A routine

I've really been enjoying myself here in Queztaltenango, Gautemala. School has been going pretty well and I've been able to converse better with Carmen, my homestay provider. She's a retired school teacher and the house she owns was here mother's (I think). There are some other family members living in the house and for the longest time I couldn't figure out who was living there and who was visiting. I think I've got it now. Carmen's daughter (Carmen has 3 kids from what I can interpret) and her 2 kids. There are 2 other girls here that are related to Carmen, going to school, but they aren't her grandkids.

My days go like this. Have breakfast at 7am which is usually warm cereal. I can't tell what it is exactly but it's got milk in it (I think the milk is powdered or condensed???) along with some corn flakes or some other Kellogg's cereal and pan or pancakes, which are my favorite b/c of the syrup provided and some hot beverage which I never know what it is. Nescafe sometimes. Something else creamy and ricey the others. I just eat and drink whatever is put in front of me. I think I had some tripe today at lunch-I got it down. After breakfast, I go to school for 5h. Come back home for almuerzo, which is the biggest meal of the day and usually has arroz, frijoles or both and always fresh tortillas.

Then I do whatever. Study. Workout. Go on excursions through the school. Yesterday we went on one but I'll get to that in second. Cena is around 7-8pm and it's usually pretty small. Typical here is some chicken product-usually eggs- with beans and/or rice and tortillas.


I'm on my own after that. Usually at one of these meals Carmen and I will talk for a little while. It's gotten easier to respond to her as the week has progressed but I'm still far from intermediate or advanced with my Spanish. Comprehension is one thing. Responding is another. I really wish the switch would flip already but I need a lot more practice.


Yesterday me and 2 other student went with Alma, the do everything assistant of the school to Salcaja. It's about a 10min chicken bus ride (chicken buses and minivans run regular bus routes here in Quetzaltenango and all over Guatemala) there. In Salcaja they have a big market, again, where you can buy just about everything. That's part of why we went there yesterday, for Market Day. Salcaja also makes the majority of the fabric that most traditionally dressed women wear for skirts. I guess this whole area manufactures/produces a lot of goods for Guatemala. This is a huge agricultural area as well.


After the market, we visited a home I guess. It's hard to say exactly what it was, home, hospedaje, business, maybe all 3 and more. On the top floor were 2 weaving looms where guys were weaving fabrics that will become the reams from which many many skirts will be made. It's a little strange to me that the thread, string, etc. going into the cloth were likely made on industrial machines and dyed industrially, but then they go into old school weaving looms. Maybe I've got this wrong though.

This place also makes Caldo de Fruta which is a wine/liquor made from fermenting various fruits (apples, cherries, and some others I can't remember) for many months or even years. Reminds me of punch. The fruits are saturated with alcohol and are incredibly strong but the "wine" is much more suave and tastes much better than the fruit. We bought a bottle for our school's director birthday.


From there we went across the street to the oldest church in Central America. I think it was built in 1534 and is still in use. Most of the wooden support beams are the originals. It's really quaint and beautiful. Right next door is a basketball court (now that I've mentioned this, there are basketball courts all over Guatemala. I've never seen one being used for basketball. Futsal, or futbal, but never basketball. I've got to admit, I find it really strange there are so many courts for a country of people so short) painted almost entirely with a Contigo (cell phone company) advertisement. Everything painted blue with white letters. Maybe that's what will be next. Churches emblazoned with company logos. St. Grace's Cathedral brought to you by SBC/AT&T.


This was the end of the tour. We caught another bus and went back. I think that since we were with Alma, we didn't have to pay the gringo prices. Tonight is Gladis' (dir./owner of El Mundo en Español, my school) birthday. She's only 40 and just became a grandmother. This is pretty normal in a Catholic country where abortion is illegal, but maybe not necessarily for that reason. Alma is 36, 37 and has 5 kids. She was saying it's not uncommon for a family to have 12-13 kids. I forgot to ask about infant mortality and divorce though. Next time.


