stay here will
help us continue to make a difference.
Finally, there is also a strong Bohemian culture that has flourished
on the shores of the lake since the 1960s that
we have found very welcoming. It sort of reminds us of the Corridor
back in the late 60s, 70s and early 80s. In
Panajachel across the lake there are great restaurants and bars with
great music on many nights. San Pedro is
smaller, but with many excellent bars and restaurants, too. Located
along charming dirt paths with stunning lake
views, these places transport you to an earlier, gentler time. In
New Age San Marcos you can study yoga, get a
massage or acupuncture.
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Finca Bosque Cantina |
And Finca Bosque is situated right in between all this on the shores
of the lake in the serenity and shade of
banana trees and coffee. It is heaven to sit on the shore at the
lake and look across its glittering surface to the
volcanoes beyond and feel your natural rhythms return, free of the
bombardment of media and other modern
distractions. It is a return to a way of life in a natural harmony
with your own body and with the land on which
you live.
There is so much more that we could talk about. There are dozens of
archeological sites to visit, including Tikal,
probably the most important such site in the world. There are really
cheap Spanish language schools and there
are wild chicken bus rides. Or maybe just meeting an old Maya lady
walking along the road, her face etched by
the weather, feet bare and looking as though never having worn
shoes. You share a greeting with her and see
something in her ancient face that gives you a feeling that you
can't adequately describe. You have to experience it.
A few more pictures:
Relaxing at the Finka Bosque
Easter Alfombra San Juan
Easter Procession San Pablo
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