Chichi #2

So some people stayed in the markets, most of us went to climb the uh, "mountain". It was really more of a hill, on the top of which was another random Mayan ritual, which basically involved a continuous fire, mostly stoked by stacks of charcoal discs wrapped in cornhusks. They also apparently enjoyed casting their garbage down the side of a hill. We weren't really supposed to take pictures of the little ritual or the people up there- Mayans are bit more skittish about cameras than usual Guatemalans (Guatemaltecos). We could see the town from up there, and the very colorful cemetery. But it was basically a hill.

The cemetery from up on the hill:

A random table selling knives:

The metal and tarp roofs of the market:

A picture of the barking dog across the street that I just murdered while I was typing this:

(there's no picture- it was too gruesome...)

The steps of the church from where I took the pictures.

Pretty self-explanatory.

Seriously I'm gonna kill that barking dog.

On the way down we checked out another San Simon random hut where you can give more money and see walls covered with masks. Yyyyyyyyyeah. We also saw this little hillside that was being farmed, and saw piles of cow dung and wondered how they got up the hill. We found out, when we saw what I like to call the brick factory- it was the complete circle of life basically. There was a cow, tied to a tree, with its little calf over on the side. All around the cow the ground was covered in poop, which a dude was picking up, with bare hands, in giant mounds and stuffing in a huge canvas sack, and carrying up the hill to fertilize the little field. And he probably fed the cow what he grew, so the cow could make more poop. It was a brick factory because they also mixed the poop with dried grass and packed it into bricks, and they had both pre-brick clumps but also bricks and next to them a building made with the bricks. I bet your house kinda smells when it rains.

The masks on the walls, and hanging from the ceiling!

Oh San Simon. You are so comical. Why are you smoking?

Guy packing cow crap in his bag. Sick.

Brick-shaped clumps hanging out on the ground...

Poop-bricks!

And the finished product, a poop-brick building!

On the way down I saw the largest plant I've ever seen. The leaves were wider than my body and taller than me. After we headed down we gathered together after wandering the markets a bit, to go have some din-din (thats not a Guatemalan thing I just mean dinner...but come to think of it it was more like late lunch). Then we scooted out of town back from whence we came.

Us in the marketplace.

Probably my dad's favorite picture the whole trip:

Chichicastenango #1

A beautiful view of a hillside full of trash next to a road.

We drove to the next town after the waterfall. Here's a few pictures from driving:

The typical Guatemalan highway through the mountains- mostly dirt, being constructed as we speak.

More terraced landscapes.

Another uh... "carpool".

Us like well-behaved sardines in the ca-errrr-van.

A traffic jam. And my dad and Brie hanging out in the front seat.

Then we got to Chichicastenango. Apparently its kinda touristy. So yeah, it was. Oh well. We're tourists, after all, right :) So we went to a spensive hotel (like $80-100 a night- pretty pricey for Guatemala!) where they had a marimba band on the balcony, sweet courtyards, and random stands with macaws and parrots on them. Stayed there for awhile listening to music and watching the birds.

Love bird, I think?

The great courtyard. A water fountain in the middle.

More lovebirds, if thats what they are.

One of a few macaws.

Another hanging out in a plant.

The courtyard from above.

The marimba band. The bass register was rattly though...

Peeps watching the birds.

Then we went to the market, and another church. The market was bigger than a football field, entirely covered in millions of small sheets of corrugated metal, and divided up into tiny booths and tons of cramped aisles you could walk through for hours and practically get lost. There were touristy parts of it selling stupid plastic Japanese toys and woven clothes, bags, and trinkets and usual, and then locals parts that sold grain, dried fish, other foods, and even a little place of picnic tables and women making tortillas (in Guatemala they are thicker and the size of the palm of your hand) where people could get something to eat real quick. The church had some kind of incense ceremony at the top of the steps, and people selling flowers and chilling out on the rest of the steps.

Dia Dos- The Waterfall

Sunday we slept in, had our leisurely breakfast, and then headed out to a new town for the afternoon. First though we drove by, and stopped at, a cool waterfall by the side of the road. I climbed up a bit of the way, would have climbed more if my shoes were tied and we'd had more time. It was pretty sweet though. Little things like that are what going to a place like Guatemala is all about for me.

Whoa look, whats that, cool, a waterfall!

Oh hey, we're getting closer...that'd be cool if we could stop...

Oh we stopped. And I climbed.

So did Miguel, our fearless leader.

And everyone else took pictures of us from the safety of the ground.

Intermission- the bad kind.

Before I get to what we saw and did, lemme just say that there was a rooster living about 50 feet away from our hotel in the adjacent yard. There was a pig there too. Neat, a pig. Rooster, not so much. 5am- cock-a-doodle-I'll-kick-your-ass-if-you-don't-shut-up. I don't think he could read my thoughts. He and his friend nearby were playing call and answer. I've been that angry a few times in my life- but only a few. I vividly imagined (and came close to actually doing this) myself getting out of bed, picking limes off the tree, and throwing them from the balcony, over the fence, at the rooster till he shut up. I even thought, heck if the only way to keep him quiet is to keep throwing limes, at least everyone else can sleep. I then figured that wouldn't work, and pictured myself climbing the fence, and chasing the rooster around until he or I passed out from exhaustion. I didn't know if I'd catch him or just scare him to death or give him a heart attack, or get shot by the guy who lived there- I didn't get that far in my imagination apparently. But my muscles twitched every time he crowed.

