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27.04.2009

category: Travel
tags: Confusion, Dancing, Español, Food, Marti and Carlos, Mujeres

I went with Marty and Carlos to Escipulas this weekend for a tour. Escipulas is in the South-East corner of Guatemala and is a pilgrimage site for most of Central America. There is a statue of Christ called “Cristo Negro” (Black Christ) that is said to have miraculous healing powers for people of faith. This is taken very seriously. Though I did not see it, there are people that enter into the church on their knees, make their way up to Christo Negro to pray, and then exit on their sore bloody knees.

The group. Its hard to see in this photo, but there were 52 of us.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtqvDn8hYhU[/youtube]

Año Santo. 250th Anniversary of the church. This main entry door is never completely opened. For this year alone it has been opened completely. Pope Benedict has said that to walk through this door is a very holy act.

We had just been to Escipulas two weeks ago during Semana Santa when my mother was here (had decided last minute to go there instead of Chemuc Shampey because of whether conditions). It was good to go again to see it in a different way. We went to a handful of services. One was in a small chapel that is usually never open to the public, and another was during the main service in an elevated area that is very close to the Cristo Negro.

Escipulas

People outside. This photo doesn´t do justice to the amount of people that are are actually there on a daily basis. It is packed.

I will load more pics of Escipulas once I have them available…

The town that the church is in is completely dependent on the existance of the church. Without the church, I´m pretty sure there´d be no town. Everybody is selling religious paraphanilia along with everything else that usually makes up a Guatlemalan mercado. We were walking around and met this guy:

Master of the fortune telling paraquets

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdZxfNKvq6g[/youtube]start

So the paraquet decided to pick three papelitos of advice for me, out of which I chose the yellow one. I have to admit, I still do not exactly understand the elaborate prophecy that has been fortold. Marty helped me clear it up a bit though and it is something along the lines of the fact that I will soon be recieving news that will not be good. Fortunately, it also said that the news will not be bad either… just news.

So while climbing up the windy stretch of highway on the way home, the bus driver started to slow down and then pull over to the side of the road.

Hmm

Luckily, the bus driver was basically a mechanic too. After about 15 minutes or so, he was able to fix the bus and we continued on. We then drove for about 5 – 10 minutes more and pulled over again. Repeat. Then drove a bit more and then broke down again. After the 3rd breakdown, people decided that we´d better get another bus. We ended up getting many “microbuses” to drive us to the hotel we were eating at for lunch.

Breakdown

Filing into the microbus

Because it was a spur of the moment thing, our microbus driver didn´t have his transit papers. We were then given a “free tour” through Chikimulas to retrieve the papers before going to the hotel.

We then ate lunch and then hung out next to the pool for about 1.5 hours. When the bus arrived, the bus driver was completely covered in grease but said that the bus was ready to go. We then continued back to Guatemala city breakdown-free. Luckily, this had not been at night, that would have been a completely different situation…

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05.04.2009

Lago Atitlan, Xela, una Misa, Bailando, y una Procesión

categories: Fiestas, Travel, Visitors
tags: Dancing, Español, Food, Landscapes, Marti and Carlos

So you´ll have to bear with me here, didn´t have time to explain. Check back for updates…

Arriving to Lago Atitlan

God

We chartered a boat ($12 a head) to see some of the pueblos that surround Lago Atitlan. There are 12 pueblos, and each one of them is named after one of the 12 apostles.

It was actually not the best day to go to the lake, it was cloudy and the water was choppy. However, Pedro was not at all phased by the conditions and we flew across the lake (faster than Marty would have liked).

Picture with Captain Pedro

Suiting up to head to Santiago Atitlan

Marty, Mom, and Carlos in Front of Iglesia Parroquial Santiago Apostal (built in 1547)

We got a tuc tuc (tiny toy-like taxi) and went to the center of Santiago. After some persuasion by the tuc tuc driver we then decided to do one of the tours that he was offering. We chose to go around town and to visit Maximon, a god/saint that some of the indigineous people of the area worship.

Visit to Maximón, indiginous god. Liquor and cigars...

