Wednesdays are the day we go outside of Pana, usually across the lake. This past Wednesday, the group went to Santa Cruz and visited the areas by the edge of the water, where more foreigners live. (I was at the table in Pana.) I have some pictures I'll post as soon as a friend sends them to me!
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| Santa Cruz |
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| Santa Cruz |
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| Santa Cruz |
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| Santa Cruz |
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| Santa Cruz |
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| Santa Cruz |
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| Santa Cruz |
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| Santa Cruz |
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Shannon Breneman, Jill Wright, Natalie Perez, Andy
Burns and Beverly Shockley (from left to right) |
Then Thursday we volunteered, as a group, to help the
Kakquichel congregation with their territory, to get out some invitations to the district convention in early December. Kakquichel (or, variations of that spelling) is the main
Maya language in this area. Even here in Pana, where most speak Spanish, when they speak to each other they often speak in Kakquichel, either as a matter of comfort or else to have a private conversation that we can't understand! In Santa Catarina, where we went, virtually everyone spoke Kakquichel, though most understand at least some Spanish. So, we we had a brief presentation in Kakquichel!
- Me: Saqar, ¿La utz awach?
- Them: Saqar ¡Utz matyox!
- Me: Roj tajin nqab'an jun nimalaj samaj chupam ronojel ruwach'ulew richin nqaya' re qoyoxik o invitacion re', wawe k'o awichin rat.
- Them: Matyox chawei!
- Me; Majun rub'anon. Tachajij awi'
Which means, more or less:
- Me: Hello, how are you?
- Them: Very well
- Me: We are in a worldwide effort to distribute invitations to a special event.This is your invitation.
- Them: Thank you!
- Me: You're welcome. Take care.
Now, how do you actually
pronounce it? In my VERY amateur way...
- The foundation, such as the vowels, sounds mostly like Spanish, but...
- The "j" sounds like an "h" but a bit stronger noise at the back of the tongue (a teensy bit like you're thinking of clearing your throat).
- The "q" is a "k" sound
- The "ch" is a strong 'ch', as in "watch"
- Where you see "nqabab'an" the "n" is just "nnn", not "na" or "en" etc. so it's 'nnnkababan'
- The 'x' is between 'sh' or 'ch'
- A "w" at the end of the word sounds like a cross between a soft"f" and "u".
So, if you come visit, you're prepared with some simple greetings in Kakquichel, especially those in bold above! But then again, we have some
Quiche (kee-CHAY) language here, and occasionally
Tz'utujil or
Mam languages - or any of the many Maya languages!
So how did it go? Many locals are shy talking to strangers, but they listened, sometimes with little grins, and accepted the invitation to the district convention. One time, after I spoke to some women in the
mercado (market), I asked them (in Spanish), "Did you understand what I said?" and they said yes! YAY!
We went in a pickup truck, a few in the front extended cab, but most (including us) in the back, holding on for dear life in the twists and turns to Santa Catarina! Each of us was paired with someone who spoke Kakquichel, and we just covered as much of Santa Catarina as we could. I was paired with a dear sister Lisette, who has a hotel here,
Utz Jay (ootz-high, or, Good House), and a young girl Maria who was so precious!
In the course of our day, we passed by houses on the lake and got some great views!
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| Lisette and Maria |
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| A path we followed to some homes |
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The lake level has been rising in past years, encroaching
on where the trees were growing. |
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Some canoes and an ever-present view of
volcanoes |
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Lisette and her son, 'Neto. They are both in the Kakquichel
congregation for a year, along with Neto's wife Christina.
Warm and fun people - some of our favorites! And so brave
to learn such a difficult language!!! |
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