Photos near Nebaj, Guate

I wanted to be sure to get in some photos of the sweet communities near Nebaj...Xexocom, and Xexuxcap. This area is in the high country; it was maybe 50 degrees at night, so sitting around the stone cookstoves was a must. But during the day it's probably only 62 degrees, despite the bright sun. I loved this area; the sheep, the slow way things get when there are no cars, the hillside villages, striped baby pigs at the house of the woman in the photo--sister of our young guide; tumbling streams (you don't see much water in Guate at the end of this dry season). I could live there quite happily if it weren't so cold.

This is near the area of the worst atrocities during the war (mostly in the 80's). The guide told me his parents had to leave Xexocom during the day to avoid the soldiers; they would run to the higher mountains and hide for the day. They had no water and nothing to eat; they couldn't tend their fields because the soldiers were watching. A time of hardship and terror.

The Peace Accords were finally written in '96.

There were mostly adobe homes in these two villages, but some new homes were also being built. Francisco told us that almost every family has a member living and working in the U.S., mostly in Minnesota if I remember correctly. They depend on the money sent to them for any progress in their lives.

The languages spoken in ths area is Ixil, but I noticed they still use "Mak'tiosh" (spelling questionable) for Thank You, as they do in Tz'utujil. Our guide told me that Ixil is the one Mayan language that is not from the original root, but of course every area has a story about how their place is special.