El Fin de Semana pasada

So I'd planned a lot more for this weekend, but I spent a lot of it catching up on writing and walking around this city. I could've gone on a weekend volcano hike but there was futbol match last night that I really wanted to see too. The volcano trek wasn't to the real active one in the area. That's Santiaguito. It erupts almost every hour but it's best viewed at night. That tour is next week but I'm thinking of meeting back up with Elisa to hit up Chichicastenango for some shopping.

The futbol match was great. Queztaltenango has a team that plays in the Guatemalan National League. Oh yes. Quetzaltenanago is called Xela or Xelaju as Xelaju is its Mayan name. The name of the team is Xelaju MC Super Chivas. Super Rams I hope and not Super Goats. I have to look this one up. The match itself was kinda lame. It ended in a 0-0 ties and from watching the Super Chivas, they're not so great. The ambiance and crowd are another matter. Drums in the stands. Shit, bands in the stands formed by fans. Fireworks and very passionate fans. At first, I thought there was no comparison in the states but I wasn't thinking about a Warriors game or the Raiders' Black Hole or even a UMd v. Duke game. I guess they're pretty comparable. It was cold last night too. Xela has a similar climate to San Francisco except it's colder at night here.

I want to talk about my experience walking around here, or more specifically, walking around the market. Again, I'm a strange creator, never seen before. All eyes on me. No anonymity here. It was one thing to have 15-20 eyes on me at once. Not 30-40, maybe 50. They spot me at a much further distance here. I still just try to smile and say hello. Usually, this prompts a smile and hello back. And so far my interactions here have been great. The people in Guatemala, specifically here, are so amazingly nice and friendly. Especially to the gringo gigante who's trying to blend in. I had 2 conversations today with men that just stopped to talk. Introduced themselves and just chatted (in Spanish) until one of us moved on. It reminds me of the South and I guess a lot of smaller towns in the US. Although, outsiders in some of these smaller towns, especially of another color, wouldn't be so welcome.

I walked all over the place today. Had another enormous lunch at a comedor for ~$4 including a licuado (goddamn do I love these things. Fruit. Milk. A little sugar. And ice. Blended. So effin' good!!). With vegetables this time. I'm beginning to understand that lunch is the largest meal of the day here. It was enough for me at the time. Now it's dinner time though and it's not provided at home. I'm having Indian. That's right. Indian in Guatemala. It's supposed to be legit too.

Adios muchachos.