Fitting in

After the lake we headed to Xela, Guatemala´s second largest city. It is about a two hour drive from the lake on roads that are undergoing serious construction. We were told that it is generally considered “The Athens of Central America”.

Pueblo on the outskirts of Xela

Muchos pollos

Mercado - look at the niña

Radishes

Rock n´ Roll electric altar

Centro de Xela

Xela´s Cathedral´s Double Facade. Original church in front, new church in back.

Local Mariachi´s

Flute

Our tour bus waiting in front of the cathedral

Xela

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFOD-1ojol8[/youtube]

Ridiculous end to our tour. Couldn´t have been more perfect.

After the tour we went into the Cathedral. Just so happened to be a wedding in progress...

Red light district. In Xela, red lights on Saturdays means Paches.

Paches

Leaving Xela

Sunday morning we went to a mass for Tita (Marty´s sister) and Paco. They have been married for 50 years. Otto´s family took up about the back quarter of a decent sized church. Not everybody made it into this photo.

Family photo after the Mass.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnr6jN7q2Tg[/youtube]

Tita and Paco´s 50th Anniversary party

Tub of salad and barrel of rice...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lPEsItL-MQ[/youtube]

Dancing it up

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVOcECA2ILw[/youtube]

7 comments

19.03.2009

Marty Party

category: Fiestas
tags: Confusion, Español, Food, Marti and Carlos

So Marty had a birthday party on Sunday.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH2BYwdfKZM[/youtube]

The party was a good time. Otto`s aunts and uncles took this as a perfect opportunity to sit down with the gringo and teach him a bunch of palabras malas. They didn`t forget to throw in a few hand signs too…

3 comments

08.03.2009

Cuchubal

category: Fiestas
tags: Español, Food, Marti and Carlos

So welcome to the Cuchubal, a monthly event held to bring the family together… and take their money.

The Cuchubal is a very common game played in Guatemala. It`s a sort of round-robin event held with a group of usually around 10+ people (Otto`s family plays with about 30). Everybody throws down Q200 (about $26) and hopes that they win the pot.

So here are the most important rules of Cuchubal (and people make sure that they`re followed to the T):

Come to the Cuchubal
Put down your Q200 (If you don`t come this rule still applies)
If you don`t pay the Q200 during the day of Cuchubal you need to pay a penalty to the last person who won Cuchubal
If you win, you need to wait for everybody else to win before you are able to win again
If you win, you need to hold the next Cuchubal

Reading the rules (lets make sure everybody`s clear here)

Reviewing the rules (lets make sure everybody`s clear here... if you wanna start something, the rulebook`s right here...)

Olga passing out the numbers for the cash money

Passing out the numbers for the bottle of gin

Suspense while everybody waits for the niña to hold up the sign with the magic winning number

12!

So what`s the point of Cuchubal? Good question, I wasn´t completely sure myself. You aren`t actually “winning” or “losing” the money. From what I could tell, there is really no difference between playing Cuchubal and opening a bank account and putting in Q200 a month (because no matter what you have to pay by the month and at some point you`re garunteed to win the Cuchubal). So what`s it about, winning a bunch of money at once so you can then impulsively spend it?

I asked my Spanish teacher Aura about this game. She used to play with all of the other maestras at school. She explained that this is actually a good way to save money. Since you have a responsibility to put down money (cuz if you don`t you`re gonna have to pay), you actually end up putting aside Q200 a month no matter what. It is also a way to watch out for your friends and family. For example, in select cases, if somebody`s child is sick and they need money for an operation or expensive medicine, the Cuchubal is shifted to them and they automatically win for that month.

Otto`s cousin (Olga`s son) ended up winning this one. The pot was Q6,800 ($858).

9 comments

01.02.2009

El Mercado

category: Travel
tags: cramped spaces, Food, Marti and Carlos

So I went back to Guatemala City for the weekend. Marti and Carlos took me to market.

Its for the pineapples (the knife)

Marti in the process of haggling

An inevitably successful negotiation. Marti is no slouch when it comes to beating down the price.

