The Beach at Monterrico

So, since we both love the beach, Mom and I decided to head off to the sun and black sand beaches of Monterrico, Guatamala's only nice Pacific side beach. Just two hours from Antigua, Monterrico was hot but wonderful! The town was very small and since we were there not only in the off season but also during the week, there were not very many people around.

The above pictures are from our hotel's restraunt/lounge.

So, I think all we did our first day (and pretty much everyday after that too) was sit on the beach, decide we were hot, go swimming in the ocean (the water was not warm, but since the temperature was in the 90s it was very cool and refreshing), lay on the beach more or go park in the hammocks in the right hand picture. Sprinkle in having a drink or two, taking a nap and reading all day long and you pretty much had our Monterrico life!

Lent Processions

Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a big deal in Catholic countries. Unfortuately February is not the right time of year to catch the Semana Santa festivities. However, I think we got second best, which is the Lent processions that happen around Antigua. The processions happen every Sunday during the Lent season, which culminate with Semana Santa. The major surrounding churches have processions (parades) that go all through Antigua. Two things make these processions unlike anything you will see in the U.S.

First, the floats are CARRIED(!) by about 20 men throughout the streets, although we think they switch off. The carriers are the guys dressed in the purple robes (don't ask about the oddly KKK look to them, I have no idea).

Here is the main float, which was about 15 feet long. The men seemed to be struggling to keep it going and were grimacing. Every 20 feet or so they would stop walking and sway the float back and forth a couple of times. I'm not sure but the grimacing and swaying might have been to replicate JC's experience.

The air is not smoky, it's incense.

Not to be outdone, the ladies also had their own float (although smaller). They did the grimacing and rocking as well.

The parade was also joined by a band.

The other things that you will never see in an U.S. parade were the alfombras (al-foam-bras) which is translated as rugs. So, when my mom kept telling me that they lay these rugs down, I literally pictured the streets lined with wool rugs! Not quite the case, but the reality was cooler then a bunch of rugs. Alfombras in this case are pine needles in the shape of a rug, that are decorated with flowers, fruit, vegetables, and other organic materials which are decorating the procession route. Apparently the people who live on the route do the decorations. The sad thing is that the decorations are destroyed when the parade goes by.

People

Come on, I'm a social worker, of course I'm looking at the people. The people were super nice! All of them were so gracious about letting us use Spanish (and not automatically converting to English) and patient with trying to understand us!

Guatemalan women seem to be very much connected to their traditional dress. The men not so much. The traditional outfit is a hupil (who-peel) which is the shirt made of multicolored fabrics and then embroidered around the neck. This embroidery work is stunning and is often flowers, but I also saw birds, people, and geometric designs. The skirts are one long piece of fabric and then tied with a sash that is also beautifully embroidered. Everything is very brightly colored and patterned. Shoes were usually sandals of some kind.

One tricky thing about the people is that they either don't want their picture taken or they want to be paid for it. The going rate seemed to be 5 quetzals (about $0.75). Usually I would include it in my barganing when I bought something from someone. This lady sold me my camera case, and I paid more than she asked for the privelidge. Not only is this a careful negotiation, you also have to know when to ask. A lot of Guatamalans frown on Americans taking pictures of their children This is apparently born out of concern that Americans only want to steal or adopt the children and taking pictures is seen as scouting. I have to say that this doesn't seem altogether paranoid to me, we saw a lot of white parents with latino looking babies!

And who wouldn't want to take their pictures, the childen were super cute! These pictures were taken at a market in Antigua and the mother was very friendly and gracious when I asked. The girls were playing on their own in the first picture and then posed for me in the second, I'm not sure which one is my favorite.

These kids were pusing thier cart along the cobblestone streets of Antigua one morning. They were cute and clearly responsible, I couldn't resist! They seemed amused by the tourists.

The Campey Family- our wonderful hosts

My mom found these people through a friend and they were wonderful additions to our trip. They rented our room to us and fed us for about $15 a week! The mother, Libia, was a wonderful conversationalist and was very easy to understand! The father, Carlos, was very welcoming and always had time to answer our questions. They also had two girls living with them who were students, Shalom and Crisitina. They lived in Antigua during the day and were doing practicum work in teaching in one of the nearby towns. They were sweet girls who left us little notes of well wishes! (Left to Right below: Cristina, Shirley (another American guest), Libia, Mom, Shalom, and me)

Interstingly the family had three biological children and then adopted 9 children who were orphaned by Guatamala's 36 year civil war which killed 200,000 people and displaced more than 1 million people! This is a very touchy subject for most people and the wounds are still fresh. Carlos was our one Guatamalan who would talk about it, which was better than any textbook or newspaper.

The star of the household is their parrot, Bartolo. He was quite a character and would talk, mostly saying his own name!

Here is a picture of their house and mom in our bedroom!

A little about Antigua

So, our home base for the trip was Antigua, which is about 45 minutes to the southwest of Guatamala City. My mom had been there volunteering for two weeks already and was finishing up whne I arrived. Antigua is a cute city, pretty walkable with cobblestone streets and nice plazas and churches (pretty standard Latin American fare). The famous structure of the town is this arch, el Arco de Santa Catalina, which was part of an old convent. Built in 1694 it allowed nuns living on either side of the street to cross without being seen.

The other remarkable thing is the volcanos that surround Antigua. There are three major ones in the vicinity of Antigua. The one that loomed most for me was Agua, which most of the time you could not see because the top was covered by clouds! This is the one picture that I got of Agua, taken from our bedroom. Ironically, this was taken the one and only day of rain we had the entire time!

Click on the slideshow to see other sites of Antigua inlcuding the yellow Merced Church, the Arch at night, a pretty fountain, a couple of shots of the main square and cathedral, and other goodies!