The last 3 days spent here in Chiapas have been rich and full. I have met really nice people and have enjoyed going around town. There are so many sweets here though! And I have found the best empenadas of my life, I have ate 3 in 2 days and plan on eating 3 more tomorrow alone! Mmmm. The markets are rich of colorful fruits and vegetables, some of which I have no idea what they are. The beans here are multi colored, purple, black, and everything in between. The food is arranges in ornate ways that look beautiful, such as oranges stacked in perfect pyramids, or a mango that is peeled and cut in alternating slices to look like a flower and then put on a hand wideled stick. It´s amazing!
A few highlights of this town so far...
Riding Terco, the stubborn horse, out to Chemula, a local small town. There is a large market there on Sunday and the church is very colorful. There is a local authority that wears all white or all black sheep coats. These men do not want their picture taken. My friend Josephina took a photo, and we were instantly surrounded by about 20 men all asking for the camera and to make sure we erase the photo. She had to show that it was erased. We learned that when you take their photo, they are indigenious town leaders, it is thought to be taking a part of their soul. About 20 minutes later while eating mangos in the center in front of the church, about 200 men (men only) came running through, yelling and getting excited. They passed in uniform of about 5 men per row and as they crossed the church they each made their cross. Then they continued on into the town, through rows of houses until we could not see them. When we asked about what this was from the owner of the horses we were borrowing he would not talk about it. It felt like something was going on, like a townhall meeting of sorts.
The Museo de la Medicine de Maya. This museum goes through all the traditional ways Mayan heal themselves. Going from picking the herbs to preparing them to using them in ceremony or healings. It was fascinating to learn about all the process. The best part of this museum was its focus on midwives. There was a first hand video of a Mayan woman giving birth with her midwife. It was very open, and described the entire steps from the tea to drink before giving birth, to running a rooster\chicken over the mom before breastfeeding, to burying the placenta. Wow! What I found fascinating was that the female gives birth on her knees facing her husband while he helps push down on the stomach.
Cafe Museo Cafe details the regions history of coffee, from German owned fincas in the 1800´s until the Mexican Revolution ended in 1920. It continued to the indentured servantude that continued after the German´s were kicked out, and ended with the 17,000 individual plot owners that comprise many cooperatives in the region. It was really informative.
The churches are beautiful and it is a great town to walk around in, grab a sweet treat, or taco, or empanada, and enjoy the warm days and the cool evenings.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Friday, January 11, 2013
Back in Guatemala - Monterrico
We have been in Monterrico for 3 days - the beach side town in Guatemala. It has a lot of preserved nature in the area and is a hot spot for turtle rescue and habitation.
Yesterday was quite a day! Again, being in this smaller town, the locals know you pretty quickly and help you find what you need. I was asking all over the place for a bicycle to borrow for a couple hours, and was directed to a place. I got a bike after a few minutes and rode out to the town, Hawaii, to visit ARCAS, an NGO that was also in Flores. Here, they work with turtles. They rescue the eggs from the beach, and then have a whole system where they keep the temperatures three times a day. They release them after hatching.
On my way back into town, everyone was asking how I liked my bicycle. It was nice to have the wind blowing on my face, 8 km each way, and with the palm trees all around.
Then I went on a tour of the turtle hatchery, separate from ARCAS. Once again, doing God's work. That night at sunset I was able to hold a baby turtle in my hands, and release it in the sand. It flapped quickly towards the waves and the sun, and was swept into the waves along with 70 of its buddies. They hatch them in the same way. They buy eggs off the blackmarket, about 50Q for a dozen at peak season. Then, they keep them, hatch them. After hatching they feed them algae for one day, and then release them. This formula they find that 7% of the turtles survive, compared to 1% in nature due to prey, predators, and people. It was awesome to hold the little guy and watch how they instinctively run towards the ocean.
Leaving for Antigua today and then we decided to head up to Mexico instead of south. We will plan on going to Chiapas, at San Cristobal. Adios!
Yesterday was quite a day! Again, being in this smaller town, the locals know you pretty quickly and help you find what you need. I was asking all over the place for a bicycle to borrow for a couple hours, and was directed to a place. I got a bike after a few minutes and rode out to the town, Hawaii, to visit ARCAS, an NGO that was also in Flores. Here, they work with turtles. They rescue the eggs from the beach, and then have a whole system where they keep the temperatures three times a day. They release them after hatching.
On my way back into town, everyone was asking how I liked my bicycle. It was nice to have the wind blowing on my face, 8 km each way, and with the palm trees all around.
