Saturday, Apr. 30, 2011--Comayagua, Honduras
All the dust and wind from the 11 hours of traveling yesterday made sleep rather difficult last night. I took some Advil. And I used some lip balm. Eventually, I slept quite well considering the circumstances. Today, my nose is quite runny and uncomfortable, and I am sneezing quite often. I'm hoping things will be much better in a day or two.
I almost missed breakfast. The man working downstairs told me it would be served until 11:00. When I walked downstairs at 9:03, there was a sign saying it closed at 9:00. The woman was nice and made me a small plate, however--sausages, cheese, refried beans, and tortillas. I was happy for that, because I hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. Last night, I felt too bad to search for a place to eat, and I was worried about spending any unnecessary money until I was sure I could get cash from an ATM today.
In my room, I started working out a budget for the rest of the time in Honduras. I needed to know how much money to try to get from the ATM to add to the money I got last night by exchanging at the bank and to judge whether my remaining US cash would be enough to get me by if I continued to have problems getting cash from the ATM. The final amount--2500 Lempira ($132). Either way would work (barely, by leaving me with only $20 cash for any future emergency). I headed to the ATMs. HSBC had a sign saying their's was out of order. I continued forward to another one. IT WORKED! I was able to get my 2500 Limpera, so I now feel free to spend money. And I feel much better about having $152 as a cushion for emergencies in the future. Now I can go back to touring as normal and writing about where I am visiting instead of dealing with problems!
Comayagua (pronounced co-mah-YAH-weh) is the old colonial capital of Honduras. That said, it is nothing like Antigua in Guatemala. There are no cobblestone streets; they have been replaced with modern pavements. Yet there is a beautiful central plaza, some very nice churches, and several blocks of attractive colonial buildings in all directions of the square.
In addition, there are very modern parts of Comayagua. That seems to be due to the fact that there is a large US military base just to the outside of the city. The articles on Soto Cano Air Base try to emphasize that it is a Honduran base with a few US troups. However, a woman on the bus said that it is a US base. And another article I found admits that it has a large contingent of US military and also houses the Honduran Air Force Academy (probably the closest description to the truth). It was originally established by Reagan from fears related to the communist movement in Nicaragua. A side benefit was protecting US interests in the banana plantations here in Honduras. Today, it is being used also for monitoring illegal drug traffic.
Because of the base, it is quite common to see "Anglos" around town--at the supermarket (which sells Lucky Charms apparently due to the military presence), on the streets, etc. However, my guess is that their leaves from base are limited; otherwise I would have seen many more. None of the ones I saw last night or this morning look like tourists. In fact, there seem to be few tourists here. I am apparently the only tourist in my hotel which has many rooms on 4 floors and is one of only 3 places recommended in the Lonely Planet guide. Around the town are many bars and restaurants that seem to appeal to the military. Last night, I was too tired and too ill to get out and investigate.
In the evening, I went back to the central plaza where a band was performing on a stage. Many people were there to here them. All were local people. I wandered around town, but it was too early for nightlife, so I didn't see any Americans. I imagine most of them go to the newer places out on the highway between town and the base anyway. Town was dead other than the people who were at the concert.
Honduras seems to be much poorer than the other countries I have visited on this trip. And the poorest people seem to be much poorer. I get the impression that many people do not have changes of clothes, since the ones they are wearing are so dirty. Furthermore, most Hondurans are darker than the people in Guatemala and El Salvador probably as a result of performing manual labor.
Unfortunately, the roadsides in Honduras are also dirty. There are piles of plastic bottles, packages, bags, etc., everywhere. People on the buses yesterday were chucking all their packagings out the windows as they finished with them. Given that, however, the people here are very friendly. Today, a man walked across the street to introduce himself and to ask if I were a tourist.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Spending Update for El Salvador
I spent a total of $363.15 over 13 days while traveling in El Salvador for a daily average of $27.93. Since the beginning of this trip, I have traveled 35 days and spent $1194.20 for a daily average of $34.12.
Friday, April 29, 2011
11 Hours, 1 Pickup, 5 Buses, 1 Bee Sting, 1 Border, Rain, and ATM Problems!
Friday, Apr. 29, 2011--Perkin, El Salvador, to Comayagua, Honduras
I knew I needed an early start to make up for the problems yesterday. I was awake at 6:10, at breakfast at 6:35, and catching a pickup truck at 7:05. Other than a bee stinging me on the forehead while riding in the pickup, things actually went smoothly as I switched to two buses to get to the border and passed through check-out and check-in with immigration authorities in both El Salvador and Honduras. The major problems began with the SLOW buses in Honduras.
It took 4 1/2 hours to get from the border to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. In any of the other countries I've visited, that trip could have been made in 2 1/2 hours. The buses here, however, stop ANYWHERE. People will stand 20 meters down the road waiting for the bus to drive up to them rather than cluster at major bus stops. The capital is a horrible city which I had decided to avoid. Fortunately, the bus drivers took me to the bus station for the connecting bus to Comayagua. But it then took 2 1/2 hours to go the 87 km (52 miles) to get there.
When we arrived around 17:45, rain had begun. Fortunately, it was light. But it meant I had to go searching for a hotel in it. I was tired, hungry, and had a cold, so I wasn't too happy. Although the second place was over-priced compared to what the guidebook said, it was okay. But I couldn't check in without having more money. I had exchanged $10 at the border to pay for bus trips and had not had a chance to go to an ATM until now.
I headed out to the local ATMs. I went to one bank that had their's locked behind a door in the evening that can only be accessed by persons with cards for that bank. I went further to HSBC, and their ATM said they could not connect with my bank. I went to the supermarket, a mall, and a gas station trying their ATMs, too. None could connect. I am hoping that is because it is Friday evening on the last business day of the month; maybe the credit union is offline while updating their records. If so, I should be able to get money tomorrow.
Because El Salvador uses the dollar, I had spent most of my dollars there paying for all my expenses. In desperation, however, I went to the bank open at the supermarket and they exchanged my last five $20 bills for local currency. That allowed me to check into the hotel and will get me through maybe 3 days. I've written an e-mail to the credit union, but they won't read it until Monday. If I can't get more cash, I'll have to leave Honduras without going to the places I wish to visit. At least I have some leftover Guatemala money I can use in that country, plus I had no trouble getting cash there. I'll just have to wait and see what happens.
For now, though, I am tired and plan to go to bed!
I knew I needed an early start to make up for the problems yesterday. I was awake at 6:10, at breakfast at 6:35, and catching a pickup truck at 7:05. Other than a bee stinging me on the forehead while riding in the pickup, things actually went smoothly as I switched to two buses to get to the border and passed through check-out and check-in with immigration authorities in both El Salvador and Honduras. The major problems began with the SLOW buses in Honduras.
It took 4 1/2 hours to get from the border to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. In any of the other countries I've visited, that trip could have been made in 2 1/2 hours. The buses here, however, stop ANYWHERE. People will stand 20 meters down the road waiting for the bus to drive up to them rather than cluster at major bus stops. The capital is a horrible city which I had decided to avoid. Fortunately, the bus drivers took me to the bus station for the connecting bus to Comayagua. But it then took 2 1/2 hours to go the 87 km (52 miles) to get there.
When we arrived around 17:45, rain had begun. Fortunately, it was light. But it meant I had to go searching for a hotel in it. I was tired, hungry, and had a cold, so I wasn't too happy. Although the second place was over-priced compared to what the guidebook said, it was okay. But I couldn't check in without having more money. I had exchanged $10 at the border to pay for bus trips and had not had a chance to go to an ATM until now.
I headed out to the local ATMs. I went to one bank that had their's locked behind a door in the evening that can only be accessed by persons with cards for that bank. I went further to HSBC, and their ATM said they could not connect with my bank. I went to the supermarket, a mall, and a gas station trying their ATMs, too. None could connect. I am hoping that is because it is Friday evening on the last business day of the month; maybe the credit union is offline while updating their records. If so, I should be able to get money tomorrow.
Because El Salvador uses the dollar, I had spent most of my dollars there paying for all my expenses. In desperation, however, I went to the bank open at the supermarket and they exchanged my last five $20 bills for local currency. That allowed me to check into the hotel and will get me through maybe 3 days. I've written an e-mail to the credit union, but they won't read it until Monday. If I can't get more cash, I'll have to leave Honduras without going to the places I wish to visit. At least I have some leftover Guatemala money I can use in that country, plus I had no trouble getting cash there. I'll just have to wait and see what happens.
For now, though, I am tired and plan to go to bed!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
What a Day!
Thursday, Apr. 28, 2011--Perquin to Nowhere
My plans were to see the tourist sites this morning and catch the afternoon bus to Marcala across the Honduras border. I slept long hours to try to deal with my sore throat which was quite a bit better. I had a fantastic breakfast that came with my room--eggs, refried black beans, fruit salad, fruit juice, toast, jam, and coffee. I walked into town and saw the museum related to the civil war. Then I went next door and saw the guerrilla war camp. Both were interesting. I sat at a park for a couple of hours reading my guidebook information about the war and about Honduras. Then I returned to the hotel, checked out, and walked to the bus stop for the Marcala bus.
The bus came an hour later than I had been told it would come--14:30 instead of 13:30. We loaded on, and it went up a terrible mountain road through a national park, past campgrounds, etc., climbing, climbing, climbing. It reminded me of the remote area of the Philippines where I was assigned in the Peace Corps. The scenery was gorgeous.
Then we came to a military checkpoint. They would not let me go further. Although my guidebook had even updated its information about the border crossing saying that it was now possible to return to El Salvador and not just to leave for Honduras, I was told that there is no checkpoint there and foreigners cannot pass. This has been a disputed area, so I am guessing that there has been a flareup recently related to the border. Anyway, the bus left without me. The soldiers called their headquarters and had to give them information from my passport and when I entered the country and where. I guess they were making sure I am not a terrorist who was trying to sneak out of the country. Eventually, all was fine, but by then, it was getting late.
One of the soldiers had communicated a little with me although he spoke less English than I do Spanish. It was 17:00, and he told me if a truck didn't arrive that would give me a ride, I could sleep there at the military barracks and catch a ride tomorrow morning. I actually would have preferred that to coming all the way back to Perquin at night. But a truck came. I jumped in the back with another man. Later, a man, his wife, and their baby also joined us. It was a rough ride sitting on the wheel arch. But the man who got on with his wife spoke some English, so it helped make the trip go faster.
The truck only went as far as the crossroads 2 km (1.2 mi) from the hotel. Since it was getting dark, there was hardly any traffic on the road. I met two cars while making the uphill walk to the hotel. Then I had to climb the approximately 200 steps again with my luggage to get to the rooms at the top of the hill. I was exhausted and sweating. I made it, however, around 18:30.
Tomorrow, I have a long trip ahead of me. I must go south and east to cross at another border crossing which will take me far out of the way. Because I am here for an extra night, I have canceled my plans to go to Marcala. Although it will be a long travel day, tomorrow, I will try to get all the way to Comayagua via the capital city of Tegulcigalpa. That way, I will be back on schedule. Apparently the earliest I can catch a bus that direction is 9:00 which should get me to the border around 13:00. Then there will still be maybe 5 hours to go!!
My plans were to see the tourist sites this morning and catch the afternoon bus to Marcala across the Honduras border. I slept long hours to try to deal with my sore throat which was quite a bit better. I had a fantastic breakfast that came with my room--eggs, refried black beans, fruit salad, fruit juice, toast, jam, and coffee. I walked into town and saw the museum related to the civil war. Then I went next door and saw the guerrilla war camp. Both were interesting. I sat at a park for a couple of hours reading my guidebook information about the war and about Honduras. Then I returned to the hotel, checked out, and walked to the bus stop for the Marcala bus.
The bus came an hour later than I had been told it would come--14:30 instead of 13:30. We loaded on, and it went up a terrible mountain road through a national park, past campgrounds, etc., climbing, climbing, climbing. It reminded me of the remote area of the Philippines where I was assigned in the Peace Corps. The scenery was gorgeous.
Then we came to a military checkpoint. They would not let me go further. Although my guidebook had even updated its information about the border crossing saying that it was now possible to return to El Salvador and not just to leave for Honduras, I was told that there is no checkpoint there and foreigners cannot pass. This has been a disputed area, so I am guessing that there has been a flareup recently related to the border. Anyway, the bus left without me. The soldiers called their headquarters and had to give them information from my passport and when I entered the country and where. I guess they were making sure I am not a terrorist who was trying to sneak out of the country. Eventually, all was fine, but by then, it was getting late.
One of the soldiers had communicated a little with me although he spoke less English than I do Spanish. It was 17:00, and he told me if a truck didn't arrive that would give me a ride, I could sleep there at the military barracks and catch a ride tomorrow morning. I actually would have preferred that to coming all the way back to Perquin at night. But a truck came. I jumped in the back with another man. Later, a man, his wife, and their baby also joined us. It was a rough ride sitting on the wheel arch. But the man who got on with his wife spoke some English, so it helped make the trip go faster.
The truck only went as far as the crossroads 2 km (1.2 mi) from the hotel. Since it was getting dark, there was hardly any traffic on the road. I met two cars while making the uphill walk to the hotel. Then I had to climb the approximately 200 steps again with my luggage to get to the rooms at the top of the hill. I was exhausted and sweating. I made it, however, around 18:30.
Tomorrow, I have a long trip ahead of me. I must go south and east to cross at another border crossing which will take me far out of the way. Because I am here for an extra night, I have canceled my plans to go to Marcala. Although it will be a long travel day, tomorrow, I will try to get all the way to Comayagua via the capital city of Tegulcigalpa. That way, I will be back on schedule. Apparently the earliest I can catch a bus that direction is 9:00 which should get me to the border around 13:00. Then there will still be maybe 5 hours to go!!
Remote Headquarters of the Revolution
Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2011--Alegria to Perquin
I had a sore throat all night. It started on Tuesday. By this morning, I could hardly talk. Yet I had to force myself up early for the trip that would involve 4 buses and 5 1/2 hours. Once the first bus arrived (after a wait of about 40 minutes, each one connected with the other smoothly. In San Miguel, a family waiting for the same bus to Perquin started visiting with me. It was a man who lives in San Francisco, his mother, and his aunt. He left here 21 years ago to go to the US to help support his family. This was his first time back home since then. He was amazed at all the changes. He said he will have to work harder when he gets back to the States, because he can see that the money he has been sending home is not enough now and that they are having to struggle to get by here. He drives a short-haul truck during the week and has a second job on weekends. He says a friend who is a dentist can pay him more if he goes back to school and trains as a dental technician.
Perquin is up in the mountains near the border with Honduras. It was the FMLN headquarters during the civil war here. The main reasons for visiting here are to see the museum of the war and to see a guerrilla campground that they have set up.
I didn't feel well enough to go to the tourist sites today. I ate a nice lunch--beef stew with red beans and rice. Then I relaxed at my room at the Perkin Lenca reading and napping. My plan is to see the tourist sites tomorrow morning and then catch the bus across the border to Honduras in the afternoon.
I had a sore throat all night. It started on Tuesday. By this morning, I could hardly talk. Yet I had to force myself up early for the trip that would involve 4 buses and 5 1/2 hours. Once the first bus arrived (after a wait of about 40 minutes, each one connected with the other smoothly. In San Miguel, a family waiting for the same bus to Perquin started visiting with me. It was a man who lives in San Francisco, his mother, and his aunt. He left here 21 years ago to go to the US to help support his family. This was his first time back home since then. He was amazed at all the changes. He said he will have to work harder when he gets back to the States, because he can see that the money he has been sending home is not enough now and that they are having to struggle to get by here. He drives a short-haul truck during the week and has a second job on weekends. He says a friend who is a dentist can pay him more if he goes back to school and trains as a dental technician.
Perquin is up in the mountains near the border with Honduras. It was the FMLN headquarters during the civil war here. The main reasons for visiting here are to see the museum of the war and to see a guerrilla campground that they have set up.
