Mis viajes en América Latina

Two Weeks of Guatemala... I realize this is a long overdue post

Friday, July 13, 2012
Santiago Atitlan has been nothing short of an emotional experience. Most tourist visit the lake-shore town on a day trip from one of the other towns, especially "Pana". But commerce in most of the other towns is controlled by Ladinos and Gringos. Santiago is so amazing in many different levels. It is predominantly indigenous and desperately and vigorously attempts to retain its cultural identity. Most people here are bilingual and wear traditional clothing (specially women).
For me personally, this town is amazing because I didn't believe something like it existed. Indigenous people here are empowered. I love how little children speak in their native language and even though most people speak Spanish or some level of Spanish, among them they communicate in their own language. About five years ago, schools also began teaching in Tz'utujil, Spanish and English.
I took a tour of the town by a guide named Nicolas, who took me around town in his Tuk Tuk. We went to the the Peace Park, which commemorated the massacre of townspeople by the army. This event eventually led to Santiago becoming one of the first towns to expel the army during the civil war. The other exiting stop was Moximon! I happened to arrive there when they were having a ceremony which was really cool. I didn't know what it was about, but it was interesting to see and to see Moximon's cigarette lit.
On my first day here, I walked around town and ended up seating in the town square. Two little 9 year old boys came up to me as I was using my netbook (The main plaza has free wifi btw!~password: yosoyatitlan) and asked if I was Spanish or English. Once they realized I was on facebook they began to compare my pictures to me by grabbing my beard and glasses. They tend took over my netbook to play games.
The next morning I woke up at 5 am to get ready to hike Volcan San Pedro. My guide Nicolas (a different one) took a boat to the other side of the lake and began climbing when it was still cool. We came back around 2 pm and I was beat, but got the opportunity to take some amazing pictures. For pictures it is best either in the really early morning or at sun set. But because it's the rainy season it gets cloudy in the evening so there is no sun sets. But early mornings are amazing, no tourist walking around, very few people around, and the clouds if there is any, are fog.
My guides gave me some really awesome insight into the culture here. Like the stories associated with Moximon and also how magic and faith play a very big role in this community. They call Santiago un pueblo sano. basically people look out for each other and make sure everyone is a decent person. If they are not, the punishment goes as far as getting lynched. Cheating is also not appreciated. If you did that, in the past, the shaman would use hypnotism while you were sleeping and made you walk naked to the front of the church and lay there for everyone to see. Today apparently they simply change your thoughts so that you go about your business brain dead.
This town has faced a lot of challenges. Beginning with the civil war, during which the government and military targeted mainly indigenous communities, to more recent environmental disasters like the mud slide that killed several people and buried a nearby town. Nonetheless they are resilient and proud. This is the first town where I felt that indigenous people were "some what"empowered. I think my close friends know that I can get emotional... and I obviously was going to find something to tip me off here: As I was listening to the mass the priest all of a sudden began speaking Tz'utujil and then the chorus began singing in Spanish overlapping at the same time. I don't know why put this got me teary.

People here continue to do things like washing clothes on rocks and using firewood more because it's a tradition than because it is more convenient.

Most women wear traditional clothing and most people here speak Tz'utujil

Moximon is a Mayan god that was transitioned into Catholicism as San Simon, but not really.

Nicolas, my guide up Volcan San Pedro. After I had made arrangements and given an advance on my 400Q fee, I found out its much easier, safe and cheap to climb the other side.

Sunday July 15, 2012
It's easy to lose track of what day of the week it is when you are not working. But It was good that I realized that today is Sunday. I been pretty exited about the places I been so far. Last night I stayed in this small town on the other side of Lake Atitlan called San Marcos La Laguna. The town only has about 3,000 people but there is a lot, and I mean a lot of hippies. Apparently they believe that the place has a spiritual energy... but I think they just come to get high. The restaurants are a disgrace, they all serve US food like hamburgers, pizza, pasta, etc. The only thing I had here that I enjoyed was Gallo Cerveza and this weird icy with lime and pepper. But the town is small and cute and there is an amazing view of the lake and all three volcanoes.
Today, I arrived in Chichicastenango or "Chichi" as the locals call it. In case you didnt get it, chichi is also the word for boob in Spanish. This town is really cool. I got off a bus ride a little dizzy as this is the highlands and things get curvy here. I saw this really nice hotel and decided to ask how much it was to which I got a "$75" response and then made her calculate into Quetzales as I stepped away. I then found a 40Q hotel which is about $5, which was a good thing because...
Since today is Sunday they have the market in the central plaza. I went there and walked around for hours and did get some cool stuff that I had been looking for. I also came across some really cool murals and Churches. The main church was closed the whole time, but there were people performing interesting rituals in front of it. It is said that people's religion here is more Mayan than Christian, as it is very strongly influenced by Mayan religious rituals. As I walked into a smaller church I almost got drunk from the smell of alcohol. lol People basically spill drinks on the doorway as an offering. Also flowers, petals, and occasionally the blood of a chicken. There is also incense burning the whole time. Note that pictures are not allowed to be taken inside the church.
I also ate this awesome lunch in one of the market stalls. It consisted of rice, black beans, salad and a pupusa made with black corn. Num Num! for about 10Q. I love the local food. It feeds my soul.
I also climbed this hill called Cerro Pascual Abaj which is of religious importance to the locals. When I got up there, I noticed that there was tons of garbage and also found a sac. I started collecting some of garbage and then as I was doing this the pigeons came down and ate some of the offerings in the altar :o) I think Abaj was saying thanks

