Chichicastenango - or just Chichi for those in the know

Sunday.
Today was a monster day. I went to Chichi on a chicken bus and it is definitely an experience. I am still trying to work out if I liked it. There are enough seats on a chicken bus for 48 people and ours going out of Guatemala had 79 on it. Coming back there were 83. Instead of 2 to a seat there are at least 3, sometimes 4, plus those standing. They go VERY fast and when they go round the sharp curves (and all of them are sharp) you have to try and hang on to something. The bus ride takes a good hour from Xela and then you change onto a microbus. I would have liked to take a photo but I literally could not get the camera out of my pocket because of the crush. A microbus is one of those 15 seat things you can hire without a special license except that you can fit 26 into these with a little perseverance. This ride takes another hour. I think my arms are going to hurt for days from the constant effort of hanging on in the bends.
The market itself was huge crammed in the streets not in an open square. Also went for a bit of a wander around town and checked it out. It is like all CA and SA towns; old, cramped, dirty and full of life. At one time during walking through the tight walkways in the market an attempt to rob me was made but I recognised the tactic from the Lonely Planet book. There were two women in front of me and two behind at a junction in the walkway. They had about 4 kids with them. They blocked my path and started to squeeze in on me and as I tried to move sideways they moved too. Then I felt my backpack being jostled. So I forcibly pushed forward very strongly saying 'Lo siento' all the time and when I had pushed my way through I checked the backpack and they had managed to unzip it about 6". There was nothing in the backpack of value anyway. And that was the only issue I had all day. The buses there and back cost Q50, morning tea and lunch cost Q100, and I bought a nice purse for Blanca (my house mum) which cost Q45 (she was very surprised at that). Total cost for the day was Q195 - about $25. Not bad for a day out. Caught up with some of the school people when I got back at a big religious parade so we went out for a couple of beers after dinner. It is now about 11 pm and I am worn out and need to sleep.



A view of one of the fruit/veggie selling areas.



Chicks for sale.



Family day out in the back of a ute.



These are the crypts at the Chichi cemetery. So much colour.



This is the shop next to the cemetery. The sign says 'The last goodbye shop'.



Big procession in town. Note the lights on the float.



Those lights have to get their power from somewhere!

Location:Chichi

El Calvario la segunda vez

Hola mis amigos,
Well, I am really starting to feel comfortable here now. The language and culture are getting easier every day and I am communicating with less effort all the time. Starting Monday I hope to commence some volunteer work, which really is the main reason I am here. I am now living on Guatemala time (jet lag is gone) and I am comfortable communicating with the people. But to let you know what has been going on recently, read on...

On Friday I went to El Calvario again (this is the same place where I got covered in flour) but this is 'la Cuaresma', in English it is the first day of Lent so things are more serious. The church at the feria (fair) was full of people and there was queue for about 200 metres waiting to get in. I took a few photos here because it was a big day for the locals. The market went on forever and it was chockablock.

Today, Saturday, I went exploring further afield and spent nearly the whole day out. Ended up walking about 40 kilometres I reckon, truly. This city is big and I saw nearly none of it. The morning started out with a walk (or dare I say hike) up to a church on a hill that overlooks the city. Fantastic view but the gradient is insane. After that is was off to find the bus depot where I will need to go tomorrow to get to Chichicastenango. That was about 5 or so kilometres from where I am staying and I had just hiked about the same distance in the opposite direction. So, walked to the station OK and then walked further to a shopping centre where I bought a power board, some powered speakers for my iPad and some coat hangers. The whole lot cost about Q135 or $15. After grabbing something to eat I walked back, went into town and bought a mobile phone to use while I am here (in case of emergencies more than anything). The phone with the equivalent of $30 worth of calls cost Q160 or $20. Money can go a long way here.

Tomorrow I am going to take an adventurous trip to Chichicastenango for their HUGE Sunday market. I need to take a chicken bus from here to Los Encuentros and then swap buses. I am told it can be very 'interesting'. I will let you know. If you really want to know about chicken buses, just google them. ¡Podría ser de miedo!



A woman leaving the church. At least half of the women here dress like this. Kids included.




Street food at the market.



Taco shop in the market. Yes, that is a whole pig.




Lollie shop in the market.



World's smallest dried fish. They look like gravel.



More dried fish but a better size.



And if you like chilli!



Or need fabric for clothes. All this is hand woven on a blackstrap loom.




