Viento del mundo (el segundo parte)

When I last left, I was going to sleep in Xecocon, which I did. The next few days I will condense into images, rather than many words, mostly because they do better justice to the beautiful scenery than my written meandering.

We awoke before dawn to hike up some 90 switchbacks, 3.5 horas of invigorating work, to rest here, and watch el sol rise...

We then saw these things along our way...


















Entonces nosotros dormimos, barely, on a dirt floor in an old barn in Canton Primero. Not so remarkable. But, oh what was to come...

this next day was my favorite. We hiked through so many different zones, the vegetation and scenery went from altiplano, to massive rock formations, to old growth forest. We hiked up two hills dubbed Hell Hill and the Bitch, rightfully so. And this day too produced the most baby animal sightings yet. I saw baby dog, baby pig, lamb, baby fowl, baby goat...and spoke to all of them in my best spanish. I tried to take pictures of them all, but they were hard to capture. Take my word on their adorableness, especially the piglets...

Despues hitching a ride encima de a dump truck filled with gravel,

this night was spent in La Ventosa, the home of Geranimo y familia. We were so warmly recieved, with beds, mashed potatoes, tortillas and la temezcal. La temazcal, or chuj in Mam, is a type of sauna in which the indigenas use as their ducha. It consists of an adobe brick igloo, some hot coals upon which to pour some hot water for steam, and a basin of cold water to rinse with. It is possibly the best thing ever after three days of climbing.

La proxima mañana subimos a La Torre, the highest non volcanic peak in all of Central America. And from there we went down, en mi caso slid down, a Todos Santos de Las Cuchumatanes.

Estas son las vistas ví este dìa...

Los demàs salimos la proxima mañana para Xela, pero me quedè en Todos Santos por una semana de clases. Todos Santos es un pueblo de 3000 personas settled in a valley of the Cucuhumatans. Practically every person, inclye los hombres, wears traditional traje....beautiful traje. The colors they use here are stunning, deep purples and tealsand maroons. My Todos Santos madre weaved these brilliant textiles, so I was given the chance to see the process. The family also grew mushrooms, mi verdura favorita. And I can vouche that the papas here are the best in Guatemala.

I woke up todas las mañanas knowing I was in the mountains, not by memory or sight, but by a more abstract sense. And the feeling and sights in the middle of the night, being in Guatemala, in that valley, in those mountains, under that sky, rivaled some of the better ones in my life.

I will spare you the deatils of my first bout with a Guatemalan parasite, except that of course it was going to happen in a place with no more than an outhouse for a bathroom. Mi madre aqui was very madre like though and insisted I sweat it out in the chuj, which I did.

So this ends my two week trek through the Guatemalan highlands. I am not sure exactly how much ground I covered, but it is a really impressive and large number of kilometers. Again I leave you all with my unwavering love and best wishes and sincere anticipation to give you all loads de abrazos very soon.

Viento del mundo (parte uno)

Salcaja

San Andreas Xecul
Nebaj

Xexocon

Canton Primero

La Ventosa

Todos Santos

Huehuetenango

Chichicastenango

San Pedro Laguna

Esta es una lista de todos los lugares he visitado estas dos semanas. Había más, pero no recuerdo los nombres. Para razones obvios no hablo sobre cada pueblo, pero creéme, todos eran iluminaciónes.

Myself and the Questzaltrekkers started our journey in Nebaj, a pueblo in the highlands that was hard hit durante la guerra civil. Los guerilleros lived escondidos en las montañas de los highlands and as a result of their presence their, as well as their pressures on the campesinos to join their cause, los soldados del ejercito punished the townpeople both directly and indirectly (if you can call it that). To set examples they made the indigenas kill their own, as a pledge of allegiance, as well as ordered every able bodied hombre (o muchacho) to join the civil patrols. The guerilla luchadores were not innocent either, they too had their own examples to set, punishing those who, forcibly, had joined the army. What ended up happening was hermano contra hermano. Es una historia muy triste.

Aqui es el cemetario en Nebaj, y un mural honorando las vidas perdidas...

We stayed the night in Nebaj at a hostel owned by a man named Don, a chain smoker and ex pat who has lived in Guatemala por 25 años. The name is Popis. You should stay there too if you get to Nebaj. He makes a great pesto and panqueque.

The next morning nos levantamos a las 6 and began the long walk. This is where we are heading, los Cuchumatanes...

We walked and saw native plants, we walked under the bluest sky, we walked and dipped in the clearest river, we walked and I talked to every animal, in spanish, we walked and talked and shared our lives, we walked and learned the story of the land, we walked and stopped at a queso finca, we walked and ate ice cream, we walked and greeted the locals.

We then landed here, Xecocon, where we would sleep in a building known as the community center. Many pueblos throughout the department of HueHue got together and created kind of an infrastructure to support tourism. Part of this is the community centers built to host both events and persons. Another thing I have to remark on here is the water, so clean. Clean enough to drink from the source. Es raro aquí.

Unfortunately I will have to leave you all hanging. This is a time consuming entry and I want to go play a bit. There is more to come soon. I love you all and am glad you like my stories and pictures. They are here for you like you are for me. xo

Una pieza de mi corazon

está en Xela para siempre. Pero, tengo que salir. If I can find paz in this crazy city, I know the rest of the country has plenty to teach me. I leave on Tuesday for a five day hike from Nebaj to Todos Santos. In Todos Santos I will study some more español for a week, whilst taking in the paísaje and las vistas. The village is small, and mostly indigena, so lots of spanish speaking to do! I will so miss mi maestro aquì, Alberto. He is un guia sabio and a great friend. I will too miss the city life. I cannot deny the part of me that loves the noise and chaos. I will miss the friends I have found here, both in the students and the staff: Carlos, Mynar, Freddy, Isabel, Blair, Andrew, Susana, Alison, Shai, Murtaza and everyone else who has leant to me sus compañia, muchas gracias. These three weeks and you have made a new home for me. I hope to come back again and again. Mucho gusto Xela. Mucho gusto amigos.