Semanta Santa

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. Things at work have been incredibly busy, and I went out of town for about a week. Here is what I've been up to since you last read one of my delightful blogs.

- Found my passport (for real this time). One night I left my computer cord at The Palapa and ran up there kind of late. When I was leaving Kyle Jacks (dude who put up the flyers about my passport) called me and said he was actually hanging out at The Palapa and had my passport and drivers license with him. I got the Tuk Tuk to turn around and stopped to grab my passport. Apparently he just typed the wrong email on the flyer.

- My upstairs neighbors directed and acted in a play in town that was made up of a group of retired tourist from the States. It was probably one of the funniest things I have seen in awhile. Heather and I kept looking at each other and saying "Thank God you're here because I would have no idea how to explain this to you".

- I made homemade falafels. I was really proud of myself for figuring out how to make them!

- The whole house smelled horrible for hours, so I'll never make homemade falafels again.

- 2 of our volunteers Cheryl and Jim went to Mexico to renew their visas, so I got to puppy sit their 2 ADORABLE puppies! They are both incredibly little and I loved taking them down to the lake several days in a row. The smallest one is too little to walk around town, so he had to be carried in a purse.

- Cheryl and Jim announced that they are actually leaving Salud y Paz and moving to Honduras to start a clinic there. I had been getting really close to both of them lately, so it was really hard to hear that they were leaving. Today at work we had a meeting to figure out what them leaving looked like for the clinic. I don't think anyone realized how much they both did until that meeting. I am going to miss having them around, but am looking forward to visiting them in Honduras!

- I also spent 5 days in Xela last week celebrating Semana Santa (Holy Week). Here are about 50 of my favorite pictures from the week. Know that even though that is a lot of pictures I could have easily added about 100 more.

On Wednesday I took a chicken bus to Xela by myself. It actually was a pretty easy bus ride which I was a little worried about because you sometimes hear about scary things happening on chicken buses. The embassy sent out a warning stating that Americans are not suppose to ride them anymore. However, it is pretty much the only way to travel around Guatemala unless you want to spend money on shuttles, so I still take them pretty often.

When I got to Xela the bus let me off at the big bus terminal and Heather and Jose came and picked me up in Jose's car. Xela is the 2nd biggest city in Guatemala and it is where another one of our clinics is located. A lot of our Guatemalan staff live in Xela and it is where Guatemala Tours (company that we get all of our translators and drivers from) is located.

Wednesday night we went downtown to the central park in Xela and hung out with friends. I met a couple of drivers that I hadn't worked with before and some of Jose's family. It was fun to be back in a city and actually go to a restaurant that looked like it could be in Texas. Pana is so small and touristy that I really loved being back in a city for awhile.

Thursday morning we drove for about an hour to get to Las Fuentes Georginas which are natural hot springs outside of Xela. The sulfer smell reminded me so much of the hot springs I go to every summer in Pagosa Springs. Actually driving around Guatemala often reminds me of Colorado. It gives me a comforted homey feeling that I love. This waterfall was beautiful and flowed into the hottest of the springs.

There were 3 different temperature springs and this one was the hottest. We went into the 2nd hottest one for awhile then were able to finally get into the hottest one for a few minutes.

Check out all the fog landing over the valley behind Heather and I. I have only seen Twilight once, but I swear this is where they filmed the horrible movies.

On the way back to Xela we stopped at a couple of famous churches. This one I have seen on a lot of postcards. The name of this church is San Andres Xecul and the arch out front is for their Good Friday celebration.

Here is the other beautiful church we stopped at on the way back to the city. This is La Ermita de la Concepcion and it is the oldest church in Guatemala. We couldn't go inside because it was closed, but it was beautiful to walk around and look at the outside.

Friday morning we again drove for about an hour and went to Laguna de Chikabal. It is a lake that is located in the crater of a volcano. We drove as far as we could in Jose's car then had to park and hike the rest of the way. We were told that it cost Q100 to take a pick up truck up to the top of the volcano to get to the steps that lead down to the lake. We decided that it wasn't worth the Q400, so instead we just hiked. It took about an hour and a half, but we finally climbed to the top of the volcano.

This is the view of the lake from the top of the volcano.

