5 days in Guatemala was packed with it's own excitement. My friend Athena's cousin, Carolina, is Guatemalteco. She waited for me at the airport on Sunday morning, with the intent of taking me to the tourist mecca of Antigua, and perhaps a quick lunch. Instead, Carolina took me to her friends' house in Antigua for lunch (a very interesting Guatemalan/Swiss Israeli Jewish couple) where my first meal was Polish dumplings and onions. Their house was centered around a courtyard with a small pool, open to the sky to see the top portion of a beautiful volcano. Unbelievable. She then drove me up the mountain to Earth Lodge (www.earthlodgeguatemala.com), and against her better judgement, walked with me to this place "stuck in the 70's" as she said. It was Sunday, so there was an Americana musician and a BBQ and I really thought I had walked in to a secret summer camp open only to backpackers. Carolina walked me to my treehouse, nestled high in an oak tree with a private deck overlooking the valley below, and then I walked her back to her car, about half mile UP a hill. The entire time I wondered two things- one, is Carolina ever going to speak to me again, and two- how am I going to lug my backpack up this hill on Wednesday?
As is true of many places that are difficult to get to, Earth Lodge did not disappoint. Aside from the fabulous food and staff, the beauty was somewhat unreal. The land spans a semi flat area which is an avocado farm, with an elevation of about 6000 feet, overlooking the Antigua valley roughly 1000 feet below. In full view are Volcan Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango. They spend much of the day cloaked with clouds, but in the early early morning, they take up the entire 180 degree landscape. Earth Lodge is situated to always drink in these views. If you are lucky, you can see Fuego sputter smoke and lava.
I really thought I would just stick around the treehouse and lodge, gawk at the view, eat enormous family style vegetarian meals cooked by a lovely Louisianan chef, and relax. But a collective group of solo travelers had a different idea about how our time would be spent. At breakfast I was invited to join them for a walk to the waterfall. I'm in some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen in the world, how can I refuse this? Without asking too many questions, I tagged along. We traced our way back up the hill to the 'road', and took a left onto what to me, at first, looked like any old hiking trail. What I didn't realize is that there were several villages both up to the right, and down to the left of this trail. Within a few minutes of hiking, we came across several groups of Mayans in traditional wear, many of them children, carrying stacks of flowers, wood, and other crops on their heads. Panting and sweating in our hiking shoes (except for our solo male who hiked barefoot), they stepped aside to let us pass, wearing plastic sandals.We hiked through corn fields and flower fields, through oak trees, pine trees and more. The views were astounding. It was hot, our map was homemade, and a few times I truly thought I should stop, but thought it better to stay with the group no matter how slow or how tired I was. Four and a half hours later, after seeing a small trickle of a stream, we were back at Earthlodge, and I had a bit of an emotional moment. I was slow, I hurt, but I felt so good knowing that 4 months ago, I would NEVER have been able to do this.2 months ago I could start to imagine it. In essence...my body is healing.
The next two mornings, I braved the hill again, this time to volunteer at the El Hato school. It's summer break in Guatemala right now, so it was more like summer camp. We made decorations and masks and hats for dia de los muertos and Halloween. The kids were sooooo sweet, the volunteers and teachers wonderful. Earth Lodge has a partnership with the school, and will house and feed long term volunteers who work part time at the lodge as well. This is most definitely on my list of future possibilites.
Wednesday after volunteering, I took the collectivo back to Antigua with new friends, who all just happened to be staying at the same hostel. It was Halloween, and Antigua (and our hostel, unfortunately) was quite the party. Halloween isn't really that popular in Latin America, so we didn't see too many costumes on local people. The next day, Dia de Los Muertos, is THE big holiday. I was very happy I'd decided to go to sleep early to maximize this experience.
Guatemala celebrates Dia de los Muertos in a different way than in Mexico, with kites instead of skeletons. There are two big kite festivals, one in Santiago Sacatepequez, and one in Sumpango Sacatepequez. Carolina offered to take me with her family to Sumpango. I was up much earlier than my travel companions, who had booked shuttles to Santiago after breakfast.I didn't know the difference, and didn't care much, as I would be experiencing it with locals, and trusted them completely. All I knew was that Sumpango was the smaller festival. Carolina and her two sisters and 11 yr old niece collected me at about 7 am, and we got to the fairgrounds shortly thereafter. There were already about 7 kites up. The rest were in various stages. The kites I am speaking of are not the small ones that children fly at the beach. These kites are 60 meters in diameter, made of tissue paper and glue to create somewhat of a story quilt. Once all erected, they are displayed the way teachers organize their students for school photos, tallest ones in back, shortest in front. It is quite an ordeal, and one taken quite seriously. Having a child along enriched the experience tenfold, and all day, the sisters were speaking to me in English to explain things. The youngest sister cracked herself up regularly with her own Spanglish. "Que beautiful" she exclaimed when we walked up the hill to capture all of the kites up, volcano in the background. For this, we all laughed.
We spent about 4 hours (seems like the magic number) at the festival, and left for friend's of Carolina's in Mixto, about an hour away. They serve traditional fiambre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiambre) for dia de los muertos. I had no idea what to expect, and suddenly we were in a gated community with guards, and I was immersed in a Guatemala that I have never seen. The community was up a mountain (shocking, I know) in the forest. Everyone at the party was absolutely lovely and a bit formal. There were roughly 30 people there, and each time someone new arrived, they would pass around the outdoor tables kissing everyone on the cheek and greeting them. At one point, for my benefit, the entire table switched their conversation to English, which was kind, yet also surprising, as in my many many experiences in Guatemala, I've never been around a group this large who were all proficient in English. The food was as good as the company, though I didn't try the fiambre. But several plates of food, glasses of wine, and delicious desserts, and I was about ready to pass out at the table. Going back to the hostel and sharing experiences with new friends was wonderful. "The Book" speaks of both festivals, but what they fail to mention is that the Santiago festival actually happens IN a cemetery. Apples and oranges. But it certainly made for good picture swapping!
I had dinner with Nancy and Anna last night in Antigua, and said goodbye to them this morning to get on an early shuttle to Lago de Atitlan. Choosing a village to stay in was difficult, and I finally settled on San Marcos, which is sort of the "yoga hippie" town. When we approached the dock, there was a 60ish year old American man with a big white beard, long hair, and a tie dye shirt squatting down talking to a friend. He had a bone in his pocket. Yes. A bone. A large bone that I could not identify. He was swigging on a bottle of local hooch, discussing with his friend how he'd gone to Antigua for the day and the entire time he missed San Marcos, because "it's really the only place where these things are happening." I must admit, I was intrigued. Probably not for the same reasons (or substances) he was, but amused nonetheless. So I'm exploring this interesting place, dotted with Holistic centers, yoga workshops, weaving cooperatives and bizarre mixes of music, wandering through it's unpaved trails (here we go again) through coffee and avocado farms, and have stumbled across a restaurant with proper internet called Blind Lemon's, full of Mississippi delta art and music, feeling a little nostalgic for home, but mostly glad to just have a few minutes to myself on the internet before I have blackened fish and head to bed. I will attempt to add photos- if not now, then when I get to Quetzaltenango (Xela) on Sunday. I'm looking forward to reuniting with my host family there (and experiencing the surprise), and with Pauline, too!
Time for some Cajun.
Hugs.
2 comments:
So glad you decided to go to Kite Festival. Looks amazing.
Love it! Wish I could have joined you!
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