Win ("Ween"), Flying Snakes and Lions on the Loose

This is one of those blogs where we tell you about the funny or weird things that go on around here!

Win (ween) def. A person that shape-shifts into the form of an animal in order to deceive, or to do harm or to escape capture.

So, Juan Quino and I (Lisa) are driving back from clinic after having dropped off Gaspar, and he begins to tell me about such phenomena. I laughed a little and asked him if it were true, or if someone was telling him stories after a night at the cantina. He looked at me with all seriousness and said, "Sister, it's true! Lots of people (good people) have seen them in my town!" So we decided if it is really true it is a power that is given by the devil, and as Christians we shouldn't be afraid. He seemed in agreement but not fully fearless yet!

Flying snakes
So, in our amateur research of the win thing, we asked Dr. Josefina and her family if they had heard of Win. Her dad said yes and there were several people who believed in it. He even has a family member (one of the in-laws, of course)who is known to change in to a wolf! So then we began to talk about other weird stuff and, lo and behold there are flying snakes here (raxacan). They can jump from one tree to another and are an omen of something bad about to happen. One of Josfina's patients came in after seeing one while tending sheep in a field. She began having seizures after that. I did check the internet on flying snakes and found a species chrysopelea mentioned only in Southeast Asia. But you never know. Darwin may not have made it here to describe the Guatemalan version.

Lions on the Loose
So today in the truck, talking to the guys about flying snakes (of course), Gaspar tells me that there are 3 lions on the loose out near their town of Xepocol. Thinking he was referring to mountain lions, I jokingly asked if he meant mountain lions or African lions! He said, "No, sister, the kind with the mane around their head that you see at the zoo!" Supposedly a guy here bought 3 lions for his ecological park and they got loose while the caretaker entered to feed them! The towns around are scared and the word on the street is they are going to hire professional hunter to track them down. Now, we are always skeptical of stuff we hear around here, but it makes me a little less likely to want to go on a nature walk!