But this is the clincher. This is a kids ride. It had a car alarm attached to the side and while it was in motion it continuously made a bloody loud noise. However, that is the sane part. It is run by an electric motor that gets it's power from the metal rails on which it runs and the rails run at mains voltage -120 volts. Yes folks, those metal tracks are 'live'!

So, that's it for today. I am kicking back, it is about 10:30pm and I am having a couple of locally made beers. The brand is Gallo, which means rooster, or, if you prefer, cock. Which is a bit of a surprise really because the cans hold 472 mls each and are 5%. I don't think the old cock will be up to much after a couple of these 👎.

Well, for today, that's all folks. Oh, except for one more thing, we sold our house at last. Woohoo!

Location:Xela

Jueves

¡Hola mis amigos!
Another day is now gone. It has just gone 10:00 pm and really cold. The days here are magnificent, today was easily 27 degrees and not a cloud in the sky all day. You have to slop on the sunscreen or burn to a crisp. However, the nights are freezing. Last night it was -4 Fahrenheit, not sure what that is in Celsius but it would have to be about -10 ish. There was ice everywhere.

Had to get some laundry done because I was starting to run out of clean clothes. There is a laundry about 100 metres from here so it is very handy. They washed, dried and folded all the dirty clothes I had since I left OZ so you can imagine there was quite a bit. And the whole lot cost me 20 quetzales (a bit less than $3.00). ¡Qué bueno!

I was supposed to go to a film with the school today but missed it because I jumped on a bus for a tour around the city. There were only 3 passengers, me and an older couple from Quebec. They only spoke French and Spanish so the whole lot was in Spanish as it was the common language. The city is on a plateau below a big circle of mountains and a couple of volcanoes, one of which spits every hour. In a week or so I hope to go an an overnight hike up the inert one and take some shots of the activity. Below are some pics of the tour today including one of the bus itself.

Cathie, if you are reading these blogs, I am sorry I have no serious culture shock pics yet. Things are definitely 2nd world here but the city is not that shocking. Just wait, there will be some soon enough.

Location:Xela

Miércoles de ceniza

Had a good night's sleep last night for the first time. Slept right through-ish so I think I might finally be on Guatemalan time. There is some noise now and then as people come and go in the middle of the night from/to work but it doesn't last long.

While lying in bed last night I though I might buy a cheap guitar because not only do I miss my daily twang but Frederico (man of the house) said he was keen to learn. I mentioned this to Jorge (my Spanish teacher) so we went wandering around the music shops checking them out. They were nearly all crap but if I can find one for not more than $80 ish dollars I will buy it and leave it with Frederico as a parting gift along with a few basic chord lessons.

So... the walk around town was great. Jorge and I conversed all the time and he made me do the talking in the shops only helping out when things needed more detail with words I don't know. I think I am starting to get attuned to the accent more and more because I don't seem to be thinking 'qué' all the time. Even if I don't understand what the words mean I understand the word that was said. As Blanca (lady of the house) says - 'poco a poco'.

Today is Ash Wednesday (miércoles de ceniza) and people everywhere are sporting a cross their forehead drawn using ash.

(later in the day)

It is about 9:30 pm and I am in my room. Went on walking tour of the city centre today. There were only four of us doing it - two gringos and two guides. We saw the library, town hall, central park, municipal theatre, central church and got a running commentary while walking through the streets. It was great having basically one-on-one guides. The whole thing was in spanish (por supuesto) and I had no trouble understanding pretty well everything. I am sure they were speaking slowly using simple words but it was great. I took a few photos but not many.






I ended up buying a guitar for about $50. The best part is that I did it myself after the tour. AND, it was the same guitar I saw at a different shop earlier in the day where the salesman wrote the price on a piece of paper and gave me his card. The guitar I bought was initially dearer so I showed him the card and price and said I would go back there if he couldn't match it - so he did. So I not only bought a guitar in Spanish but I played him off against the opposition in Spanish too. Woohoo.

If Gail Cameron is reading this blog, check this for a hazard. Here the water is heated at the shower head. It has 110 volts attached to it by the wires and the joints are just wrapped with insulation tape. It can't keep up with demand if you turn it on too much so if you want a hot shower you can't have much water. Still, a cold shower here would freeze you!



And this is the light bulb in my room.




¡Enviado a ti de Xela!