Elisa wasn't having so much fun where she went off to so I've convinced her to come here. She gets here today or tomorrow. Tomorrow Alma is taking us to Fuentes Georginas, a natural spring up in the hills whose different pools are fed by hot sulfur springs. Que rico!

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.

Busy Days

Yesterday was a long one. Elisa and I said adios to one another and I hoofed it like a mule up to the church to catch a chicken bus. I really wish gringos would call them what everyone else does which is not chicken bus. It would really make it a lot easier to ask about them when talking to locals. Every extensive visitor to Guatemala has chicken bus stories. Fun. Dangerous. Your call. Either way, they're an adventure. Or so I'd heard. This ride was pretty uneventful for me. I don't fit in the seats at all, though. If you don't know, CB's are old US school buses of the Bluebird variety. These are the bus system of Guatemala. Everyone takes them wherever they need to go. Remember these buses? We've all ridden them. Apparently, when full, these repainted in bright colors, individual dashboard expression, potential chariots of death, have 3-4 people to a seat with people packed in the aisles. A rack on top for larger items (like my big bag), and an ayudante´that has one of the craziest jobs ever (these should be stunt men in training), are a roller coaster that could never be duplicated in the states.

But like I said, my ride was uneventful, slow even, and by no means full. ayer, yo llegue a Queztaltenango a las medio dia, mas o menos. I was dropped off w/4 other backpackers at the big CB station but we had no idea where we were. They weren't the nicest Germans I've ever met, but the 2 girls spoke Spanish well and they were going to the volcano tourguides I was also trying to talk to.

We made it there with minimal trouble and I was #13 on the wait list for the overnight full-moon tour, which I ended up bailing out on trying to do. No biggie. I was really in Xela (aka Queztaltenango) to enroll in Spanish school. I spent the afternoon trying to find one, running all over a couple of city zones close to downtown.

I settled on El Mundo en Espanol. I went to this one because it advertised a 'holistic approach to Spanish' and a onsite gym. It was in a home with a lot of students about. Gladis, the director and owner, showed me around and explained how her school was different than the rest. Sounded like what I was looking for. I talked to one of the more senior students, or was she a student coordinator? Either way, she raved about her experience. Then Gladis and her mother (she introduced me to all the family members but I can't remember all their names) offered me a Guatemalan tamale (I don't remember what tamales are called here, but they're steamed in banana leaves and are effin' great!) and some tea. She said I could start tomorrow. I signed up and paid immediately and was invited for desayuno this morning.

Next was accommodations for the night. The Quetzaltrekkers (volcano tours) office is in Casa Argentina. I looked at one other hostel then went back to Casa Argentina and scored a decent single room for ~$3. I wish I would've taken pictures of it. Literally looked like a monk's cell but I didn't care. Took a shower and crapped out.

This morning I had to hustle here for breakfast and then started my 4.5h lesson. Not so bad. Stuff I remember. El, los, la, las. Articles, ya know. Then I went to my homestay house. I'd requested no extraneros other than myself. She wasn't ready for me to get there, so I walked around and got some lunch.

So much food for ~$1.75! Damn good though. She never stopped patting out tortillas the entire time. Spoon out rice. Pat tortillas. Fry up carne asada. Pat out tortillas. Take another order. Pat out tortillas. Yeah, no washing of her hands, but when in Rome....Marcia, you're so right. Handmade tortillas are so much better! These are pretty thick though. I prefer thinner, but they're still so much better than machined ones. You can taste the fat in them. Mmmmmm.....

I went back to the house, stashed my stuff in my room, asked about dinner, then came back here to write this.

I've got to study too so I'm out.

Hippie...

