Quetzaltenango

We left the balmy shore of Lake Atitlan by van yesterday in pursuit of a place a little more authentic, a place owned and inhabited by more Guatemaltecos and less expatriots with a grudge agains the U.S and a propensity to study metaphysics. A place with more spanish language schools and tortillerias than back packer night clubs and gringo holistic healers.

Atitlan was wonderful, especially on our side of the lake where the tourists were less abundant and our breakfasts were made of only organic ingredients taken right from the gardens in front of the restaurant itself. A highlight was our early morning boat ride to San Pedro La Laguna to meet our first pair of Spanish teachers. We shared the small outboard powered launch with more than a dozen local kids who had a weekend lesson in larger San Pedro that they couldn´t normally attend on the weekdays. They were crammed in the boat, greatly outnumbering the lifejackets onboard, and spent the ride talking and giggling just like kids on a school bus at home except they were speaking a language almost as old as the volcanos looming above and known only to thier small portion of the lake. Where we were headed across the lake another Mayan language is spoken. In Guatemala there are over 20 different indigenous dialects. The boys were dressed in ratty sneakers, jeans and American t-shirts while the girls all wore the colorful and glittery home made traditional long dresses and blouses. Their Spanish, a second language to them, was good but their English was limited due to the lack of available teachers in the poor indeginous areas of Guatemala which is the majority of this impoverished country.

Finding transportation to our next destination was easy. Instead of taking the $2.50 chicken bus with our bags strapped to the top we splurged and spent $40 dollars for a two and a half hour van shuttle from Panajachel up to the CA-1 highway (Parts of the corrider that link North to Central America are still dirt) to Quetzaltenango, commonly known as Xela. On short notice we arranged for a two week immersion course which entails ten days of one on one instruction, five hours a day, and the hospitality of a host family just up the narrow streets from the school to feed and shelter us.

We both agreed that having dinner last night with our new Guatemalan family was one of the most incredible traveling experiences either of us have ever had. The house is a typical ubran dwelling with a central open air common area, in this case it is used to store a dusty beat up truck that will never run again, a questionably functioning washing machine and piles of collected junk of minimal usefullness. Around the courtyard is a kitchen with gas stove, a bathroom with hot water and a living room with couches and TV all entered through separate doors. We have our own room with a bed and a shelf and today they´re finding a lamp for us. The also provide us with purified drinking water aware that the local tap water will give our uninitated GI tracts Montezuma´s Revenge.

The mother had to work last night so her eldest daughter still at home prepared fried plantains and beans for us which we immensely enjoyed with star fruit juice and a warm nutritve drink that resembled porridge which we think was made from corn and sugar. We spent the entire evening trying to communicate with twin 15 year old brothers and their 20 year old sister with very limited skills in our Spanish and their English. After sharing the names of all the horror moves we´ve seen, fruits and animals typical to Maine and Guatemala and favorite music, we retired to the living room to watch the Exorcism of Amy Rose which scared the bejesus out of the brothers (and Sorch). We fell asleep exhausted but excited to start our fourth day of Spanish lessons and our first at the much larger school here in Xela. There are upwards of 80 students matched with local teachers here this week.

More to come...