en las nubes.

my head was in the clouds. quite literally. for five days, i visited the community of chuitziribal, one that consists roughly of thirty houses, floating calmly at 8,100 feet above sea level. the air is cold and thin. clouds roll in gently over hills of corn. it's quiet in chuitziribal, with silence occasionally broken by a dog fight consisting of half the towns' dogs. other than that, it's rustling corn, an off key song or a neighing horse. i stayed with the familia tax, a family of three women, a girl and two boys. the women have the disposition of women that have held firm in times of adversity. true beauty. señor tax is in the united states, one of the countless immigrants that leave home in order to subsidize a better life; pictures of this distant life cover the walls of the bedroom. one of the little ones told me that the father was set to visit this christmas. i didn't have the heart to ask when it was that he saw him last. i've passed through chuitziribal and am passing through guatemala, but some aren't passing through. this country is their life. their reality. i've been privileged with a glimpse of it.