After hiking down to the lake we sat for awhile (you know to catch our breath and not pass out). It was beautiful and we just sat there for a long time watching the fog fall over the lake. There were Mayan Alters set up all around the lake. You are not allowed to swim in the lake because it is suppose to be sacred. I think this arch was set up for Good Friday.

There were crosses all around the lake. I could probably post 30 pictures on here of just crosses.

 

Mayan Alter. There were probably about 15 of these set up around the lake. 

 

Heather and I decided that we were going to try to take as many roommate pictures as we could during the week... get excited.

These are the stairs we had to walk down to the lake and then back up to the top of the volcano to then hike down to the village where the car was parked.

There were 500 steps. Yes we were completely exhausted once we finally got to the top. I was in front of the group and laughed so hard because every time I had to stop to take a break I would look behind me and see Heather and Jose 1 and Jose 2 also stopped and exhausted. I got to the top about 5 minutes before the rest of the group and explained that I just wanted it to be over with, so I knew the faster I climbed the sooner it would be over. So exhausting.

Once we got to the top of the stairs we then had to hike down the volcano. It started pouring down rain and we all took our turns slipping while hiking down. When we got to the rest stop half way down we stopped to get a snack and saw that the pick up truck was there asking if we wanted a ride the rest of the way down. That's when we realized that it actually only cost Q100 for our whole group and not Q100 each. That means that for only about $3 we could have rode in the pick up truck to the beginning of the steps. Heather and I laughed because we discovered that we both were contemplating paying the Q400 on the way up because we were so tired. Needless to say we paid the $3 each and rode in the back of the truck the rest of the way down. Look how happy Heather and I look to be in the truck and not hiking down in the rain.

So after we got back to Xela and cleaned up we headed back to downtown to watch the Good Friday Processions. I learned that here in Guatemala they celebrate Good Friday, but not Easter. Everyone goes all out for the Good Friday Processions, but then they don't really even go to church on Easter Sunday. It is odd to me that they will celebrate the death of Jesus, but not his resurrection. However, I thought the processions were beyond beautiful. I started to cry when I saw the first one because I had a moment where I realized how lucky I was to be standing there in Guatemala with good friends watching something so beautiful. I wish I could always be in Guatemala to watch these processions on Good Friday then home in Houston to go to the sunrise service with my family and friends who I love and miss so much.

These are the carpets that each church makes. Apparently there were fewer than previous years, but I thought the ones I saw were gorgeous. They are made out of sand and dried flowers.

This procession was the first one that we went to. Jose was in it the past 2 years and this year his niece and nephew were in it.

I can't think of a better word for this than a float which I hate to call it. However, I think that's the best word for it no matter how tacky it is. Anyways, these guys take turns carrying the "floats" which were all so amazing. I thought it was interesting that they just walked over the carpets.

After watching our first procession we walked to the central park downtown to watch several more. There was a full moon that was so beautiful and lit up the central park. I wish you could tell from this picture how many people were in the park. There were thousands of people who showed up to watch the processions.

This was one of my favorite processions. Partly due to the funny hats, but mostly because of all the candles. This church along with their main "floats" also had the stages of the cross "floats".

It was about to start raining, so we moved to stand in the doorway of a bar in case we had to run inside to get out of the rain. This is one of my favorite photos from the night. Look how cool the "float" is. We saw about 8 different churches and each church had several "floats".

I thought this one was really pretty with the different angels.

Another favorite.

It started getting cold, so I wrapped up in my scarf. Heather thought I looked so ridiculous that she took a picture. Between my scarf and my wet rain jacket around my waist I really think I am developing a great fashion sense here in Guatemala.

This was the last church and I thought it was one of the best. The men carrying the "floats" would sway back and forth and they were almost always followed by a small band. All the extra guys carrying the candles had number patches on their robes identifying what group they were a part of. Every once in awhile they would switch out the groups, so everyone got a break from carrying it since it was so heavy.

I really like this picture with the "float" in the background.

Saturday morning we went to Takalik Abaj which are some Mayan Ruins about an hour and a half outside of Xela. I have been wanting to go to some ruins since I moved here, but haven't had the chance to yet. I was really excited when I was asked if I wanted to go for the day. Our tour guide only spoke Spanish, so Heather had to translate to me everything that he was saying. This picture makes me laugh so much because it was the first picture taken at the ruins. We both look completely bored and over the tour, but this was the first rock of the tour. You can't tell, but we actually had a really good time at this park.