I didn't feel well enough to go to the tourist sites today. I ate a nice lunch--beef stew with red beans and rice. Then I relaxed at my room at the Perkin Lenca reading and napping. My plan is to see the tourist sites tomorrow morning and then catch the bus across the border to Honduras in the afternoon.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A Self-Administered Stress Test
Tuesday, Apr. 26, 2011--Alegria, El Salvador
I slept well last night. That made me decide that I could manage another day here even though I hadn't gotten the accommodations I had wanted.
During the morning, I hiked to the lake inside the cone of an extinct volcano. From my hotel, it was about a 3 km (1.8 mi) hike going uphill almost all the way. I set a faster-than-most-people pace and kept it up without pauses. It was like giving myself a stress test. And I passed! My heart had a fast, but steady, beat. I never felt the need to stop. The lake itself is okay. The edges are just mud, so it isn't very attractive except from a distance. After spending half an hour there, I returned to town.
Then I waited for a bus to take me to Berlin, a nearby town that is also supposed to be nice. The buses only run about once an hour, so I read in my novel while waiting. Berlin was bigger than I expected. It is a small market town for this region, and it even had a franchise chicken restaurant I have seen in all the bigger cities of El Salvador. Unfortunately, there are no good links to give you an indication of what this town is like. I wandered the streets until I found a good Comida a la Vista restaurant where I got lunch--chile relleno stuffed with both beef and chicken and a mixed vegetable-pasta dish. I drank a glass of tamarind drink.
It rained again this afternoon--the third afternoon in 4 days for it to do so. It was brief, but heavy. Fortunately, I was back in my room at the time resting from the long hike this morning and my exploration of Berlin.
At the hotel, I did some research for the Honduras part of my travels. It's going to be more basic than where I have been so far. Every place seems to be only a village with very limited accommodation. So I may be staying in places like I have here in Alegria more than I intended. But tomorrow, I will make one more stop in El Salvador before leaving this country.
I'm stuffed from my lunch. Two Australian women staying here asked me to join them for home-cooked dinner tonight after I gave them a book I had finished. I told them I will have to eat lightly. Othewise, I would have just gone across the street to the plaza and gotten me a choco-banano to eat--a frozen banana on a stick and dripped in chocolate.
I slept well last night. That made me decide that I could manage another day here even though I hadn't gotten the accommodations I had wanted.
During the morning, I hiked to the lake inside the cone of an extinct volcano. From my hotel, it was about a 3 km (1.8 mi) hike going uphill almost all the way. I set a faster-than-most-people pace and kept it up without pauses. It was like giving myself a stress test. And I passed! My heart had a fast, but steady, beat. I never felt the need to stop. The lake itself is okay. The edges are just mud, so it isn't very attractive except from a distance. After spending half an hour there, I returned to town.
Then I waited for a bus to take me to Berlin, a nearby town that is also supposed to be nice. The buses only run about once an hour, so I read in my novel while waiting. Berlin was bigger than I expected. It is a small market town for this region, and it even had a franchise chicken restaurant I have seen in all the bigger cities of El Salvador. Unfortunately, there are no good links to give you an indication of what this town is like. I wandered the streets until I found a good Comida a la Vista restaurant where I got lunch--chile relleno stuffed with both beef and chicken and a mixed vegetable-pasta dish. I drank a glass of tamarind drink.
It rained again this afternoon--the third afternoon in 4 days for it to do so. It was brief, but heavy. Fortunately, I was back in my room at the time resting from the long hike this morning and my exploration of Berlin.
At the hotel, I did some research for the Honduras part of my travels. It's going to be more basic than where I have been so far. Every place seems to be only a village with very limited accommodation. So I may be staying in places like I have here in Alegria more than I intended. But tomorrow, I will make one more stop in El Salvador before leaving this country.
I'm stuffed from my lunch. Two Australian women staying here asked me to join them for home-cooked dinner tonight after I gave them a book I had finished. I told them I will have to eat lightly. Othewise, I would have just gone across the street to the plaza and gotten me a choco-banano to eat--a frozen banana on a stick and dripped in chocolate.
Monday, April 25, 2011
In the Mountains Again
Monday, Apr. 25, 2011--San Salvador to Alegria
The internet wasn't working at my hotel this morning. My guess is that they needed to reboot the computer. Since it was a travel day, I didn't worry much about it. I just got an earlier start for my four bus trips.
I was able to catch the first bus just a block from the hotel at 9:00. That took me to the Terminal Oriente (Eastern Terminal) in San Salvador. There, I immediately transferred to a Bus 301 which left within 15 minutes and dropped me off 1 3/4 hours later at Villa El Triumfo. A connecting bus for Santiago de Maria was waiting there, and I really had to squeeze to get myself and my bag into it. Finally, I got a bus for Alegria about a block from where the previous bus ended. I was in Alegria about 12:30.
Alegria (pronounced ah-leh-GRHEE-uh)is a delightful town in the mountains. I had planned to stay here for two nights. I wanted to walk out to the lake in the extinct volcano, to take a bus to the nearby town of Berlin, and just relax. But that plan was based on my staying at the Entre Piedras Hotel. When I arrived, it was locked up. The locals called the owner who drove by to tell me that he was off to San Salvador for a week of vacation. A friendly policeman then brought me to Casa Huespedes la Palma. They had a room for me, but it is a hostel and not a place where I would want to stay two nights. The room is small and dark, the bed is worn, and the bath is barely satisfactory. Therefore, I will stay only one night and find another town in my travels where I will add an extra night.
I wandered through and around the town. I read for a while in the park. All that time, it seemed as if rain was threatening. When it didn't come, I decided to walk the 2 1/2 km (1.5 miles) to a lake that is in the crater of an extinct volcano. Sure enough, after just 1 km (0.6 mi), it started sprinkling hard. I had to turn around and return to town. When I got back to my hotel, the rain began.
This is the second time in 3 days there has been daytime rain. Before, it has always been at night time. I hope we are not passing into the wet season where it will rain almost every day. That's not supposed to occur until the end of my trip.
I had too much to eat for dinner. It was the largest plate of food I've been served since I started traveling. It had a huge piece of steak that had been charcoal broiled, rice, and 4 salads--cucumber-lettuce, potato, tomato-cilantro, and marinated vegetables. It also came with two thick corn tortillas.
This afternoon, I finished reading When We Were Orphans by Kazou Ishiguro. It was such a disappointment. The first 2/3 of it was great and had me thinking it would be a good story for Masterpiece Theater. Then things happened that just didn't make sense. This was supposed to be a famous detective, yet he waited years and years to try to find his parents who had disappeared. When he finally went searching for them, he expected to find them alive and still being held by kidnappers after all those years. What is most sad about this book is that it was a finalist for the Booker Prize. The judges were either paying attention to his reputation rather than this particular book or reading only the first part of the book rather than the whole thing, or there were only poorly written books within the entire British Commonwealth that year. I gave the book 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
The internet wasn't working at my hotel this morning. My guess is that they needed to reboot the computer. Since it was a travel day, I didn't worry much about it. I just got an earlier start for my four bus trips.
I was able to catch the first bus just a block from the hotel at 9:00. That took me to the Terminal Oriente (Eastern Terminal) in San Salvador. There, I immediately transferred to a Bus 301 which left within 15 minutes and dropped me off 1 3/4 hours later at Villa El Triumfo. A connecting bus for Santiago de Maria was waiting there, and I really had to squeeze to get myself and my bag into it. Finally, I got a bus for Alegria about a block from where the previous bus ended. I was in Alegria about 12:30.
Alegria (pronounced ah-leh-GRHEE-uh)is a delightful town in the mountains. I had planned to stay here for two nights. I wanted to walk out to the lake in the extinct volcano, to take a bus to the nearby town of Berlin, and just relax. But that plan was based on my staying at the Entre Piedras Hotel. When I arrived, it was locked up. The locals called the owner who drove by to tell me that he was off to San Salvador for a week of vacation. A friendly policeman then brought me to Casa Huespedes la Palma. They had a room for me, but it is a hostel and not a place where I would want to stay two nights. The room is small and dark, the bed is worn, and the bath is barely satisfactory. Therefore, I will stay only one night and find another town in my travels where I will add an extra night.
I wandered through and around the town. I read for a while in the park. All that time, it seemed as if rain was threatening. When it didn't come, I decided to walk the 2 1/2 km (1.5 miles) to a lake that is in the crater of an extinct volcano. Sure enough, after just 1 km (0.6 mi), it started sprinkling hard. I had to turn around and return to town. When I got back to my hotel, the rain began.
This is the second time in 3 days there has been daytime rain. Before, it has always been at night time. I hope we are not passing into the wet season where it will rain almost every day. That's not supposed to occur until the end of my trip.
I had too much to eat for dinner. It was the largest plate of food I've been served since I started traveling. It had a huge piece of steak that had been charcoal broiled, rice, and 4 salads--cucumber-lettuce, potato, tomato-cilantro, and marinated vegetables. It also came with two thick corn tortillas.
This afternoon, I finished reading When We Were Orphans by Kazou Ishiguro. It was such a disappointment. The first 2/3 of it was great and had me thinking it would be a good story for Masterpiece Theater. Then things happened that just didn't make sense. This was supposed to be a famous detective, yet he waited years and years to try to find his parents who had disappeared. When he finally went searching for them, he expected to find them alive and still being held by kidnappers after all those years. What is most sad about this book is that it was a finalist for the Booker Prize. The judges were either paying attention to his reputation rather than this particular book or reading only the first part of the book rather than the whole thing, or there were only poorly written books within the entire British Commonwealth that year. I gave the book 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter in El Salvador
Saturday and Sunday (Easter), Apr. 23 & 24. 2011--San Salvador
Easter wasn't as I had expected it to be. I figured that Sunday would be the worst of the days for a traveler, but really Friday was. Friday was the day when the most places were closed, the fewest buses were running, etc. Saturday was a bit better. And Sunday was even better for some reason. But Sunday was no where near a normal day. Still traffic was light, many businesses were closed, etc. It's just that there were a few more cars on the road, a few more businesses open, and a few more buses running in comparison to Saturday and Friday.
Both Saturday and Sunday I walked to the center of town. Saturday, I did it to explore the area. What I found was quite disappointing. It is NOT a pretty city. There are a few very nice buildings--the National Palace, the National Theater, etc. But overall, things are in quite bad shape there. Even worse is the fact that the streets are overrun with market stalls built along the side of the streets so that one cannot even see the storefronts of the businesses that are in buildings. One side of one of the main squares (the left side in the photo which has really been avoided to show off two better looking sides) downtown was like this. On the street where the National Theater is, only the theater itself fails to have market stalls lining the curb in front of it.
The reason I returned downtown on Sunday is that I wanted to see the interior of Iglesia Rosario. It is a contemporary church on one of the squares downtown--an arch built of concrete with rows of contemporary stained-glass windows allowing light to enter from the two arched sides and from one of the vertical sides. It's truly a nice design. I was so happy when I returned today to find it was not only open but that there was no service at the time. That allowed me to wander, take photos and really appreciate the building. It reminded me a bit of the cathedral in Rio de Janeiro although its a completely different in shape.
Both Saturday and Sunday, when I left downtown I went to Metrocentro, a huge shopping mall complex that is not far from my hotel and is the largest shopping complex in Central America. With little else happening in town, it was a place to mingle with people. The mall itself must not have been officially open, because the mall lighting and escalators were off. But many stores had apparently taken the initiative to open on their own. There were more stores open today (Sunday) than there were yesterday. While watching a dunking board activity yesterday, I had a nice visit with a Salvadorean man who lives in Maryland and drives a school bus for a conservative Jewish school. We talked for quite a while, and it was nice to have some interaction with someone. As we separated, a woman who had apparently overheard us and realized I was a tourist said, "Welcome to El Salvador. God bless you."
With all the warnings I had read and heard related to both Guatemala and El Salvador, I have encountered nothing but friendliness in both countries. Never has anything seemed threatening at all. I have a feeling that the warnings are related more to fear than to reality, somewhat like the fear that so many people in San Antonio have about the west side which I often frequent and have never found to be dangerous. My guess is that the dangers only exist at bars and in dark areas very late at night when people are drunk.
My hotel has been great. I love the brightness and the cleanliness of it. The wifi connection is strong. I've had very good breakfasts both mornings. Yesterday was more tradition with scrambled eggs, refried black beans, fried bananas, and a mango compote. Today, it was a tamale with a small piece of white meat from a chicken in it and a slice of some type of tuber also inside, a red beans and rice mixture, and a small piece of cake with a sour cream sauce to pour over it.
Last night, I found a pupusaria open in the neighborhood. I ordered three kinds only to find that they were bigger than usual--about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter rather than the usual 10 cm (4 inches). I should have had only two. The one with three kinds of cheeses was the best. UMMMM! I also got a bean and cheese and a bean, cheese, and chicharon one. Due to so many fried pupusas, I'm not losing as much weight as I would like on the trip!
Even though more places seemed to be open today, of the eateries there were mainly bar-type places and franchises. Wanting something different, I went to a Mexican place half a block from my hotel. The quality of the food was not great even though I had read a good review of it. The reviewer must have been used to eating at franchise Mexican food places! Anyway, it fulfilled my need for food for now.
Tomorrow, things go back to normal and I begin to travel again. It will be a long travel day involving 4 buses. I'll be back into the mountains in another small village.
Easter wasn't as I had expected it to be. I figured that Sunday would be the worst of the days for a traveler, but really Friday was. Friday was the day when the most places were closed, the fewest buses were running, etc. Saturday was a bit better. And Sunday was even better for some reason. But Sunday was no where near a normal day. Still traffic was light, many businesses were closed, etc. It's just that there were a few more cars on the road, a few more businesses open, and a few more buses running in comparison to Saturday and Friday.
Both Saturday and Sunday I walked to the center of town. Saturday, I did it to explore the area. What I found was quite disappointing. It is NOT a pretty city. There are a few very nice buildings--the National Palace, the National Theater, etc. But overall, things are in quite bad shape there. Even worse is the fact that the streets are overrun with market stalls built along the side of the streets so that one cannot even see the storefronts of the businesses that are in buildings. One side of one of the main squares (the left side in the photo which has really been avoided to show off two better looking sides) downtown was like this. On the street where the National Theater is, only the theater itself fails to have market stalls lining the curb in front of it.
The reason I returned downtown on Sunday is that I wanted to see the interior of Iglesia Rosario. It is a contemporary church on one of the squares downtown--an arch built of concrete with rows of contemporary stained-glass windows allowing light to enter from the two arched sides and from one of the vertical sides. It's truly a nice design. I was so happy when I returned today to find it was not only open but that there was no service at the time. That allowed me to wander, take photos and really appreciate the building. It reminded me a bit of the cathedral in Rio de Janeiro although its a completely different in shape.
Both Saturday and Sunday, when I left downtown I went to Metrocentro, a huge shopping mall complex that is not far from my hotel and is the largest shopping complex in Central America. With little else happening in town, it was a place to mingle with people. The mall itself must not have been officially open, because the mall lighting and escalators were off. But many stores had apparently taken the initiative to open on their own. There were more stores open today (Sunday) than there were yesterday. While watching a dunking board activity yesterday, I had a nice visit with a Salvadorean man who lives in Maryland and drives a school bus for a conservative Jewish school. We talked for quite a while, and it was nice to have some interaction with someone. As we separated, a woman who had apparently overheard us and realized I was a tourist said, "Welcome to El Salvador. God bless you."
With all the warnings I had read and heard related to both Guatemala and El Salvador, I have encountered nothing but friendliness in both countries. Never has anything seemed threatening at all. I have a feeling that the warnings are related more to fear than to reality, somewhat like the fear that so many people in San Antonio have about the west side which I often frequent and have never found to be dangerous. My guess is that the dangers only exist at bars and in dark areas very late at night when people are drunk.
My hotel has been great. I love the brightness and the cleanliness of it. The wifi connection is strong. I've had very good breakfasts both mornings. Yesterday was more tradition with scrambled eggs, refried black beans, fried bananas, and a mango compote. Today, it was a tamale with a small piece of white meat from a chicken in it and a slice of some type of tuber also inside, a red beans and rice mixture, and a small piece of cake with a sour cream sauce to pour over it.