Check the “Photos de Antigua” page for more market photos… (even though the market was in Guatemala city)

14 comments

26.01.2009

Milton´s Birthday

category: Fiestas
tags: Español, Food, Gallo, Marti and Carlos

So the partying did not end with the wedding. On Sunday, Marti, Carlos and I, along with the majority (it seems, but I have a feeling this is not the case) of Otto´s family went to Marti´s sisters house for a party. This included massive amounts of food, fireworks, and alot of questions for the gringo…

Marti lighting the cake. She is a pro, note her gameface

Marti lighting the cake. She is a pro at this kind of thing, note her gameface

Milton is the one with the camera and Olga is the woman to the left of him. She is hilarious.

5 comments

26.01.2009

A Beard Trimming and Dance shoes

categories: Fiestas, Travel
tags: beard, Dancing, Gallo, Landscapes, Marti and Carlos

So I went back to Guatemala city (via comioneta/”chicken bus”) for the weekend. To my dismay, upon arriving, Marti informed me that I would be getting a haircut with her son Giovanni on Saturday. Rather than turning down the offer, I felt that it was maybe necessary to tame the twirlygigs that had begun to form at the base of my future mane. Although this has seriously set me back with my hopes of attaining the super beard of a beatnik vagabond, I feel it is sometimes necessary to take one step backward to go two steps forward…

Saturday came as a very busy day. It began with helping Giovanni and Tono assemble a complicated desk (without directions). This proved to be a good test for newly learned vocabulary (above, on top of, below, etc). After desk assembly, I drove around town with Marti and Carlos running some errands. While driving back, Marti and Carlos asked me if I would like to go to a fiesta. To this I replied, “Si… cuando?”. “Ahora” they said. Giovanni and his wife were basically ready to leave back at the house. They then asked me if I had nice clothes… Of course I did not. I ended up wearing Carlos´s. The shoes were a bigger problem since nobody in the entire country of Guatemala has a size 10 or 11. I ended up using Giovanni´s father in law´s. They were a ·tight· fit, but did the trick. Everything besides the shoes and sportcoat fit well (if I stretched my arms out in front of me, the cuffs of the shirt would pass the sleeve of the sportcoat by about 3 inches).

The fiesta turned out to be a wedding at one of the nicest Hotels in Guatemala. The driveway for the hotel alone snaked up a mountain next to Antigua for (literally) 2 kilometers. The road alone was beautiful and the view was accentuated by a guard with a shotgun.

The hotel was nice and the view of Antigua wasn´t too bad either

There ended up being alot of people at the party

There also ended up being alot of people Dancing and Dancing (click)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb1dYwisA9M[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBoUk2Re3Ps[/youtube]

Needless to say, my dance “skills” are pretty weak, even when aided by the powers of alcohol. The moment the music started, it became very apparent to me that I will need to work on the dance moves. Learning to dance has now become a priority that is 2nd only to learning spanish (and probably getting a job). I was also told that a pair of new (dance) shoes is a must since there are so many fiestas in Guatemala.

5 comments

18.01.2009

Antigua

category: Travel
tags: Landscapes, Marti and Carlos

So its my first day in Antigua. As it stands, the plan is to take 2 to 3 weeks of classes in Antigua and then go to Xela for about 2 to 3 weeks of more classes.

We dropped Otto off at the airport this afternoon. I am now flying solo in Guatemala. I spent the rest of the day with Marti and Carlos visiting the surrounding areas of Antigua (San Fillipe and Ciudad Viejo) and honing my gringo spanish.

I am staying in hotel Don Quijote for the night. I will start class tomorrow and meet the Guatemalan family that I will be staying with.

Here is a view of Antigua. It lies between the “water volcano” (to the left) and the ”fire volcano” (to the right). Needless to say, the volcanoes are huge. Carlos and Marti drove me up a winding backroad passing massive potholes, women carrying fruit on their heads, and stray dogs in order to see this view. The road leads to Antigua, but we had to turn back after somebody informed us that the road ahead had been blocked by a landslide.

I spent a few hours walking around the city at night. Its beautiful. I will add more to this description later…

6 comments

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