Wherever Life Takes You, NEVER Let it Lead You on a Chicken Bus J
Or
Guatemala is the Place to be for Holy Week!
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"Though we travel the world to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
This past year of my life has been far beyond incredible; the kind of life that envelops you all of a sudden while you’re standing in the middle of a foreign country taking it all in. And in that moment the realization hits: I’m actually here, doing it: following my passion for travel and because of this emersion, I am enviably changed for the better. Everyone tells you to travel while you’re young and I have been extremely blessed to have the opportunity to explore many places filled with so much culture and beauty and God.
After spending two blissful weeks in Belize, my friend Amy so kindly invited me to backpack Guatemala with her and four of her Peace Corps friends (Grace, Molly, Cali and Megan) for two weeks. I really enjoyed all of Amy’s friends that quickly became my own. We all traveled really well together and I just seemed to fit in and pass as another PCV. All the Peace Corps Volunteers that I met were awesome! They are extremely friendly, down to earth and just want to make the world a better place while traveling. My kind of people. It was great!
We left on Monday the 18th of April on the 4:30 am bus out of Santa Teresa to Punta Gorda. In PG we met up with Amy’s friends, bought our tickets for the boat to Guatemala and were on our way for what turned out to be an extremely fun adventure.
Guatemala is the only placed I have traveled to where you really do have to know Spanish to get around. We were a very diverse group language wise…Megan, Grace and Amy speak K’ekchi. I know German. Molly is fluent in Spanish and I know some and Cali is learning. Cali asked if I have been teaching Amy any Spanish while I was in Belize. We both laughed because I should have but instead I was teaching her German. lol
My Spanish is extremely rusty. I used to be really good in high school but it’s true what they say, if you’re not using it, you lose it. I brought a pocket book to study on the bus along with Amy and the other girls which was fun. We were extremely fortune that Molly is fluent though. It helped out a lot. Also, Amy has the best luck of anyone I know. Things just kind of work out for her which made it nice to travel with her. We always just happened to find the right bus, person, or place that we needed to get to without much stress or worries.
When we were in Guate City, most of us needed to find the bank to exchange money. Luckily we all knew how to say, “Donde esta el banco?” We learned that “Donde esta…? is a good phases to know as well as “Cuanto cuesta?” and directions. It was fun to practice Spanish with the locals. Some of it came back and some of the time it just turned into really bad Creole Spanish.
The next morning, with our fancy direction asking skills we found our way to the bus station and bought our tickets to Xela. This bus was less fancy then the 1st one we took and had no AC but luckily we got seats. Lots of people were standing in the middle aisle for 8 hours even while the bus was tossing and turning up the mountains. No divertido!
Xela was a very colorful town filled with lots of markets that had a variety of fresh fruits, veggies, scarfs, hats, earrings, etc. Wondering around you would see many ladies selling these products while carrying baskets on their heads. Lots of babies would be strapped into slings on their mothers back and most of the time they would be there all day long. I even saw children that had to be 2-3 years old riding on motorcycles seated in front of a parent. It looked pretty loco to me. Women and children are dressed in their culture wear which is extremely colorful and so pretty. There are lots of local shops found along the stone covered streets in the town. It was drastically colder then Belize but it wasn’t too bad. A jacket was needed for the night and some of the days.
In Xela we decided to hike Volcán de Chicabal. We caught a van bus by flagging down the people that are hanging out of the side of the doors hollering. Only 5 quetzales (64 cents) for the ride! Guatemala is super cheap because the ratio is 7.84 US dollars to 1 quetzal!
The van took us into the city that was about 25 min away and then got out and started hiking. Luckily a man in a pickup truck picked us up and took us to where we needed to go. It took about 2 hours to climb up the mountain, and then we climbed down 598 steps of hell. It did end up being worth it though because it led us to the Mayan Alters. They were just stunning! The Mayans make alters when asking for something from a deceased relative or ancestor or when praying for a family member as well as giving thanks.
Two more hours and we were back where we started but by this time we were all soaking wet, tired and hungry. After finding our bus back all we wanted was some food and a hot shower. When we got back to our hostel and were about to take a shower it started to rain again and the power went out. No bueno. Amy made a wild prediction that it would come back on at 6:28pm and oddly enough it did. We were all VERY happy and thankful for the HOT water! Later we went to the carnival that was set up during Holy Week to get some tosadas and ponche de leche before watching our first of many processions.
We stayed in Xela for about 2 days and 3 nights before it was time to make it to our next destination, Antigua. Antigua was about 5 hours away which in itself was an adventure because we rode a chicken bus the entire way there. My advice to you: NEVER ever ever ride a chicken bus, if you don’t have to. It’s super cheap for a reason. There were 3-4 people crammed into a tiny leather seat while others were standing. Not a lot of space at all. To top it all off we were going up a mountain so during the curves you would be hanging on for dear life in order to not go flying across the aisle. And YES I saw boxes on people’s laps that were carrying chickens hence the name of the buses. SO thankful when we arrived to Antigua and praying I would never have to experience that nausea again.
Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a prime time to be in Guatemala. Antigua is the best place to be due to all the cultural and religious traditions. We were able to witness many incredible Catholic Holy Week processions that commemorate the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each procession tells a story and we got to see all of them. What is really cool about the processions is that no matter where you are at, whenever the procession would pass by, people would stop what they were doing and pay reverence until it passed. The entire city participates with processions and receives thousands of national and international visitors.
We were fortunate that Megan booked our hostel way back in October or we would have a hard time finding a place to stay! It was a really great hostel with a wonderful owner, Blanca who made great breakfast! And it only cost $8 per night!