Last night, I found a pupusaria open in the neighborhood. I ordered three kinds only to find that they were bigger than usual--about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter rather than the usual 10 cm (4 inches). I should have had only two. The one with three kinds of cheeses was the best. UMMMM! I also got a bean and cheese and a bean, cheese, and chicharon one. Due to so many fried pupusas, I'm not losing as much weight as I would like on the trip!
Even though more places seemed to be open today, of the eateries there were mainly bar-type places and franchises. Wanting something different, I went to a Mexican place half a block from my hotel. The quality of the food was not great even though I had read a good review of it. The reviewer must have been used to eating at franchise Mexican food places! Anyway, it fulfilled my need for food for now.
Tomorrow, things go back to normal and I begin to travel again. It will be a long travel day involving 4 buses. I'll be back into the mountains in another small village.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Not the Best of Days/Everything Eventually Okay
Friday, Apr. 22, 2011 (Good Friday)--Santa Ana to San Salvador
I knew Easter would be a problem, but I had no idea it would be so bad already today. Knowing that it was only 1 1/4 hours by bus to San Salvador, I was rather slow at getting up, reading online newspapers, eating breakfast at the hotel, and getting off. I walked out around 9:00 headed for the bus station. Everything was rather quiet. As I neared the station which is beside a large market, there was very little activity in market stalls and I could see no bus activity. Sure enough, the terminal was dead. I walked ahead in a rush to meet a man carrying a small bag. He said for me to follow him indicating that due to the holiday the buses travel through town on the major streets rather than turning into the station.
When we got to the stop where he said we should wait, there were two others there. Time passed, and more people came. More time passed. Over the next hour and a half, the crowd grew, but no buses for San Salvador came by. On the opposite side of the street, 3 buses eventually passed going from San Salvador to Ahuachapan. It soon became obvious that the buses for our direction were taking a different route. By that time, I was talking to two men who both spoke English and agreed with me. The man who brought me to the stop had left after an hour on a pickup for his destination. Just as we were about to give up and search for the route the buses were following, a mini-bus bound for San Salvador pulled up, and all 13 of us at the stop got on it. At the next intersection, another 10 or so people got on. By the time we reached the edge of town, we were packed like sardines in it. I had found a small place behind a seat and before the back door where I could rest my bag on a wheel cavity. I had my left foot on the floor and my right on on the curved floor over the wheel. All my weight was on the left foot which I could not move at all because of two other feet being against it. A large woman was squeezed against my side, and a person standing in the back door exit was against my back.
I was thinking how horrible the trip was going to be having to stand like that for 1 1/4 hours when we were pulled over by the police. We stood there for probably 10 minutes in misery including heat as the police had the driver open different compartments. Then they wrote him a ticket for some reason. Eventually, however, we were on our way again. But that just brought us to more people who needed to be picked up and crammed into the bus!
In addition to all of this, I had been told that I should get off the bus on the edge of town and take another bus (Number 44) to get to where I needed to go. My two friends from the bus stop had already gotten off before then, so when the conductor indicated the stop to me, I got off and found myself standing along a major roadway out in the country on the edge of town wondering if there would even be a #44 bus today. When a 101 B bus came by and stopped, I got on it thinking that the closer I got into town, the better it would be; I could at least walk if I got close enough. Well, it stopped a couple of miles ahead and indicated I should wait there for a #44 bus. Fortunately, all mini-buses were stopping at that spot without having to be flagged down. At the previous place, they were whizzing by and it was sometimes impossible to see the number before they were already headed away. While waiting for a #44, I heard a man saying "Metro" for a #48 mini-bus. I asked if it went to Metrocentro, the big shopping center just a block from where I had made a hotel reservation, and he indicated yes. I climbed on board, followed our route on my map, and got off at Metrocentro.
I walked north to the light and crossed the street to go to the Hotel Grecia Real where I had reserved a room for 3 nights at $39 per night. When I walked into the hotel, I could see the nice pool and bright garden around it. But when they took me to the room, it was on a dark hallway without a window other than one to the hallway, and even that one had opaque glass panels meaning that they had to stay closed while the air conditioning was running. They took me to another room that had a similar window facing outside. With the opaque glass, it was still going to feel like a jail cell, and they wanted $45 for it. I told them I couldn't stay there and would look elsewhere. It was just another problem in a day of problems. In fact, when I left there to search elsewhere, there were clouds in the air and light sprinkles; rain before I found a room would really compound the situation.
I walked down the street to a private home that rented rooms, but they were not renting out during Easter. I walked down the block and around the corner to a place that is supposedly popular with Peace Corps Volunteers. To me it just looked like a cheap, dumpy hostel, and the woman wanted $30 for a room! I started walking toward another place that sounded nice in my guidebook, and a man in an SUV pulled up and asked me where I was going. He said he would give me a ride. He seemed sincere, and he was my age, so I climbed in. He said he knew of a doctor who rents rooms and asked if I would like to see if they had a room available. It was back near the Grecia. As before, they were not taking guests during Easter. He then drove me to the place I had chosen in the guidebook, and I finally hit pay dirt!! It is Hotel San Jose Hostal. It is clean and bright; includes breakfast, cable TV, and wifi; and my room has glass doors going out to a small balcony. At $32, it is FAR better than the Peace Corps place and much better (other than the lack of a pool) than the Grecia. Plus, the owners' young son Ernesto speaks perfect English. It was 5 hours after I had left my hotel in Santa Ana for the 1 1/4 hour trip to San Salvador.
After some time on the computer in my room and washing pants and socks in my bathroom, I dressed and went exploring for a place to eat. Almost everything was closed. I found two burger places (one local and one Burger King), a Subway shop, and a local pizza place. I decided to have pizza. It wasn't very good, but it served as dinner.
The rest of the evening, I read, I watched TV (CNN and an old Bette Midler concert), and spent a bit more time on the computer. Tomorrow, I'm hoping the city will be half-way active so I can go to the center of town and see some of the buildings. My guess is that the museums are completely closed until after Easter, so I won't even try to go to that part of town.
I knew Easter would be a problem, but I had no idea it would be so bad already today. Knowing that it was only 1 1/4 hours by bus to San Salvador, I was rather slow at getting up, reading online newspapers, eating breakfast at the hotel, and getting off. I walked out around 9:00 headed for the bus station. Everything was rather quiet. As I neared the station which is beside a large market, there was very little activity in market stalls and I could see no bus activity. Sure enough, the terminal was dead. I walked ahead in a rush to meet a man carrying a small bag. He said for me to follow him indicating that due to the holiday the buses travel through town on the major streets rather than turning into the station.
When we got to the stop where he said we should wait, there were two others there. Time passed, and more people came. More time passed. Over the next hour and a half, the crowd grew, but no buses for San Salvador came by. On the opposite side of the street, 3 buses eventually passed going from San Salvador to Ahuachapan. It soon became obvious that the buses for our direction were taking a different route. By that time, I was talking to two men who both spoke English and agreed with me. The man who brought me to the stop had left after an hour on a pickup for his destination. Just as we were about to give up and search for the route the buses were following, a mini-bus bound for San Salvador pulled up, and all 13 of us at the stop got on it. At the next intersection, another 10 or so people got on. By the time we reached the edge of town, we were packed like sardines in it. I had found a small place behind a seat and before the back door where I could rest my bag on a wheel cavity. I had my left foot on the floor and my right on on the curved floor over the wheel. All my weight was on the left foot which I could not move at all because of two other feet being against it. A large woman was squeezed against my side, and a person standing in the back door exit was against my back.
I was thinking how horrible the trip was going to be having to stand like that for 1 1/4 hours when we were pulled over by the police. We stood there for probably 10 minutes in misery including heat as the police had the driver open different compartments. Then they wrote him a ticket for some reason. Eventually, however, we were on our way again. But that just brought us to more people who needed to be picked up and crammed into the bus!
In addition to all of this, I had been told that I should get off the bus on the edge of town and take another bus (Number 44) to get to where I needed to go. My two friends from the bus stop had already gotten off before then, so when the conductor indicated the stop to me, I got off and found myself standing along a major roadway out in the country on the edge of town wondering if there would even be a #44 bus today. When a 101 B bus came by and stopped, I got on it thinking that the closer I got into town, the better it would be; I could at least walk if I got close enough. Well, it stopped a couple of miles ahead and indicated I should wait there for a #44 bus. Fortunately, all mini-buses were stopping at that spot without having to be flagged down. At the previous place, they were whizzing by and it was sometimes impossible to see the number before they were already headed away. While waiting for a #44, I heard a man saying "Metro" for a #48 mini-bus. I asked if it went to Metrocentro, the big shopping center just a block from where I had made a hotel reservation, and he indicated yes. I climbed on board, followed our route on my map, and got off at Metrocentro.
I walked north to the light and crossed the street to go to the Hotel Grecia Real where I had reserved a room for 3 nights at $39 per night. When I walked into the hotel, I could see the nice pool and bright garden around it. But when they took me to the room, it was on a dark hallway without a window other than one to the hallway, and even that one had opaque glass panels meaning that they had to stay closed while the air conditioning was running. They took me to another room that had a similar window facing outside. With the opaque glass, it was still going to feel like a jail cell, and they wanted $45 for it. I told them I couldn't stay there and would look elsewhere. It was just another problem in a day of problems. In fact, when I left there to search elsewhere, there were clouds in the air and light sprinkles; rain before I found a room would really compound the situation.
I walked down the street to a private home that rented rooms, but they were not renting out during Easter. I walked down the block and around the corner to a place that is supposedly popular with Peace Corps Volunteers. To me it just looked like a cheap, dumpy hostel, and the woman wanted $30 for a room! I started walking toward another place that sounded nice in my guidebook, and a man in an SUV pulled up and asked me where I was going. He said he would give me a ride. He seemed sincere, and he was my age, so I climbed in. He said he knew of a doctor who rents rooms and asked if I would like to see if they had a room available. It was back near the Grecia. As before, they were not taking guests during Easter. He then drove me to the place I had chosen in the guidebook, and I finally hit pay dirt!! It is Hotel San Jose Hostal. It is clean and bright; includes breakfast, cable TV, and wifi; and my room has glass doors going out to a small balcony. At $32, it is FAR better than the Peace Corps place and much better (other than the lack of a pool) than the Grecia. Plus, the owners' young son Ernesto speaks perfect English. It was 5 hours after I had left my hotel in Santa Ana for the 1 1/4 hour trip to San Salvador.
After some time on the computer in my room and washing pants and socks in my bathroom, I dressed and went exploring for a place to eat. Almost everything was closed. I found two burger places (one local and one Burger King), a Subway shop, and a local pizza place. I decided to have pizza. It wasn't very good, but it served as dinner.
The rest of the evening, I read, I watched TV (CNN and an old Bette Midler concert), and spent a bit more time on the computer. Tomorrow, I'm hoping the city will be half-way active so I can go to the center of town and see some of the buildings. My guess is that the museums are completely closed until after Easter, so I won't even try to go to that part of town.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Santa Ana
Thursday, Apr. 21, 2011--Chalchuapa to Santa Ana
If I had thought this morning, I would have stayed in Chalchuapa for another day and would have just made a bus trip into Santa Ana for the day (40 minutes each way). My hotel was nice there, and it was $15 a night less than what I am now paying to be at the Sahara in Santa Ana.
The lady at the hotel in Chachuapa surprised me with a nice breakfast this morning--black refried beans sprinkled with cheese, round chorizo sausages, tortilla, fried plantains, a sweet corn tamale (no filling), and coffee--while I was sitting under an umbrella table reading my online newspapers. It was a great treat.
On the way from the bus to my hotel in Santa Ana, a man walked toward me and said something rather eagerly then clinched his fist hard. I guess he was warning me to hold onto my handle of my suitcase tightly. Everywhere, people warn me to be careful. Yet everyone seems friendly and I have seen no signs of danger.
Santa Ana is the second largest city in El Salvador, but it isn't very big--about 250,000. It doesn't take time to walk to the edge of town. Everything worth seeing here, however, is in one general area in the center--the central plaza, the theater, the cathedral, the city hall, etc. I walked there, saw them, and got photos of them around noon. Then I stopped at a restaurant in a courtyard with bright green and orange walls. I had comida a la vista which would be translated as "cafeteria lunch" in English using cafeteria as it is used in the southern US to mean an eating establishment with the food choices on display. The "vista" is the view of all the food where you can point and choose. I had a charcoal broiled chicken breast, some yellow rice with vegetables, and a vegetable that is probably related to okra that was stir-fried with egg. To drink, I had a large horchata. Here's what Wikipedia says about it: "The horchata found in El Salvador is primarily made from morro seeds, not rice. Other common ingredients include ground cocoa, cinnamon, sesame seeds, nutmeg, tigernuts and vanilla. Other nuts that may also be used include peanuts, almonds and cashews. Because of these ingredients, the horchata is usually strained before serving." I found it to have a bit of taste of iced milk coffee.
I went back out for two hours in the early evening. I walked to the Metrocentro, a mall which is not much to talk about. About 1/4 of the space is empty. The biggest sections are a supermarket and the food court (which has 5 American franchises and 3 other restaurants). Returning to the hotel, I realized why the guidebooks referred to it being in a bit of a dodgy area; the neighborhood is closed up and abandoned at night. I may be the only guest at the hotel.
I want to mention a young man who works part time at the hotel in Chalchuapa. His name is Henry (truly, not Enrique which I questioned him about). We spent both nights there visiting for a couple of hours or so. When I first met him, I immediately noticed he was very handsome and very charming. That made me put up my defenses, because I knew he worked as a guide for the hotel. I feared he was a bit of a hustler hoping to find a way to make money off me. As time passed and I got to know him better, however, he seemed to be a very genuine, sincere person. At 23, he is a university student majoring in languages. Besides working for the hotel part time, he teaches English classes on Saturdays to children who do not all have money to pay, so he takes pay from the families that have it and he ignores the lack of payments from the others. He is voluntarily doing translation of a booklet into English for a church so he can get the experience. What is sad is how limited his opportunities are because of being from El Salvador and not being from a wealthy family. This is a young man who would be an asset to any school, agency, company, etc. He is intelligent, curious, hard working with a positive attitude, and speaks English very well. He can't afford a computer and has to go to cyber cafes to do him homework and translation work. He doesn't even dream of having money for a car. I find that impressive. He has ideas of wanting to do grand things, but not for himself. He would like to be able to help poor people get better housing, to help build better schools for children, etc. He has only vague ideas of what he may do when he finishes university (still two years away because he can only afford to go part-time). He would like to be a translator, but those are jobs that require higher skills than he presently has, are very competitive, and are going away as computers become capable of doing the work. He has evangelistic religious beliefs and would like to be able to learn to preach and do missionary work, but he has no formal ties to a large church organization to help him in this goal. He told me how he had hated going to the bank recently and removing the $50 that had been so hard for him to save, but that he had to do it to buy a DVD player which was needed for his language classes. I was so impressed by him, but I worry that he may no future other than continuing to live on part-time jobs that go no where. It's frustrating to meet someone like this when traveling--someone who deserves to have good things happen to him in life but is trapped in circumstances that may force failure.
One last comment: Henry cleared up the question in my mind of why the owner of the hotel put out the grotesque chalk statues of half-dressed pirates and Merilyn Monroe in front of the hotel for the Easter Processionals each night. He explained that she is not Catholic; she goes to an evangelistic church that does not believe in worshiping religious idols. Her statues are there to point out that what they are carrying and marching behind is just a statue like hers. It's a bit of a poke at the Catholic Church, especially considering how many people peel away from the religious procession to take photos with her statues--while sticking their finger in the navel of the female pirate, while glancing up under the skirt of Marilyn, etc.