...Hell. Well, I suppose not really. I'm in San Pedro La Laguna now. We came back from Santiago La Laguna today. That roundtrip boat ride was so slow in comparison to the lanchas. But we got to see a nice rainbow this afternoon and the lake wasn't as choppy as it could've been if we were going faster. Let me talk about Santiago first since we were there for only a few hours. The main drag consists of shops and vendors all selling Mayan artisan things. We didn't go see much more of the town, except for the city center (I think) and the central market. This market is multiple floors, 2 or 3. We were glad we decided not to stay here. Again, first impressions.


San Pedro is for lack of a better phrase, an interesting place. Lots and lots of hippie gringos hanging out all day waiting to party at night. Yeah, I'm labeling. I don't mean to, but, really when the shoe fits....


I think the story of San Pedro is a bunch of hippies were driving south from the states, possibly San Francisco, and this is where their van broke down. They either never left, or set up for a really really long smoke break. That seems to be the norm for a lot of whites here in San Pedro. They come and stay for really long times. It's really strange to see all the gringo hang outs close to the water and then the locals living further up into town. I guess everyone gets along amicably though. There's a fair number Spanish immersion schools here, but again, I'm confused how one would be immersed. San Pedro also has a handful of coffee production companies, for lack of a better term. There are certain areas of town where you walk by and the coffee smell is overpowering. Huge piles of shelled coffee beans from the plants. Then, in some places, there are entire lots where the shelled bean is laying out in the sun to dry. I'm not really sure of how the process goes but I think they go from brown to tan to dark brown again when roasted. I guess we could've filled one of our days with learning more of this process, but we were never in a hurry to get up. I chalk it up to the environment.


We're both leaving tomorrow to separate destinations. I'm off to Queztaltenango to do my Spanish immersion and hopefully climb a volcano overnight during this full moon. Hopefully I'll see the eclipse too.


Hasta Pronto.

San Marcos La Laguna

I'm in San Marcos La Laguna right now. Elisa and I are still traveling together. She's been great to move around with. Good conversations and similar interests have made it really nice. We spent ~3 days in Antigua not doin' a whole lot but chillin' out. We booked a shuttle to Panajchel (aka Pana) yesterday and got there ~11 or so this morning. This was a pullman bus that stopped for everyone on the road. The twisty roads down to the lake take a certain amount of skill to maneuver like the driver did, either that or lunacy. A fine line, right? We had no real plan. Elisa was interested in checking out San Marcos but was up for anything. We decided to go to San Marcos after some consulting of the book and our guts which you do by lancha (20 person boat, really maybe 10, but they fit 25+). After some negotiating (shhh. can't tell anyone else what we paid) we got on the lancha. About 30mins later (b/c it stops at a bunch of other towns and goes as fast as it's loaded) we were here.

The lake is absolutely beautiful. Surrounded by some volcanoes, the water is a unique blue/green color. Not as blue as Tahoe. In fact, the lake reminds me of Tahoe except for the many towns and native populations. Rich people have bought up lake front property and are building palaces, well palaces for the area...no scratch that....they're palaces no matter where they'd be. The seem very out of place mixed in with much smaller Mayan dwellings.

The lake is really big and as you look in the distance, the water sparkles like rhinestones or maybe even diamonds. The clouds and volcanoes help make the lake have an even more enchanted feeling. Too bad that doesn't last once you walk into many of the towns along the lake. We got on the lancha around noon, but apparently in the afternoon the wind really picks up and makes travel on the lake much more sickening.

San Marcos is an interesting place. Meditation retreats. Yoga. Recycling. A really small town center. Futbol played to dance club music (I think they were the equivalent of high school kids, but the match counted). A God awful dirty river bed. Not the most friendly white folks there running retreats and taking part in retreats. Mayan New Year ceremonies and a really subdued pace of life. Not a whole lot to do really.

