I took my group out to visit Venecia. We brought tents for camping around the Quiñonezes house and a lot of food for making Noemi's famous empanadas and beans and eggs. I brought my summer student group out there for the day and one of those students suggested next time we bring tents and stuff to stay the night. So it was an experiment of sorts.

The weekend was awesome. I'm actually at a loss of words to describe it. I wish I had some pictures, some recordings of Don Rodolfo's voice, the smell of the banana coast could come out of the computer screen, something like that might do the whole experience some justice.

Noemi made over 100 empanadas for us, we all fit into a wooden canoe and went across the river to the beach with Leonel pushing with a giant stick, listened to Don Rodolfo talk about working for Chiquita (formerly United Fruit Co.) and the hardship of working in the banana fields at 7 years old, never going to school, and now making sure his kids have a dad and the opportunities he was never given. We visited the grandparents' house, admired the 2 gigantic Ceiba trees in the village, and I gave a talk about bananas, the United Fruit Co., and some of the United States' involvement in Guatemala in the past 100 years using Diego Rivera's painting "Glorious Victory" for a visual.


It's a sarcastic painting with some characters from the 1954 CIA-backed coup that destroyed Guatemala's young democracy. It is debatable on whether or not Guatemala has ever recovered. So there's Eisenhower's face on the bomb, the Dulles brothers, the US ambassador to Guatemala at the time, the bananas, the workers, the Catholic church represented in the background condoning the coup, and Colonel Castillo Armas - the idiot the US picked to replace Jacobo Arbenz, who was considered "communist." Later, by President Bill Clinton, the US "apologized" for the mistake of overthrowing the democratically elected Arbenz. Our bad, basically.

But the whole thing, simply put, was basically because the United Fruit company was making a killing on selling bananas to consumers in the states. Their business was so good and they owned almost half of all usable land in Guatemala for about 70 years. But when Arbenz said he was going to redistribute the UFC's unused land to poor and landless farmers, well, the US was like, Um no. Arbenz said he'd, of course, pay the UFC for the land based on what they'd claimed on their taxes. Of course, the UFC majorly under reported in their taxes and were about to get screwed, and they didn't want no measly dollars for their land because the banana was so profitable. So basically the CIA backed Castillo Armas and threw out Arbenz.

Venecia and nearby Tiquisate were hubs of banana production. The Quiñonez family come from generations of banana workers, never owning their own land, but working for United Fruit, now Chiquita. This is the family of Jose, who I met working in Nogales with No More Deaths. Jose was in Seattle but then was deported and now is somewhere in Sonora, Mexico. We don't hear from him often, which is hard for his family.

Don Rodolfo in the banana fields.

Don Rodolfo is a very sweet man. He is small and strong. When my student groups come out I like to have Don Rodolfo talk to them about banana work. Yesterday we sat around him while he told us that Chiquita sells them the bags and boxes they use to collect the fruit. That 2nd rate bananas stay in Guatemala for local consumption and the best are exported. He also said that poorer quality, yet export-bound, bananas go to Wal Mart.

He also said that his life as been tough. He considered himself a slave for much of his life, working and working but only earning enough to eat for he and his family. He would someday like to build a bathroom. The "bathroom" now is an area of dirt surrounded by a black tarp. Dig a hole for #2. Don Rodolfo said he was very happy to have us there, glad for the attention while he told us about some of his life, and proud to serve us food even if only some beans and rice. This is the part where I bit my lip, looked upward and said in my head: Disneyland Disneyland Disneyland, in order to not cry.

It's always hard to say goodbye to them. 16-year-old Paola usually has flooded eyes. We hug many times and I always promise they'll see me again. I tried to give Don Rodolfo 100 quetzales, about $12, for the gas we used frying the empanadas for hours, but he refused. They all shook their heads, took a step back and said, No Kari esta bien pero gracias. They call me "Kari", short for "Karina." The most I could do, in terms of any compensation for their food, gas, water, hospitality was leave some extra money since we lost count of how many sodas we drank. They have a refrigerator, bought by one of their sons in the US, and sell sodas in glass bottles. At Q3 a piece, but group pretty much wiped 'em all out and didn't keep a very good tally, so we overpaid a little to make sure it was all covered. Even Leonel is hesitant to take money from me, even though he pushes 20 people across the river in a canoe pushed by a long stick. This summer I said, How much? He said, Nothing. I said, No really let me give you money for your work. Ok, he said, How about Q20 (like $3) and I gave him Q50. This time I rolled up some extra in the Q50 bill.

Leonel the canoe guy.

The Quiñonez sisters, grandparents and cousins.

When we visited the grandparents they were, as always, super funny and cool. Grandma and Grandpa are on the right here in the picture above. Herman, grandpa, has some amazing hair. While I doubt he dyed it, it is somehow brown, black and gray. And he has an effortless mohawk any hipster would envy. My co-instructor asked if the students could see inside their house. The request made me uncomfortable but grandma Margarita hesitantly agreed and my students were allowed to peak inside their series of wooden shacks where they live with some extended family. There is no running water, electricity or furniture. Since I could tell Margarita was uncomfortable I hugged her and said Thank you. She said, I feel embarrassed because this a poor house. I told her we were grateful to meet them, know them, see their house and learn about their community. She was cool, I think because she trusts me in this, and I made sure to appreciate their family pictures, their space, the fact that they have so much family to be around.

Venecia. Main street.

Venecia has 1 tienda, 1 elementary school, no mayor, no police, and just got 3 purified water tanks from the Red Cross. They are extremely susceptible to flooding from the heavy rains and tropical storms. The majority of houses are dark because there are only a few light bulbs dangling from the ceilings of the houses at night and the houses are made of wood, the nice ones of cement block. Instead of corn in everyone's back, front and side-yards, it's banana. It's really hot and humid. Bananas grow only in the harshest human environment - intense heat & mosquitoes. But people say hello and they take you in, they offer you what they can and don't let you do the dishes. Some even let you bring 13 of your closest friends and camp in the yard, but not before offering the group every bed in the house.