May

Did I really skip blogging for the entire month of April?  It's true - I've been a little grumpy since returning from Guatemala to the U.S.  I think part of the difficulty is returning to the realities of life such as oil changes and house hunting and school registration and haggling about school registration, etc.   Another, bigger part is that I miss the adventures and the exploring and new sights and people in Guatemala.  I could wander around Antigua every day noticing interesting details, taking photos of faces with character, and eating new foods.  I really enjoyed the ongoing challenge of trying to communicate in Spanish and meeting interesting new people.  Since returning to Boulder, I've been in a bit of a cranky rut with the same daily workout on the elliptical machine in the hotel fitness room, the same breakfast at the hotel breakfast buffet, and even sliding into an addiction with watching "House" every night.  This is NOT okay.  Then this morning while walking along the South Boulder Creek, I remembered that there is nothing stopping me from exploring Boulder with the eyes of a tourist; I can bring an adventurous fresh approach even to a place where I've lived for more than ten years.   When I lived in Colorado Springs, we mocked people who drove half way across the country to spend their week's vacation camping on the street where we lived all year.  It wasn't until I had moved away for years and then visited with Kelsey & Larissa that I appreciated all the fun touristy things Colorado Springs had to offer.  We had a blast visiting the zoo, Cave of the Winds, the USAFA, Garden of the Gods and camping at nearby Rampart Reservoir.   I never appreciated what was in my own backyard and am sincerely sorry for mocking those tourists who could see and value what I couldn't.  

Boulder was gorgeous this morning - the air was fresh and clean after a few days of rain and things are just starting to green up.  I saw some wild iris just about to bloom and the wild cows that inhabit the Boulder Mountain Parks & Open Space have been busily augmenting their population.  There was also a beautiful red tail hawk that had an impressive chunk missing from one of its wings....and seemed to be soaring without any difficulties.   I'm going to start carrying my camera around on my walks again, so I can continue the travels.  Bon voyage!

Little Girls & Flowers

At the procession yesterday, I was more interested in watching these little Mayan girls than anything else. They were completely focused on the creating of the alfombras (the flower carpets) and eventually, I learned what they were up to.

Before the procession, they sat at the edge of the design, watching while all the flowers were straightened and sprinkled with water:

During the procession they stood on the sidewalk to watch:

Or, sat during breaks in the excitement:

After the procession the girls ran skipping over the carpet, dancing on the design and collecting flower blooms:



Arranging her "stash":

Trading and organizing the goodies:

Playing dress up with the littlest one:

And finally....it's over. This is the expression on her face when she saw the remnants of the flowers being swept up and dumped in the trash. The street cleaners follow the procession so quickly, I think she was stunned (and horrified) and the sudden disappearance and utter waste of the remaining flowers!

Disenchantment

Ah, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: my unenamoration? Debesottedness? Disenrapture? Unsmiting? Wow there are lots of good words to define infatuation….but not too many to express the opposite! Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that my disenchantment with Guatemala has finally come. I think it comes eventually to all travelers who spend enough time in a place and who are not completely clueless. Just as the initial thrill of passion fades from a new romance as one’s paramour’s blemishes or crooked teeth or stomach paunch begin to emerge from the fog of lust, so too does the glossy glow of enchantment dull when the new country disappoints, breaks one heart or cruelly deceives. Sigh, I know that that means I’ll eventually develop a healthier, less idealized relationship with Guatemala but right now I’m feeling more than thoroughly fed up with the place! I also realize that our misadventures make some of the best and most memorable stories and I do acknowledge the value of that as well. But on to the whining! My “issues” with the country are:

1. For the second time during our visit here, I got a really bad intestinal problem just as I was embarking on a long journey. This meant that for 4 days, when I really wanted to be home, no further than 5 feet from the nearest bathroom, tucked into a cozy bed with lots of tea, good books, juice and crackers, I was instead bouncing around on a chicken bus or minivan pumping myself full of Immodium and wondering desperately whether I’d make it to the next bathroom stop. Not to mention the problem of actually having to use said next bathroom stop.

