Week 3: Paquisis
Hello everyone!! Sorry I am a bit late to post... it turned into a full week here in Guate and I have had to budget my wifi access time. But I have lots of exciting adventures to share from this week! From exploring Cobán more, to experiencing my first Chipi Chipi, to Día del Cariño, volcano climbing, and best of all new friends and stories:)
Exploring Cobán
First of all, last weekend I had the pleasure of exploring more of this city with a coworker and her boyfriend! They took me all around to el Calvario which is an old well known church with a beautiful view over the city! I learned more about some of the religious traditions of the region, consisting of the synthesis between Catholicism and Mayan culture. From there we went to eat churrasco at one of their favorite restaurants which was really delicious. Finally we visited their church and I got to meet some of her family, who were very kind (very concerned about how often I call my mother!), and we finished with a ride around the city!
The big highlight that came of the work week was the celebration of Valentine’s Day. I had my first opportunity to lead activities in the program too which was very cool. I worked with some students who are the classroom’s activity managers, to organize Valentine exchanges. It was fun to see how they interacted in this context and of course to eat a lot of sugar too! I felt like I was back in elementary school spending all day writing Valentine’s so it was a bit nostalgic:)
El capital
The following day, I had the amazing opportunity of traveling back to the capital to begin a big adventure. At first I was a bit nervous about getting into a bad situation but I pushed myself to find the balance between safety and independence. I have been very cautious about traveling on my own, based on things I have been warned. Of course due to being an outsider there are obvious precautions to take but I have been actively working to not let these safety measures create fearful biases and ignorance.
This trip was a good experience for me to see the city, push my comfort zone a bit, all while still being very safe:) I arrived on a bus from Cobán to the capital and from there went to a climbing gym that I was very excited to see. It was a small old school gym owned by someone who works as a guide at Lake Amatitlán. They were very friendly and gave me some good challenging routes to climb (that I will have to return to finish because I was too tired by the end!). It was well worth the journey and sore arms.
Then I headed over to the house of a colleague (more like my boss) who had helped to arrange the whole trip. They rent rooms to alumni from the English Language Programs and many of them were originally from Cobán! So I got to meet lots of friendly new people who also told me some cool spots to check out for when I get back. They very kindly included me in their Valentine’s festivities too even though they were just meeting me for the first time. It was a really nice evening and went to show further the beauty of community that these programs have created through the investment of many individuals who care a lot about them. It’s very beautiful and I feel lucky to peak into this world.
Paquisis and more…
And finally where this adventure was leading… volcán Paquisis! Friday midday a group of us headed out to Sololá where the beautiful and famous Lake Atitlán is located. We squeezed into the pickup truck all five us and of course the pup Felipe, navigating through the traffic and windy mountain roads until we reached San Juan la Laguna to spend the night.
It was very quiet when we arrived and went to bed because the adventure awaited us early in the morning! At around 6am we all gathered to meet the guides and then drove off to the trailhead of volcán Paquisis. It was a beautiful hike, about 3 hours up with a gorgeous view of the lake and other surrounding volcanoes. I loved being in the natural beauty of the area, seeing all of the plants, and feeling the warm sun shine, and of course the company was great! I would even take the blisters and pounds of dirt inhaled to do it again:))
When we got back down, we headed to another little aldea for a yummy lunch at el Pescador and then explored getting to see the lovely sights. Finally, just to pack even more into our day, the group went for a little celebration of Gallo and dancing! (Our legs were very tired the next day...)
Then Sunday, we went to see a gorgeous amanecer at the Mirador in San Juan. We ended our time there with a yummy breakfast at the market. We drove back to Guate and as a final surprise, they took me to see el Mapa en Relieve de Guatemala, a huge replica of the country that was made using very traditional cartography methods. It is extremely impressive and really inspired me to see more of this lovely country. I was also lucky to have some great tour guides to explain what all of these places were and share with me some of the cultural contexts and histories!
Then sadly the adventure came to end and I returned to Cobán that evening. It was truly an incredible trip though. I feel deeply appreciative for all of the kind people who included me on this journey and shared with me their own stories and experiences as Guatemalans, giving me more insight to everything. I have a lot more to see and learn but it is very interesting to understand these new ideas and makes me think more about my position in the world and here as an ETA. It has also inspired me even further in potential project ideas during my time here, so I can assure you all there are exciting things to come! Thanks as always for reading and more updates coming soon, have a great week wherever you are and with whatever you’re up to!<3
Ay! The pink route! I guess the valentines card in the lower left with the beautiful artwork of the people.
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