Vista desde San Marcos La Laguna

On my way out of San Marcos La Laguna, I saw this dog sleeping

Iglesia de Santo Tomas, Chichicastenango

The Murals of the municipal palace in Chichicastenango show murals dedicated to the victims of the Civil War

Cerro de Pascual Abaj

Conversacion de regatear
Yo: Cuanto cuestan estas bolsas?
Vendedor: 60
Yo: Dejemela en 50?
Vendedor: 55
Yo: Tenngo 50
Vendedor: Esta bien

Monday, July 16, 2012 -Worlds Apart
Today I started my day before 7 am in order to traveled to a more remote part of northern Guatemala. On my way I made a quick stop in a city called Santa Cruz de Quiche. The city is located in the highlands and resisted spanish conquest for some time aided by the geography. Nearby there are some ruins that I wanted to visit. Quiche is only about an hour north of Chichi... but it is worlds apart. Quiche still has an indigenous presence but there are plenty much more Ladinos (meztisos). As I sat in the front steps of the cathedral waiting for my shuttle for the ruins, which I missed and ended up taking a tuk tuk, a kid came up and started grabbing my beard again. He then asked me for a quetzal to buy some sweets. I decided I am going to make them sing or something... I been giving out too many free quetzales.
I then traveled to Sacapulas, realized I had to travel to Uspatan in order to get a connection to my final destination which was Coban, and had to hump back in an extremely crowded mini van (25 people or so). I lost track of time at some point in between realizing how crazy the highlands roads are and having a huge sweaty man with a huge box over me and his child in front of me. It's a good thing I was tired because at some point I passed out and avoided some of the discomfort. By the time I got to my hotel it was about 4:30.
Tomorrow I will be traveling to a location called Semuc Champey which is supposed to be awesome. Anyways I hope it's worth the extremely long and uncomfortable ride here... some of it through unpaved roads. The mosquitoes are already eating me alive... I will take the repellent with the 15% DEET over the 5% thanks you.

Santa Cruz de Quiche

Ruinas de Q'umarkaj

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Samuc Champey was pretty cool.

Thursday, July 19, 2020 ~ Livingston
Livingston is a Garifuna town in the Caribbean coast of Guatemala. It is not connected by roads to the rest of Guatemala but it is an amazing little place. This morning I took a boat from Rio Dulce a town near Lake Izabal. The trip in itself is a majestic one. First, the boat takes you to see a colonial fort and then it moves on trough this beautiful river canyon surrounded by forest. I didn't take many pictures of some of the best places because I think it's something to experience and even the image wouldn't capture how beautiful it is and felt.
Today I went around town and as I already related to my friend Lucas in NJ this girl tried to pimp her cousin and stole 50Q from me with promises of a tour. The hotel owner warned me so all I tried to do after leaving the hotel was to get read of her. Anyways, you live and you learn... the lonely planet guide also mention something like this might happen. I went back into town and had a good time walking around and eating more ice cream than my belly can handle. I talked to my mom on gmail phone and as I got ready to go to my room, there was a blackout. LOL There is a gringo cursing the garifuna out of Livingston... more so when he found out there is no water. Of course I also found out this midway along brushing my teeth. The one positive thing is that the town is quiet... No more loud reggae music outside.

Castillo de San Felipe, Lago Izabal

I am not sure what these girls were doing;

but I took this pic when the boat slowed down to let us look at the water lilies

As I walked along the coast in Livingston I run into a family of dogs.