I got my first workout in here actually lifting. Large rocks are plentiful. It's a very surreal experience deadlifting and push pressing a rock (with some push-ups mixed in for good measure) all while different Mayan women are singing songs in one of the various Mayan languages over load speakers that penetrate all reaches of the town. I was going to jump in the lake afterward but upon further discussion with Elisa, I thought better of doing it at this location (nastiness, unknown depth, potential parasites, darkness of the lake...yeah she freaked me out pretty good).

We're staying at El Unicornio tonight but have decided to go to San Pedro La Laguna tomorrow. This place isn't what Elisa expected so we're going to move on. Me? Well...I'd rather not spend too much time here either. Everything shuts down when the sun goes down and I'm out of stories for the time being.

Antigua, la ciudad de no cambio

We left yesterday morning on a shuttle from the hostel to Antigua. I think El Retiro has thought of everything. This trip was the best by far. Good music to choose from. Plenty of leg room. A driver who drove quickly but cautiously and who would ask how were doing. Kudos, El Retiro for setting a standard.

We had to go through Ciudad de Guate. to get to Antigua. I have to say that before I slept through seeing the size, squalor, and dirt of this city. A concrete jungle of different sorts. Single-room cinder block 'shacks' all around the perimeter. Smog choked streets. Burning trash and tons of people. These are 'first impressions' as the area I walked around near my hotel before didn't look so fierce. Reminds me of Tiffany's comments on seeing Visitacion Valley for the first time on our way to San Francisco.

We climbed out of the city and you get to see glimpses of its enormity. I had no idea there were highrises but there are, possibly even a skyscraper or two. And I guess there's a river that runs through it b/c that's what it looked like (come to think of it we did cross a bridge). Antigua is only about 20-30km away. I thought it was much further.

Wow, what a contrast to the other places I'd been! Bustling with people. Cobblestone streets. Colonial Spanish architecture. Burger King and Subway. How the hell can this be part of the same country? So many more white faces than I've seen in a long time. Where did all the Guatemalans go? Elisa and I took care of some errands and then got some dinner. Where did my tropical temps go? I was cold, which doesn't happen often. I'll admit, I was pretty dismayed by the feel of Antigua that night. I felt like I was back in SF again, which I love, but I hadn't anticipated. I had thoughts of 'I didn't pay to come and be in the Mission again' (Antigua doesn't have that exact feel but it's close). I went to sleep a bit upset.

Today was different though. We went to the market and I was again reminded that I was in Guatemala. The markets sell everything you'd ever want. I thought the markets in Amsterdam were special. The don't hold a candle to the ones in Guate. Here in Antigua, there's a whole section of artisans or "souvenirs" and I really got a chance to haggle. The US needs more of this I think. The vendors have gringo prices which are about double what you should pay. And the vendors are aggressive. Shopping here is not for the faint of heart. You've got to have some nads to be able to walk away if you don't get the price you're looking for. I think it's a lot of fun, even with my awful Spanish, but it's not for everyone. If you ever have a first time at this, try to have someone with you since it makes it easier to walk away if you have someone else scoffing at the price they want you to pay. And remember that you're buying. THEY want your money. Oh, man if my Spanish were better.

After visiting the market, I had a renewed outlook on Antigua. The Guatemalans are here, they just mostly disappear weeknights. Antigua is known for its European feel from the colonial Spanish architecture and Spanish immersion schools. I don't know how you'd get immersed here so I'm glad I came here before deciding to take lessons.

Elisa had been here before taking lessons for 2 weeks (and enjoyed herself), so it was nice having someone who knew their way around. She also said weekends here are nuts. She was right. Well off Ciudad de Guatemalans and tour buses descend on the city on the weekend. It's funny, both strange and hilarious, to hear thick southern US accents pronouncing quetzales (Guate. currency named after the elusive national bird) mixed in with Spanish. To me, it's also a bit frightening, to see mostly US citizens come here and expect the comforts of home to exist. Watching them interact with locals grates my nerves. But....who am I to judge? I was in a very similar pair of shoes not too many days ago, struggling with differences I'd come to take for granted. I have to remember that.

