Advertisement
Published: April 9th 2013
Jaibalito
Green, blue and beautifulWe came to Xela (officially Quetzaltenango - pronounced Ket-zal-ten-an-go) primarily to have Spanish lessons and do some volunteer work. It's a small town (a city) in the Highlands of Guatemala (2300m elevation) and is reknowned for it's language schools and temperate climate. So this was to be our home for 5 weeks and the school started at 8am. It was wierd being back at school, meeting new people, having a routine and generally trying to avoid detention. I really enjoyed the classes and found that from the first week that I was able to have conversations with the locals. I'd acquired a rather large lexicon over the previous 6 months, but actually being able to form a coherent stream of words was not so easy and by the end I was able to have full conversations on most topics so it was worthwhile, if a bit painful having to do homework again! My project was to help Xelacrosse get going and Eleanor was helping in the school's medical clinic, althoug this didn't happen for a few weeks! Xelacrosse was awesome; Carlos had set up sessions in three schools (one with girls which was interesting to coach) and in return for playing
Lakes and Volcanoes
Would you tire of this view? lacrosse the kids would get help to pass the subjects they were failing in the schools. I liked the idea of this system, and it gave the kids a reason to stick at school as opposed to joining the local gangs or what not. Carlos is extremely dedicated and gets support from Maya Lacrosse (a USA based charity), but I was his first gringo assistant! I loved it, the kids were pretty rowdy in the first week, they laughed at my poor Spanish and I'm sure they were taking the piss a bit because I couldn't understand them. Even with my better Spanish at the end, they still spoke too fast and used too much slang for me to get my head around, but they were better lacrosse players and had the basics fully developed and could play a game that resembled field lacrosse! Carlos and I had a shared love of Michelada and consolidated that with a few drinking sessions. It was wonderful to have such an opportunity and it would be amazing if the lacrosse charity here could develop a league, but the economic problems the county faces will need to be rectified before that becomes feasible. I
If Heaven...
existed, this would be the gateway... consider myself lucky to have been had this experience and would recommend anyone with an interest in lacrosse to look in to doing it themselves.
While in Xela Ellie and I visited quite a few places in the locality. Ellie scaled the nearby Volcano (I watched the rugby instead), and we both headed to Laguna Chicabal. The Laguna is a crater lake and affords wonderful views of the two volcanoes outside of Xela but it's also a sacred place for Mayan religion. The Lonely Planet tells scare stories about this place during the religious festivals in the first week of May; I've been assured that this is complete nonsense by the locals, and the Mayan people are most friendly, but like anyone else, would probably be upset if you were disrespectful towards them which is likely the cause of any hostility. The walk to the laguna is fairly laborious because of the altitude, but it's serene and beautiful once you get there (it's a steep trek down to the waterside too). We just enjoyed the views the tranquility and a makeshift picknic breakfast by the water's edge.
Now, the Spanish conquest may have imposed
Coffee...Lava
Coffee growing ... Catholicism upon the population of Guatemala (although Eveangelism is proving to be very popular and successful now) but belief systems are difficut to change or shift and thus the Mayan's have their cult of San Simon. This may seem like a Catholic belied structure, but unless Saints have started enjoying themselves and abusing alcohol then Simon probably isn't part of the Sainthood. I can't quite recall the origens of the mythology but essentially the Mayan's will make sacrifices and prays to San Simon and offer him, tobacco and alcohol. You can also ask him to carry out retribution to those that have wronged you (light a black candle an your prays will be answered). Basically San Simon is a rock star, assassin, cult figure. I liked him, if I was forced to choose a religon I'd probably go with this guy! We weren't here fo his saint day, sadl, so missed the parades in Zunil and San Andreas. As an aside, in San Andreas the locals put San Simon to bed every night...just wierd.
After spending a few weeks in Xela we were told about Xocomil, a water park about an hour away by chicken bus. I know what
Ellie & Volcanoes
Clouds and Young Earth Theorists tremble ... you're all thinking; it's Central America the water park will be rubbish. Well, you are all wrong! It was great fun and innovative. The slides here pushed the boundaries of what you could do with pressurised water and plastic tubes. One of the slides involved standing on a platform, being locked into a capsule and, after a brief countdown, the platform collapsed to drop you into a near verticle schute. The speed you generate on the fall forces you up a loop and down the other side! A loop-the-loop water slide! Amazing! There was also a half-pipe slide too, insane. An amazing and unexpected find in Guatemala!