I love this pic, because the kids to the left were watching a Mexican soap opera,

while the ones in the back played soccer

Friday, July 20, 2010 ~ Immigration I don't like you
The good thing about things being way down is that they can only go up. Today was a pretty bad day. Probably the only really bad day since I started traveling this summer. At some point I decided that going to Belize to re-program my phone was a good idea. Well kinda; the reality is that I debated it over and over again. I basically have no service, but my droid does have stand alone GPS. This works out because I can connect to the internet, zoom in on a particular city or town and then use the GPS to direct myself. It so happens that the only Central American country that has Verizon roaming is Belize. So I took a day trip to Punta Gorda.
Punta Gorda is a Garifuna town about an hour from Livingston, Guatemala. Since it was raining, I decided to wait until later to take a boat to Puerto Barrios, then to Punta Gorda. I got my stamp from immigration which was about 80Q because is an exit by sea. My ticket was 200Q. On the way things got crazy. The boat was kinda fast and I was almost in the front so it was rough. Then it began raining. And just when you think things are over, a bucket of paint spilled and got all over my pants, shoes, jacket and bag. So we land and I am pretty upset that my $100 jacket got ruined and I let the captain know this. I ask that they give me a trip back to which they agree. I go through immigration and then to a restaurant and order a Coke. I gave them $20US and it took no short of 20 minutes for them to figure out where to get my change. She wouldn't take a dollar coin!
At 2pm my boat is about to set back so I go through immigration and give them my $15US for being in the country two hours and then continue to get my stamp and the officer gets upset that I was there for such a brief period of time. He goes "You are using us, you just want to go back and spend more time over there. Next time you don't do this." Over a couple of hours in Belize I pretty much got over it, people are rude and they are always looking for ways to rip you off. Needless to say I won't be going back there.
So I finally get back too Guatemala and go to immigration and they give me the same bs. They said that I am supposed to stay out of the country for at last 72 hours or some bs. The officer tells me that there is a $100US for doing this. I am pretty much about to crying. He says he will give me a 200Q fine. I then just tell him that I am having bad luck and I tell him that I told the officer when I left that I was only going there for the day. He then threatens to call the officer from the morning, to which I say "O.K.". Anyways, he lets me go off with a warning. Which I think is bs, they probably just want to make money or go on power trips. I feel that they are probably underpaid and need to do things like this, which is pretty lame.
Anyways, the good thing about today was that as I waited for the bus, this women with a basket on her head, all apple green clothes, and a shopping basket on her hand came into the bus station. She was selling this amazing pastries. I got the best banana bread I had in my life. I also tried some coconut bread in Livingston, which is pretty good.
I am now in a town called Los Amates. Apparently this area has first class buses so I had a pretty comfortable ride here. It's raining and my tin roof is leaking, but I think I am just glad the day is over.

No pictures for this day ;ob

Saturday, July 7, 2010 ~ "Para poder apreciar los momentos felizes de la vida, tines que haber pasado por momentos dificiles"
I crashed last night and was able to sleep through the weird noises around me. This morning I went to an archaeological park called Quirigua. I am soooo glad I made the stop here. The land around the ruins was owned by the United Fruit Company so on the way there you pass 3k of banana trees which is kinda gross and cool at the same time. The ruins were pretty amazing. And since I was the first visitor I had the place all to myself for about an hour! I also walked through a lot of puddles that were not visible through the grass and there was tons of mosquitoes. I also saw some avocado trees. Most of the site apparently is still not excavated, but the stelae are I think the best part.
I am spending the night in a town called Chiquimulas. For just 5Q more I got to have my neat little room with bathroom and wifi. I seriously don't get how the hotels work here. You can go to the craziest place and get over charged for a hut and then go somewhere else and get nice reception, cheap cheap prices and cozy rooms.
I also went on what I thought was a a couple of hours trip to Esquipulas. The town has an important shrine to the "Black Christ." Basically a miraculous statue of Christ crucified made of balck wood. There were a lot of pilgrims as it was the weekend. I decided to get in line to get near the image... this ended up taking a bit over an hour. By the time I was done it was late and no buses were running back to Chiquimulas. I went to a bunch of hotels downtown but all were full. Then as a was walking to another one, I found a taxi and told him to take me to a further out of town hotel. On the way there the taxi driver mentioned that it would be 300Q to take me to Chiquimulas. I was was like great! take me there instead. I already have a hotel there. I definitely went over budhget.
I am glad I went to Esquipulas. It was a very nice experience and as I got near the crucifix, this women in the church started singing one of my favorite hymns. "Bendito, bendito, bendito sea Dios. Los angeles cantal y alaban a Dios." The mass was also interesting. There was a wedding and a couple Quinceaneras. The priest lambasted cheaters and stingy people. lol it was awesome.