We're leaving tomorrow to go to Lago de Atitlan. I think I'll be back since it seems like all traveler's roads seem to come through Antigua.
Adios
CA

Now things are starting to get good

Elisa and I left from Flores a few days ago and headed to Semuc Champey. Initially, I was going to skip this location and go straight from Flores to look for some schools. I'm glad I didn't skip it. It's in the middle of the country, mas o menos, but in a more mountainous region. Foothills, I guess you could say. I've never seen foothills like these though. Not massive. Just look like moguls covering a mountain. And maize/corn everywhere. Everywhere. 50-55 degree hills (I don't know how to put that symbol into my blog)? No problem. Let's plant maize. No cornfields here. Corn hillsides. No combines ever. All planted/harvested by hand.

Semuc Champey is close to a small town called Lanquin, at the bottom of a ravine (for lack of a better word). Elisa and I, Mercedes, Rogan, and Lotti (I think that was her name) stayed at a hostel walking distance from the SC entrance. Again, I/we didn't get there until about 6-7pm. Getting there also involved a pick-up ride for ~9km, mostly downhill on a winding, mostly dirt road. The pick-ups are set up with a cage of sorts, built on top of the truck bed. Looks like it's there to hold livestock, pigs or goats or something, but it's really there to hold people. Imagine 30-40 people in the back of a light-duty Toyota pick-up all standing and you've got an image of these trucks. I would've taken a picture of this, but a lot of the native population don't like having their pictures taken, and I only try to take out my camera discreetly so as to not draw more attention to myself. It was just the 5 of us and our bags in our truck and the driver hauling ass. I've never surfed or snowboarded but the needed movement of the hips and knees would probably be the same.

Next morning, the 5 of us went on a tour of the Gruta de Las Marias (cave close by). This would never happen in the states. I'm convinced. We got to the entrance and our Mayan guide (only way I know he's Mayan is how short he is-his chin is at about my navel-and the fact that he's speaking one of the Mayan languages, not by the way he's dressed or looks or anything) hands us all candles. He showed us the bats at the entrance and then starts directing us in Spanish. I recognized some of the verbs like walk and swim, but it was really nice to having the other 3 girls fluent in Spanish. We got in the water at the entrance and never got out until we came out. This was so much fun! Climbing ropes up waterfalls (small ones). Jumping into deep holes of water. Swimming with one hand to keep the candle out of the water and lit. Took about 1.5h to get in and then 20mins to go back out the way we came. Good thing b/c we were all shivering by then. Back in the sun, we dried off very quickly then tubed (you know, intertubes) down the river back to our hostel. All for ~$4.

That afternoon we all went down to Semuc Champey. Seven naturally formed, limestone pools that descend like stair steps. This place is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The pools are really deep, even for me, and if I would've had better footwear, I might've swam from each one, diving from one pool to the next. If the water got too cold (temp was ~70-78F), just stand up and dry off. Round it off with a tough hike to el mirador (lookout) for some pictures.

Elisa and I left the other 3 and went back to our hostel, Las Marias, to collect our things and go up to the other hostel closer to Lanquin. Another 20min pick-up ride (not as fast since it was uphill) and we were at El Retiro. Like the LP book says, a backpacker's dream. Great accommodations (far superior to the night before's) on a river, we found out there's an all you can eat BBQ that night and really good happy hours too. We couldn't stop smiling. They had a sign up saying they need staff (paid, free accommodations and food) for 2 months minimum. Hmmm.....I could come back and make drinks for a bunch of gringos. How much different would it be from mixing chemicals?

So I should say, that by now my outlook on things has completely changed. My Spanish is still awful but I'm not lonely anymore. I would think often though, how much better these experiences would've been having my peeps with me. I was truly missing you, which, like I said before, is not a feeling I've had as much or as intense of an experience with.

We're in Antigua right now. Just got here and I'm tired so I'll write about it later. Happy VD day.