I finished reading another book. This one was Dark Reflection by Samuel R. Delany. Although the book had great reviews, I was disappointed in it. First, I got the impression that the author is one of those New York writers who loves to show how long he has been in the city and how much he knows about the "in" places of New York from years ago. The WAY this information was written into the story seemed unnecessary and to me indicated the author's ego coming out. Second, I think he further tried to prove how intellectual he is with more side information about poets and poetry than was needed to tell the story of this man. The story itself was quite good. The author just got in the way of it. I gave the book 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
If I had thought this morning, I would have stayed in Chalchuapa for another day and would have just made a bus trip into Santa Ana for the day (40 minutes each way). My hotel was nice there, and it was $15 a night less than what I am now paying to be at the Sahara in Santa Ana.
The lady at the hotel in Chachuapa surprised me with a nice breakfast this morning--black refried beans sprinkled with cheese, round chorizo sausages, tortilla, fried plantains, a sweet corn tamale (no filling), and coffee--while I was sitting under an umbrella table reading my online newspapers. It was a great treat.
On the way from the bus to my hotel in Santa Ana, a man walked toward me and said something rather eagerly then clinched his fist hard. I guess he was warning me to hold onto my handle of my suitcase tightly. Everywhere, people warn me to be careful. Yet everyone seems friendly and I have seen no signs of danger.
Santa Ana is the second largest city in El Salvador, but it isn't very big--about 250,000. It doesn't take time to walk to the edge of town. Everything worth seeing here, however, is in one general area in the center--the central plaza, the theater, the cathedral, the city hall, etc. I walked there, saw them, and got photos of them around noon. Then I stopped at a restaurant in a courtyard with bright green and orange walls. I had comida a la vista which would be translated as "cafeteria lunch" in English using cafeteria as it is used in the southern US to mean an eating establishment with the food choices on display. The "vista" is the view of all the food where you can point and choose. I had a charcoal broiled chicken breast, some yellow rice with vegetables, and a vegetable that is probably related to okra that was stir-fried with egg. To drink, I had a large horchata. Here's what Wikipedia says about it: "The horchata found in El Salvador is primarily made from morro seeds, not rice. Other common ingredients include ground cocoa, cinnamon, sesame seeds, nutmeg, tigernuts and vanilla. Other nuts that may also be used include peanuts, almonds and cashews. Because of these ingredients, the horchata is usually strained before serving." I found it to have a bit of taste of iced milk coffee.
I went back out for two hours in the early evening. I walked to the Metrocentro, a mall which is not much to talk about. About 1/4 of the space is empty. The biggest sections are a supermarket and the food court (which has 5 American franchises and 3 other restaurants). Returning to the hotel, I realized why the guidebooks referred to it being in a bit of a dodgy area; the neighborhood is closed up and abandoned at night. I may be the only guest at the hotel.
I want to mention a young man who works part time at the hotel in Chalchuapa. His name is Henry (truly, not Enrique which I questioned him about). We spent both nights there visiting for a couple of hours or so. When I first met him, I immediately noticed he was very handsome and very charming. That made me put up my defenses, because I knew he worked as a guide for the hotel. I feared he was a bit of a hustler hoping to find a way to make money off me. As time passed and I got to know him better, however, he seemed to be a very genuine, sincere person. At 23, he is a university student majoring in languages. Besides working for the hotel part time, he teaches English classes on Saturdays to children who do not all have money to pay, so he takes pay from the families that have it and he ignores the lack of payments from the others. He is voluntarily doing translation of a booklet into English for a church so he can get the experience. What is sad is how limited his opportunities are because of being from El Salvador and not being from a wealthy family. This is a young man who would be an asset to any school, agency, company, etc. He is intelligent, curious, hard working with a positive attitude, and speaks English very well. He can't afford a computer and has to go to cyber cafes to do him homework and translation work. He doesn't even dream of having money for a car. I find that impressive. He has ideas of wanting to do grand things, but not for himself. He would like to be able to help poor people get better housing, to help build better schools for children, etc. He has only vague ideas of what he may do when he finishes university (still two years away because he can only afford to go part-time). He would like to be a translator, but those are jobs that require higher skills than he presently has, are very competitive, and are going away as computers become capable of doing the work. He has evangelistic religious beliefs and would like to be able to learn to preach and do missionary work, but he has no formal ties to a large church organization to help him in this goal. He told me how he had hated going to the bank recently and removing the $50 that had been so hard for him to save, but that he had to do it to buy a DVD player which was needed for his language classes. I was so impressed by him, but I worry that he may no future other than continuing to live on part-time jobs that go no where. It's frustrating to meet someone like this when traveling--someone who deserves to have good things happen to him in life but is trapped in circumstances that may force failure.
One last comment: Henry cleared up the question in my mind of why the owner of the hotel put out the grotesque chalk statues of half-dressed pirates and Merilyn Monroe in front of the hotel for the Easter Processionals each night. He explained that she is not Catholic; she goes to an evangelistic church that does not believe in worshiping religious idols. Her statues are there to point out that what they are carrying and marching behind is just a statue like hers. It's a bit of a poke at the Catholic Church, especially considering how many people peel away from the religious procession to take photos with her statues--while sticking their finger in the navel of the female pirate, while glancing up under the skirt of Marilyn, etc.
I finished reading another book. This one was Dark Reflection by Samuel R. Delany. Although the book had great reviews, I was disappointed in it. First, I got the impression that the author is one of those New York writers who loves to show how long he has been in the city and how much he knows about the "in" places of New York from years ago. The WAY this information was written into the story seemed unnecessary and to me indicated the author's ego coming out. Second, I think he further tried to prove how intellectual he is with more side information about poets and poetry than was needed to tell the story of this man. The story itself was quite good. The author just got in the way of it. I gave the book 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Festivities
Wednesday, Apr. 20, 2011--Chalchuapa
I had planned to leave today. But as I thought more about it, I decided it would be better to spend more one day in Chalchuapa. It's a nice, quiet town. The hotel here is very nice and cheaper than the one where I would have stayed if I had left. And Santa Ana, the next place I will stop just doesn't have enough to keep me interested for more than a day.
Therefore, today became a lazy day. I read newspapers online, went to get a haircut, stopped at the supermarket to buy some water and yogurt, went to a local bakery for a pastry, read in my room, and slept.
I am sitting on the street at 22:25 waiting for an Easter processional. There will be a big one tonight. People have constructed many alfombras (the colorful carpets made of sawdust, flowers, etc.) for it. The atmosphere is very festive with people walking up and down the streets and visiting. I just visited with a woman from Seattle who was originally from here. The atmosphere here is as exciting as Christmas is at home. The processional supposedly left the church an hour ago, but we haven't heard it yet, and it is not coming down our street yet. I hope I can stay awake for it; I'm yawning right now.
I had planned to leave today. But as I thought more about it, I decided it would be better to spend more one day in Chalchuapa. It's a nice, quiet town. The hotel here is very nice and cheaper than the one where I would have stayed if I had left. And Santa Ana, the next place I will stop just doesn't have enough to keep me interested for more than a day.
Therefore, today became a lazy day. I read newspapers online, went to get a haircut, stopped at the supermarket to buy some water and yogurt, went to a local bakery for a pastry, read in my room, and slept.
I am sitting on the street at 22:25 waiting for an Easter processional. There will be a big one tonight. People have constructed many alfombras (the colorful carpets made of sawdust, flowers, etc.) for it. The atmosphere is very festive with people walking up and down the streets and visiting. I just visited with a woman from Seattle who was originally from here. The atmosphere here is as exciting as Christmas is at home. The processional supposedly left the church an hour ago, but we haven't heard it yet, and it is not coming down our street yet. I hope I can stay awake for it; I'm yawning right now.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Speaking to Former Texas Prisoner/"Dancing" with Marilyn
Tuesday, Apr. 19, 2011--Juayua to Chalchuapa
There was no problem making my way today. It took two buses. The first left just one block from my hotel and took me to Santa Ana. There, I had to ask for where to catch the next bus, and I was directed around the corner. People are very helpful here in El Salvador.
When I arrived in Chalchuapa, I had not map except one in my head which I had seen on the Internet. I knew the street for the one hotel in town was supposed to be two blocks west of the bus station. But I couldn't tell which direction was west. Then I discovered that the bus had apparently stopped somewhere else. I asked some ladies, and they told me to go 3 blocks up and turn right. As I walked away, a man asked, "Did you understand?" He spoke English and knew the place. So this person also being very nice, I was personally walked to the hotel about 8 blocks away.
I'm at the Hostal Las Flores, although there is nothing about it that seems like a hostel. It is a hotel with a large garden courtyard. I have a large room with air conditioning (which is needed here), TV, wifi, etc. Unfortunately, however, the wifi doesn't reach well to my room, so I am sitting at a table in the garden writing this.
Chalchuapa is not a great tourist town. It is a more of a typical small Salvadoran town. That's why there is only this one hotel I could find in the city. It does have some ruins on the edge of town, so I decided to see them. Unfortunately, the Mayan ruins called Tazumal are not much to see. That's because in trying to "protect" them, they have used concrete on the outside of the stone walls. Instead of seeing stone pyramids, one sees concrete pyramids. I would not recommend that anyone come out of the way to see them.
Near the entrance of the ruins are several restaurants called yuqaterias (pronounced you-kah-tuh-ree-aahs). I stopped at one for lunch. The lady put a banana leaf on a plate, spooned a large helping of mashed yucca on it. Shredded cooked pork, including the crispy skin, and put on top of the yucca. Then added a picante sauce and some marinated cabbage on the side. Along with it, I had an ensalada drink--fruit-flavored water with various chopped up fruit floating inside. The drink was served with both a straw (for drinking) and a fork-spoon (for eating the fruit. It was a very good lunch for only $1.30.
Walking back from the ruins, I headed to the plaza downtown to see what was happening there. I passed the local cathedral where they were busy constructing a special entryway out of live plants for Easter celebrations. In the plaza, however, littler was happening. I had a seat and just relaxed. Soon, a man approached selling something. When I said I wasn't interested, he asked if I was American. Then he sat and started talking to me for a long time. He was dressed nicely in green cargo pants, sneakers, and a nice shirt. He was thin, attractive, had nice teeth, and had attractive gray hair. It was an interesting conversation. He said he is 56 and has lived and worked in the U.S. He was married to an Anglo woman there and they had four children. He said his father-in-law never liked him, however, and hoped that he and his wife would eventually separate so she could find another man. According to him, his father-in-law, who he said was the chief of police, set him up to get rid of him. He said a young boy about 16 approached him in a bar and asked him to buy him a beer. The man said he wouldn't buy him a beer but he would take him next door and buy him a cola. He said when they went outside, just before entering the store, the boy pulled down his pants and rushed in saying the man was trying to sodomize him. He was arrested, tried, found guilty, and sent to prison at La Tuna in Texas for 6 months before being sent back to El Salvador. What I found to be amazing is that this man has a positive attitude. He said being in prison was good for him because he got to take classes, to improve his English, etc. He likes Americans and thinks they are nice people. He has had no contact with his wife or children, and he says he understands she has divorced him and is living with another man now.
An interesting side story is that both the man who walked me to my hotel and the man who talked to me in the park are evangelical Christians. Both talked about God and about how important religion is in life. The one in the park quoted specific scriptures about topics he was discussing and had a Bible in his shirt pocket that was well worn from reading and was folded back to the page where he had read last. I've been quite surprised at how strong the evangelical churches are here in Central America.
I started to go out in the evening, and the lady who owns the hotel came out to speak with me. She showed me their party room. And she said the Easter processional would be coming by soon. To get ready, she wanted to move her statues out to the front, so I helped her. I don't see how they related to Easter. These were three life-size plaster sculptures--two of pirates, including a lady showing much of her bosom, and one of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt being blown upward. We rolled these to the steps, then we carried them down. As I rolled Marilyn, the lady said it looked as if we were dancing. Sure enough, however, when the processional came by, people following it stopped to take photos with the statues.
Downtown, I saw the processional again. Many people were out. Families have come home from the cities to spend Easter week. I stopped at a pupusaria and ate two of the best I have had--thick with lots of filling--accompanied with a fresa de pina--drink made with pineapple juice and water. Then I stopped at an ice cream place and had frozen tropical fruit on a stick, coated in chocolate, and rolled in peanuts. UMMMM!
Back at the hotel, I sat outside with the owner and a young man who speaks English and works here as a guide and assistant when having parties. I told them about the problems with their webpage and e-mail address. They asked me to show them, so I did. They said they wondered why they didn't hear from more people wanting to stay here. I uploaded information about the place on WikiTravel so people could find them there. They were very thankful.
There was no problem making my way today. It took two buses. The first left just one block from my hotel and took me to Santa Ana. There, I had to ask for where to catch the next bus, and I was directed around the corner. People are very helpful here in El Salvador.
When I arrived in Chalchuapa, I had not map except one in my head which I had seen on the Internet. I knew the street for the one hotel in town was supposed to be two blocks west of the bus station. But I couldn't tell which direction was west. Then I discovered that the bus had apparently stopped somewhere else. I asked some ladies, and they told me to go 3 blocks up and turn right. As I walked away, a man asked, "Did you understand?" He spoke English and knew the place. So this person also being very nice, I was personally walked to the hotel about 8 blocks away.
I'm at the Hostal Las Flores, although there is nothing about it that seems like a hostel. It is a hotel with a large garden courtyard. I have a large room with air conditioning (which is needed here), TV, wifi, etc. Unfortunately, however, the wifi doesn't reach well to my room, so I am sitting at a table in the garden writing this.
Chalchuapa is not a great tourist town. It is a more of a typical small Salvadoran town. That's why there is only this one hotel I could find in the city. It does have some ruins on the edge of town, so I decided to see them. Unfortunately, the Mayan ruins called Tazumal are not much to see. That's because in trying to "protect" them, they have used concrete on the outside of the stone walls. Instead of seeing stone pyramids, one sees concrete pyramids. I would not recommend that anyone come out of the way to see them.
Near the entrance of the ruins are several restaurants called yuqaterias (pronounced you-kah-tuh-ree-aahs). I stopped at one for lunch. The lady put a banana leaf on a plate, spooned a large helping of mashed yucca on it. Shredded cooked pork, including the crispy skin, and put on top of the yucca. Then added a picante sauce and some marinated cabbage on the side. Along with it, I had an ensalada drink--fruit-flavored water with various chopped up fruit floating inside. The drink was served with both a straw (for drinking) and a fork-spoon (for eating the fruit. It was a very good lunch for only $1.30.
Walking back from the ruins, I headed to the plaza downtown to see what was happening there. I passed the local cathedral where they were busy constructing a special entryway out of live plants for Easter celebrations. In the plaza, however, littler was happening. I had a seat and just relaxed. Soon, a man approached selling something. When I said I wasn't interested, he asked if I was American. Then he sat and started talking to me for a long time. He was dressed nicely in green cargo pants, sneakers, and a nice shirt. He was thin, attractive, had nice teeth, and had attractive gray hair. It was an interesting conversation. He said he is 56 and has lived and worked in the U.S. He was married to an Anglo woman there and they had four children. He said his father-in-law never liked him, however, and hoped that he and his wife would eventually separate so she could find another man. According to him, his father-in-law, who he said was the chief of police, set him up to get rid of him. He said a young boy about 16 approached him in a bar and asked him to buy him a beer. The man said he wouldn't buy him a beer but he would take him next door and buy him a cola. He said when they went outside, just before entering the store, the boy pulled down his pants and rushed in saying the man was trying to sodomize him. He was arrested, tried, found guilty, and sent to prison at La Tuna in Texas for 6 months before being sent back to El Salvador. What I found to be amazing is that this man has a positive attitude. He said being in prison was good for him because he got to take classes, to improve his English, etc. He likes Americans and thinks they are nice people. He has had no contact with his wife or children, and he says he understands she has divorced him and is living with another man now.
An interesting side story is that both the man who walked me to my hotel and the man who talked to me in the park are evangelical Christians. Both talked about God and about how important religion is in life. The one in the park quoted specific scriptures about topics he was discussing and had a Bible in his shirt pocket that was well worn from reading and was folded back to the page where he had read last. I've been quite surprised at how strong the evangelical churches are here in Central America.
