Xela and Around

After five weeks in San Juan La Laguna and four weeks of Spanish lessons under our belt, Taryn and I jetted for Quetzaltenango, or Xela (pronounced 'shela') for short.

It was especially difficult for Taryn to say goodbye, as she had snuggled in warmly with her family, but we were both ready to go . . .

Xela is Guatemala's second largest city, but you wouldn't guess that from walking around: very few buildings higher than two stories, cost of living is very low, traffic is considerate, people are considerate. It is a nice town, very relaxed, with cobblestone road and plastered homes. Gringo's abound here, but they tend to blend into the larger fabric of the city. In the other places I've visited, gringo's are a SPECTACLE, and you feel like a spectacle as people whisper and stare and giggle around every corner. Here, us whitey's are accepted, and even respected, for the funds and service work that we provide Xela. Its easy here, and feels like a distinct world from the rest of the country. There is culture here, and commuter cars, and consumer commodities . . . and even more novel to Guatemala - good food!

Taryn and I had a blast here - gorging ourselves on street food, pizza, Indian food, and Mango Lassi's, watching the Latin American Idol, walking the dog, and taking day trips to local markets. Generally, we planned our days around where we were going to get a cup of good coffee and a tasty meal. But we definitely did splurge - instead of spending our usual $15 / day, as we did in San Juan, we approached $25 / day in Xela. Yep, we really broke the bank. At this rate, I am going to be broke some time in the year 2012.

I rented a bike to take a day trip to the nearby town of Zunil. After an hour of climbing switchbacks, I remembered that the guy who rented me the bike told me that there weren't any serious hills between Xela and Zunil. I asked a passerby and realized that I had committed some serious navigational errors. But I pushed on, as I was informed by the same passerby that I was "soon in for some great views". I have come to learn that the word 'soon' is relative term on the push bike. Another hour and I reached the top of the the hill and snapped these photos for y'all - I hope it was worth it!

As with many Guatemalan city's, Xela is vast, disguisting, disorganized, dirty sprawl of concrete.

These pics are from the nearby town of Zunil, once I finally made it there . . .

These are some pics of Zone 1 (the tourist section) of Quetzaltenango

San Francisco el Alto is home to the largest market in all of Guatemala (not Chichicastenango), and possibly all of the central Americal (but do not quote me on that). The pinnacle of this market (literally and figuratively - the market is sprawled out over a hill) is the animal market. People hawking goats, used clothing, pigs, clothes hangers, sheep, nail clippers, puppies, weavings, and roosters spread over a dusty, baking wasteland, trying to sell you hair products and sick, depressed, emaciated animals. Despite the nausea, I stopped to ask the price of an eight week old puppy - $3. On my way out, I nearly stepped in a stream of rasberry juice. I looked up to find the fruit stand to buy a smoothie. All I saw was a swine, bleeding from it's anus. I am not a vegetarian, but I have no excuse.