Last days of Guatemala

for me                                              

Photos

Well I've left Guatemala.  Had a wonderful time there.  Met great people, climbed active volcanos, jumped off cliffs, played in the ocean, had a parasitic larvae grow in my chest, cheered on the local futbol team, learned and then forgot how to swear in several foreign languages, drank a lot.  I could have easily stayed longer, there was so much more to see, and Xela had become like home after a month and a half.  It's amazing how quickly a town starts to feel familiar and comfortable.  I knew the markets, the shops, the cafes, bars, parks...  It was a bit hard to leave, but the urge to move south was irresistible in the end.  Guess I know how migrating animals must feel.  Powerless against the desire to keep moving.

Made a quick weekend trip down to the beach at Montericco.  Wide, black sand beach, straight as an arrow.  It was great to see the Pacific again.  It has a different feel from the carribean.  There is something about looking out over the ocean and knowing if you went in that specific direction you wouldn't hit land again until Japan, or Australia, or Philipines or... somewhere else on the other side of the entire planet.  The Caribbean doesn't feel like that at all.  It is just pretty to look at.

My last week in the country was spent in San Pedro la Laguna on the western shore of Lago de Atitlan.  It was a nice enough town.  Full of foreigners, which was a big change from Xela, but I guess I can hardly complain since I raised their number by one myself.  The lake was large, deep, and gorgeous. Surrounded by three volcanos and extremely steep mountains on all sides.  Getting there and leaving by chicken bus is an exercise in switchbacks and nerves.  Tried to go kayaking several times only to get rebuffed by the wind.  Settled for jumping off cliffs into the lake instead.  I think it worked out pretty well.  Also stumbled upon some sort of avocado market.  More avacados in one place than I've ever seen in my life.  It was incredible.  I. Love. Avacados. Mmm. Avacados.

   

My time is Xela

...in brief

Photos

So I've been in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (usually referred to as Xela in reference to the historical Mayan name for the town, Xelaju) for the past five weeks.  Most of that time has been spent studying Spanish, while living with a local family.  Xela's the second city of Guatemala, though by population it's a very distant second.  About 200,000 or so to Guate's 5.5 million.  Culturally though, it is a major city, home to the largest (by far) Independence day celebration for Guatemala (and Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) and the capital of a historically very independent part of the country.  One of the chants at the home futbol games refers to the sexto estado, when Xela was the capital of an independent country (for all of a few days apparently) following the breakup of the Central American Union.  Sexto Estado, by the way, is my favorite song at the games, for some reason (can't imagine why), its just fun to yell at the top of your lungs. Yes, I am 13 years old.

The city itself is nice but not exactly pretty.  Lots of bars, the best cafe scene I've found in C.A., plenty of discotheques, and a nice feel to the old part of town.  It is definitely a working city though.  It's the surroundings that have made the city memorable for me.  Much like Antigua, the city is set in a beautiful mountain valley with volcan Santa Maria, rising up above the town to dominate the skyline.  Another of the seemingly abundant perfectly conical volcanoes with the perfectly pointed summits in Guatemala.  Other hills and mountains nearly surround the city on all sides.  Beautiful, bit rainy, but beautiful.  And it is the rainy season afterall.

I've spent my weeks cramming verb conjugations and weekends either climbing nearby volcanos or going to futbol games.  Last weekend I climbed Tajamulco and for a brief moment was the highest, non-flying, human in Central America.  The weekend before I got to watch Xelaju, Xela's futbol team, beat Guatemala City 2-0 only to come in second for the season, behind them anyway.  It's been great, but I'm about ready to move on.