Guatemala

Friday 7/5/13 - Animal Market in San Francisco el Alto, Quetzaltenango (Xela)

We woke up at 5 a.m. and got ready for a day trip to the Quetzaltenango area. We went over to the house at 6 o'clock and had a cup of tea. Adrin arrived in the van to pick us up. Aracely and Eddy are prone to motion sickness, so they each took a pill to prepare for the 2-hour drive. Humberto, Paulina, Aracely, Eddy, Craig, and I piled into the van, ready for an adventure. We stopped after an hour for a bathroom break, and then continued on for another hour to to San Francisco el Alto, a town on the outskirts of Quetzaltenango. Paulina and Humberto had come here by chicken bus before, but this was the first time for us and the kids.

It was a goregous morning with sunshine and blue skies as we walked up a hill to a market area where local Mayan people were selling all kinds of animals to one another. Although most of the men were dressed in modern clothing, most of the women were dressed traditionally, with colorful woven skirts and huipil blouses. It was a sea of people and animals. We saw farm animals including cows, pigs, goats, and sheep. Aracely and Eddy fed some grass to a calf. There were turkeys, chickens, and yellow fluffy baby chicks. The kids really liked the pets: cats, dogs, and rabbits. We asked Aracely which animal she liked best and she said the dogs. We knew she had been wanting one since their lovable dog Terry had passed away last year. They pet some puppies, and Eddy held onto a kitten's leash.

We walked through the crowded alleyways of the market, being pushed and pulled by the throngs of locals. We always try not to be in the way, but here it was inevitable. We had to push our way through at the risk of being pushed over and trampled by the mobs.

We were pretty much the only gringos in the entire market. We know that thievery and pick-pocketing are common in these conditions, and we had tried to do our best defensively to prevent it. I had two extra rechargeable camera batteries in a cargo pocket in my pants that buttoned securely. Craig had his backpack, but all that was in there was sunscreen, bottled water, and light jackets. Still, he carried it on his front when in the crowded areas.

Humberto bought us each a piece of cornbread cooked in corn husks, similarly to how tamales are cooked. It was very tasty. We then stopped at a little stand that was selling breakfast. We sat on wooden benches under a tarp roof with locals at a table. We were served barley tea and black beans, rice, and tortillas. The locals smiled at us and wished us buen provecho. We had fresh peaches and avocado that Humberto and Paulina had bought a few minutes earlier from some of the fruit sellers.

After breakfast, we went into the San Francisco church. St. Francis is the patron saint of many towns here, and has a special significance in our lives. It is the name of the church where my paternal grandfather was a caretaker. My father's family has a long history with that church, and it is where I was baptized and Craig and I were married. The family's church in Panajachel, where we became godparents to Aracely and Eddy, is also named after St. Francis. And our Ecuadorian compadres' church in Cotacachi, where we became godparents to Sisa, is also named after St. Francis. And here was another example; the namesake of the whole town. This church was gorgeous and had nice silver work on the altar. There were many carved religious icons which looked antique.

While sitting in the pew admiring the architecture, I realized that my cargo pocket was unbuttoned. My extra batteries were gone. It wasn't the end of the world, as I had more back at the house. I hoped that the one currently in my camera would last for the remainder of today's excursion. I suppose it was possible that the batteries had fallen out somehow, but it didn't seem likely. The pocket had been securely buttoned. I thought back to some of the locals who had pushed against me in the narrow aisles of the market and wondered when someone might have pick-pocketed me. At least we didn't have something far more important stolen. I felt disappointed. In all of our trips to Guatemala (of which this was the 11th), we had never been robbed, though we had witnessed some pickpocketing at Easter time, and know full well that it goes on. We try to do our best to prevent it, but just because you are aware of it doesn't mean that you are immune.

We went out into the church courtyard, which was quite nicely landscaped. We climbed up a set of narrow concrete spiral stairs to the roof of the church. The roof was a series of whitewashed concrete domes, as well as a bell structure. We climbed around and enjoyed the beautiful view of the surrounding area. We could see nearby Santa Maria volcano, and we could see the city of Quetzaltenango down below. We enjoyed the view, and then climbed back down the spiral stairs.

As we stood in front of the church, Eddy decided that he wanted to have his shoes shined. He stood with one foot at a time up on the shoe shiners' wooden box and got his shoes buffed a shiny black. Little man indeed! Humberto bought us each an orange Gatorade.

We walked back out through the crowded market streets. Humberto bought some sour cherries. An elderly woman in traditional dress brazenly reached right into Craig's empty pants pocket! He noticed and looked at her sternly. She proceeded to then try to open the zippers on his backpack as she retreated. Really?? We were now pretty much sure that the batteries hadn't just fallen out of my pants pocket.

It wasn't the loss of batteries that bothered me. They were easy enough to replace at home. What bothered me was the resulting loss of innocence. We have such respect for the Mayans and their culture, and we try to travel in a sustainable manner. Yet poverty drives people to desperation and we are reminded that we need to be even more careful than we already try to be. But I tried to put it out of my mind so that I could enjoy the rest of the day's outing with our godchildren.