I started to go out in the evening, and the lady who owns the hotel came out to speak with me. She showed me their party room. And she said the Easter processional would be coming by soon. To get ready, she wanted to move her statues out to the front, so I helped her. I don't see how they related to Easter. These were three life-size plaster sculptures--two of pirates, including a lady showing much of her bosom, and one of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt being blown upward. We rolled these to the steps, then we carried them down. As I rolled Marilyn, the lady said it looked as if we were dancing. Sure enough, however, when the processional came by, people following it stopped to take photos with the statues.
Downtown, I saw the processional again. Many people were out. Families have come home from the cities to spend Easter week. I stopped at a pupusaria and ate two of the best I have had--thick with lots of filling--accompanied with a fresa de pina--drink made with pineapple juice and water. Then I stopped at an ice cream place and had frozen tropical fruit on a stick, coated in chocolate, and rolled in peanuts. UMMMM!
Back at the hotel, I sat outside with the owner and a young man who speaks English and works here as a guide and assistant when having parties. I told them about the problems with their webpage and e-mail address. They asked me to show them, so I did. They said they wondered why they didn't hear from more people wanting to stay here. I uploaded information about the place on WikiTravel so people could find them there. They were very thankful.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Rain During the Dry Season!
Monday, Apr. 19, 2011--Juayua
It's been a lazy day. I went out in the morning thinking I would walk into the countryside. But every direction involved going way uphill or way downhill, both of which would mean a climb. I just felt to lazy for it. Plus, the day was really heating up. I ended up sitting in the plaza and reading. Then I went to a pupusaria and ate two queso y frijol pupusas.
I returned to my room and continued to read sitting by my window. But I noticed it getting harder and harder to do so. Soon, I heard raindrops. Later, we had a real tropical-style heavy rainfall for 30-45 minutes. I was so tired that I got in bed and fell asleep. And it was such a deep sleep that when I awoke, I couldn't force myself to open my eyes and get up. I kept feeling heavy and falling back to sleep. Guess the stress of traveling and all the nights of interrupted sleep that my earplugs couldn't stop had caught up with me.
I went back out in the evening. I wandered up and down the streets. Everyone was friendly. It was interesting to see what a quiet town this is after the madhouse it is on weekends with the food festival. I bought a flat, oblong-shaped corn patty which was heated and wrapped in corn husks without really knowing what it was. It was sweet. And delicious! I felt like I had eaten dessert before dinner. Since I really wasn't hungry for much more, I went to the supermarket and bought some peanuts and a bottle of banana-strawberry drinking yogurt to take to the room.
Exploring the supermarkets here, I was amazed at how cheap liquor is. I had noticed a large number of drunks in town. No wonder, when they can buy a 750 ml bottle of rum for $6, a good bottle of vodka for $10, and a premium brand of Vodka for $15. I guess they have no taxes on alcohol here.
Tomorrow I head to a town without having a reservation. The one place I know there has not responded to my e-mails. I'm hoping they will have a room for me. If not, I can backtrack to another town. If they do have a room, I'm not sure if they will have wifi. So, the next couple of days could be adventurous. I just hope it doesn't rain anymore.
It's been a lazy day. I went out in the morning thinking I would walk into the countryside. But every direction involved going way uphill or way downhill, both of which would mean a climb. I just felt to lazy for it. Plus, the day was really heating up. I ended up sitting in the plaza and reading. Then I went to a pupusaria and ate two queso y frijol pupusas.
I returned to my room and continued to read sitting by my window. But I noticed it getting harder and harder to do so. Soon, I heard raindrops. Later, we had a real tropical-style heavy rainfall for 30-45 minutes. I was so tired that I got in bed and fell asleep. And it was such a deep sleep that when I awoke, I couldn't force myself to open my eyes and get up. I kept feeling heavy and falling back to sleep. Guess the stress of traveling and all the nights of interrupted sleep that my earplugs couldn't stop had caught up with me.
I went back out in the evening. I wandered up and down the streets. Everyone was friendly. It was interesting to see what a quiet town this is after the madhouse it is on weekends with the food festival. I bought a flat, oblong-shaped corn patty which was heated and wrapped in corn husks without really knowing what it was. It was sweet. And delicious! I felt like I had eaten dessert before dinner. Since I really wasn't hungry for much more, I went to the supermarket and bought some peanuts and a bottle of banana-strawberry drinking yogurt to take to the room.
Exploring the supermarkets here, I was amazed at how cheap liquor is. I had noticed a large number of drunks in town. No wonder, when they can buy a 750 ml bottle of rum for $6, a good bottle of vodka for $10, and a premium brand of Vodka for $15. I guess they have no taxes on alcohol here.
Tomorrow I head to a town without having a reservation. The one place I know there has not responded to my e-mails. I'm hoping they will have a room for me. If not, I can backtrack to another town. If they do have a room, I'm not sure if they will have wifi. So, the next couple of days could be adventurous. I just hope it doesn't rain anymore.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Festival Day!
Sunday, Apr. 17, 2011—Concepcion de Ataco to Juayua
My room last night was damp. I can’t figure out why. This is the dry season. I noticed, however, that it smelled musty and felt damp when I checked in. I didn't worry about it, because it was the last available room in the town. It was more evident when I went to bed, though. Even the sheets felt damp. When I awoke this morning, there was a thick layer of moisture on the inside of the window. Strange. I didn't sleep as well as I would have without that moisture.
I also had a mosquito problem last night. That’s because the hotel has a fountain which is being installed. Mosquitoes are probably coming from the stale water standing in it. I noticed the one I had fly into my room when the door was open. Then, while I as trying to go to sleep, I heard the buzzing. I batted at it trying to kill it against my head, but that didn't work. I then turned on the light and searched for it on the wall. When I found it, I slapped it with my hand. Then I slept well the rest of the night other than feeling strange in a damp bed.
Before leaving, I took a final stroll around Ataco. The town was alive with people who had come from the countryside for Palm Sunday services and for the market. It is such a peaceful, beautiful place. It would be easy to be lost here for a while. I thought I might have breakfast, but the only place I saw serving it was an expensive restaurant that cost more than I pay in San Antonio to eat. Therefore, I headed back to my hotel and checked out for the trip to Juayua knowing there would be a food festival there.
Fortunately, a bus was leaving just as I got to the station. The route through the mountains was beautiful—lined with many resorts and maybe second homes. Flowers were blooming everywhere. They seem to have ideal weather for growing just about anything—cool nights and warm, but not hot, days. This, as well as the area where I was in Guatemala, is a prime coffee bean growing region. So far, however, I don’t think I’ve seen Juan Valdez!
The hotel had no record of my reservation. Fortunately, however, they were not completely booked. I had reserved a private room, so they put me in a dormitory with 3 beds and a bath all by myself. After straightening all that out, I headed out to explore the city.
Juayua (pronounced why-ooh-ah), is not as pretty as Ataco. However, it is the scene of a weekend gourmet food festival each week. There are rows of tents set up down the centers of streets with cooking stations and tables for eating. Each cooking station has 3-4 specialties, and most of them have plates already prepared and on display so you can see what you will get. Supposedly, the stalls are operated by some of the top chefs in El Salvador. It was 11:30, and I was hungry, so I wandered through the tents trying to decide what to eat. There were places with beef, with various styles of chicken, with various kinds of sausages, with seafood, etc. I decided to pick something special that I have never tried before. With that criterion in mind, I settled on a plate called pechuga rellena de queso y loroco which included a special sauce, rice, salad, and tortillas. It was far more food than I have been used to eating, and it was delicious. It consisted of boneless chicken breast which had been pounded flat and rolled with cheese and a special Central American herb inside. It had a green sauce on the outside when cooked, and another orange sauce over it on the plate. The tortillas in El Salvador are smaller and thicker than those at home or in Mexico—about 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter and about 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick. It was all very delicious. The price was $6. Afterwards, I had a glass of fruit-flavored water that was filled with small pieces of chopped fruits and herbs. It was good, too, but a little too sweet for me.
I took my book with me and read in the main plaza. Occasionally I would look up and watch the people. The town was really alive because of the combination of the usual weekend food festival and Palm Sunday. Most of the tourists were El Salvadoran families. Many may have been here just for the day, since it is not a long drive to other cities including the capital. Scattered among them were a few foreigners. Essentially, these families were just having a great time. Besides all the food, there was a street train, carriage rides, pony rides, a giant boa constrictor to handle while having one’s picture made, blaring music from all directions (both live and via disk jockey), an Easter processional through the streets, etc. It was truly a festive day.
By 17:00, however, things were winding down. They were closing the kitchens and families were leaving by car, bus, and pickup trucks (which serve as a form of public transportation). The church had another full house for its last service of the day. By 19:00 when I went out to find some dinner, the town was left only with the local people and had become rather quiet. After wandering the streets and going through a supermarket, I decided to buy a foot-long chicken torta for $2 (bun, avocado, chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup, and lettuce which was toasted after being prepared) at a street corner stall with more activity than anywhere else.
There is a young Swedish man at my hotel who lives in the Malmoe area (just across from Copenhagen). We talked briefly. He has been traveling in Central America for two months. He started 7 months ago in Boston and has made his way down to here so far. He wants to try to go to Asia after he gets through South America. I gave him the book I had finished reading that is set in Lapland.
In the evening, I studied my materials and made a decision to try to adjust my travel plans in Honduras. I re-read the information about the capital of Honduras and realized it would have no more to offer than my poor experience in Guatemala City. Therefore, I reassigned the days I would have been in the capital to a couple of extra mountain towns which are associated with a particular tribal people. The new plan will depend on my ability to get through a border area that has not been an official crossing but supposedly now has a Salvadoran official.
My room last night was damp. I can’t figure out why. This is the dry season. I noticed, however, that it smelled musty and felt damp when I checked in. I didn't worry about it, because it was the last available room in the town. It was more evident when I went to bed, though. Even the sheets felt damp. When I awoke this morning, there was a thick layer of moisture on the inside of the window. Strange. I didn't sleep as well as I would have without that moisture.
I also had a mosquito problem last night. That’s because the hotel has a fountain which is being installed. Mosquitoes are probably coming from the stale water standing in it. I noticed the one I had fly into my room when the door was open. Then, while I as trying to go to sleep, I heard the buzzing. I batted at it trying to kill it against my head, but that didn't work. I then turned on the light and searched for it on the wall. When I found it, I slapped it with my hand. Then I slept well the rest of the night other than feeling strange in a damp bed.
Before leaving, I took a final stroll around Ataco. The town was alive with people who had come from the countryside for Palm Sunday services and for the market. It is such a peaceful, beautiful place. It would be easy to be lost here for a while. I thought I might have breakfast, but the only place I saw serving it was an expensive restaurant that cost more than I pay in San Antonio to eat. Therefore, I headed back to my hotel and checked out for the trip to Juayua knowing there would be a food festival there.
Fortunately, a bus was leaving just as I got to the station. The route through the mountains was beautiful—lined with many resorts and maybe second homes. Flowers were blooming everywhere. They seem to have ideal weather for growing just about anything—cool nights and warm, but not hot, days. This, as well as the area where I was in Guatemala, is a prime coffee bean growing region. So far, however, I don’t think I’ve seen Juan Valdez!
The hotel had no record of my reservation. Fortunately, however, they were not completely booked. I had reserved a private room, so they put me in a dormitory with 3 beds and a bath all by myself. After straightening all that out, I headed out to explore the city.
Juayua (pronounced why-ooh-ah), is not as pretty as Ataco. However, it is the scene of a weekend gourmet food festival each week. There are rows of tents set up down the centers of streets with cooking stations and tables for eating. Each cooking station has 3-4 specialties, and most of them have plates already prepared and on display so you can see what you will get. Supposedly, the stalls are operated by some of the top chefs in El Salvador. It was 11:30, and I was hungry, so I wandered through the tents trying to decide what to eat. There were places with beef, with various styles of chicken, with various kinds of sausages, with seafood, etc. I decided to pick something special that I have never tried before. With that criterion in mind, I settled on a plate called pechuga rellena de queso y loroco which included a special sauce, rice, salad, and tortillas. It was far more food than I have been used to eating, and it was delicious. It consisted of boneless chicken breast which had been pounded flat and rolled with cheese and a special Central American herb inside. It had a green sauce on the outside when cooked, and another orange sauce over it on the plate. The tortillas in El Salvador are smaller and thicker than those at home or in Mexico—about 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter and about 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick. It was all very delicious. The price was $6. Afterwards, I had a glass of fruit-flavored water that was filled with small pieces of chopped fruits and herbs. It was good, too, but a little too sweet for me.
I took my book with me and read in the main plaza. Occasionally I would look up and watch the people. The town was really alive because of the combination of the usual weekend food festival and Palm Sunday. Most of the tourists were El Salvadoran families. Many may have been here just for the day, since it is not a long drive to other cities including the capital. Scattered among them were a few foreigners. Essentially, these families were just having a great time. Besides all the food, there was a street train, carriage rides, pony rides, a giant boa constrictor to handle while having one’s picture made, blaring music from all directions (both live and via disk jockey), an Easter processional through the streets, etc. It was truly a festive day.
By 17:00, however, things were winding down. They were closing the kitchens and families were leaving by car, bus, and pickup trucks (which serve as a form of public transportation). The church had another full house for its last service of the day. By 19:00 when I went out to find some dinner, the town was left only with the local people and had become rather quiet. After wandering the streets and going through a supermarket, I decided to buy a foot-long chicken torta for $2 (bun, avocado, chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup, and lettuce which was toasted after being prepared) at a street corner stall with more activity than anywhere else.
There is a young Swedish man at my hotel who lives in the Malmoe area (just across from Copenhagen). We talked briefly. He has been traveling in Central America for two months. He started 7 months ago in Boston and has made his way down to here so far. He wants to try to go to Asia after he gets through South America. I gave him the book I had finished reading that is set in Lapland.
In the evening, I studied my materials and made a decision to try to adjust my travel plans in Honduras. I re-read the information about the capital of Honduras and realized it would have no more to offer than my poor experience in Guatemala City. Therefore, I reassigned the days I would have been in the capital to a couple of extra mountain towns which are associated with a particular tribal people. The new plan will depend on my ability to get through a border area that has not been an official crossing but supposedly now has a Salvadoran official.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Spending Update for Guatemala and Trip As A Whole
Spending Update: I spent $516.47 over 14 days while visiting Guatemala this time for an average of $36.89 per day. (I'll return to Guatemala for about a week after I leave Honduras later in my trip.) Since leaving home, I have spent $831.05 over 22 days for an average of $37.73 per day.
Unexpected Adventures!
Saturday, Apr. 16, 2011—Guatemala City to Concepcion de Ataco
Things didn’t go as planned today, but it was a very interesting day. I had no problems catching the Rapid Transit Bus and getting to the stop were my bus station was. It was still 1 1/2 hours before the bus was to leave for El Salvador. As I walked to the station, I saw a chicken bus going to Cuilapa which I knew was halfway to the border. I quickly decided to take it and connect to another bus in Cuilapa rather than wait for the through bus. That began the adventure.
Apparently we went through Cuilapa without my knowing it. Normally someone says for me to get off—either the bus attendant or one of my nearby passengers who knows where I am going. Today, no one said anything. I had assumed Cuilapa would be the end station and that there would be an actual terminal. When we turned up a narrow road leading high into the mountains, I wondered if it could be right. When we got to a small mountain town, it was the end of the line. I explained I was going to the frontera at Las Chinimas. They quickly figured out the problem and put me on a mini-bus headed back down the mountain to the main highway. It dropped me off there as it turned to go into Cuiapas.
