Varying Modes of Transportation

           This weekend we went to El Lago de Atitlan.  We left Friday afternoon and had to race to Terminal Minerva to catch a Chicken Bus (I’ll explain this in a bit) to San Pedro, which is one of many towns surrounding Lake Atitlan.  We all met at the school, walked to the microbus pickup, where we took a microbus to the main bus terminal, Terminal Minerva.  Once off the microbus we all had to maneuver quickly, with all our bags, through the vast amounts of people trying to sell and buy fruits and vegetables.   We finally made it to where all the Chicken Buses departed from.  Luckily we made it in the nick of time and we even all got seats which is pretty unheard of because they try to pack the buses as full as they can, which normally means a two person seat becomes a four person seat.  

            Chicken Buses are old US school buses that have been painted in beautiful colors and they all seem to have their own unique style.  The buses typically have a woman’s name painted on them to represent the owner’s wife or daughter.  Our bus was called Wendy J  They are called Chicken Buses for two reasons I have heard: one, because many rural people transport chickens and other small animals on the roof of them and second: they pack the buses so full it feels like a chicken coup. The way chicken buses work is that there is of course the driver, “Piloto” and either one or two helpers, “Ayudantes.”   The Ayudantes hang out the open door, yelling the bus’s destination to passerbys, to try and get as many people packed on to the bus as possible.  They also climb on to the roof of the bus to attach any large bags passengers may have. The bus ride was about 3 hours because it made some stops to drop off passengers along the way.  At certain towns, the bus would stop long enough to let vendors come aboard to try and sell water, soda, Gatorade, bread (pan), candy (dulce) and last but not least Pollo Campero.  Pollo Campero is Guatemala’s version of KFC.  And yes that’s right, someone came aboard trying to sell small boxes of fried chicken!  Anything is possible in Guatemala!

            You might think these Chicken Buses go as slow as the school buses they once were.  But oh no, in fact they should be part of NASCAR.  The drivers have a lead foot and they will not stop for anything.  It is quite entertaining but a tad frightening as well when all you can see is a tight curve coming ahead.  Right outside of San Pedro we had to drop down the mountain on VERY tight switchbacks.  At almost every turn the bus was too big and had to get as close to the mountain edge as possible, reverse, crank the wheel, and try to make the curve.  Lets just say I had some pit stains afterwards.  We finally made it to San Pedro and we were all happy to have our feet on the ground.

Chicken Buses

San Pedro @ Lake Atitlan

            Saturday morning we took a boat from San Pedro to Santiago, another town along the lake.  It was a beautiful morning and we all got to sit on the roof of the boat, which would never happen back home because of liability reasons.  It was a 45-minute ride that I wish would have lasted 2 hours.  It was beautiful weather and the rocking of the boat was so relaxing.  Once we reached Santiago we had to find another mode of transportation to the hospital where we would be doing volunteer construction work.  We had the choice between a Tuc -Tuc or the back of a pickup truck.  A Tuc –Tuc is a small three wheeled vehicle that can hold about 4 people each.  We decided since we had a big group it would be better to take the pickup truck versus several Tuc-Tucs. 

Boat Ride to Santiago

Panajachel in the distance

Riding in the back of a pickup truck to the hospital

            The name of the hospital is Hospitalito Atitlan (http://www.hospitalitoatitlan.org/).  Whenever “ito” is added to the end of a word it means little, so essentially the name is Little Hospital Atitlan.  It is a non-profit hospital that was opened in early 2005.  However, six months after it’s opening, Tropical Storm Stan caused major mudslides in the area, killing 2,000 people and destroying the hospital.  Three years later construction began in a new area that was considered low risk.  So far the first floor of the hospital is complete and patients are seen for a variety of things.  There is a labor and delivery hall, an operating room, a pediatric room, an inpatient hall, a dentist office, a laboratory and a pharmacy.  The hospital serves a population of 43,000 Tz’utujil Mayans.  More then 60% of the patients only speak Tz’utujil which is the local Mayan dialect.  The hospitalito staff translates Tz’utujil to Spanish for medical volunteers so patients can have their needs met.  Throughout the day we helped wash the outside walls, haul cinder blocks to the second floor for construction and move sand in wheelbarrows to use for cement.  It was tiring work but it was also gratifying knowing we were helping a small bit.