Then I went on a tour of the turtle hatchery, separate from ARCAS. Once again, doing God's work. That night at sunset I was able to hold a baby turtle in my hands, and release it in the sand. It flapped quickly towards the waves and the sun, and was swept into the waves along with 70 of its buddies. They hatch them in the same way. They buy eggs off the blackmarket, about 50Q for a dozen at peak season. Then, they keep them, hatch them. After hatching they feed them algae for one day, and then release them. This formula they find that 7% of the turtles survive, compared to 1% in nature due to prey, predators, and people. It was awesome to hold the little guy and watch how they instinctively run towards the ocean.
Leaving for Antigua today and then we decided to head up to Mexico instead of south. We will plan on going to Chiapas, at San Cristobal. Adios!
El Salvador wins most hospitable country.
Well, we were in Punta Remidios in El Salvador and that was a trip. We missed a bus and ended up taking us 11am to 5pm getting there and that included 2 truck rides and 2 buses. When we got there we wanted pupusas and were two of four non-locals in town, so we got personal escorts to the pupuseria and had quite the royal pupusa dinner! Mora, a local green to El Salvador, may be my favorite pupusa so far. Walking back to the hostel everyone was asking how we liked our pupusas.
Then we went the next day to Barrio de Santiago, just one bus and one truck ride. We were the only non-locals in the whole coastal town. It was really a nice place. Small, and lots of cane growing in the area. It is a protected area also. When we were walking to get pupusas in the early afternoon, a family asked if we wanted a ride to a good pupuseria, and we said yes. Next thing we know we are going to the local futbol game... where the whole town was. They were so hospitable, paying for our way in and paying for a beer just because they were happy we were visiting. The futbol game was on sand and there were three back to back. It was a lot of fun to see the local teams. Afterward pupusas were once again delicious and people were crowded around to watch us play cards and eat. It was a lot of fun.
El Salvador wins the friendliest people award.
Then we went the next day to Barrio de Santiago, just one bus and one truck ride. We were the only non-locals in the whole coastal town. It was really a nice place. Small, and lots of cane growing in the area. It is a protected area also. When we were walking to get pupusas in the early afternoon, a family asked if we wanted a ride to a good pupuseria, and we said yes. Next thing we know we are going to the local futbol game... where the whole town was. They were so hospitable, paying for our way in and paying for a beer just because they were happy we were visiting. The futbol game was on sand and there were three back to back. It was a lot of fun to see the local teams. Afterward pupusas were once again delicious and people were crowded around to watch us play cards and eat. It was a lot of fun.
El Salvador wins the friendliest people award.
Friday, January 4, 2013
At Playa El Tunco
So, yesterday was my last full packed day in San Salvador.
The buses had a strike, or atleast a few of the numbers did, so it led to a little bit of a bump in moving around. It was awesome though because people with pickup trucks were swinging by and picking up people, packing us into the back of the truck and zooming off on the same route the bus would be going had it been running. Kind of like a communal taxi I suppose.
First, we walked to the Museum of Words and Images. This museum had original images from the insurgents during the war, and a whole room dedicated to Radio Vencemoros, it was the radio that was trying to share with the people of El Salvador the human rights atrocities and warn towns before military got to them. The group that ran the radio was about 20 and they hid in a cave, and that is the only way they were not found out, because of the location and jungle coverage of the cave. It was very moving. There was a man, Chiyo, that, through interpretation, shared his story of the war. He wrote a book, published recently, titled 7 hummingbirds. He was 7 when the war broke out and his neighbor shot his mother and sister while they were in a hammock in their front yard. He saw it happen, and still sees this man every day. He lost 7 siblings and his mother. His story is one of forgiveness and finding peace. It was a museum very worth going to, including the others I have been to. I would like to visit Morozan, where the radio was and a massacre, but it is in the far corner of El Sal. near Honduras... next time. But this city is ripe for studying peace, nonviolence, and healing.
Later we went to the National Exposition, a museum located in a large park bordering Franklin D. Roosevelt Avenue. This museums current exposition was on Land and Art - temporary time based art that took place in nature. There were videos of the creation and large scale photographs of the final art pieces.
Then we went to Santa Tecla, a sprawl of San Salvador. In the large mercado we ate pupusas... again! They are so good and cheap here. You can eat a whole meal with a drink for $1.50, 2.00 is a splurge! This market is like a lot of the others we've been to along the way, animals, lots of cheese, freshly slaughtered meat, live chickens, and everything else you could imagine. A woman with about 100 bras dangling from her arms, and another woman with 1000s of underwear to choose from. It's all a mix.
From there we went up to the San Salvador volcano. It is a volcano collapsed in on itself and they have made it into a pleasant walking trail, very accessible. The inside of the volcano is still active, but the last erruption was in 1917 when it dried up the lagoon that was there.
After this was when we climbed aboard the truck that zoomed off for our destination. There was a lot of chaos because of the strike, and buses that were running had people hanging all over the sides, just brimming over.
