My first night in the country, I stayed with my homestay family from last summer in Antigua. My former host mom told me that outside of Antigua, Xela is the only other place she’d consider living, and she went on and on about the city’s reputation as a home for arts and culture and how poets and musicians roam the streets and fill the cafes. I hadn’t seen much in the way of artistic expression during my talks on puberty in the schools, but that’s to be expected, really. And though there’s live music in multiple venues every night of the week, my evenings thus far have been full of playing with my 4-year old homestay brother and watching movies dubbed into Spanish. After three weeks, however, I took it upon myself to investigate Xela’s artsy side.
Thursday evening was my introduction to Jazz month, and I accompanied a friend to a free concert in the Municipal Theatre (see above). The musicians were from Spain, and I had far too much fun imitating their accents…I was actually just thrilled to be able to understand Spanish well enough to distinguish accents from Guatemala to those from Spain. It was a 90-minute show, complete with the weirdest instrument I’ve ever seen played. It’s called a viola rueda (wheeled-viola, more or less) and is some medieval cross between accordion, finger harp, and a violin (see below). The music was flamenco-inspired jazz, and I really enjoyed the evening.
On a less artsy note, my education team partner and I wrapped up our second of three weeks in Xepache primary school. We only presented lessons Monday – Wednesday, because there were special events scheduled Thursday and Friday. Of course, when we presented our tentative schedule last week, there was no mention of any reason why Thursday or Friday wouldn’t be possibilities. It’s been an exercise in flexibility so far, which is wonderful and all part of adjusting to another country. Actually, all of our touchy lessons, like Domestic Violence and Puberty, went extremely well. The students were very receptive to what we had to say, even though watching two gringas talk about testiculos is SO FUNNY giggle giggle smirk, the students answered all of our quiz questions well at the end of the lesson. My partner even said she saw a girl write down the emergency numbers we left on the board during our Domestic Violence presentation, so that lesson was particularly relevant.
This weekend, we had initially planned to visit Lago Atitlan, but a stomach bug sidelined my friend who had the idea, so we postponed the trip to another weekend. Instead, I climbed La Muela (The Molar), a rock formation on the outskirts of town, with some other clinic volunteers. The adventure was a stimulating mix of walking on flat roads, climbing up steep paths, and scampering from volcanic boulder to boulder.
Half of the group continued to scramble across the rocks after we reached the titular summit, but a friend and I had each fulfilled our La Muela quota for the day and so we descended back to the road and caught a pick-up back into town. Here is a picture of me deciding that four hours of climbing was quite sufficient.
Sunday, another clinic volunteer and I took a bus to Chichicastenango, a highland town about 2 hours away, to visit their weekly market. Every Thursday and Sunday Chichi hosts one of the largest, most visited markets in the country. It’s a tourist attraction for sure, but there are plenty of Guatemalans doing their shopping there as well, so it’s a good blend. Also, I liked having the tourists around because I felt much less gringa in comparison to the groups of pasty Europeans being shepherded by vested tour guides. I overheard one American yelling in English at a local textile vendor. Why, you might ask? For not understanding his English. Ugh. However, some of the other vendors knew how to say “Good Price, Lady” in English, French, and Spanish, so maybe the angry Americano just had warped expectations. Anyway, I successfully purchased gifts for my family, transportation to and from Chichi and Xela, and lunch for a whopping $22.50 USD. Here's one of the the many avenues in the labyrinth:
We were also able to glimpse the local cathedral, which serves as a place of worship for Christians, Mayans, and those who synthesize a bit of both religious traditions. Check out the fire burning on the front steps – Lonely Planet assures me that Mayan worshipers treat the church steps like the steps of a pyramid and perform the same prayers and rituals as they would at a Mayan temple. Very cool. Also, in a historical tidbit, the Popul Vuh, a written collection of Quiche Maya cosmological beliefs and legends, was stored and re-discovered in this very church in the 1800s.
I almost forgot to mention BAKE SHOP, the most wonderful store in the history of the world. The happiness and satisfaction of this week were only amplified by my introduction to Bake Shop, a Mennonite-run bakery open twice a week in the Xela market. I had the most delicious blueberry-filled donut of all time, purchased banana bread for my host family, and have serious plans to come back and try the cinnamon buns, goat yogurt, bagels, and other tasty wares. Rest assured that whatever else this coming week holds for me, there will most definitely be a follow-up excursion to Bake Shop.
Until then, un abrazo y besitos!
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