Entrance to Hospitalito

Labor and Delivery Room with a garden outside

2nd Floor of the hospital still under construction 

            Sunday morning was a free morning and we could do whatever we liked.  Myself and three other girls decided it would be fun to go horseback riding.  My horses name was Muchacho, which means young man.  I had not rode a horse in several years but it felt good to get back on. The horses knew the path well and didn’t need our guide Francisco to lead; he just followed on his bicycle.  We rode for an hour and a half and had some great views of the lake!  It was absolutely beautiful!  In the afternoon we were luckily able to get a small private bus back to Xela because the Chicken Buses don’t run as frequently on Sundays and are therefore much more crowded and harder to travel on. 

Great view of the lake on horseback!

Me, Snow, Jessica, and Bailey

            Overall the weekend was great!  It was a nice mix of working hard and playing hard.  It was also nice to use several modes of transportation to get out of Xela to see more of the beauty of Guatemala!    

First Month in Quetzaltenango aka Xela!

So I think I have finally figured out this whole blog thing...

I will try to post at least once a week to update you all on my adventures in Guatemala!  I have now been in Xela for over a month and I can't believe how fast it has gone already.  I am with a program called Somos Hermanos, which focuses on intensive spanish classes, learning about the Guatemalan culture, and volunteering in health clinics.  For those of you wondering how on earth you pronounce Xela, it is pronounced as 'Shay-La.'  You also might be wondering how the name Xela is derived from Quetzaltenango.  Well, Xelajú 'Shay-La-Who' is the indigenous name for Quetzaltenango, which is shorten to just Xela.  Muy fácil!  (I will occasionally throw in some Spanish so you can learn it as well.)

Driving into Xela

El Cavario Cemetery in Xela

Well to begin, I will tell you a little about Xela.  Xela is the second largest city in Guatemala but it feels pretty quaint.  The indigenous population is over 60% and many call it The Capital of the Mayas.  Xela is in the mountains at almost 8,000 feet so it is beautiful during the day but can get pretty cool at night especially since the houses do not have insulation.  Quetzaltenango became the city's official name during the colonial times, and was considered "the place of the quetzal bird."  The quetzal bird has a beautiful green/blue body with a bright red chest.  The quetzal is Guatemala's national bird, and its image can be found on the flag, coat of arms and it is the name of the currency.  Xela is known for having many spanish schools and therefore many foreigners who come to learn spanish.  There are several cafes, tiendas (small stores), bars, bookstores and restaurants.  

Quetzal 

I am living with a wonderful host family that consists of the host mom, Iris Escobar, her two adult sons, Fernando and Henry, each of their wives, Adrienne and Orchilia and each of their sons, Rodrigo(4 yrs old) and Diego (7 yrs old).  They are all extremely nice, especially Iris who has so much patience when I'm trying to speak but it all comes out as jibberish.  The little boys are adorable and have so much energy.  After school all they want to do is play transformers (Bumblebee is Rodrigo's favorite) or play with plastic animals, which they have their own unique sounds for each one.  It is quite entertaining even-though I don't understand a word they are saying because they talk so fast.  I just reply with a "Si" and a smile.

My little host brothers - Rodrigo and Diego

The past month I have been taking spanish classes for 4 hours every monday through friday morning.  The classes are taught in a beautiful courtyard at the spanish school, "El Mundo en Espanol."  Our classes are one on one, so its very nice to work at your own pace and focus on the things you have the most trouble with.  Every two weeks we take a test to move to the next level and we also switch teachers since they each have their own way of teaching as well as speaking.  There are several students at the school (not including the other 12 that are part of Somos Hermanos as well) from all over.  I have met students from Germany, Canada, and Washington.  The school is actually ran out of a home, so it is quite a lively place all the time with people coming in and out constantly.

Fountain in the backyard of the school

Our classroom :)

When we are not in class, our afternoons are filled with conferences and films about various topics, reading articles that go along with the topic of the conferences and films and we also occasionally have free afternoons which I usually end up going to a cafe and studying.  In later posts I will touch more on the films and conferences.  On the weekends we usually have trips planned.  Last weekend we went to La Tilapita, which is a small beach close to the border of Mexico.  It was absolutely wonderful and it was a nice relaxing trip.  We spent the weekend lounging at the beach and swimming in the water and also spending time at the small hotel's pool.  The beach was amazing at night because you could see the milky way and there were little purple bio-luminescent bacteria in the ocean that would light up occasionally.

Tilapita

Boat ride into Tilapita

This weekend we are going to El Lago de Atitlan, which is about 2.5 hours away from Xela.  We are going to take chicken buses there (old US school buses that have been painted with many colors and are the Kings of the roads) so I will let you know how the experience goes!

Until next time!