Hola from Xela guatemala. This is our last day in the city after over two full weeks. Tomorrow bright and early we will leave for the Lago Atitlan trek, a 3 day long endevor that is sure to be an exiting challenge for grupo ITZA. The general consensus throughout the group is that we are ready to move on, but that doesnt mean we havent had a blast in Xela! This is a city with an incredible mezcla (mix) of culture. From the gothic style german and spanish architecture of the the main bank and church to the indigenous street vendors selling delectible food and handmade goods of unparalled beauty. Xela in many ways has it all. As if it couldnt get better, add to that a fabulous range of restaurants and cafes that cater to all different pallets and you have a fantastic city that kept ITZA occupied for the past two weeks.
Some of the highlights of our time here have been spending time as a whole group at some of the many amazing cafes and restaurants. From La Luna ( both an odd museum of money, trinkets and music, and fantastic cafe) to El Sabor de La India, (serving authentic Indian cuisine to die for), a definite group favorite.And lets not forget Al Nature an incredibly tranquillo (peacefull) all natural cafe with a host of other natural products, where we listend to the riveting story of our soon to be Lago Atitlan guide who had crossed illegally into the USA twice with the hopes of providing a better life for his family back home in Guatemala.
Other exciting advetures include taking an afternoon hike out to a park overlooking Xela which featured an amazingly fun hillside concrete slide and, making hot chocolate bars by hand at one of our students many homestays. One night we were lucky enough to enjoy live music at El Cuartito a small hippie cafe and on another night most of the group hit one of the many discotecas and tried out our salsa moves which we had learned just a day beforehand. Another night we went to a footbol (soccer) game in the Xela stadium. The group had fun cheering for Xela and sitting amongst the exuberent local fans.
But our activities did not confine us just to Xela. Some of the most fun we had was outside of the city. Some of the most memorable events include taking a beautiful 2 hour long trek out to see a famous lagoon and of course spending a few hours at Guatemalas busiest and largest open air markets, Chichicastenango.
Overall we have had an amazing and eventful time in Xela. And with two weeks of intensive Spanish study under our belts aswell as living with spanish speaking host famlies for the duration of our stay, we have all noticed a significant improvement in our ability to communicate with our families and the people here. That skill is sure to help us as we continue on our travels through Central America. On friday we put those new skills to work volunteering in a small one room school overlooking Xela, where we helped teach local kids mathematics, and reading skills, and of course played some footbol and UNO.
At this time more than half of our group is sick with some sort of stomach ailment or another. We are staying in Xela one last night to give our friends a chance to recover a bit more so that that we will all be up for the challeging trek ahead. Our desision to stay an extra day was unanimous, just another example of the incredible bond that ITZA shares. We are all hoping that everyone will be able to do the hike as a full group, ITZA simply isnt the same without everyone together.
Here are some photos from our many activities in Xela.
More to come
Jesse Y Gatita