Today's Objective: Keep working on Spanish. Research Guatemalan slang to incorporate into Spanish and research Mayan culture in Guatemala.
Dear Reader,
Ever notice how the internet is just a complete vortex? Honestly it's just a black hole of information that we cautiously dive into, hoping to come back alive and sane or at the very least informed about the topic we were initially seeking out to begin with. Today I learned a lot. I learned that all though there are various forms of bananas, only 1 is sold in America. I learned that one of my facebook friends is going to UNC next year. I also learned that my brother might be addicted to barbeque sauce, because I watched him put it on vegetables and that seemed just a little too far (like really dude? Barbeque sauce on brocoli?). Long story short the internet is full of distractions and my productivity is directly proportional to my ability to combat those distractions. I never realized how hard it would be to stay completely on task without an adult or some authority figure there to make me. Suddenly it clicked as to why my friend Desi opts to go to school every single day, simply because she knows she'll actually get work done if she's there. I'd rate today's productivity at a 5/10, because although I got distracted easily, I did manage to learn some vital information and further my senior project if only the slightest.
Firstly, today like any other day I woke up and did Spanish practice, but Duolingo had a surprise for me today. It happily informed me that I am 5% fluent in Spanish, which is a pretty amazing feat in my opinion. Although I don't completely understand how you can relate someone's fluency in a language by using a percentage, I'm happy that I've made progress. I also took it upon myself to begin research on Guatemalan slang and colloquialisms in order to add them into my Spanish. There are over 23 indigenous languages in Guatemala and all of them, especially, K'iche', the largest Mayan language spoken in Guatemala, have played a role in shaping Guatemalan slang. Some words I picked up and would definitely consider using are:
-Mucha- A greeting to say "Hi Guys!"to a group of people. The closes spanish equivalent is saying muchachos to a group of people.
-Chancho- A pig. The proper spanish word is cerdo.
-Pisto- Money or chicken scratch. The proper spanish words are dinero (for money) and Popo de pollo (for chicken scratch).
-Mango- An adjective meaning attractive or pretty/handsome. The proper spanish Spanish word is guapo.
-Aguas- A carbonated beverage or to be careful. The proper spanish terms are Aguas gaseous (carbonated drink) and cuidado (meaning to be careful).
-Chapine- A Guatemalan person (this is where our title name comes from)
I find it so interesting how Guatemalan culture has developed from a combination of the Mayan culture as well as that of Spanish culture, as Guaemala was once a Spanish colony. In fact most people living in Guatemala are either direct descendants of the Mayans (and possibly still living an indigenous life) or are a mix between Mayan ancestry and Spanish ancestry. Today I decided to focus on Guatemala's Mayan ancestry, culture and customs, relegating tomorrow as the day to look into the Spaniards and their influence on Guatemala culture. There are 5 main branches (Cholan Tzeltalan, Huastecan, Q'anjobalan Chujean, Quichean-Mamean and Yucatecan) of the Maya civilization, all still in existence today, and all 5 of them are represented in Guatemala. The branches are then divided into sub-groups and sub-branches that all speak different languages. The largest as I identified earlier is K'iche', which resides exclusively in Guatemala and amounts to 2.3 million speakers (maybe I should've learned that instead of spanish). Two other large languages are Kachikel and Q'eqchi', which amount to 450,000 and 800,000 speakers respectively. All of these languages are derived from the Greater Quichean sub-group of the Quichean-Mamean branch. I've learned that a significant portion of people in Guatemala are bilingual and speak Spanish in addition to some Mayan language, as it is becoming popular for people of indigenous cultures to teach their children Spanish.Knowing that such a large part of Guatemala speaks some Mayan language, it's easy to see how the culture live and thrives there.
Some interesting things to note about Mayan culture today: They still were traditional dress, which are colorful woven and embroidered Skirts, blouses, and dresses for women and Guayaberas, a decorative dress shirt, with pants for men. Many women carry on the tradition of being weavers and weave clothes for the family with handspun yarn colored with vegetable dyes. Soccer has become an important sport and activity, descending from Ancient Mayans playing hipball. They celebrate the rites of passage such as birth, puberty and death with religious ceromonies combining Christian and tribal traditions. Lastly many Mayans observe and participate in Christian holidays, but opt to incorporate the traditional nature of worship derived from their ancestors into these holidays as well.
Today Kit and I also met for lunch in order to talk about the Traditional Guatemalan meal that we would prepare as well as what activities to do in our free time while in Guatemala and the things we are excited for. We decided that two expeditions that we wanted to participate in are climbing a volcano (I didn't even know this was legal or possible before this) and seeing some ancient Mayan ruins. I'm really excited to do both these things. Not many people can say they've climbed a Volcano or explored ancient Mayan ruins and I'm excited that soon I'll be able to say both. We also decided that the meal we would prepare would be mixtas, which is like a Guatemalan hotdog. So I'm also super excited to do that tomorrow. Time is really going by quickly and before I know it we'll be in Guatemala and then we'll be returning home. I just want to take every minute I can to absorb and cherish this experience. I feel very lucky to have gotten the chance to do this senior project and I can't wait to see what's in store for me in Guatemala.
Sincerely,
Journey White
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