I stood there trying to flag buses down, and no one stopped. Finally, I asked some people nearby. They indicated I had to walk to an intersection for the bus I wanted. As I walked there, I could see nothing ahead. Cars, trucks, and buses were whizzing by me. Soon, an elderly man, who reminded me in appearance of Arvind in Copenhagen, pulled up beside me on a bicycle. When he understood where I needed to go, he stayed with on his bicycle we as I walked. He said it would be a green bus with red trim that I would need, and when one came toward us on the other side of the road he pointed it out to me. About 1 km (half a mile) from the intersection, he indicated that he had to turn off, but he said I should go forward and turn right. By the time I got there, I had probably waked about 5 km (3 mi) pulling my suitcase on the main highway from where I was dropped by the mini-bus.
One of the green and red buses whizzed by just as I was arriving at the intersection and did not stop. Fortunately, however, another one came within 3 minutes and picked me up. It went all the way to the immigration control station on the border.
Lines were long at the immigration office for Guatemala. Both those coming and leaving were in one line. With three employees in the office, only one was up front processing people. After 20 minutes when the line had at least 15 people in it, another man got up out of his chair and ambled up to start a new computer for processing people, too.
After being processed, I walked across the river and went through the arrivals procedure in El Salvador. The man was friendly and quick there. There was no fee, so now I have visited both Guatemala and El Salvador without having to pay a fee of any kind.
I rushed up the embankment and caught a connecting bus to Ahuachapan just as it was ready to leave. When I stepped inside the bus, I recognized a guy from my other bus and sat with him. He understood some English, but did not speak it. Anyway, I showed him my plan for visiting El Salvador in which every day is mapped out according to where I will be, which buses I need to take, where to take them to get from one place to the next, and which hotels I have chosen for each place. He was impressed and started sharing the information with two ladies sitting facing us. They liked the fact I would be seeing so much of El Salvador.
When we got to Ahuachapan, my seat mate from the bus walked me to the location where I would catch the bus for Concepcion de Ataco before going his own way. It was a mini-bus which had just arrived, so I had to wait while it filled before departing.
The road from Ahuachapan to Ataco and further is known as La Ruta de las Flores. It is a mountainous road that passes through many small colonial towns. Conception de Ataco is the first one in the direction I am going. It was almost 16:00 when we arrived, and I was worried about finding a room since this is the Easter season. I had not had a reply from an e-mail I sent over a week ago to a place here. Sure enough, the place I had written was out of business and the first two places people directed me to were completely full. The young man at that second place, however, called another place and was told they had ONE room available. As he was giving me directions to get there, two more people came up looking for a room, so I rushed ahead to beat them to the Hegen Hostel where I have a private room with bath and wifi.
It was strange coming into El Salvador, because they use U.S. currency rather than having their own. I had to pay 50 cents for each of my bus rides, and I had to pay $20 for my room. I’ve been in countries where they tried to get tourists to spend dollars (such as Cambodia), but never one where they had nothing in circulation except U.S. dollars.
I dumped my things in my room and went out exploring the town with my camera. It is a very unique place. It’s small, and it hasn’t been a big tourist site until just the past 4-5 years when it seems to have “taken off.” Buildings are painted in bright colors, and many have hippie-type murals on them. There is a wide variety of restaurants from inexpensive to quite expensive and serving a wide range of foods—crepes, raclette, sushi, Peruvian, Panini sandwiches, etc. I just wandered up and down all the streets which didn’t take long, since the town peters out within 8-10 blocks within any direction from the center. On one street I came across a private party in the back yard of a home; inside the garage (which opened both to the front of the house and to the back yard), there was a marimba band playing live music for the party. I took a photo. Unfortunately, no one from the party came to invite me to join them!
I ate dinner al fresco. There were food booths set up at the main plaza, and one had buns filled with chicken meat. I ordered one, and he added marinated vegetables and a sauce to it. It was very messy to eat, but it was so tasty with that sauce soaked up into the bread and with all the good chicken inside. From there, I returned to a place that had frozen fruits. I got a choco-banana dipped in ground nuts.
The local people were heading home by 18:30. The tourists were starting to look for restaurants. I had already eaten, and it was starting to get cool. Therefore, I headed back to my room for the night. It had been a long and eventful day!!
Things didn’t go as planned today, but it was a very interesting day. I had no problems catching the Rapid Transit Bus and getting to the stop were my bus station was. It was still 1 1/2 hours before the bus was to leave for El Salvador. As I walked to the station, I saw a chicken bus going to Cuilapa which I knew was halfway to the border. I quickly decided to take it and connect to another bus in Cuilapa rather than wait for the through bus. That began the adventure.
Apparently we went through Cuilapa without my knowing it. Normally someone says for me to get off—either the bus attendant or one of my nearby passengers who knows where I am going. Today, no one said anything. I had assumed Cuilapa would be the end station and that there would be an actual terminal. When we turned up a narrow road leading high into the mountains, I wondered if it could be right. When we got to a small mountain town, it was the end of the line. I explained I was going to the frontera at Las Chinimas. They quickly figured out the problem and put me on a mini-bus headed back down the mountain to the main highway. It dropped me off there as it turned to go into Cuiapas.
I stood there trying to flag buses down, and no one stopped. Finally, I asked some people nearby. They indicated I had to walk to an intersection for the bus I wanted. As I walked there, I could see nothing ahead. Cars, trucks, and buses were whizzing by me. Soon, an elderly man, who reminded me in appearance of Arvind in Copenhagen, pulled up beside me on a bicycle. When he understood where I needed to go, he stayed with on his bicycle we as I walked. He said it would be a green bus with red trim that I would need, and when one came toward us on the other side of the road he pointed it out to me. About 1 km (half a mile) from the intersection, he indicated that he had to turn off, but he said I should go forward and turn right. By the time I got there, I had probably waked about 5 km (3 mi) pulling my suitcase on the main highway from where I was dropped by the mini-bus.
One of the green and red buses whizzed by just as I was arriving at the intersection and did not stop. Fortunately, however, another one came within 3 minutes and picked me up. It went all the way to the immigration control station on the border.
Lines were long at the immigration office for Guatemala. Both those coming and leaving were in one line. With three employees in the office, only one was up front processing people. After 20 minutes when the line had at least 15 people in it, another man got up out of his chair and ambled up to start a new computer for processing people, too.
After being processed, I walked across the river and went through the arrivals procedure in El Salvador. The man was friendly and quick there. There was no fee, so now I have visited both Guatemala and El Salvador without having to pay a fee of any kind.
I rushed up the embankment and caught a connecting bus to Ahuachapan just as it was ready to leave. When I stepped inside the bus, I recognized a guy from my other bus and sat with him. He understood some English, but did not speak it. Anyway, I showed him my plan for visiting El Salvador in which every day is mapped out according to where I will be, which buses I need to take, where to take them to get from one place to the next, and which hotels I have chosen for each place. He was impressed and started sharing the information with two ladies sitting facing us. They liked the fact I would be seeing so much of El Salvador.
When we got to Ahuachapan, my seat mate from the bus walked me to the location where I would catch the bus for Concepcion de Ataco before going his own way. It was a mini-bus which had just arrived, so I had to wait while it filled before departing.
The road from Ahuachapan to Ataco and further is known as La Ruta de las Flores. It is a mountainous road that passes through many small colonial towns. Conception de Ataco is the first one in the direction I am going. It was almost 16:00 when we arrived, and I was worried about finding a room since this is the Easter season. I had not had a reply from an e-mail I sent over a week ago to a place here. Sure enough, the place I had written was out of business and the first two places people directed me to were completely full. The young man at that second place, however, called another place and was told they had ONE room available. As he was giving me directions to get there, two more people came up looking for a room, so I rushed ahead to beat them to the Hegen Hostel where I have a private room with bath and wifi.
It was strange coming into El Salvador, because they use U.S. currency rather than having their own. I had to pay 50 cents for each of my bus rides, and I had to pay $20 for my room. I’ve been in countries where they tried to get tourists to spend dollars (such as Cambodia), but never one where they had nothing in circulation except U.S. dollars.
I dumped my things in my room and went out exploring the town with my camera. It is a very unique place. It’s small, and it hasn’t been a big tourist site until just the past 4-5 years when it seems to have “taken off.” Buildings are painted in bright colors, and many have hippie-type murals on them. There is a wide variety of restaurants from inexpensive to quite expensive and serving a wide range of foods—crepes, raclette, sushi, Peruvian, Panini sandwiches, etc. I just wandered up and down all the streets which didn’t take long, since the town peters out within 8-10 blocks within any direction from the center. On one street I came across a private party in the back yard of a home; inside the garage (which opened both to the front of the house and to the back yard), there was a marimba band playing live music for the party. I took a photo. Unfortunately, no one from the party came to invite me to join them!
I ate dinner al fresco. There were food booths set up at the main plaza, and one had buns filled with chicken meat. I ordered one, and he added marinated vegetables and a sauce to it. It was very messy to eat, but it was so tasty with that sauce soaked up into the bread and with all the good chicken inside. From there, I returned to a place that had frozen fruits. I got a choco-banana dipped in ground nuts.
The local people were heading home by 18:30. The tourists were starting to look for restaurants. I had already eaten, and it was starting to get cool. Therefore, I headed back to my room for the night. It had been a long and eventful day!!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wandering All Over the City
Friday, Apr. 15, 2011--Guatemala City
No one walks much here. Everyone takes the buses. Today, however, I walked everywhere. The city is broken into zones. I am staying in Zone 1, the old center of the city. My wanderings took me through Zones 3, 4, 9, 10, and 13. The last four are considered to be the "better" zones of the city. I did see some nicer places than I had seen yesterday, but my mind has not changed overall about the city. I guess that it most closely resembles Rio de Janeiro in terms of how it has an old center that is considered dangerous after dark, it has newer sections that are considered better but still have some warnings about being out after 21:00, and it has a problem with gangs from poor neighborhoods.
My first stop was a bus station in a rather bad part of town. It's bad only because it is a market area for several blocks around the station. The people were nice and friendly. And the young man working at the bus station was very happy to know I would be taking their bus tomorrow. It will take me through the border and to the first major town where I can catch a connecting bus to the small village where I plan to stay tomorrow night. On my way back into the center later in the afternoon, I checked to make sure where I could catch a Rapid Transit Bus (operates like light rail with stations approximately every quarter to half mile) to take me there. The station is 3 blocks from my hotel, and the station where I get off is 3 blocks from the bus terminal.
From there, I walked to Minerva Park to go to the Anthropology Museum. When I got there, however, everyone was just walking inside. For me, though, they walked me over to an occupied counter, pulled out a book, and asked for an admission fee of $7. I have never liked dual admission prices for foreigners vs. locals, and it made it even worse that there was no admission price at all for locals. I asked if the admission fee would also admit me to the art museum across the street (which my guidebook said it would), and they said, "No, they have their own admission." I just said, "I don't think I want to pay that much," and I walked away. The guidebook had not said anything great about the museum. The one item it is known for having is a mask from Tikal which you can see by clicking on the link.
When I exited the park, I was at the airport which I knew to be fairly close to the city and to have some of the best neighborhoods near it. I walked past the US Embassy and large office buildings in the area. I went onto the campus of Francisco Marroquin University which had a very beautiful campus and students who seemed to be wealthy.
Back in my neighborhood, I ate the daily special at a restaurant near my hotel--roasted chicken, rice, salad, tortillas, and lemonade. It was good.
The downtown area was alive with marchers all day. They wore different costumes, but all included pointed hoods with eye holes. I saw a photo at an Easter exhibit of such a group, so I guess it had something to do with Easter. However, it also seemed political. Most of the groups seemed to be made up of poorer people.
This afternoon, I finished reading Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida. It's an unusual book because of both the story (about a woman who abandoned her family suddenly and with no trace) and the setting of much of it (Lapland). Although the main character (the daughter of the woman who disappeared) has some negative aspects to her personality, I enjoyed the book. It is well written, is occasionally funny, introduces Sami towns and characters, etc. I gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 4.
Tomorrow, I head into El Salvador. I don't have a reservation for tomorrow night, and it is a small town where I hope to stay. I wrote an e-mail to a place, but I never heard back from them. There are only two places listed in my guidebook as potential places to stay there. What makes me especially worried is that it is now Easter week, and students are on holidays. It's a common time for families to travel. If I have to, however, I can backtrack to a nearby larger, less touristy town.
No one walks much here. Everyone takes the buses. Today, however, I walked everywhere. The city is broken into zones. I am staying in Zone 1, the old center of the city. My wanderings took me through Zones 3, 4, 9, 10, and 13. The last four are considered to be the "better" zones of the city. I did see some nicer places than I had seen yesterday, but my mind has not changed overall about the city. I guess that it most closely resembles Rio de Janeiro in terms of how it has an old center that is considered dangerous after dark, it has newer sections that are considered better but still have some warnings about being out after 21:00, and it has a problem with gangs from poor neighborhoods.
My first stop was a bus station in a rather bad part of town. It's bad only because it is a market area for several blocks around the station. The people were nice and friendly. And the young man working at the bus station was very happy to know I would be taking their bus tomorrow. It will take me through the border and to the first major town where I can catch a connecting bus to the small village where I plan to stay tomorrow night. On my way back into the center later in the afternoon, I checked to make sure where I could catch a Rapid Transit Bus (operates like light rail with stations approximately every quarter to half mile) to take me there. The station is 3 blocks from my hotel, and the station where I get off is 3 blocks from the bus terminal.
From there, I walked to Minerva Park to go to the Anthropology Museum. When I got there, however, everyone was just walking inside. For me, though, they walked me over to an occupied counter, pulled out a book, and asked for an admission fee of $7. I have never liked dual admission prices for foreigners vs. locals, and it made it even worse that there was no admission price at all for locals. I asked if the admission fee would also admit me to the art museum across the street (which my guidebook said it would), and they said, "No, they have their own admission." I just said, "I don't think I want to pay that much," and I walked away. The guidebook had not said anything great about the museum. The one item it is known for having is a mask from Tikal which you can see by clicking on the link.
When I exited the park, I was at the airport which I knew to be fairly close to the city and to have some of the best neighborhoods near it. I walked past the US Embassy and large office buildings in the area. I went onto the campus of Francisco Marroquin University which had a very beautiful campus and students who seemed to be wealthy.
Back in my neighborhood, I ate the daily special at a restaurant near my hotel--roasted chicken, rice, salad, tortillas, and lemonade. It was good.
The downtown area was alive with marchers all day. They wore different costumes, but all included pointed hoods with eye holes. I saw a photo at an Easter exhibit of such a group, so I guess it had something to do with Easter. However, it also seemed political. Most of the groups seemed to be made up of poorer people.
This afternoon, I finished reading Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida. It's an unusual book because of both the story (about a woman who abandoned her family suddenly and with no trace) and the setting of much of it (Lapland). Although the main character (the daughter of the woman who disappeared) has some negative aspects to her personality, I enjoyed the book. It is well written, is occasionally funny, introduces Sami towns and characters, etc. I gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 4.
Tomorrow, I head into El Salvador. I don't have a reservation for tomorrow night, and it is a small town where I hope to stay. I wrote an e-mail to a place, but I never heard back from them. There are only two places listed in my guidebook as potential places to stay there. What makes me especially worried is that it is now Easter week, and students are on holidays. It's a common time for families to travel. If I have to, however, I can backtrack to a nearby larger, less touristy town.
Guatemala City
Thursday, April 14, 2011--Antigua to Guatemala City
It was sad to leave my large, comfortable accommodations in the beautiful, safe city of Antigua knowing that everything in Guatemala City would be different. As the bus entered the suburbs and made its way downtown, I saw nothing to contradict the reputation this city has--big, dirty, ugly, shabby, etc.
I changed my plans for a hotel to the Hotel Ajau, because it has internet service in all rooms, whereas the Colonial, where I had intended to stay, has it only in the public areas. Both are within a couple of blocks of each other, so I could have changed my mind again if the Ajau had not been acceptable otherwise. It is in a colonial building with tile floors. It is fine--nothing great, but nothing bad. I was impressed by the strong internet signal after several days of places with weak or no signal at all. And was was even more impressed with the nice quality of the mattress as I slept last night. What didn't impress me is all the NOISE! But that would be anywhere in Guatemala City without paying for a 5-star hotel.
