Hola a todos!
It has been another busy week here in Xela. Monday was a tour of an indigenous community nearby, Tuesday night was a documentary about the armed conflict, Wednesday was more salsa dancing, Thursday was a cooking class, Friday was a trip to one of the biggest markets in Guatemala and it was also the beginning of our first excursion as a group to Lake Atitlan.
San Andres Xecul was the indigenous town that we went to on Monday. It was about a 30 minute bus ride, and as per the norm down here, we did not have enough seats so we had to do different arrangements to get us all there together. We visited some churches there that were painted in some spectacular colors and designs. We were also able to see a Mayan ceremony, which we believe was some sort of memorial service.
We were able to watch a documentary at our school (Celas Maya) on Tuesday night, which was about the armed conflict in Guatemala from the indigenous perspective. It was very interesting but the images were graphic. However I think it is important to have videos like that which show the repression that the indigenous and mestizo population went through during the conflict in order to avoid future similar situations.
Another fun filled night of salsa dancing! One of my friends got to dance with one of the instructors, and I was so jealous! So this is my goal for this coming week. However, I feel like I learn a few new things or I learn how to time things out better with my dancing skills.
On Thursday, we made relleñitos de frijoles, which is basically a dough made of mashed up plantains filled with beans which had sugar added to them. It was a dessert, and it was very delicious. We added a little cream and sugar to the top of them so it was pretty tasty. We mashed the plantains and then filled them with about a spoonful of beans and formed somewhat of a little pie, except for it was round. Then they were fried in oil and ready to eat!
Friday was a very busy day. We left to go to San Francisco de Alto market, which is one of the biggest in Guate. We walked 30 minutes to get to this rotunda where 3 large busses honked and yelled at us to ride with them. We finally got on one, and then made about 20 stops along the way to pick up individuals. By the time we got there, we had 3 people to a regular bus seat, many people in the aisle and people squeezing in to sell candies, food or other objects. An hour of that and we got to the market. At the market, there were so many things for sale. Cows, dogs, pigs, sheep, cats, chickens, turkeys, ducks.. all on nice little ropes being pulled around when they were paid for. In another part of the market, they sold fresh meat on sticks that was just hanging in front of our faces, interesting smell. Then we went into the clothing section where a great deal of indigenous clothing was sold. I bought a purse for Q75 and it is beautiful. We left on the same kind of bus that we came from, but on the positive side we didn’t have to go back to class.
That was because it was time for our excursion! We left at 2:30 for Lake Atitlan, which was a little over a 2 hour bus ride, so not bad at all. When we arrived at the lake, we stopped at a scenic overview to take pictures and buy some souvenirs. Then we arrived at the hotel. Which was like a resort. We had 3 people to a room, with 3 beds, and hot showers with pressure. It was fantastic. The first night we went out to eat at a place where we waited about 45 minutes for drinks and over 2 hours for our food, and then people went to get more food after because they weren’t full. So kind of a fail on the food situation. That night, we stayed at the resort and just hung out as a group and chatted, which was pretty fun.
On Saturday morning, we took a boat tour to three towns around Lake Atitlan like San Pedro, San Marino and Santiago. In San Pedro, my friend Ruari and I got separated from the group while we were taking pictures and ended up missing people from our group jumping into the lake. We met back up with them and then went onto see a few churches and other places around town. Then we came back for lunch at the hotel, which was delicious but still not a lot. After lunch, we took a short siesta and then went to a natural reserve for ZIPLINING! It was so amazing. We were a couple of hundred meters up in the trees and on every line we had a fantastic view of the Lake Atitlan. The longest one was for 40 seconds and the shortest was for 8 seconds. There were 8 different paths that we took so it was really great. It also wiped me out of cash because we weren’t aware that we could do that, so I ended up splitting supper with Grace and we stayed in to chat again and we also walked down to the lake later to see the lights.
On Sunday, we climbed La Nariz del Indio. It was 2000 m high and it was mostly rocks and steps, so it was difficult for the leg muscles but it was a great view again. On the walk down, I had a little difficulty walking and fell twice. I have some proud battle wounds to show! One of them is a 12 inch mark on my arm that looks really bad but actually doesn’t hurt. I am hoping they both heal up. The trip in total took a little more than 4 hours and then we took a boat ride back to our hotel. After having a little misunderstanding, all 24 of us were only able to shower in 2 different rooms after the coordinators moved all of stuff to these two rooms. It gave people some high tempers. I also experienced my first street food because it is cheaper than a restaurant, and I had this chicken taco with some other girls. It was fresh chicken and onions, but it tasted amazing. They also have popsicles for Q1 at the Sarita ice cream shop, so they are incredible (lime is my favorite). We rode the bus back and returned to Xela around 5:30.
No excursion this weekend, but the crew is thinking about going down to La Playa (the beach) through Celas Maya which should be pretty fun. We will also be returning to Lake Atitlan we decided. I was really surprised by the number of individuals that spoke English to try and sell their objects. To anyone that cannot speak Spanish, these native sellers will steal your money. For those of us that barter, things go down about 50%.
Class this week went well again, I am slowly working through tenses, verbs, conjugations, prepositions and fun stuff like that. I am still really enjoying my family, however I feel bad on the days that I am so busy that I leave at 2 and then don’t get home until 7, and then leave again that night for another activity! Highlights from the food have been some good chicken dishes, fried cauliflower, great broccoli and carrots, some really tasty soups, and of course, lots of foods that I don’t know the name of them but I try to taste everything that has been on my plate, and thus far I have only not liked one thing (chicken livers… what a surprise those were).
As classes start for students back at CSBSJU, I hope you have a good first day of class! I’ve only been there for 2 weeks already, so don’t worry about me. Have a good week and I’ll update again next week!
Abrazos-Sarita
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