A few weekends ago, Shom and I had the privilege to accompany the graduating class of health promoters on their celebratory graduation trip to Petén, Guatemala to visit the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal. It was a 12 hour van ride from San Lucas to San Benito, where we stayed in the dormitories of a catholic parish there. So at 4:00a.m., a van full of thirteen adults and 5 children (some of the women are breast-feeding and others simply could not leave their youngest at home with inept husbands in charge) left the chilly highlands of Tolimán and Atitlán in search of the flatter, more humid terrain of northern Guatemala, home of Tikal.
For many of the health promoters, this was their first trip away from home, their first time sleeping in a strange bed and visiting a part of Guatemala where its indigenous people no longer wear “traje,” the traditional dress of a “corte” (wrap-around skirt) and “huipil” (woven tunic).
You could tell by people’s luggage whether they’d ever traveled on an overnight trip away from home. Some had backpacks and small duffle bags, but others simply wrapped their clothing and belongings in a large blanket (a la Huck Finn) or fit everything into two black plastic shopping bags.
The evening of our arrival was celebrated in style: Dr. Sue Hammerton, the woman who helped to found the health promoter program five years ago, was in town visiting from the United States, and the promoters prepared an entire evening of dances, songs and skits in her honor. (Below, you can seen Sue dancing with Vicente... and of course Shom in the background acting cheeky).
The temples of Tikal are so large! Anyone who knows me well will tell you I am petrified by heights, yet nevertheless I did manage to convince myself that this was a “once in a lifetime experience” and I (miraculously) made it to the top of Temple IV. Coming down the rickety wooden steps was horrifying (they have built wooden stairs so that people don’t walk all over and erode the ancient stone steps), and notwithstanding the panic attack I had on the way down, I made it in one piece, and don’t regret having forced myself into the “experience.” I even have the picture to prove it (below). That was the first – and only – temple I climbed that day, (one near-death experience was quite enough for me, thank you) yet Shom and many of the health promoters managed to climb everything permitted. 
The view from Temple IV - amazing!
In addition to the ruins, Tikal is also a national park. Here, you can see our whole group, posing in front of a Ceiba tree, the national tree of Guatemala.
Me, enjoying the magestic height of Temple V... from the ground. ...
Visiting Tikal with Mayan people was such a wonderful experience. The opportunity to be with them as they explored the ruins, learning about their roots, their anscestry, their people’s ancient legacy, was a gift I will never forget.
A particularly charming thing happened on our way home from Tikal that is worth noting because I think it may touch your heart the way it touched mine. It was lunchtime as we passed through Guatemala City (the capital) and we had been driving for nine hours, so we decided to stop at a shopping mall for lunch. Everyone seemed very excited that they were going to eat at the food court on the second floor – very excited, that is, until they saw the escalator trundling along before their eyes. At first there seemed to be a traffic jam a the base of the escalator, with the whole group bottlenecking into each other as we waited to make our ascent. It wasn’t until 15 or 20 seconds had passed without movement that I realized that most of the health promoters had never been on an escalator before! They were afraid they’d get caught in the steps, and so there they stood, at the foot of the mechanized staircase, giggling nervously and looking around at each other as if in an attempt to psych themselves into hopping onto the churning steps. A handfull of businessmen at the mall, apparently on their lunch break and in a hurry to get to the food court, were quite rude, pushing the women out of the way so that they could pass. Graciously and proudly, the promoters seemed to ignore this brusque treatment, and – with some encouragement - finally made onto and up the escalator, with smiles plastered upon their beaming faces.
A particularly charming thing happened on our way home from Tikal that is worth noting because I think it may touch your heart the way it touched mine. It was lunchtime as we passed through Guatemala City (the capital) and we had been driving for nine hours, so we decided to stop at a shopping mall for lunch. Everyone seemed very excited that they were going to eat at the food court on the second floor – very excited, that is, until they saw the escalator trundling along before their eyes. At first there seemed to be a traffic jam a the base of the escalator, with the whole group bottlenecking into each other as we waited to make our ascent. It wasn’t until 15 or 20 seconds had passed without movement that I realized that most of the health promoters had never been on an escalator before! They were afraid they’d get caught in the steps, and so there they stood, at the foot of the mechanized staircase, giggling nervously and looking around at each other as if in an attempt to psych themselves into hopping onto the churning steps. A handfull of businessmen at the mall, apparently on their lunch break and in a hurry to get to the food court, were quite rude, pushing the women out of the way so that they could pass. Graciously and proudly, the promoters seemed to ignore this brusque treatment, and – with some encouragement - finally made onto and up the escalator, with smiles plastered upon their beaming faces.