I came here knowing that tourists are advised to skip the city because of the negative aspects I've noted above and because of its high crime rate. I only planned two nights so I could use the day between to see some of the museums. My plan was to use the rest of today to explore the older parts of the city and get information from the tourist office.
I was able to explore Zona 1, the old center of the city. There wasn't much to see. There is one main street which has been turned into a pedestrian zone that has retail along it. The buildings tend to be simple in design, and the shops are the "leftovers"--independently owned businesses that cannot afford to be in the new malls. Occasionally, but rarely, a truly outstanding building would pop up (such as the Post Office). One block away from the main street, however, everything quickly became bad. Most of the downtown area reminded me of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio between San Pedro and Woodlawn or of Staples Street in Corpus Christi between Leopard and Six Points--a lot of poorly designed, cheaply built buildings that have deteriorated over time and have no redeeming value. In other words, they are lost sections of the city with no hope except for complete redevelopment which isn't very likely to occur.
Because downtown is so bad, it has a high crime rate. It is suggested that no one go out at night after 19:00 without taking a taxi. And during the daytime, it is suggested that one avoid appearing to be a tourist. One suggestion is to go into a cafe if it is necessary to check a map for directions. I've decided not to even take my camera with me, since it makes a big bulge in my pocket and since I don't want to be seen using it.
Anyway, I went to the tourist office to ask about bus lines that go where I need to go next--the Villa Nueva/Las Chinamas border crossing to El Salvador. They were unable to help me. The two suggestions of possible bus companies they made both proved to be wrong.
From there, I walked about a mile northward toward the Main Plaza hoping to see a museum there. Unfortunately, the plaza was filled with poor people who had come for a political rally. I was uncomfortable there, and the speaker was standing in front of the building with the museum, so I didn't want to go through the crowds to get there. I stopped at a restaurant to eat a bite, and I was back in my room by 16:00.
During the evening I did further research that I think has given me the information I need for traveling on Saturday. It's amazing how hard it is to get information about taking buses from here to the border crossing at Las Chinamas in El Salvador. Lonely Planet says there are plenty of mini-buses, but they don't say where to go to take them! And everyone else online seems to just quote that book. But while investigating the Rapid Bus Transit website map, it looks as if the last stop on one line is a bus station with buses going that way. Also, there is a private company that goes at least half-way there where I could catch another bus. I will investigate all this when I go south of downtown tomorrow to see the museums.
By the way, the First Lady of Guatemala was given her divorce last Friday. I wonder if it was announced on a Friday to try to avoid as much controversy as possible? Anyway, she can run for the president's office in an attempt to replace her husband and get around the two-term limit that they faced. It's too bad politics is most often about gaining and holding power that one can benefit from.
It was sad to leave my large, comfortable accommodations in the beautiful, safe city of Antigua knowing that everything in Guatemala City would be different. As the bus entered the suburbs and made its way downtown, I saw nothing to contradict the reputation this city has--big, dirty, ugly, shabby, etc.
I changed my plans for a hotel to the Hotel Ajau, because it has internet service in all rooms, whereas the Colonial, where I had intended to stay, has it only in the public areas. Both are within a couple of blocks of each other, so I could have changed my mind again if the Ajau had not been acceptable otherwise. It is in a colonial building with tile floors. It is fine--nothing great, but nothing bad. I was impressed by the strong internet signal after several days of places with weak or no signal at all. And was was even more impressed with the nice quality of the mattress as I slept last night. What didn't impress me is all the NOISE! But that would be anywhere in Guatemala City without paying for a 5-star hotel.
I came here knowing that tourists are advised to skip the city because of the negative aspects I've noted above and because of its high crime rate. I only planned two nights so I could use the day between to see some of the museums. My plan was to use the rest of today to explore the older parts of the city and get information from the tourist office.
I was able to explore Zona 1, the old center of the city. There wasn't much to see. There is one main street which has been turned into a pedestrian zone that has retail along it. The buildings tend to be simple in design, and the shops are the "leftovers"--independently owned businesses that cannot afford to be in the new malls. Occasionally, but rarely, a truly outstanding building would pop up (such as the Post Office). One block away from the main street, however, everything quickly became bad. Most of the downtown area reminded me of Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio between San Pedro and Woodlawn or of Staples Street in Corpus Christi between Leopard and Six Points--a lot of poorly designed, cheaply built buildings that have deteriorated over time and have no redeeming value. In other words, they are lost sections of the city with no hope except for complete redevelopment which isn't very likely to occur.
Because downtown is so bad, it has a high crime rate. It is suggested that no one go out at night after 19:00 without taking a taxi. And during the daytime, it is suggested that one avoid appearing to be a tourist. One suggestion is to go into a cafe if it is necessary to check a map for directions. I've decided not to even take my camera with me, since it makes a big bulge in my pocket and since I don't want to be seen using it.
Anyway, I went to the tourist office to ask about bus lines that go where I need to go next--the Villa Nueva/Las Chinamas border crossing to El Salvador. They were unable to help me. The two suggestions of possible bus companies they made both proved to be wrong.
From there, I walked about a mile northward toward the Main Plaza hoping to see a museum there. Unfortunately, the plaza was filled with poor people who had come for a political rally. I was uncomfortable there, and the speaker was standing in front of the building with the museum, so I didn't want to go through the crowds to get there. I stopped at a restaurant to eat a bite, and I was back in my room by 16:00.
During the evening I did further research that I think has given me the information I need for traveling on Saturday. It's amazing how hard it is to get information about taking buses from here to the border crossing at Las Chinamas in El Salvador. Lonely Planet says there are plenty of mini-buses, but they don't say where to go to take them! And everyone else online seems to just quote that book. But while investigating the Rapid Bus Transit website map, it looks as if the last stop on one line is a bus station with buses going that way. Also, there is a private company that goes at least half-way there where I could catch another bus. I will investigate all this when I go south of downtown tomorrow to see the museums.
By the way, the First Lady of Guatemala was given her divorce last Friday. I wonder if it was announced on a Friday to try to avoid as much controversy as possible? Anyway, she can run for the president's office in an attempt to replace her husband and get around the two-term limit that they faced. It's too bad politics is most often about gaining and holding power that one can benefit from.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Clear Volcano Views
Tuesday, Apr. 12, and Wednesday, April 13, 2011—Antigua
Antigua is a nice city for a person just wanting to be lazy. It’s a small town making it possible to walk anywhere in just a few minutes. There is the main plaza and there are also small plazas at the fronts of many churches for relaxing and watching people. The air is fresh. Everyone is friendly. And it is such a beautiful city with the cobblestone streets, colonial buildings with their domed chimneys, and the volcanoes that surround it. I’ve spent the last two days just walking the streets and relaxing and watching people. Occasionally, I get a glimpse into a wonderful courtyard.
One thing that amazes me is the number of bakeries in this town. They must have more bakeries per capita than any other city in the world. And the best part is that they do not all offer the same products. The emphasis is on quality at many of them. It’s a bakery paradise!
They also have an over-abundance of atmospheric restaurants. I wonder if some of them must not go days without a single customer because there are so many of them. Someone living here has a nice choice of places to eat, although they also need a deep pocketbook for many of the restaurants.
Today there was no haze. It was possible to look out my window right at a clear view of the volcano to the south of the city. Usually, I have seen its outline though a haze. Another guest said it was the first time the volcano view had been clear since she had been there. There are three volcanoes around the city.
There are very few franchises here. That’s good to see. Three is a Burger King, a McDonalds, a Subway, a Dominoes, an Alamo-National, and a Century 21 that I have seen. Most people seem to go to local places for business. A supermarket in the center of the city that is very popular looks as if it hasn't been remodeled since the 1940s.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time sitting at the Main Plaza in town. It is very peaceful there, and there seem to be enough benches to accommodate everyone which is not usually the case in most cities. Occasionally a woman will come by trying to sell something, but they don’t hassle anyone. There are far too many shoeshine boys (and many are literally boys of only 9-10 years old which is sad to see). Even these, however, pass by if discouraged.
Today, I visited with a man who has two children in school here. He owns a ranch about an hour south of here. His wife is American, and his children were born in the US. They moved to here because his father needed him to manage the ranch. We talked about his 16-year-old son who is finishing school and wants to go to college in the US. He is worried that he is too young. I told him about the importance of residency (lower in-state tuition vs. higher out-of-state tuition) and suggested that his son might spend a year doing volunteer work establishing residency before enrolling in school. We also talked about the crime problems here in Guatemala and his thoughts about selling their ranch and returning to the US to live with the entire family. He said he just hates to give up the good, easy life here. He has a home here in Antigua, however, so I suggested he could return for a month or two at a time anytime he wanted and that he could rent it out to tourists otherwise.
Tonight, I went to an Easter festival at a local church/school. It was a local crowd only, and they smiled when they saw the tourist with his camera! Inside the church, there was an elaborate example of the special carpets they make of sawdust, flowers, fruits, etc., and there was a huge mural fronted by sculptures of angels. People attending went inside the church to see these, then they stood outside visiting and eating foods from the many booths set up along the streets. Unfortunately, I had eaten a late lunch at 16:30 and wasn't hungry, but I saw so many delicious looking things: pupusas, empanadas, tostadas, grilled sausages and beef, fried bananas, candied apples, hot dogs, tortas, etc.
Tomorrow I will take a bus to Guatemala City. I’ll travel again on a “chicken bus." These are all old Blue Bird buses that have been used in schools in the US. They bring them here, do a little refurbishing, and continue to operate them. This morning I saw one that was still yellow and said “Atlanta I.S.D.” on the side. I did a search thinking that Texas was the only state that uses the I.S.D. designation for school districts, and the only Atlanta I.S.D. was the one in Texas!
I also finally finished reading the novel today that I started when I left. It is 900 pages long, and reading it became a bit tedious because the same story is told three different times from different viewpoints. It was well written, however, and won the National Book Award in 2008. It was Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen. I gave it 3 stars out of 4.
Antigua is a nice city for a person just wanting to be lazy. It’s a small town making it possible to walk anywhere in just a few minutes. There is the main plaza and there are also small plazas at the fronts of many churches for relaxing and watching people. The air is fresh. Everyone is friendly. And it is such a beautiful city with the cobblestone streets, colonial buildings with their domed chimneys, and the volcanoes that surround it. I’ve spent the last two days just walking the streets and relaxing and watching people. Occasionally, I get a glimpse into a wonderful courtyard.
One thing that amazes me is the number of bakeries in this town. They must have more bakeries per capita than any other city in the world. And the best part is that they do not all offer the same products. The emphasis is on quality at many of them. It’s a bakery paradise!
They also have an over-abundance of atmospheric restaurants. I wonder if some of them must not go days without a single customer because there are so many of them. Someone living here has a nice choice of places to eat, although they also need a deep pocketbook for many of the restaurants.
Today there was no haze. It was possible to look out my window right at a clear view of the volcano to the south of the city. Usually, I have seen its outline though a haze. Another guest said it was the first time the volcano view had been clear since she had been there. There are three volcanoes around the city.
There are very few franchises here. That’s good to see. Three is a Burger King, a McDonalds, a Subway, a Dominoes, an Alamo-National, and a Century 21 that I have seen. Most people seem to go to local places for business. A supermarket in the center of the city that is very popular looks as if it hasn't been remodeled since the 1940s.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time sitting at the Main Plaza in town. It is very peaceful there, and there seem to be enough benches to accommodate everyone which is not usually the case in most cities. Occasionally a woman will come by trying to sell something, but they don’t hassle anyone. There are far too many shoeshine boys (and many are literally boys of only 9-10 years old which is sad to see). Even these, however, pass by if discouraged.
Today, I visited with a man who has two children in school here. He owns a ranch about an hour south of here. His wife is American, and his children were born in the US. They moved to here because his father needed him to manage the ranch. We talked about his 16-year-old son who is finishing school and wants to go to college in the US. He is worried that he is too young. I told him about the importance of residency (lower in-state tuition vs. higher out-of-state tuition) and suggested that his son might spend a year doing volunteer work establishing residency before enrolling in school. We also talked about the crime problems here in Guatemala and his thoughts about selling their ranch and returning to the US to live with the entire family. He said he just hates to give up the good, easy life here. He has a home here in Antigua, however, so I suggested he could return for a month or two at a time anytime he wanted and that he could rent it out to tourists otherwise.
Tonight, I went to an Easter festival at a local church/school. It was a local crowd only, and they smiled when they saw the tourist with his camera! Inside the church, there was an elaborate example of the special carpets they make of sawdust, flowers, fruits, etc., and there was a huge mural fronted by sculptures of angels. People attending went inside the church to see these, then they stood outside visiting and eating foods from the many booths set up along the streets. Unfortunately, I had eaten a late lunch at 16:30 and wasn't hungry, but I saw so many delicious looking things: pupusas, empanadas, tostadas, grilled sausages and beef, fried bananas, candied apples, hot dogs, tortas, etc.
Tomorrow I will take a bus to Guatemala City. I’ll travel again on a “chicken bus." These are all old Blue Bird buses that have been used in schools in the US. They bring them here, do a little refurbishing, and continue to operate them. This morning I saw one that was still yellow and said “Atlanta I.S.D.” on the side. I did a search thinking that Texas was the only state that uses the I.S.D. designation for school districts, and the only Atlanta I.S.D. was the one in Texas!
I also finally finished reading the novel today that I started when I left. It is 900 pages long, and reading it became a bit tedious because the same story is told three different times from different viewpoints. It was well written, however, and won the National Book Award in 2008. It was Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen. I gave it 3 stars out of 4.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Antigua!
Monday, April 11, 2011--Chichicastenango to Antigua
Before leaving this morning, I enjoyed coffee again with the owner of my hotel. He is such an interesting conversationalist. And his home-roasted Guatemalan coffee can't be beat.
The trip was supposed to take 3 1/2 hours by bus according to my guidebook. But I got a wild bus driver and made a fast connection when I had to change buses. I was here in 2 1/2 hours. There were a couple of times, however, when everyone in the bus got on the edges of their seats to see if we were going to make a pass the driver was attempting without oncoming traffic problems. Once, I experienced another one of those times when I wondered if he could slow down fast enough and pull back behind traffic without hitting the slow-moving truck in front of us.
I'm at Chez Daniel now. It's a beautiful new complex built in old style. My room is large and has three huge black and white photographs of Guatemalan people. My bathroom is very modern with marble counter tops, a beautifully tiled tub, etc. There are skylights, a flat-panel TV, etc. This being Antigua, it's not a bad price, though, at $45 per night including breakfast. The photos shown on the website of a bedroom and a bath were taken of my room and bathroom.
After spending some time in my room on the computer, I walked to the center of town. I took my laundry and dropped it off. Then I went to a restaurant in a back room behind a small shop. It has only two long tables and only two choices on the menu. I got the choice that most people were having--a plate that included a piece of chicken, boiled potatoes, and a rice-vegetable mixture all in a bowl and floating in a dark sauce. It came with half an avocado and tortillas on the side. It was delicious and oh so filling! It came with a glass of a very sweet, yet tart, drink. I'm not sure what fruit it was.
Antigua has lived up to its reputation. It is a beautiful, sophisticated, fascinating colonial city. I can understand why people fall in love with it. I was a bit surprised by its openness. As I thought about it, I realized that I get that feeling because the cobblestone streets here are so much wider than they are in most colonial cities. Also interesting is how large many of the compounds are within the city. Most colonial towns are filled with small buildings, but here there are blocks and blocks of huge walled compounds with tall trees growing inside them and visible above the walls. Antigua has a unique feeling to it when compared with other colonial cities.
Back at the room, I read until I got sleepy. Then I napped briefly. The owner brought three professional photographers by who wanted to see the room.
For two hours in the evening, I went back out exploring. I walked up and down streets to see what I could find. The city is filled with hotels, guest houses, hostels, etc., as well as restaurants, elegant shops, schools, etc. Many young people have classes in the evenings, so the town was alive with students in uniforms. I eventually found myself at the main plaza which somewhat reminds me of Santa Fe. Tired, however, I returned to my room where I watched BBC news before posting this.