 

Our guide thought I needed a picture with these orange and green berry things. He even positioned me this way after I tried to take a picture just standing next to the branch which he didn't like. 

Look at us rebels climbing down into the pit next to the ruins to take a picture.

Heather told me that the guide was telling us to touch this rock, but I didn't believe her at first. She kept telling me to stand on the rocks just to try to get me in trouble. Who knows if anything she translated was the truth. Turns out this was the only rock we were allowed to touch.

Do you see a little dude with 3 legs riding a turtle? I can't remember what this actually was (I'm almost positive it wasn't a 3 legged dude on a turtle), but I often thought my interpretations of the rocks were funnier than what the guide was telling us.

The park was a member of the Rainforest Alliance, so I can officially say I have walked through the rain forest!!

This is stadium seating (no, but really) for Mayan ceremonies and rituals that used to take place.

Proof that I have been in the rain forest!!

This is a little pregnant statue. There were 4 of them that symbolized fertility, and this one was the last one (aka the most pregnant one).

I decided I needed a picture of me by the preggers Mayan chick to send to Kimmie who is one of my best friends who just happens to be pregnant right now.

Next we went to the zoo area of the park. I am usually anti zoo (animals in tiny cages bother me) and most of the time wouldn't choose to go to one, but I made an exception for the Guatemalan Mayan animals. Look at the little Pumbas (Lion King... get it??).

Check out this little monkey just chilling by the fence. This picture makes me laugh because you can see Jose in the background.

This bird is called the bone breaker. I thought it was only fitting to take it's picture seeing as though I too am a bone breaker. The number of bones I have broken has to be a world record (and if not the number then at least the idiotic way I break them could break records).

Stadium seating and the ritual spot in front of it.

I found this yellow heart leaf on the ground and Heather said "It's pretty and you're black we have to take a picture". When I got off the chicken bus back to Pana it was broken in my backpack... sad.

This is a chocolate tree. Who knew chocolate pod thingys grew out of the trunk?

My favorite part of the ruins. These ruins date back to 125 AC. It was amazing to be walking around these ruins knowing how old they were and imagining all the rituals and sacrifices that must have taken place there throughout the years. It makes me really eager to visit more ruins around Guatemala.

 

Sunday after lunch Heather and I headed back to Pana. The direct chicken bus from Xela to Pana wasn't at the terminal, so we had to take a different bus. We walked through the terminal trying to decide which bus could get us closest to Pana and while we walked around guys would grab your arm and try to force you to get on their bus (the more passengers the more money they make). We hopped on the back of one then was told there wasn't anymore room even though there was a seat open. We finally found a seat on one bus that would take us to Los Encuentros from which we would have to take 2 additional chicken buses to Pana. 

We got on the bus and after awhile had to share the seat with 2 other girls (imagine the most crowded bus you have ever been on then add 150 more people and that is what a normal chicken bus looks like). When our stop was coming up I had to stand on top of our seat and try to get my bags down from the rack above while the bus was still driving around sharp curves, so I was falling everywhere. Then they stopped the bus for about 30 seconds and when we couldn't get out of our seat to either one of the doors in that time they started driving again. Heather started yelling in Spanish (she later told me she was yelling at people to move and for the driver to stop the bus) and we kept trying to push our way off the bus. We were in the middle of the bus and had to climb over everyone to get off the back of the bus. I was literally stepping on people's laps and climbing over seats to get off the bus. It slowed down a little, but not much when Heather and I jumped off the back of the bus. It was one of the scariest situations I have been in here. I told Heather that if she wasn't with me I probably would have ended up just going to Guatemala City. 

We found the next 2 buses we needed to get home to Pana and decided when we got back to town to go to church. We got off the last bus right at 4 which is when Soloman's Porch starts, so we just walked in with our bags. It was a smaller crowd because so many people travel during Semana Santa, but it felt good to go to church on Easter. 

So this blog just took me about 4 1/2 hours to write. Between uploading the pictures and writing everything down it takes a lot to write a blog. Sorry this one was so long. I'm using my blog as my personal journal, so even if I don't think it is really entertaining I still want to write it down to remember everything. Hope you all had a beautiful Easter!