Adrin picked us up and drove us a short distance to Quetzaltenango, known locally as Xela (Shell-ah). Adrin dropped us off at the main square, which contained a beautiful park and some stunning colonial architecture. Humberto told us that Xela is a center of learning in Guatemala. It has universities and a laid-back feel, and was much safer than Guatemala City. We saw a monument to a Guatemalan president who was one of the first politicians to believe that mestizos and Mayans were entitled to the same education. The park had Greek columns and a rotunda, and there had once been a roof for shade before it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1902.

We spent half an hour in the park and Eddy chased the pigeons. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. We were in the highlands and the family felt chilly, but it was refreshingly cool for Craig and myself. We admired the beautiful carvings on the facade of the Church of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is another significant church name in my life. It is the name of the church where my maternal grandfather was a caretaker.

Adrin needed to be back in Panajachel by 2:30, so he picked us up after half an hour. As we crossed the street to get back to the van. Eddy held out his hand to stop traffic and then waved them on once we had crossed. It was very cute. Most of us slept on the ride back to Panajachel.

Once we got back to the house, Yoselin and Yasmin were home from school, and Vanesa and Paola had recently left for school. Paulina offered us lunch but we were still too full from all of the food we sampled at the market. We ate an orange instead, while the kids ate lunch. We gave the kids a Crayola activity book with magic markers. Aracely and Yoselin played with it, and they were quite concerned with doing it "right" (i.e. copying the color scheme exactly from the packaging rather than trying to be creative about it.) Part of the activity required them to draw something from their imaginations, and they faithfully did those parts last. We found this to be quite interesting.

Their cousin Josue came over and played with Eddy. Aracely asked if I had brought my little netbook computer this time. I went to get it, and when I came back, they immediately looked at photos and videos. Josue asked for "the one where Vanesa says hola". I knew exactly what he was talking about. I couldn't believe it. It had been over a year since he had even seen that video on my computer. He was talking about Wiggles, a video compilation I had made from footage of the kids in 2007. The kids watched it and were amused seeing their younger selves.

Humberto told us that they had to go to Vanesa's tourism school to pick up her report card. They invited us to go, and he, Paulina, Eddy, Aracely, Craig and I piled into a tuk-tuk. It was so crowded that Humberto called it a "chicken tuk-tuk" as a play on the ubiquitous and always overcrowded Central American chicken bus.

Unlike the kids' elementary school, Vanesa's school was not especially close to the house. The tuk-tuk drove us upstream and over the bridge to an area where we had never been before. It dropped us off in front of the school gate. Humberto knocked on the door and we were let into the courtyard. Vanesa was standing on a balcony with some friends, and she waved to us.

The principal gave Vanesa's report card to Humberto and Paulina. Vanesa came down to say hello. We didn't want to embarrass her in front of her peers, but she came over on her own accord and hugged us, which was very nice. We said goodbye to Vanesa and left her to finish her day.

We walked all the way home, over the bridge and towards the market. Humberto pointed out the middle school that Paola attends, and we peeked into its darkened courtyard. The students had all gone home. We almost didn't recognize the market at this time of day. We usually go with Paulina in the morning when it is full of sellers and shoppers. Now there were few stalls open. We stopped at one and Humberto and Paulina ordered us a warm chocolate rice drink (it tasted and had the texture of rice krispies which had been sitting in milk for a long time.) It was good - chocolatey, warm, and hearty. It seemed particularly Mayan to us. We sat down on plastic stools at a table to enjoy a snack.

They ordered us each a tostada (hard corn tortilla covered with half guacamole and half salsa, with grated cheese on top) and we also shared a pupusa (soft corn tortilla with cheese inside, topped with cabbage). Each was purchased from a different stall. Aracely got fries from a chicken vendor. As is Guatemalan tradition, she slathered them in ketchup and mayo. She let us each try one and they were quite good.

We walked back to the house, where Yasmin was coloring in the Crayola book. When she was done Humberto looked through the book with Eddy. He pointed to various objects and asked Eddy to name them in English. Eddy doesn't speak English spontaneously yet, but he does know certain words and will speak them when directly asked. Humberto himself couldn't remember the English word for tractor. Eddy rolled his eyes and said in a sing-song voice, "trac-tor", as if "Duh, Dad, everyone knows that." Even after just a year of preschool, he is learning English!

Aracely played on the computer and they watched Wiggles, Take Care of All of My Children, and New Years 2012, videos we had compiled from footage from past visits. It was bittersweet to see images of the kids' grandmother, who had passed away last August, and David, their young cousin who passed away last July.

We heard noise in the kitchen and realized that what we had eaten at the market was not dinner; it had been a snack. "We eat all the time," Humberto joked. But it's true. Luckily dinner was a bowl of delicious homemade chicken soup which we were able to finish despite our earlier "snack".

The family watched some TV, and Paola and Vanesa did some pencil drawings. and Eddy asked me to sing Rock-a-bye Baby to him. The younger kids have always loved that, and they remember it from year to year. This might be the first year that he is able to actually understand any of the English words. After a long, fun, day, we went to bed at around 10:30.