In the Bag...

Friday morning my wife and I are heading to Guatemala for a week. Since I am not going there for work, I decided to shed some gear and only take what is pictured.

Equipment:
- Bag Paladin Mission Go Bag (Honestly one of the best bags Ive owned)
- Canon G12
- Olympus XA rangefinder.
- iPhone 4
- iPhone 5
- iPad (for email and editing)
- Card reader for iPad
- Charging cables
- 6 rolls of film (400 Neopan BW)
- Impact Mini Slave
- Flash light
- head lamp
- Chargers and Cables

And whenever I travel, I make sure I have my journal and a notebook.

This trip is a kind of short honeymoon, so my main concern is just having fun. I plan on spending my mornings wandering the markets and streets in Xela. This gear set up has treated me well for street photography in the past and is just so much lighter than my D4 rig. Ill be posting from the road so look out for some photos.

Has the storm passed or is it still coming?

I was talking to my Dad yesterday and he asked how it felt to make it through this past year. I honestly couldn't tell him. Not only was it my first year in grad school, but Lindsey and I got married in March. While married life has been great, its also still kind of on hold, since we live in two different towns. That has been the hardest part of all this. The school work has been time consuming but nothing that I couldn't handle. 

I wish I had, had more time to shoot this past year. I think most of that is my fault for not making more time for it. Trying to balance writing papers and shooting can be difficult. This next year should be different. I am leaving my position at the Missourian to become one of two Missouri Photo Workshop Fellows. I am also going to be shooting more video and some how I got myself signed up for a Rural Sociology Course. I'm pretty excited about all of it, but I want to temper that excitement with the reality of paying bills and picking up some work on the side. Along with school ending for they year, I've really started to dig into my masters project research which has already turned up some interesting problems. Those problems are helping me center in on a story so they are very good problems.

Finally since Lindz and I did get married we have planned a little mini honeymoon, in a few weeks we will be heading to Guatemala for a week. We are both looking forward to that trip, I am excited to show her around the place I loved and called home. We are having trouble deciding what to go see and do while we are there, so I think we might just wing it. 

Portrait...

(photo shot in Quixayá, Sololá ) This week if all goes well I will be the start of a portrait project here in Xela. should be be a good week or two of creating some challenging portraits. More on that later.

Clinic Update...

Went back to the Clinic in San Lucas this past week. I reminded myself to pull back and soak in the environment of the community and not just let myself get sucked into the activity directly at the clinic. Sometimes you really have to return to basics and remember to cover everything possible that can help a story along. Great trip I'm happy with my take. Now back to editing the story together.

Procession Break...

Got up and headed to Almolonga this morning for what I heard was going to be a very different kind of procession than what I had been shooting this past week here in Xela. Well turns out I was mislead and the processions in this small farming town were on Thursday and Friday. Since I was out there I wandered around the town which here in Guate is know as the "Garden of the Americas." Much of the produce grown here is on small family plots with vegetables growing year around, which is sold and eaten all over Central America.

As I was wandering to the outer edges of Almolonga I ended up on a small dirt path between farm plots. Walking along this path I heard someone behind me calling to me. I turned around and found a farmer asking me to take his photo, after a few minutes of awkwardly navigating the field he was working in I introduced myself to Bartholmu or as he said "Bartholmu de Almolonga." We chat for bit, I snapped a few portraits after which he continued to tend his crop.

One one hand I missed some cool and different processions, but on the other I was able to explore this interesting town for the morning. All in all I think todays little misadventure was a good one. And hey not only did I meet a few very cool people but I found out how much it would have cost to use the baño's at the market, something thats always good to know.

First Procession of the Lenten Season...

Sunday marked the first procession of the lenten season here in Xela. The Procession of Jesus de Nazareno (Jesus of Nazareth) started at 4 pm and ended around 8 sunday night. The city seemed to come to a complete halt for this procession. It was impressive to see the different groups of Cucuruchos (carriers) hold up this massive float and every few blocks change bearers and continue to snake their way through the city. The Cucuruchos were made up of the different religious brotherhoods here in Xela. Each group representing different saints like Saint Nichols and San Juan de Dios. To read more about this tradition check out the Casa Xelaju website.

One for the Road...

Between seeing patients the medical students started up a soccer game on a near by field. The Medical team was trying to get the ball under toe of some of the local girls but the boys kept taking control of the game,the girls however held their own and would take possession of the ball frequently. Fun game to watch. Now I have to pack up my bags and catch a pickup to Santiago, heading home (to Xela) for the week.

Clinic...

Today was my first day shooting at the San Lucas Perish Clinic, here in San Lucas Toliman. I am barely scratching the surface with todays images. I am going to be spending the next few weeks and months here documenting the clinic and its outreach programs. Dr. Tun and the staff here at the clinic are amazing. Dr. Tun's bedside manner is simply put some of the best I have ever seen. I am looking forward to really exploring the going on's in the clinic and surrounding area.

Lucha Nueva! SI!...

With Healthcare being a struggle here in Guatemala, the National Health Workers Union protested infront of the Governors office in Xela this past Wednesday with continued protests Thursday in Guatemala City.

Movable Work Place...

You see these kind of mobil snack stands and comedors everywhere down here. Some of the venders push these stands around for miles. I shot this after dropping my friend and fellow photographer Pinar Istek at the bus terminal. Early mornings here in Xela are pretty interesting spans of time, like anywhere parts of the city are still sleeping while others are already midway into a work day.

Working...

After a morning meeting at Voces de Cambio I wandered to La Democracia Market my favorite market here in Xela. Its amazing how insane that place can get during market days. Today however was pretty quiet. Well quiet is a relative term. Even on "quiet" days these men and women hustle around!

Bag Men...

Need a bag for all those fresh fruits and veggies you just bought at La Democracia Market? Just hunt one of these Bag Men down. For 1Q they will give you a nice new plastic bag so you can get those greens home.