A couple of hours from Xela (on a cramped Chicken bus or a cramped and expensive tourist shuttle) is Lago Atitlan. It's a "must see" for travellers apparently. I say apparently, but now I'm going to validate it as a place of unique natural beauty. The lake is apparenty a huge crater lake, which suggests that the volcanic eruption that created it was gargantuan; possibly a Supervolcano. Now there are many volcanoes encircling the lake and it's striking and dramatic as they plunge directly into the water. There's no drainage
river from the lake so it's gradually filling up; meaning that lakeside properties eventually become underwater homes, possibly becoming a future Atlantis (although technically it wouldn't be Atlantis because it's not in the Atlantic Ocean...suggested names posted below people). The shore is thronged with many submerged buildings, yet people continue to build new lakeside properties which is both ludicrous and dumb. It does, however, increase the interest factor along the shore, that's for sure.
The hippies are rather annoying and, sadly in San Pedro, ubiquitous. If you are lucky enough to avoid them trying to hawk you a crappy necklace then it's impossible to escape them spouting their nonsense, holisitic-medicine-reiki-chakra bollocks. If you don't here it on the lanchas, it'll be in the hostel or the bar you choose to visit or you'll see it on posters, advertising and the sides of buildings. I'd heard there was a pechant for yoga and retreats here at the lake but didn't expect the full quota of nonsense that we encountered. In San Pedro, three days on the bounce, I had the exact same conversation with a stoner. It was like Groundhog Day. He'd ask me if I had a
Atitilan
San Pedro's Vista room, I'd answer in the affirmative, he'd shrug his shoulders then offer to sell me the "best weed in Guatemala" and then I'd politely decline and laugh.
Luckily you can escape the hippy hell by climbing one of the volcanoes, or doing any activity that involves exercise. We loved the climb up Volcan San Pedro. It's a national park and so the dangers associated with other volcano climbs is somewhat negated (you'll be unlikely to be mugged or thought to be a drug trafficker). The day before we climbed there was a huge thunderstorm over Atitlan. This meant that the ground was damp and the trees glistened in the early morning sunshine. The olfactory sensations of climbing in the early morning, as the sun gradually exherts it's influence on the vegetation and the earth are wonderful. It helps that there are swathes of coffee plants in amongst the undergrowth to give a chocolatey, caffiene tinge to the air. The mist ascended and the lake sparkled in time with the dew on the trees. We tramped our way to the summit, up above the clouds that had fallen into the lake and created a second thunderstorm, and we
Church of San Andreas
All Churches should be this much fun... soaked up the sun and listened as thunder cackled. We could see the peaks, only the very tips, of the other volcanoes, but the lake and the villages were obscured by the vociferous storm, although it didn't appear to rage from where we were sitting. The clouds looked as they should on a summer's day, white, fluffy and peaceful! We were a bit gutted not to see the view of the lake, but what we did encounter was equal to that vista, or so I believe. And Eleanor got to see the view from her paragliding exhibition (I watched Wales thrash England in an internet cafe, and got a bit drunk...before midday too) which she described as being "amazing, one of the best things I've ever done...you missed out." Did I miss out? Possibly, but Wales did win so that helped placate me!
Our stay in the Highlands was worthwhile. We learnt a new language (alhougth we're not fluent), we met some wonderful people, ate some tremendous food, visited some unique places and enjoyed every minute of it. However, all things must end and so we found ourselves uprooting for a final few weeks of aventure, ruins, drinking and
Carlos & San Simon
My teacher and the Saint sun, through Guatemala, Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.079s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 41; dbt: 0.0534s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
maria mcadams
non-member comment
yeahhhh there you are again! ჱܓ
Lovely reading and traveling with y'all again... It makes me want to go back to Guatemala, I hardly remember the few days I spent there decades ago. This has been an amazing journey for the two of you, just imagine the memories you're creating. I appreciate you're taking time to share the adventures with us. You also seem to be leaving the best for last, joining a classroom again, learning a new language, doing volunteer work and getting a view of Heaven's gate. Please make sure I can have links to all these places you have been for future referral! Hugs, maria