Guate 4.04

Thursday, April 22, 2004

Market

Went to the allegedly world famous market at Chichicastenango, which definitely was pretty cool. Its really unbelievable to me seeing people actually walking around with baskets of chickens on their heads, and its all I can wonder that the Guatemalan tourism board is paying them to do it for my benefit. The town itself was also beautiful and with a really interesting church which is still at least as Mayan as it is Catholic. I also got to take chicken buses there, my dream come true, although had my Spanish been better I would have demanded my money back as no one had any chickens on board. The countryside was beautiful, though the towns were certainly impovershed looking, and you would think driving around and looking at the stores that the non tourist economy of Central America was based entirely on tire repairs, shoe sales and key making.

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Dolor de Espalda (yeah, I totally took this artsy picture)

Oh my ....... god my back is killing me. Must be a combination of all the walking, the lumpy bed and today the boat ride over to San Pedro through the unrelenting waves of the ´´Xula´´ I actually really thought that the tiny little launch would crack in half, but thankfully it didn´t. San Pedro was nice, much more of a village than panajachel- dirt roads, coffee growing everywhere, but at the same time at least as many if not more filthy backpackers, though these ones were mostly swedish rather than American or Canadian. It was worth seeing all the same, even in the rain, though I think I´d have been happy to spend the week either there or here. That was about it for today, although I did also see some chewing gum called "bum" for sale, which I cannot believe I didn´t buy. Maybe later today I can pick some up for everyone.


Tuesday, April 20, 2004


The Twentieth of April

I didn't even realize it was 420 until I looked at my watch and saw it was both 420 and 420.

Good class this morning, though I woke very early, which is fine. I'd rather have more day than night as there really isn't much for me to do at night.

Had a great lunch of some kind of watercress soup my family mother made me, along with a bunch of avocados which are everywhere. After lunch I set out for the Reserva Natural, which today I was able to find' it was even better than I expected, plus I was the only person there. I watched the spider monkeys for a while, as they ate coffee beans and got even more hyper, and saw other racoons and sloth kind of things, plus some amazing birds which I've never in the past given a shit about. There was an adjacent Mariposaria, (butterfly tent thing) but I saw a lot more butterflies in the main part than in the net.

Back in town now, catching up on emails.

Monday, April 19, 2004

Monday - Panajachel

So immediately after leaving the internet cafe last night attempted to get back to my house which I was entirely unable to find as everything looks totally diofferent at night and when the houses and gardens are are locked up - or so I like to tell myself. After wandering around Calle Navidad for an hour I finally made called the school who showed me the way back, though I was obviously extremely embarrassed.

House is a little weird- or at least to an entitled rich American like myself' lumpy bed, no furniture, toilet flushes with a bucket, the terrifying "ducha electrica" which also has no water pressure, etc etc. I feel like such an asshole about the conditions, but figure I'll stick it out till Wednesday then get a hotel as I really would like a proper shower. (By the way, did I ever tell you the story about the time my electric shower caught on fire. Yeah, literally smoke and flames coming out of the shower...)

Good breakfast at the house this morning after the family's pet parokeets woke me nice and early from my fighting dog disturbed slumber. School was good, was amazed at both how much I'd forgotten and how much I was then able to remember and the five hours went by very fast. Might even do six tomorrow. Took a nice walk down to the shore, checked out boat prices and returned to wander around the main drag after getting lost trying to find the reserve. Tomorrow I'll try to find that.

Well, for now off to get some coffee and study.

Sunday, April 18, 2004

Domingo

Okay, now sitting in a pleasant interweb cafe in Panajachel, which seems more gringo-tastic than antigua somehow, perhaps because it has the worse hippie-type idiots rather than the spanish students and middle aged couples that antigua has. Plus, lots of panqueques de banan which seems to be the breakfast of choice for dipshit hippie backpack travelers worldwide. The lake and the volcanos, however, are really beautiful, if the architecture and feel of th town leaves a bit to be desired.

Nice evening last night, though mediocre meal at Frida's. Returned to hotel to experience blackout which then woke me later in the night when power returned. It would have been interesting to be outside for that and see the stars.

This morning lovely breakfast at Cafe Condesa, though I apparently was too early for their famous Sunday Brunch. Oh well, it was nice anyway and I got some great (non-banana) pancakes.

Following breakfast had a massage at local health spa in adjacent Jocotenango, which made for an interesting time as I was the only non middle aged Guatemalan there. Very strange experience. Walking back encountered some sort of religious parade with singing and mourners and most surreally, old men jumping out of a pickup truck in front with trash bags full of firecracker string which they would then light to deafening effect for a minute or so, which then simultaneously and following had all the car alarms ringing and a woman singing from a car with a giant megaphone roped to the roof.

Saturday, April 17, 2004

My boring travel stories to be read and mocked by anyone who doesn´t give a ....

So I´m in Antigua Guatemala, which is pretty fantastically gorgeous and movie-like. Got in late last night, forgetting that there is no observance of Daylight Savings by these countries by the equator. Flying sucked, of course, but the taxi ride was quite an adventure- forty five minutes in a taxi from the airport in a taxi with one flat tire THE WHOLE TIME. I also couldn´t figure out why he kept revving the rpm´s and staying in a low gear on the perilous downhill road until it occurred to me he was probably slowing the car this way as the brakes didn´t particularly work.

Today was a little calmer, woke up ridiculously early- well before the banks were open. Banks were rather a pain anyway to get past the shotgun toting security with my pobre spanish and attempt to change my traveler´s checks which took quite a number of people and lines. But I succeeded. After a so-so breakfast I checked out the mercado central, got lost a few times and saw a whole bunch of interesting shit. For one thing, the Mayan women really do dress in all that cloth that the hippies from westco later co-opted, though the trustafarian types don´t carry all their books on their heads. I was amazed that people actually just walked around carrying enormous laundry basket sized baskets full of whatever on their heads. Impressive. For sale was anything you could want, from freshly slaughtered armadillo to live turkeys, chickens and bunnies, to exotic fruits and vegetables and lots and lots of dried beans, corn and rice. And dried chilis. Lots of those. Crazy bootleg DVD´s, (I´m still not sure I made the right decision passing up Escuela de Rock), bootleg clothing, handmade handicrafts, and even a stall where a mayan witch sorceress was selling magical soap that crought you customers, lovers etc, as well as a slew of magical potions and curses that were hand packaged. I wish I´d bought some of the soap. In the middle of it all, at one of my lost moments I witnessed a man having a full blown seizure on the ground with throngs of people pushing past with their market items.

Saw the parque central, a cool old church ruined multiple times in various earthquakes and saw catcombs, was browbeaten into buying a very reasonable and beautiful woven thing from a mayan girl who must have followed me for at least forty five minutes around the city lowering her prices as I went in and out of stores, but I think my mother will like it. Back to hotel la merced for a