fresh air at last!

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Hello Friends,

Our time in Quetzaltenango was lovely, though now that we´re in the clean, smog-free air of Lago Atitlan, I feel as though I can really take some deep breaths. Much of this trip has found me breathing with my shirt pulled over my nose. It´s vacations like these that remind me how lucky we are to have clean air, water, streets, etc.

Yesterday we took a lovely morning tour of the villages surround Quetzaltenango. One stop was at the Fuentes Georginas, these amazing thermal baths surrounded by lush, tropical vegetation. Happily they weren´t too hot for me and the little one, so we swam in the shallow pools and breathed in the fragrant, pure air of the countryside.

Afterwards we visited 3 different villages, the largest of which was Zunil. We visited the current home of San Simon, this scary effigy of a Mayan hero whom the villagers worship as a saint. When we entered this makeshift shrine the first thing we noticed were two men dressed in black from head to toe who were doing tarot card readings for distressed looking couples. Behind hundreds of candles burning on the floor was this chair straight out of Sweeny Todd. Seated on the chair was San Simon, this frightening mannequin draped in clothing much finer than any of the people wear. Women were crying over him and pouring alcohol into his mouth (which he peed into a jar under the chair). If we wanted to take photos, we had to pay. Just to enter the shrine, we had to pay (part of our tour, thankfully). Want to light a candle? Pay. Do you get what´s going on here? Our tour guide seemed a bit disgusted by the whole display. However, once a year San Simon goes to a different family´s house, thereby insuring that they all share the wealth. It was disconcerting, and we were glad to leave.

Our next stop was in a much smaller village where the most enormous vegetables I´ve ever seen are grown. Carrots were the size of my forearm, radishes were the size of baseballs, and the cauliflower was twice 2 times as big as the stuff we grow. This is an amazingly fertile valley, to be sure. As usual, there were women on the streets selling the most tantalizing foods, so Nicole and I decided to share the one that was most compelling. Using banana leaves for a plate, we were given rice, beans, and chili rellenos that were filled with cheese and diced vegetables. It was the second most delicious thing we´ve eaten on this journey and was gone within minutes! 😉

This morning´s journey to Lago Atitlan was mostly quiet and uneventful, though it took us 4 separate vehicles to get here. Finding the bus stop in the Terminal Minerva in Quetaltenango was a bit of a challenge. We had to climb over piles of garbage, though muddy ravines, and walk through the maze of a dark, wet, smelly market to find our bus. There are basically no signs in this country...just people who will gladly give you directions.

After finding our hotel (yipes, twice as much as we paid last night), we walked to a hollistic, healthy deli and had yummy veggie sandwiches on homemade wheat bread, accompanied by tamarind and watermelon juice. This place is a shopper´s paradise, and that´s just what we´ve been doing. We are currently in the internet cafe because there is a torrential downpour complete with thunder so loud and close that it has you wishing you´d had those silver fillings removed. We will also be arranging to take a tour around the lake tomorrow to visit the communities of San Marcos, San Pedro, and Santiago Atitlan.

I can´t tell you how happy I am to be outside of the big city. The pace of life here is slow, the air is sweet, and you don´t have to fear for your life each time you step into the street. Life is good. 😊

Love,
Mo

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