2. On too many occasions to count, the transportation promised during the reservation is not the transportation that shows up. And of course, once the vehicle appears, it’s much too late to do anything. No amount of questioning or probing seems to get around the smiling affirming faces promising whatever it is we seem to want….and eventually not delivering. The latest instance was our overnight bus from Tikal to Guatemala City (8 hour trip). We reserved a “first class” seat on a “premier” bus with the “most popular” bus line that even shows movies. When I probed about the bathrooms (see #1!!!!), I was assured, “Yes, yes, not to worry, everything will be functioning.” And what did we end up on? A rundown old greyhound type bus with worn upholstery, dirty floors, seats that may or may not recline, and a disgusting bathroom. The bathroom was basically a toilet with no water or flush mechanism. We were instructed to only urinate in the toilet and inform the “pilot” if we needed to “do anything else”. Okay, I guess this sort of qualifies as “functioning” as long as one doesn’t ponder the destination of the urine too long. Oh, and no light or TP either (but being a good girl scout, I was prepared with my headlamp and extra roll of TP) The movies were scratchy Spanish B&W films from the 50’s that might have been funny if the volume had been loud enough to hear. Furthermore, although it was direct service, it was not non-stop and we made multiple stop to load additional passengers along the way. What’s worst is that we know a better bus actually does exist! And not just for tourist groups! K&L and I were mistakenly loaded on an earlier bus from the same company that was quite impressive with clean cushy seats that reclined luxuriously, capacious leg room, and even a “hostess”. Unfortunately, we were unloaded at the next stop and told to wait for the next bus while we sadly watched other random Guatemalans board. Now we’re wondering whether we have to order “platinum class deluxe” service or “diamond studded titanium” class or “gold plated ambassador “service to get those cush buses. As it turned out, all of the gringos coming from Tikal to Guatemala City were on the 2^nd bus (complaining). We were pretty sure that was intentional.

3. Kelsey unintentionally made a very generous charitable contribution to some unknown resident of Guatemala. She is definitely a great kid and has a service oriented heart, but when I tell you that she was sobbing after this “donation”, you’ll realize that her laptop was stolen. We left 3 larger pieces of luggage in a locked room at our hotel in Antigua. And yes, we know that leaving a computer is not a good idea, but taking laptop on a 4 day sailing trip and then toting it around Guatemala for a week seemed like an even worse idea. Weighing the risks, we all packed up our laptops and left them in our luggage in Antigua. When we returned this morning, Kelsey’s beautiful new red Dell that she just received for Christmas from her grandparents (with ALL of her photos!) was missing. I spent most of the day hoofing back & forth to the Tourist Police to create an “announcement” and speaking very carefully to make sure I didn’t come out swinging with any inaccurate allegations. I don’t harbor any illusions about any of this really helping to solve the “crime” and I’m afraid we’ll never see the machine again, but I do think the hotel will tighten up their security after being chewed out by the police, and perhaps some other tourist won’t be required to make an involuntary charitable contribution.

So, I’m not feeling too wild about Guatemala at the moment. I realize it’s all part of the travel/learning experience and perhaps four days on a Gatorade diet combined with 36+ hours without sleep may possibly be coloring my perspective just a tad. So, I’ll write about my latest adventures tomorrow after I’ve slept, eaten, and had a chance to sort through all the fun photos we took. We really did have a grand tour, saw many incredible sights, and met a number of lovely people!

Tikal

This post is a tad bit out of date....just catching up with some photos!  

First of all, I was relieved to find that our hotel in Tikal was really really nice.  I was still sick, mostly just wanted to be home, and definitely didn't have it in me to stay in any roach motel.  We had booked a night at the Tikal Inn before we left Antigua because we wanted to stay close to the park.  Although this hotel was pricier than some of the other nearby options, it included breakfast & dinner, was super clean, and had a great pool.  I was really grateful for all of this because Kelsey and Larissa were basically on their own.  The first afternoon, I couldn't even get myself out of bed to go see the park, but they easily and safely walked around until sunset.  And at dinner, they were able to go to the hotel restaurant and eat without while I moaned and read novels in my bed.  

As an aside, I was really proud of both of the girls by this point in our travels.  They both seemed so much more confident and poised than when we began.  I attribute some of this to the lack of teen interaction.  That may sound surprising, and while they weren't thrilled to be without friends and peers, I really think that being away from the self obsessed teen culture of middle school and having to interact with young adults, older travelers, and even little kids helped them to mature significantly.  They both coped very well when I was sick, learned to make good judgement calls, and behaved all in all in a way that made me proud.  Looking back, if we had accomplished nothing else during our travels, I am satisfied with this achievement.  And of course, we also got to see a lot of fun sites, learn some Spanish, do some volunteer work....and get all of the "normal" school work done also.   I can appreciate why some people home school their children - so much time is wasted at regular school that if one is even slightly motivated, a lot more can be done at home!  Okay, so enough of that tangent.  Here's a pic of the pool at the Tikal Inn:

Some critters near the pool:

The second day, I managed to get myself out of bed long enough for a couple of short walks in the park.  There was no way I was going to travel all that way and NOT see the ruins!  And I was very very glad that I did.  Tikal impressed me more than I thought it would.  I'm fgenerally not a huge fan of ruins, but these were definitely special and worth seeing.