Before leaving this morning, I enjoyed coffee again with the owner of my hotel. He is such an interesting conversationalist. And his home-roasted Guatemalan coffee can't be beat.
The trip was supposed to take 3 1/2 hours by bus according to my guidebook. But I got a wild bus driver and made a fast connection when I had to change buses. I was here in 2 1/2 hours. There were a couple of times, however, when everyone in the bus got on the edges of their seats to see if we were going to make a pass the driver was attempting without oncoming traffic problems. Once, I experienced another one of those times when I wondered if he could slow down fast enough and pull back behind traffic without hitting the slow-moving truck in front of us.
I'm at Chez Daniel now. It's a beautiful new complex built in old style. My room is large and has three huge black and white photographs of Guatemalan people. My bathroom is very modern with marble counter tops, a beautifully tiled tub, etc. There are skylights, a flat-panel TV, etc. This being Antigua, it's not a bad price, though, at $45 per night including breakfast. The photos shown on the website of a bedroom and a bath were taken of my room and bathroom.
After spending some time in my room on the computer, I walked to the center of town. I took my laundry and dropped it off. Then I went to a restaurant in a back room behind a small shop. It has only two long tables and only two choices on the menu. I got the choice that most people were having--a plate that included a piece of chicken, boiled potatoes, and a rice-vegetable mixture all in a bowl and floating in a dark sauce. It came with half an avocado and tortillas on the side. It was delicious and oh so filling! It came with a glass of a very sweet, yet tart, drink. I'm not sure what fruit it was.
Antigua has lived up to its reputation. It is a beautiful, sophisticated, fascinating colonial city. I can understand why people fall in love with it. I was a bit surprised by its openness. As I thought about it, I realized that I get that feeling because the cobblestone streets here are so much wider than they are in most colonial cities. Also interesting is how large many of the compounds are within the city. Most colonial towns are filled with small buildings, but here there are blocks and blocks of huge walled compounds with tall trees growing inside them and visible above the walls. Antigua has a unique feeling to it when compared with other colonial cities.
Back at the room, I read until I got sleepy. Then I napped briefly. The owner brought three professional photographers by who wanted to see the room.
For two hours in the evening, I went back out exploring. I walked up and down streets to see what I could find. The city is filled with hotels, guest houses, hostels, etc., as well as restaurants, elegant shops, schools, etc. Many young people have classes in the evenings, so the town was alive with students in uniforms. I eventually found myself at the main plaza which somewhat reminds me of Santa Fe. Tired, however, I returned to my room where I watched BBC news before posting this.
Sunday Market and Mountain Climb
Sunday, April 10, 2011—Chichicastenango
It was only 6:30 when I awoke. With no wifi for reading e-mail and newspapers, I read for a while. Then I bathed. As I was going out around 7:45, the owner of the hotel asked if I would like coffee. He roasts his own. We sat in his kitchen and visited as I drank. He told me he has been an illegal alien in the US, but an “invited” one, meaning that he had an offered job before he crossed the border. He was first in Houston, but he spent most of his years working in Chicago. He said his place here was originally just their home. To help pay expenses, they started renting out one room. Then they cleaned up the courtyard and rented out more. Eventually, they build the two-story portion where I am staying which gave them a total of 8 rooms to rent out regularly. He’s a very nice man. He, his wife, his brother, and his son all help operate the place.
When I eventually left at 8:30, the town was covered with market stalls, yet they were still putting up more. Knowing the tour groups from neighboring cities would arrive around 9:30, I wanted to experience the market before it got crowded. There are wonderful things being sold. If I were a shopper, it would be a great chance to buy native products—blankets, sculptures, weavings, products made from weavings (aprons, pot holders, etc.), masks, and on and on.
With so much time on my hands, I then decided to hike into the mountains. I found a road leading toward a park and followed it. Many pickup trucks full of people coming into town for the market passed me. I occasionally passed a home with children out playing or adults working. I continued past the park until I got to the top of the mountain with wonderful views across the valley. On the way back, I stopped briefly at the park where musicians were playing live music. That made me think of Bob Maroney and how he would have enjoyed being with me for that. Then I continued back to town arriving around 11:00 to experience the market with the crowds of tourists among the local people. At times, the passageways were so crowded that people became a wod of a traffic jam with shoving coming from all directions.
Hungry, but with restaurants and stalls crowded, I headed to an ice cream place. I got a frozen banana on a stick and dipped in chocolate. It was so refreshing that I got another. That solved my need for food temporarily. I then returned to the room to rest and read.
Around 15:00, I went out again. The market had slowed and many stalls were being dismantled. My goal was to try to find a cyber café. I walked to the main roadway, and one was right in front of me. Although it’s cost was minimal, I resented having to use it. I’ve become spoiled by having my own computer and rooms with wifi. Anyway, I spent an hour checking e-mail, posting to my blog, and reading newspapers. I also wrote a message to the father of Conner telling that I hoped they enjoyed their hike yesterday and that I hoped Conner remained fine from the time I parted from him until they arrived.
I was hungry by the time I left the cyber café. A small restaurant for local people near my hotel had been busy both yesterday and today with people waiting in line outside to get a seat and have lunch. I headed there, and I was able to walk right in at 16:00 and order. I got pollo guisada. There was a large chicken leg with an orange colored sauce. The plate also had a large portion of cold noodles with slices of carrots and a marinated mixed vegetable salad with mayonnaise. They brought a bowl that looked like mashed kernels of corn, and it was the picante for the meal. Oh, and there was a basket of the small, thick corn tortillas that are popular here. It all tasted great, and I washed it down with a Pepsi Light.
I sat on my balcony reading until it got too cool. Then I came into the room to write on the computer and to play a few games of FreeCell on it until bedtime.
It was only 6:30 when I awoke. With no wifi for reading e-mail and newspapers, I read for a while. Then I bathed. As I was going out around 7:45, the owner of the hotel asked if I would like coffee. He roasts his own. We sat in his kitchen and visited as I drank. He told me he has been an illegal alien in the US, but an “invited” one, meaning that he had an offered job before he crossed the border. He was first in Houston, but he spent most of his years working in Chicago. He said his place here was originally just their home. To help pay expenses, they started renting out one room. Then they cleaned up the courtyard and rented out more. Eventually, they build the two-story portion where I am staying which gave them a total of 8 rooms to rent out regularly. He’s a very nice man. He, his wife, his brother, and his son all help operate the place.
When I eventually left at 8:30, the town was covered with market stalls, yet they were still putting up more. Knowing the tour groups from neighboring cities would arrive around 9:30, I wanted to experience the market before it got crowded. There are wonderful things being sold. If I were a shopper, it would be a great chance to buy native products—blankets, sculptures, weavings, products made from weavings (aprons, pot holders, etc.), masks, and on and on.
With so much time on my hands, I then decided to hike into the mountains. I found a road leading toward a park and followed it. Many pickup trucks full of people coming into town for the market passed me. I occasionally passed a home with children out playing or adults working. I continued past the park until I got to the top of the mountain with wonderful views across the valley. On the way back, I stopped briefly at the park where musicians were playing live music. That made me think of Bob Maroney and how he would have enjoyed being with me for that. Then I continued back to town arriving around 11:00 to experience the market with the crowds of tourists among the local people. At times, the passageways were so crowded that people became a wod of a traffic jam with shoving coming from all directions.
Hungry, but with restaurants and stalls crowded, I headed to an ice cream place. I got a frozen banana on a stick and dipped in chocolate. It was so refreshing that I got another. That solved my need for food temporarily. I then returned to the room to rest and read.
Around 15:00, I went out again. The market had slowed and many stalls were being dismantled. My goal was to try to find a cyber café. I walked to the main roadway, and one was right in front of me. Although it’s cost was minimal, I resented having to use it. I’ve become spoiled by having my own computer and rooms with wifi. Anyway, I spent an hour checking e-mail, posting to my blog, and reading newspapers. I also wrote a message to the father of Conner telling that I hoped they enjoyed their hike yesterday and that I hoped Conner remained fine from the time I parted from him until they arrived.
I was hungry by the time I left the cyber café. A small restaurant for local people near my hotel had been busy both yesterday and today with people waiting in line outside to get a seat and have lunch. I headed there, and I was able to walk right in at 16:00 and order. I got pollo guisada. There was a large chicken leg with an orange colored sauce. The plate also had a large portion of cold noodles with slices of carrots and a marinated mixed vegetable salad with mayonnaise. They brought a bowl that looked like mashed kernels of corn, and it was the picante for the meal. Oh, and there was a basket of the small, thick corn tortillas that are popular here. It all tasted great, and I washed it down with a Pepsi Light.
I sat on my balcony reading until it got too cool. Then I came into the room to write on the computer and to play a few games of FreeCell on it until bedtime.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Interacting with People and Easter Celebrations
Saturday, April 9, 2011—San Pedro La Laguna to Chichicastenanago
I knew my traveling time would only be about 1 1/2 hours today, so I wasn’t in a big rush to get away. I took advantage of early hours to write some e-mails. Then I went to breakfast around 8:00. I returned to the place where I had lunch yesterday, because the Swedish couple had said that they returned because breakfast had been so good. I ordered the desayuno typico which included scrambled eggs, refried black beans, a small portion of local goat cheese, two slices of fried banana, and 4 small tortillas that were thick and delicious. I also ordered coffee, since here in Guatemala
Around 8:45, I decided to go ahead and leave the hotel. I thought I might as well make the trip and get settled rather than waste more time there. As I came downstairs to check out, a tourist lady had asked the owner something and was having trouble understanding the answer in Spanish. She asked if I understood Spanish enough to know what the owner was saying, then she explained that her son had diarrhea and she was asking if it was safe for him to go back on the boat to Panajachel alone to await them at the apartment they were renting there while they hiked the nearby volcano before returning themselves. I told her I was about the take the boat and that it would be no problem for him to go with me. After feeling assured, she rushed to get her family who were still at the restaurant where they had eaten breakfast.
Conner, the boy, is 14 years old and very well-mannered. He even thought to suggest that we not shake hands because he didn’t want to make me sick. That was after I had already shook hands and introduced myself with his father, his mother, and his sister. I could tell that the parents were both worried and relieved. The mother, who Conner told me later is a psychologist, was feeling a bit guilty about going on the hike rather than taking care of him. I told her that when I was sick I really didn’t want someone around all the time, but that it was nice to have someone hug me occasionally and tell me they were sorry I wasn’t feeling well. I then suggested that he should be fine based on what they had told me about his illness and his ability to take care of himself, but that she might want to shower him with some affection when they returned.
On the boat, Conner was a nice companion. The trip takes about 35 minutes, so we were together maybe 50 minutes between when we left the hotel and we arrived at his family’s apartment. He told me they sponsor 3 young girls here in Guatemala Michigan Corpus Christi , he told me that there were several students at his charter school who are from Corpus Christi Corpus Christi to Michigan to attend a state-funded charter school when there are decent schools, both public and private, in Corpus Christi
My path to the bus stop was the same route he needed to follow to their apartment. When we got to the apartment, he thanked me and we said good-bye. I hope the rest of his day went okay and that his family was able to enjoy their climb without worrying too much about him. He was a very capable, mature young man. It felt good to have been helpful.
Unfortunately, there was not a bus leaving for Chichicastenango for an hour and forty-five minutes after I arrived at the bus stop. I could have taken 3 short bus rides that would connect onto each other, but it is so much simpler just to take one. There was a shady place to sit and wait, so I pulled out my book and read. Although the time didn’t pass fast, it was much better than it would have been without the book.
There was an interesting French couple in their 50s or early 60s on the bus. Her actions and personality turned me off immediately. She was rushing from window to window taking photos of native people outside without concern regarding whether those people would care or not. Then, when I offered to take a photo of her and her husband inside the bus and suggested that it might be better with the flash turned on, she was snappy about not liking the flash and not wanting it. I took a rather dark photo of the two of them and returned the camera to her. Throughout the rest of the trip, she acted similarly, plus she made loud reactive noises every time we bumped over rumble strips which are very common here. Anyway, I just started ignoring her. But her husband spoke with me some, and he was very nice. Actually, they live in St. Martin (where French is spoken) in the Caribbean , but he also said he had lived in Nice.
Also on the bus was a very friendly local family. They encouraged the French lady to take photos, and they smiled when I would shrug or smile. I noticed the small boy had stuck the tip of his white shirt colar into his mouth and was sucking on it. I took the tip of my shirt colar and put it in my mouth, too, and waited for them to see. The mother noticed first, then got the attention of the small boy. He was a bit embarrassed, but he thought it was funny (as did the rest of the family). They all laughed.
My room at the hotel in Quiche (Chichicastenango), the Posada El Arco, is another that is large and furnished with native fabrics, sculptures, and paintings. It also has a fireplace (but no wood provided like the place I had before). Unfortunately, it does not have wifi. None of the hotels in this city have it, I’m afraid. For the first time on the trip, I have had to go to a cyber café. I wrote this on my computer with hopes that the cyber café would let me copy and paste from a thumbnail flash drive. Some won’t, because they fear viruses. Fortunately, they have agreed here. I am posting this on Sunday afternoon and will make my Sunday post after arriving at my hotel tomorrow in Antigua where I will have wifi again. But back to Saturday...
I wandered through town in mid-afternoon. Many of the shops were closed for siesta. Where the big market takes place tomorrow, some stalls were already set up and operating. And many others were using rope, long poles, and plastic to construct their stalls. Mayan people come here from many nearby villages each Thursday and Sunday for what is considered to be the biggest and best market in Guatemala
The only other interesting thing here is that the local Catholic church has incorporated many aspects of Mayan religious ceremonies into its services. My Lonely Planet guidebook says, “Although officially Catholic, [it is] more often the scene of rituals that are only slightly Catholic and more distinctly Maya.” In a special spot outside of town, they still have an old Mayan sacrificial stone where people go to offer incense, food, liquor, cigarettes, flowers, etc., to the earth god. It’s probably just a tale, but the guidebook says that they still occasionally sacrifice a chicken there.
Out in the evening watching people set up for market, I stopped for a taco at a portable stand. A young man joined me and ordered one, then he started speaking in English to me and introduced himself as Esduardo. He is a 4th-year (out of 6) medical student from here who returns from school in Quetzaltenango every weekend to be with his family. We talked a long time about various topics. Then when others needed our seats, we started walking away together. I saw some beautiful artwork being produced directly on the street. It was made from colored sawdust and framed by pine needles. It reminded me of Indian sand paintings, and I asked what it was. He said, it is for Semana Santa (Easter), then he said, “Come.” He walked me about 4 blocks away. Along the way, we saw other artwork on the streets made with pine needles and rose pedals. Eventually, we rounded a corner and faced a huge processional. In front were a couple of banner carriers and several young men in priest-like robes with long sticks for lifting electrical wires up to assure passage. Behind them came the “float.” It was a very long and wide wooden platform topped with four large statues—Christ carrying the cross, the Virgin Mary, etc. The platform was so big and so heavy that it took about 30 men on each side to hold and carry it. Each also had a staff he carried. There were padded points where the platform rested on their shoulders as they walked. And during occasional pauses, they would put their staffs in place to hold it while they rested. Behind the platform came a band playing dirge-type music. The streets were lined with people and many others were walking beside and behind the procession. As they passed over the various street artwork, it was destroyed. When they were gone, those who had created it swept up and discarded the remains. They have these processionals every weekend for 4 weeks leading up to Easter. In addition to the artwork on the streets, various families had created their own small shrines at their houses along the route. And as the procession passed houses, people upstairs would throw handfuls of rose pedals onto the “float.”
Esduardo left me after we had seen the processional, and I went back to the center to see how the artwork they were creating was coming along. They had added sparkly aspects to it. I asked someone there when the processional would arrive there, and they said it would take about two more hours. I felt sorry for those guys carrying that heavy platform realizing they would be doing it all evening. Then I searched my way back to where the processional was at the time and watched it pass one more time before going back to my room for the evening.
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