Well, here I am back in Tizimin after almost five months at home with family and friends. Although I will miss everyone back home, I am happy to be here again. Literally within two minutes after I arrived at my house, friends were calling for me at my gate. I had only had time to get my suitcases inside and open my windows when they showed up to invite me to eat, which was a very welcome invitation since there was no food in my house, and it had been quite a while since I had eaten. I’ve since run into quite a few people, many of whom told me that they didn’t think I was going to come back. The day before my return, a couple of friends had gone into the house and given it a thorough cleaning, so it was all ready for me.
We are in the midst of the rainy season here, another of many firsts for me. It rains almost every day, often several times a day, and often the rains are torrential, but none of them has lasted long. Sometimes it’s only a minute or two and only a sprinkle. Other times it’s a downpour lasting 10 minutes or so. A couple of days ago, some friends and I stood in their doorway and watched waves of rain. We could see it approaching down the street. It would pour for a minute or two, then almost stop. The same thing happened numerous times in a row before it finally stopped. I’m told that the rainy season here runs from June to Nov. Because of the rain, things are much greener here than when I was here before, and there’s not nearly as much dust. It’s also a lot hotter and more humid. Fortunately for me, the summer at home was extremely hot and humid, much more so than usual. Since I have no air conditioning in my house at home, I’m somewhat more used to the weather here. When I originally arrived last Nov., it was only 32 degrees when I left home, so it was somewhat more difficult for me to adjust to the climate here, although it wasn’t as hot and humid in Nov. as it is now.
I had also gotten reaccustomed to the usual outside noises at home. Since my house it located on a busy street and close to the airport, there’s plenty of noise. Here, I live on a side street, and, although there’s plenty of traffic and other noises during the day, it tends to get very quiet at night, so it took a night or two to get used to the silence again.
I looked out my bedroom window the other day and realized that the view looks rather like a picture you see of the tropics. Although my yard is relatively small and only has one tree, the neighbors have lots of trees and other plants in theirs. Most people here tend to have fruit trees of various kinds planted on their properties. I’m not sure what all the trees are that they have in theirs, but the two outside my window have large bunches of bananas growing on them. That’s an easy tree to identify, as are the coconut palms. There are many other fruits and vegetables common here, however, that I have never seen or heard of. Although we tend to import many fruits and vegetables in the U.S., I’ve still encountered and heard of many others that I don’t think we do. The other day I got to try three new fruits: zaramuyo, tuna, and guaya. It’s rather hard to describe some of them. I’ll have to start carrying my camera around just in case I get to try something new. Zaramuyo is full of seed which you pull out one by one and suck the fruit off. The fruit itself is white and very sweet. Tuna is also full of seeds, but they’re much smaller. The person who gave it to me to try told me to eat the seeds, but they were very hard, and it didn’t appeal to me to do so. The guaya I didn’t care much for. They’re sort of an oval shape, the texture reminded me of what an eyeball must feel like, and they’re rather sour.
The father/father-in-law of some of my friends died last Tues. Most people here, because of their economic situation, do not use funeral homes as we do. They are used more to supply some of the articles needed, which I will describe as we go, and to transport the body and do the actual burial. After he died in the hospital, his body was taken back home, and the wake was held in the home. It started in the evening and went on all night. The funeral home supplied the casket and the supports for it, the tall candles and crucifix that were placed at the head of the casket, and chairs for the people who attended. When some friends and I got there, several people were there seated outside, and the priest was there praying with the family inside. We left about 10:30, and people came and sat with the family at various times all night long. The next day family members served a luncheon at the house for family and friends before leaving for the cementary at 3:00. The hearse was there to take some of the family members, but it’s the custom that the family rents a bus to take the rest of the family members who don’t fit into the hearse and anyone else who wants to go. The bus was full, including the aisle. They go slowly through the streets, as we do, with the lights blinking. Someone led prayers at the cementary, then the body was removed from the casket and lowered into the sepulchre. The lid was placed on and cemented into place and flowers placed on top. The cementaries here look nothing like ours. The sepulchres are above the ground and placed one next to the other with no space between. The cementary is divided into sections with stone paths going between and around. There is no grass. Stones with the person’s names are placed on top. The particular cementary we went to is the one the poorer people use. People who cannot afford to buy a family space ask for public assistance to rent one for a couple of years, after which the remains are removed and given to the family, and the space is reused. If a family has bought a spot, the remains are still removed after for years and put into what looks almost like a little house on top of the sepulchre. Then the actual sepulchre can be used for another family member.
Many Mayan traditions have become mixed in with the Christian traditions here. Beginning the day of the person’s death, family and invited friends gather to pray for 8 days. After each time of prayer, the family serves light refreshments to the people who have gathered. On the eighth day, another luncheon is held. So far I have gone to all of them, and yesterday I was also invited to go early and eat lunch with the family. Where they have the prayers, they have a small table set up. On it they place candles, food, a bouquet of flowers from the garden, and a picture of Jesus. Underneath the table are small, fresh-cut branches full of leaves. The food and branches are from the Mayan tradition, when it was thought in days of old that these items would help the deceased to pass into the afterlife, or what would have been considered the heaven of the ancient Mayans. I’ve mentioned before that the Mayan language, dress, and culture are still alive here, and it’s interesting to see how aspects of their tradition have been incorporated into various aspects of the life of today.
This coming week I’m hoping to be able to get the names of all the students who want to come to my English classes, organize the classes, and post the lists so that the mothers can stop by the office and see what day and time their children have classes. I’m also expected to go to Panaba one day a week to give classes, so I’m hoping to also be able to get a list of names for the classes there. The space that I teach in is rather small, so I try to limit the classes to 10 or 12 students. It’s also better that way for practice purposes for them. If all goes as planned this week, I’ll be able to start next week, Sept. 6.
Please keep those prayers coming.
