Guatemala - 2010

Day 8 - July 27 - Guatemala City

The camionetta. Notice how decked out it is. Hugo says that if it isn't elaborate no one will ride because they don't think the owner takes care of it.

The conductor. He pushes thru the crowd, which at times can even include people holding on the door while still outside. Once he gets to the back of the bus, he pushes open the door and climbs around the outside to get back to the front (no, really!).

As for Maria and I, we had to sit as the third person in our respective seats which means it is so crowded you almost can fall. The bus is so fast that on the corners it is like an amusement park ride.

The cine at the mall. I seemed to be the only one not surprised that there was no movie at 10 am on a Tuesday, but, then again, they don't go to movies very often.

Since the movie was a bust, we asked a security guard about other ideas and decided on the Palace Museum at the central square. The bus is out of the question, of course, but the green taxis at the front of the mall are OK.

Our driver for the day. He was very nice and helpful. He even told us about things we saw along the way. The cost to the center of town was Q40 ($6.25US).

An "Antigua-like" arch along the way.

The cathedral along the square. It seems that every central park has a fountain in the center, the municipal building at one end, the cathedral at another, and a market (mercado) at another.

 

The grand fountain in the square. It isn't as big as it seems. (Short joke.)

A kind person in front of the museum kindly informing us that we can't go in. "Mal suerte, Steve," said Maria (bad luck), since this was strike two. He said we should go to the oldest church in Guatemala City (five or six blocks away) and then return at 10.

I don't have pictures of the oldest church because they didn't allow photos. I will say it was beautiful and that the altar was being rebuilt due to deterioration. Instead, they had a life size photo of the altar in its place. It was very lifelike.

What is the guard drinking?

Fresh goats milk. Really.

While we were waiting for the museum, we heard a bull whip and saw this man moving sheep thru the park and then cross to the front of the museuam. It was obvious that each of the goats was engorged. I was shocked and waited for the guards to usher him away. Instead, they talked with him, he leaned over, milked one of his goats, and handed the glass to the guard. The whip is just the signal that he is coming. The goats follow him anyway.

Maria said it is very good and that her father likes it a lot. I'm usually a very gutsy person, when it comes to cultural things, but a common drinking cup was too much. I might have tried the milk, maybe.

Inside the cathedral at the square.

After waiting almost 30 minutes at the museum we were told that we couldn't go in until 11. But Maria has to be back in Antigua by 1 p.m. at the Hotel and just the bus ride is 1 hour. So this was the last straw: the museum is out. So we went to the cathedral.

And the mercado (market). The top floor is all the touristy stuff (not my thing any more). I did take time to show Maria how to play chess, in Spanish, of course.

When we needed the bano (bathroom) we were shown to the bottom floor which is the real market, for the people. The smell was amazing: fruits, vegetables, prepared meats, candies, flower, cookies, wow! And #3 for us: we only have 5 minutes before we are expecting the taxis to come back (he gave us his card).

 

This is interesting. I didn't get a good picture, but you pay Q1 for the bathroom. The ladies receive a package of toilet paper with their money (see the piles at the edge of the picture).

Click for closer look.

Back in the square we heard loud music and people and found a demonstration. Click on the picture to see what all the color is.

Here are a few clowns in a clown car. Notice that two of them are riding in the open trunk.

And, once again, mal suerte (bad luck). The taxi took too much time returning due to traffic, so we had to take the taxi all the way back to Antigua. So, instead of Q8 ($1US), it was about $30, but definitely much more comfortable than the bus.

After lunch and telling Elsa and Hugo about our string of bad luck in Guate, Hugo took me down to the road in his car (buen suerte [good luck that he has and is willing to take me around in his car]).

Here are coffee plants on the side of the road. The trees are ther for shade. Coffee needs overgrowth and can survive in direct sun. Did you know that although central and south America are some of the biggest coffee producers, coffee originated in Ethiopia?

 

A view of the side of Volcan de Agua, which maiz (corn) in the foreground. The side of a volcano is called its falda, or skit. When a volcano erupts, the volcanic ash or sand isn't good for growing. But only for 1 year. The second year, it is very fertile.

Our destination is the Mayan town at the end of the road up the Volcano de Agua: Santa Maria. It is indigenous.

Unfortunately, indigenous villages tend not to care about trash. There are illegal trash dumps every so often along the road. And at every one of the are feral dogs scrounging for food. I've noticed that all of the feral dogs show a couple of big difference with the dogs in the US: 1) they are mutts. Only pets look like distinct breeds. 2) They all of their ears are "broken", my word for droopy, because they are scared and hungry, not proud and happy like our over feed dogs.

In the picture, there is more trash than usual because the previous day was a mercado.

Students playing a type of street soccer. Hugo says it is without an arbitro (referee), but there are goal keepers, though I didn't really see one.

Even here, people know Hugo. It was the same along the road. The police know him....

Next we went back down the mountain a bit to the town of San Juan Del Obispo. Obispo means "bishop". This is where the bishop's church was. Now it is a convent and a museum. You just ring the door bell and they let you in. You are expected to give a donation to the convent and the monjas (nuns). I kept thinking it was monks, which is actually monjes (masculine).

Next

This place is perhaps the most well kept place I've ever seen in Guatemala, but then it has been recently restored.

The courtyard.

The residence of the bishop.

A close up of the bishop's ornately carved desk.

This is who answered the door for us and was our "watcher". She opened doors and turned on and off lights along the way. In the mean time she giggled and played with her folded paper toy.

Here, outside the bishop's room (the dining room) we heard a voice echoing from somewhere: inside the fire place.

The chapel.

One of the monja's (nuns). Here she is selling us local chocolate. The chocolate is in hard circles (called wheels) about a 1/4 inch thick. I bought 3 sets for Q16 each ($2US): one for Elsa's family; one for Maria's family; one for me. The chocalate is traditional here: dark chocolate for drinking. You break up the wheel into little pieces or use a coffee grinder. Then you melt it into hot water and serve. One wheel makes 3 glasses of hot chocolate.

Elsa served it with dinner the next night. Her husband ate it straight from the wheel.

Back to Antigua and more and more heavy rain.

We ended up in the hallway upstairs doing verb conjugations.

By the time 6 p.m. rolled around my brain was very tired.

8 hours a day is a lot.