I resorted to toilet paper in the ears, and finally to headphones, which weren't pluggy enough to drown out the noise unless the music was up loud- which isn't that conducive to sleeping, even if it IS John Legend. I listened to probably an hour and a half of music trying to sleep. You know when you just don't even say anything, because you're so frustrated and angry that God didn't even make swear words vile enough to make you feel better by saying them? Yeah that was me. I had John Legend stuck in my head the next half day cause I spent more time that morning with music than I did with sleep. Oh MAN I was pissed.

But I did have a plate of fried plantains for breakfast, with sugar and sour cream, which people made fun of until they saw em and all wanted some. I obliged. They were tasty. Almost as tasty as murdered rooster. Some people know this about me (and my brothers I suppose as well)- do not disturb my sleep. I really honestly can't think of anything that angers me more than repeatedly disturbed sleep.

San Pedro Parte Dos

This is our microbus by the way, with dude strapped down stuff:

So during lunch it torrential downpoured, with lightning and thunder. Like 15 minutes after we got to lunch. So we took a leisurely lunch and waited for it to mostly subside. The cobblestone streets with no drainage turn into rivers though- nice afterwards, cause they are streaming downhill and it looks cool, but when they're flooded and you hafta cross them, not so great.

So we took "tuk-tuk"s (named for the puttering sound their engines make) since it was still raining, to our next destinations. These I guess exist in India- tiny three-wheeled cab type things with a convertible canvas roof, with a driver steering with handlebars and 2-3 people crammed in back. See below. These first took us to some thing called San Simon, which was this ridiculous looking idol who was smoking a cigarette, and you could have a shot of beer in front of him, and give him money. He was in this little hut. We saw other San Simon idols, and you basically just give him money and/or say a prayer for something specific. Its a combination of pseudo-Catholic beliefs and traditional Mayan ones- but its not a religion, just a specific traditional, basically pagan, practice. Weird.

One of the tuk-tuks had like a 14 year old driver. Sweet. The rides across the city cost like five quetzales each. Which bothered my dad until I reminded him it was less than a dollar.

Three of us in this thing smaller than a smart car, plus driver.

Then the tuk-tuks took us to another church, decorated for a wedding, with a big plaza with the volcano behind it. Cool. The church had these plaques (just from 2001!) commemorating various massacres related to civil war stuff and riots and protests, and some priests were killed. Man. It was decorated for a wedding inside though which was nice. They had a courtyard which had lime trees (where I finally had a conversation to confirm my suspicion, that limes were called limons and lemons were called limas (at least in Guatemala). But its still a bit confusing. My dad also took an artistic photo of me in front of this giant avocado tree- who knew they were huge? Actually the Steady Shot on his camera was broken so it'd vibrate sometimes when focusing. Once I called the avocado tree a guacamole tree. When I saw the avocado tree and the lime tree, I thought to myself, man, if only there was a tequila tree and a tortilla chip tree, we'd be all set!

The San Simon. You'll see others. He's in there wearing a hat and tie. Ridiculous.

We also went past this market on the way back to our boat, and there was a truck with a whole cow in it. Cept the cow had no skin and was cut in pieces. The two halves of the cow were hanging up in the truck, which a guy threw on his back, with bare hands, one at a time, and hauled into their little store. There was a bucket of legs, stripped of the skin, and a bucket that had other...uh, pieces in it, including I think the neck, leading to the head somewhere under there. And a giant thing looking like a bundled package, tied with twine, that was actually the entire skin folded up like a blanket. WOW.

Half a hanging cow. Note bundle of cowhide.

Cow on back.

Cow on back 2. All in a days work. Unreal.

Bucket of covered head and heck, and something else looking fleshy and bloody.

Bucket of hooves and menacing looking pick.

Mangiest dog of all time. Wet, dirty, cowering in the corner. And blurry.

Then we basically went home and it was time to get dinner. We went to an Italian place of all places- me, my dad, Paul, and Anne, and others took naps or showers. Then we returned and others took naps- I hung out on the porch, read a book, and then finally myself and Brie went and got some wine from a corner liquor store to sit and wait for other people to return from late dinner/napping.

The boat ride back was a bit colder and wetter.

But had a nice breeze and still cool once-in-a-lifetime views.

Paul and I took pictures of each other.

We saw these random fisherman type boats, all docked together, some still out on the lake with people in them, but they were always full of cornhusks. No comprende.

We walked the main drag at night, intending to go to this place called Circus Bar, with live music. I'd say it was a mariachi band, but it wasn't. It was three dudes with classical guitars. And (Brie- "doesn't it sound like there's a drum too, thats amazing how they do that on their guitars!") a bongo drummer slightly hidden from view.

And that is all for this entry. We went home after a couple drinks and slept soundly. Until 5am or so..................