Una semana entera

It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been in Guatemala for a week. The passage of time is always slightly difficult to grasp when thought about too hard—it’s the kind of thing where on one hand it feels like less time has passed, but then when you think about it the other way, it feels like it’s been like that forever. It’s something that for whatever reason always surprises me and will probably always surprise me.

Well to kick off the one weekversary of this Central American extravaganza, (and the fact that neither Ryan nor myself has started working yet, and thus have nowhere we have to be, we sauntered down the road to hop on another chicken bus—the same one we took to Almolonga, but this time we took it to the end of the line: the town of Zunil. While Zunil was fairly similar to Almolonga, it was much sleepier due to the fact that it was not market day. We wandered down to the main plaza which contained, what else, a big white church (and taco carts). We went inside where little Mayan women were lighting candles and praying in what I can only assume was K'iche.



There wasn’t much else to do in Zunil, and we weren’t quite bold enough to find out where San Simon, the evil saint was located (an evil saint named Maximon who supposedly is stationed in a different house in Zunil every year. People come to this idol to pray while making offerings such as cigarettes and rum, or so I read.) In a rather capricious moment, we decided to go to the Fuentes Georginas, which is a bit of a resort consisting of a hot natural spa heated by the volcano. To get to these Fuentes from Zunil, you simply say, “Si” to one of the many determined, hopeful men in pick-up trucks who look at you and inquire “Fuentes, fuentes??”

We found our soon-to-be pick-up truck chauffeur near the bridge where we first came into town. He told us it would be 80 quetzales for there and back (around $10) which isn’t really so bad, but much more than he would charge a Guatemalan, as we later saw. I felt like the trip was never going to end. We kept driving up higher and higher, up the mountains, into the clouds, as our driver Jose Maria sang along to his tape of marimba music and asking us all sorts of questions, while I prayed to all my gods that we wouldn’t fly off the mountainous road without a guardrail. Finally and thankfully, we reached the Fuentes. We paid Jose Maria. He said that he would return in two hours and we could do nothing but hope that he would keep his word.

The Fuentes were much more beautiful than I would have thought, and I’m glad we decided to go. The clouds were low so they partially obscured parts of the mountains, making everything look fairly misty. There were mostly other English tourists here, along with some Spanish-speaking tourists. It thankfully wasn’t that crowded and I was shocked at how warm the water actually was (since all of my showers have been lukewarm at best so far). It was really a rather relaxing experience, and now I can say I’ve been in waters heated by a volcano, hey.




The time had come to leave and for Jose Maria to return in his pick-up truck, and sure enough he did, this time with a little girl wearing her traditional Mayan dress. We soon learned that this was his daughter. We squeezed into the front while quiet little Rosa Maria stood smashed in between her father’s shoulder and the open window, poking her head out the window the whole way down. The ride back was the most amusing, as Jose Maria sang loudly along with his religious music, sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in Quiche, translating for us as he saw fit. As we glided down the mountain, he would stop to pick up random people on the side of the road and they would pile in the back. He got us back to Zunil safely, and we caught our same chicken bus back to Xela. I can now officially say that I have been serenaded to in a pick-up truck by a Guatemalan in the mountains. Thank goodness-- I had really been waiting to check that one off the list.


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Yesterday Ryan and I moved into the new place, Casa Concordia. Its fine so far except for the fact that the showers are a little too cold for my liking, but um maybe we're not doing something right? to be continued...

I believe this is the address at which I can receive mail--

Ilene Blumberg
Casa Concordia
6ta. Calle D11-29 zona 1
Quetzaltenango
Guatemala

Try it! It might work.

Still havent started working.. im waiting to hear back from the english school. but today is the volunteer fair so at least i should have something to do soon. We tried to go to two museums but the first was closed because it was 'on vacation' and the other seemed to be being worked on.. C'est la vie.