Tikal was most definitely not tidy or organized or informative with respect to its signage or anything else about it. And that´s  what I really enjoyed about it. Its twisting paths through the jungle were somewhat difficult to navigate but that was part of the charm for me. Wandering through the jungle, we listened to exotic bird calls, monkeys rustling in the branches above, and weird insect chirps. It smelled musty and the hot tropical air weighed upon us. Suddenly, we turned a corner and rising above the jungle canopy was the top of a 2700 year old temple, still covered with trees and vines and moss. It seems as if the excavation crews here must spend as much time keeping the ruins excavated as they spent excavating them in the first place. I imagine it`s a constant battle! It all felt so alive to me - I could really imagine how Mayans hundreds and thousands of years ago may have felt in this same place. Actually, I think I can imagine that, but then I remember that archeologists think Tikal had up to 90,000 inhabitants at one time so I´m pretty sure my experience among the ruins on a weekday was much more relaxing than theirs in the middle of the bustling city was! I loved how it felt wild and mystical; not like the sterile feeling that most museums evoke.

Mayan God of Chocolate

I'm doing some reading in preparation for our visit to Tikal, (800 B.C. - 900 A.D.), the largest excavated Mayan site in the Americas. Just discovered they had a god of chocolate "Chokola'j". Suddenly I'm intrigued with the Mayan culture....they must have been quite advanced to be smart enough to have a god of chocolate! And, apparently they knew and used the notion of 'zero' long before other cultures of the world.


I also learned a couple of other interesting facts. The Mayan calendar is more accurate than our modern calendar, "In our Gregorian calendar -- making due allowance for leap years -- the year has 365.2425 days, results in an error of 3.02 days in 10,000 years, while the year of the ancient Mayans numbered 365.242129 days!!!. This results in an error of 1.98 days for every 10,000 years." (From http://www.authenticmaya.com/calendar.htm) Not that most of us would notice that kind of error, but it's pretty impressive precision!

In addition, the pyramid that is being excavated at Mirador is the largest one in the world, larger even than any pyramid in Egypt. A professor from Idaho State recently announced the discovery of an impressive stucco panel dated 300 B.C. that depicts the Mayan Creation Myth.


Finally, the Mayan language was one of three "original" written languages in the world along with Sumerian and Chinese. They wrote books on handmade paper around the same time the Sumerians were writing on papyrus. Unfortunately, many of the books were destroyed by overzealous Spaniards threatened by the potential heresy contained within.

Market Day

Thursday is the biggest market day in Antigua and I love wandering through and looking at the beautiful vegetables and the odd displays of random items for sale. It's a photographer's delight and I've been having fun trying to capture the hustle & bustle. Thank goodness for digital - I waste a LOT of pixels on some crummy shots!







Starting young with the basket balancing!


Guatemala Target Boutique:

More Processions

The processions occur every Sunday during Lent and yesterday the route through Antigua traveled very close to our apartment so we were able to see the pre-procession preparations. The woman below is using a stencil to spread colored sawdust in beautiful designs on the street:


People starting to line the curbs (HOURS early!)


Someone placed a ladder in the middle of the street to create a better picture taking vantage point!:


Some of the designs are made with real flowers:


Almost the entire street was lined with these different beautiful designs:


Some of the flower arrangements are pretty elaborate 3D affairs:


Here come the "floats" with statues from the churches, carried by faithful parishoners (the smoke is from intense incense):


The broom headed guys are supposed to be Roman Centurions (we think):


Feet of the float carriers....tromping on the flower carpets:


After the procession comes the tagalong carnival:


Really cheesey (foam) souvenirs:



More souvenirs:


And the cleanup crew:


More broom brigade:


We had a great time wandering around taking photos. Normally Guatemalans are fairly camera shy, but today they seemed to be either distracted by the excitement, or in happy moods so they were willing to be photographed. We spent the afternoon watching the flower carpet preparations which looked like they required hours of work. Then the procession comes through, lasting about 5 minutes, followed by the hawkers and souvenir sellers, and finally the garbage trucks. It's all over pretty fast considering all of the preparation required!

Procession

Today was the first Sunday in Lent which is observed very earnestly in Antigua. The city is known for its processions, altar displays, and big church services during Lent. In fact, at this point we probably wouldn't be able to find a room anywhere in Antigua during Holy Week - it's so popular that the hotels get booked months in advance.

We were quite content to see just a minor warm up event today - and felt like it was quite enough craziness for us. Since we don't completely understand what's going on, the processions seem especially odd to us. From what I can gather, the different cathedrals in the area (there are dozens in little Antigua alone!) take turns sponsoring a procession during which sacred statues from their church are carried on a specified route through the city.


They are followed by bands playing what sounds like funeral music, other family members who mix in, hawkers selling balloons,


and ultimately garbage trucks and guys who sweep up the cobblestones behind them.


To me, it seems like some weird combination of funeral procession and carnival parade. I understand it's a big deal to have the honor of being one of the people to carry the statue - an honor that is passed down from generation to generation. The little boys start very very young:


The procession stopped at the Cathedral in Antigua where a very large audience was gathered and we decided to depart, wanting to get "far from the madding crowd". (And to avoid the pickpockets which we were warned are also attracted to these big events!)