Xela - studying; a rum drinking, cigar smoking Saint; and an earth tremor

---

From Flores I took an overnight bus for 10 hours to Guatemala City and then onto Xela (or Quetzaltengo to give it its full name).

I have been in Xela for 2 weeks now. Xela is in the west of Guatemala, surrounded by mountains and is at an altitude of 2,300 metres. Xela is the second largest city in Guatemala (after Guatemala city) with around 150,000 residents and isn´t particularly a tourist destination which means it is a good place to learn Spanish, because not many of the locals speak English.

I spent the first 3 days in a hostel, whilst looking for a language school that I liked (there are at least 20 here). I´ve now been in a school for a week and a half and I am staying with a local family, near to the school which gives me an opportunity (to try!) to speak Spanish. I have one on one tuition for 5 hours each day, starting at 8am (ouch!) and I get homework to do too! My Spanish is coming along slowly and I will do 4-5 weeks as a minimum in the school and then make a decision after that as to what I want to do/where I want to go next.

There are about 12 other people studying at the school and there is quite a social environment - we have been out in the evening a few times together but as the only non-American I have been vastly outnumbered! There are some Germans and Brits starting next week however. Xela has a cafe and bar culture, but it is more for the gringos here and wealthier Guatemalans, it´s not that expensive for me - 3 pounds for half a litre of wine for example in one bar and about 4 pounds for a curry (yes, there´s even an Indian restaurant here!) but a fair bit for a local.

The school organises regular activities and last week I visited a lake (Laguna Chicabel) which is in the crater of a volcano and on the walk there there were good views of Santiaguito, which is an active volcano a few miles south of the city. We are on a plate here and there are earthquakes and volcanic eruptions now and again, they are rare but earth tremors are not - there was an earthquake in Mexico last week and we got a large tremor here which shook the house for about 10 seconds.

Last week I visited a local town called Zunil which has a picturesque church and a rather surreal effigy of a saint. Saint Simon is his name and he is alcohol drinking a smoking combination of Mayan and Catholic religions. The effigy is essentially a mannequin dressed in a hat, sunglasses and a coat which is bizarrely the Stars and Stripes) check out the photo! People visit him to pray, taking offerings of rum and cigarettes, and for the exchange of some money they are actually able to pour rum into his mouth!

---

Photos

Santiaguitio
An active volcano close to Xela

Saint Simon
A rum drinking, cigar smoking Saint!

Saint Simon
A rum drinking, cigar smoking Saint!

Saint Simon
A rum drinking, cigar smoking Saint!

Photo 19
The oldest church in Central America - 1524

Comments

[Sandy]

Hola...
Hi, I'm planning to go to Guatemala, but thinking where should I go to study spanish...considering Antigua or Xela. What do you think is different with the 2 cities? oh and salsa classes too. Thanks.

[Victor78]

I certainly like Xela, it´s not over-run with tourists speaking English but there is enough of a social scene to go out and meet fellow travellers in the evening. Equally it´s just as easy to go to a bar or cafe full of locals. I haven´t been to Antigua so I couldn´t make a comparison!