When we arrived in Antigua, we explored the town and then went to bed really early so we could wake up at 12 am to see the beginning of the carpets being made. The carpets or alfombras are made out of colorful sawdust or flowers and decorate the streets of the city. People spend hours making these as an offering so that the procession has something soft to walk on.
When we started wondering around town we saw a variety of carpets, all with intricate designs and the most beautiful patterns. No carpet looked the same as the next and usually had a team working on it. Sadly, it started to rain and many carpets were flooded and destroyed. The people patiently waited until the rain stopped and started on new ones.
By 3 am, we heard a procession was going to start so we made our way towards one of the churches. By 4 am, the church opened the doors and we went inside to watch. The procession started with a couple songs, the Our Father and a Hail Mary. It is a HUGE honor to be in the procession and men, women and families have to pay to be in it. Humongous floats that are made of mahogany are carried throughout the town. Floats of Jesus are carried by about 30 men, on each side dressed in robes. Each man is assigned a number so that they can rotate. Floats of Mary are carried by about 35 women on each side. They are dressed in veils and also have a number to rotate. Many of them are in high heels.
Every procession I saw included floats and bands. Depending on what day it was in Holy Week and what story was being told determined what was in the procession. For instance on Holy Thursday, I saw many men dressed as Roman Soldiers and on horses as well as the Stations of the Cross being carried. On Good Friday it was very sorrowful and the men and women were all dressed in black. Holy Saturday was really neat because everyone had a candle and there was tons of incense. Mary was in black mourning the death of her son. Easter Sunday of course was very lively and colorful with lots of joyful music and dancing because HE has Risen! ALLELUIA!
By 6 am the procession was heading to other parts of the town and we made our way over to Siggy’s store. Cali heard about Siggy from a friend and was told to find her store to meet her and to learn about out all the hot spots of the town. Siggy invited us to help make a carpet for the procession and we all eagerly agreed! We meet some really awesome people and the entire carpet making process was a lot of fun! The design was already planned out so we just had to follow suit. We leveled the stone road, covered it with blue saw dust, put on the designs with stencils and decorated the outside with flowers. It took us about 5 hours to complete and was walked over in minutes which was kind of sad but I guess that’s why we made it.
By the time that procession had passed we were all extremely tired since it was about 2 in the afternoon and we all had been up since 12 am so we went back to the hostel to sleep! The rest of that day was a blur. Holy Saturday was spent exploring churches, the market, watching more processions and having a dinner party with other Guatemalans Molly met on the bus. Easter Sunday we went to mass, climbed Cerro de la Cruz (Hill of the cross), watched the last procession and celebrated the Lord by dancing the night away!
On Monday, the 25th of April we said goodbye to Grace and Megan who went their separate ways which left Amy, Cali, Molly and I bound for Flores! We woke up super early to catch the 5 am bus which ended up being another chicken bus and this time for the first few stops I was again hanging on for dear life because I was standing in the doorway with my backpack out as the bus was moving. Luckily some people got off and the bus driver threw my bag on his side so I could squish in the aisle.
We made our way back to Guate City and caught a bus to Flores. Oh my goodness, I remember it being so hot and while we were riding along Amy turned to me and said, “I have a feeling this bus is going to have a flat tire.” I replied with, “Don’t say things like that!” and soon enough she was correct. Fortunately, we were close to a repair shop and they had it fixed in less than 30 min!
Flores was a cute little island filled with thin cobblestone streets, brightly colored buildings, a historic church and Spanish plaza! It was very quiet and peaceful. Everything that was needed is in walking distance including nearby grocery stores and restaurants not to mention ice cream parlors! There are also many swimming docs to cool off at!
We spent a day relaxing in Flores and then headed to Tikal because we wanted to see the most famous Mayan ruins in Guatemala! When we made it to our bungalow in Tikal, the receptionist said that he gave our room away! Luckily we figured something out and spent the nice evening playing cards, telling stores and drinking Gallo.
We woke up at 4 am for our sunrise hike in the Mayan ruins! It was pretty neat to see the ancient ruins and hear the stories about them. We also got to see a holler monkey and other interesting birds. By the time our tour was over at 9 am, my friends wanted to continue and walk around the park but I was pretty done. So I took the bus back to Flores and tried to check into the hostel we reserved the night before but get this, the hostel lady said we didn’t have any reservations and in my horrible Spanish I explained to her that we were here yesterday and we paid for a room. She showed me her book and said my name wasn’t on it and walked away. While she was away, I looked at the book and noticed all of our names were whited out. How rude! When she came back, I explained that to her and she took me to a 6 person room in which I said we paid for a 4 and finally she gave me one. Apparently it was an upgrade but man that was frustrating especially since it had to be done in Spanish.
It was our last night in Flores before Amy and I parted ways with Cail and Molly. We had a good time going for a swim, hanging out, having drinks(Brava was my favorite beer in Guatemala) and playing cards! Amy and I left Flores at 5 am and headed back to Belize! Originally I was going to go to the Spanish Lookout Mountain with Amy but I really wanted to go to the beach so we spent the last of my trip in Caye Caulker. We relaxed on the beach, swam, karaoked, danced and had a lovely time. It was a perfect way to end a grand adventure!
My trip home seemed like I blinked and I was back in Colorado welcomed by snow. Probably because I slept on all the flights and didn’t have any delays while transferring planes. The last week of school at STM, I got to present my trip of Belize and Guatemala to 75 1st graders. They were so attentive and it made them really excited to travel and help people someday. Although at the end of my presentation I asked the kids if they had any questions and these were my most memorable answers, “When you were in that one country, what jammies did you wear?” and “Miss Hutton, did you fly continental?” They make me smile!
I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I loved Guatemala! Someday you should go and experience the beauty of Holy Week there!
All my love,
L