Location:Xela

Flours for your love

Well, what a day. More Spanish school and for the most part I understood everything. However, for those grammar nuts reading this, it was all in present tense. Tomorrow we start on preterite, which is good because I will be able to speak in past tense about some things. Anyway, there's a festival on today and five of us went. The festival has a dark side for the unwary (read Lawry), it is a bit like the Tomatina festival in Spain but with flour instead of tomatoes. Apparently gringos are a favourite target and, because I have only seen about ten others since I have been here, I was an obvious target. As we entered the carnival we were flour bombed by about twenty guys. It didn't matter if you were female either. The carnival market went on forever, it was huge, and as we walked people would burst out laughing because we were white with flour. It was a lot of fun. When I got back to my host family they were nearly rolling on the floor with laughter and I'm sure they were saying something in Spanish like 'we warned you'. I had also promised Chris that I would Skype her and had to do it covered in flour. It was the first time we had chatted since I left and not very impressive for the face-to-face. Still, it was fantastic to see her.

One thing here is a bit scary; there are heavily armed men everywhere but they are all officials. There are guys outside banks, around the park, walking the streets, riding two up on motorbikes, in cars, in utes, en todos partes. And the guns they carry are SERIOUS. They look like heavy duty military items. I don't think I will try and take a photo.

The ones below have been approved by the men in black Kevlar.



A bit of local news to read for practice.




Yo whitey!




One of the stalls at the carnival.




Another stall at the carnival and a floured chica.

Location:Xela

The end of day one in Quetzaltenango

Firstly, the only easy place for me to get internet access is at the spanish school in the mornings so I will write the blog at night and post it the following day.

I am sitting in my room at about 6:00 pm at the end of my first day in Quetzaltenango. Everyone here calls the town by its indigenous name which is Xela (pronounced shella) so from now on in this blog I will too.
It has been a long and intense day from the moment I got up. That doesn't mean bad, quite the contrary, I have had a great time trying to communicate with everyone. The family I am staying with is fantastic! They don't speak English but they involve me in conversations and do their best to make sure I understand what is going on and help me to say what I am trying to say.

I thought I might start including some info on some of the food they are feeding me. And believe me, there is a lot of food. I have had to say 'bastante' (enough) at each mealtime so far. Last night when I arrived they fed me up with spaghetti and 'little boys', not very traditional methinks but after nearly 4.5 hours on the bus it was most welcome. For breakfast it was bread, scrambled eggs with tomato and onion, and orange juice. Yes, orange juice. For those of you who know me well, you know that I NEVER drink orange juice because I don't like it at all. But they insisted saying it was very sweet and they had just squeezed it for me. So as not to be rude I had some. And it does not taste like any orange juice I have had before, it really is naturally very sweet. ¡Qué sorpresa tan agradable! Lunch was chicken, vegetables and empanadas. Yum. It is almost tea time now and I think we are having burritos. How cool is that.

So, that's it for today. At the moment my tummy is empty but my brain is full to bursting. It is really hard work translating on the fly. I always seem to be about one sentence behind everyone else. I'm loving it.




This photo doesn't do justice to the steepness of the roads around here and the locals consider this 'flat'. Good for the old pins! This is on the road from where I am staying into the town centre.

Hasta pronto!

Location:Xela

Quetzaltenango

Took the bus from Guatemala City to Quetzaltenango - about 4.5 hours - with no problems. Was collected from the bus station as arranged and delivered to my host family (Blanca and Frederico)where I will spend the next few weeks. They are about 70 years old and very sweet. We talked for about an hour and they don't know any english. Slept ok and had a good brekky. for those of you wo didn't know, I am going to do some structured schooling in Spanish in order to help me communicate while I am here. Right now, I have finished my first 5 hour class and not an English word to be found in the whole place - nor in the town for that matter. The class was very challenging because not only was it theory but it was not in my native tongue. My teacher, Jorge, is cool, when I get to know him a bit better I will ask for a photo so you can see him. I guess he is in his mid twenties and really knows his grammar, and that suits me fine. I did a test to see where I fitted in and even though I can converse more or less ok there are obvious holes in the grammar so we will work on that. I don't know how people can come to a school like this with no Spanish.
The afternoon is now free and I am going to explore a bit. Apparently today is a celebration of a local hero (Tecún Amon) who defeated the Spanish forces at the initial invasion - even though they lost in the long run. I have been to the shop with Jorge and bought a towel, some toilet paper and soap, what more could you want? Oh yeah, chocolate! The temperature last night was not too bad and I never felt cold, and today has been just gorgeous. There is not a cloud in the sky and about 25 degrees. I will definitely need sunscreen as you can feel the sun burning you as you walk around. I intend to spend the first week getting to know the district and sus out other volunteer options. Jorge says he will find out where the Alterna people are. They're the ones who are making the small hydro electric systems for the villages that I emailed. He also told me about some excellent volcano hikes so I will check them out too.
Xela is very much like a lot of the poorer towns in Latin America. Most of the houses and shops are run down and a bit dirty. Don't take this the wrong way, but I am glad about that as it means that I won't be doing work for a wealthy district. I think they can really use what I have to offer and that was the whole point of doing it




My desk at the school



My room with my host family



The view from my school desk. This is what most of the town looks like.

Location:11a Calle,Quetzaltenango,Guatemala

From Guatemala airport to Posada Belén

Well, the adventure really has begun.
The person who was supposed to pick me up at Guatemala airport did not show. I only had a contact number for the people in Quetzaltenango and it is a business number. My flight got in at 8:00pm and they were shut. After talking with a guy at the airport info counter I eventually used his Internet to find the name of the inn (posada means inn) to ring them. Fortunately he offered to talk to them as my Spanish would be nearly useless on the phone. The guy from the posada said he was unable to get a taxi to pick me up so said I should just get one. After negotiating a price ($10 US) I jumped into his clapped out diablo-mobile and was driven recklessly through some pretty dodgy areas of town wondering if I would get there alive. I did. There was also supposed to be a meal waiting for me but I didn't get there tll past 10 pm so ended up eating a chocolate bar I had bought for my host family.
Also, I was so tired I left my glasses on the plane and so am 3 parts blind until I buy some more.

Now it is time for bed after a big 'day' of nearly 36 hours. Tomorrow is onto the bus for Quetzaltenango.

This is my room at the inn.

Location:Posada Belén

The flight to Dallas

Finally in the airport at Dallas after a long 14 hour flight from Sydney. Turns out that even though the bags were checked through to Guatemala you still have to collect them, go through immigration and then go back through security again. And it took 1.5 hours to do this. They seem more strict and slower than OZ.
So, now sitting in the gate lounge waiting for the boarding call to Guatemala. And to make things interesting, the zip on the pants I am wearing broke in Sydney. Also, it is COLD and very wet here, Dallas that is, not my pants. Temperature outside is 9 degrees and it is the middle of the day. Oh yeah, the flight over was bumpy nearly all the way, but that was a good thing because it was a little bit like when you're in a car and it's rocking you to sleep. That made it easier to sleep I reckon. Well, that and a couple of Temazapam! Anyway, here is a picture of the initial departure and an icon of where I am now.








(The time on the last pic is wrong because I haven't adjusted the cameras setting for this time zone yet)

Location:Dallas airport Fort Worth, good ol' US of A

Airports

So, got up at 4:30 to catch the plane from Mackay, had brekky and coffee then off to the airport. It's pretty cool to get 4 boarding passes in one go and a baggage tag with GUA on it for Guatemala. It is really good not having to worry about transferring bags between flights. While Chris and I were at Mackay airport we ran into Deb Orr and Penny Galletly, which was nice because I hadn't managed to see them before leaving work.
Well, after quite an emotional goodbye to Chrissy (she was much more overt than me but I was feeling it on the inside) it was on to the plane and off to Brisbane. From there onto Sydney and a transfer to the international terminal. And here I am blogging at the terminal with another 2.5 hours to go before boarding to Dallas. So far everything has been spot on, timing wise. Can only hope the rest of the trip is the same. But I am not looking forward to the next leg, about 16 hours flight time I think.
Adios Australia.


- Posted from my iPad because I am a tech-savvy kind of guy!

Only one more sleep

Spent most of the day finalising last minute things and getting copies of important documents. Have packed the bag and weighed it at 18.5 kg. not bad seeing I am allowed 23. And that included the test gear and stuff I am taking for the Hospitalito. So now I think everything is ready to go. Just sent off an email to the guy in Guatemala who is arranging my collection from the airport (hopefully that will be OK). Now it's time for a drinky and to kick back with Chrissy...


This is all I'm taking for the 12 weeks. Can always turn the jocks inside out if I run out.

So... only three more days before the big day. Flight out of Mackay is at 6:45 a.m on Saturday.
I'm not usually much good at mornings but I doubt I would have slept much Friday night anyway.
Still a couple of things to finalise before Saturday but nothing scary.
It all feels a bit surreal but it will soon become very real.