This morning before taking off on the bus to the beach, only $1.50, I stopped at the Museum of Popular Art which was a worthwhile visit. I also spent 45 minutes trailing through winding streets asking directions from so many people to find Archbishop Romero's house, one older man even took the time to walk me 3 blocks out of his way. The people here are so friendly, but I have found it to be true that you have to ask directions from more than one person because I often get conflicting information, and I think it is just that if people don't know the answer, they want to give you one. At least they are friendly doing so! Anyway, when I got to Romero's house, it was 12:00 and they were closed until 2:00. I asked and asked please please let me see his house, and they said no no no. They take their 12 - 2 lunch time seriously here. So much hard work, to be turned away! Oh well.
Now we are at the beach though! We came over to Playa El Tunco and have so far spent hours body surfing the large waves and eating some good fish. Our hotel has a nice swimming pool, hammocks, and lots of manicured greenspaces. It is very nice and lots of people out and about. El Tunco is nice so far... I look forward to trying out some surfing tomorrow!
The buses had a strike, or atleast a few of the numbers did, so it led to a little bit of a bump in moving around. It was awesome though because people with pickup trucks were swinging by and picking up people, packing us into the back of the truck and zooming off on the same route the bus would be going had it been running. Kind of like a communal taxi I suppose.
First, we walked to the Museum of Words and Images. This museum had original images from the insurgents during the war, and a whole room dedicated to Radio Vencemoros, it was the radio that was trying to share with the people of El Salvador the human rights atrocities and warn towns before military got to them. The group that ran the radio was about 20 and they hid in a cave, and that is the only way they were not found out, because of the location and jungle coverage of the cave. It was very moving. There was a man, Chiyo, that, through interpretation, shared his story of the war. He wrote a book, published recently, titled 7 hummingbirds. He was 7 when the war broke out and his neighbor shot his mother and sister while they were in a hammock in their front yard. He saw it happen, and still sees this man every day. He lost 7 siblings and his mother. His story is one of forgiveness and finding peace. It was a museum very worth going to, including the others I have been to. I would like to visit Morozan, where the radio was and a massacre, but it is in the far corner of El Sal. near Honduras... next time. But this city is ripe for studying peace, nonviolence, and healing.
Later we went to the National Exposition, a museum located in a large park bordering Franklin D. Roosevelt Avenue. This museums current exposition was on Land and Art - temporary time based art that took place in nature. There were videos of the creation and large scale photographs of the final art pieces.
Then we went to Santa Tecla, a sprawl of San Salvador. In the large mercado we ate pupusas... again! They are so good and cheap here. You can eat a whole meal with a drink for $1.50, 2.00 is a splurge! This market is like a lot of the others we've been to along the way, animals, lots of cheese, freshly slaughtered meat, live chickens, and everything else you could imagine. A woman with about 100 bras dangling from her arms, and another woman with 1000s of underwear to choose from. It's all a mix.
From there we went up to the San Salvador volcano. It is a volcano collapsed in on itself and they have made it into a pleasant walking trail, very accessible. The inside of the volcano is still active, but the last erruption was in 1917 when it dried up the lagoon that was there.
After this was when we climbed aboard the truck that zoomed off for our destination. There was a lot of chaos because of the strike, and buses that were running had people hanging all over the sides, just brimming over.
This morning before taking off on the bus to the beach, only $1.50, I stopped at the Museum of Popular Art which was a worthwhile visit. I also spent 45 minutes trailing through winding streets asking directions from so many people to find Archbishop Romero's house, one older man even took the time to walk me 3 blocks out of his way. The people here are so friendly, but I have found it to be true that you have to ask directions from more than one person because I often get conflicting information, and I think it is just that if people don't know the answer, they want to give you one. At least they are friendly doing so! Anyway, when I got to Romero's house, it was 12:00 and they were closed until 2:00. I asked and asked please please let me see his house, and they said no no no. They take their 12 - 2 lunch time seriously here. So much hard work, to be turned away! Oh well.
Now we are at the beach though! We came over to Playa El Tunco and have so far spent hours body surfing the large waves and eating some good fish. Our hotel has a nice swimming pool, hammocks, and lots of manicured greenspaces. It is very nice and lots of people out and about. El Tunco is nice so far... I look forward to trying out some surfing tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
San Salvador
Today has been a whirlwind in San Salvador. Yesterday, Jesse flew out of Guatemala City and Tyler and I started south by taking the TICA bus for $20... the best ride we´ve had yet, it felt like a luxury first class experience. So, now we are in San Salvador, El Salvador!
This city was pretty quiet yesterday, the 1st, most everything was closed, so we walked around a lot and orientated ourselves.
Today was a day of seeing and experiencing the city. San Salvador has been filled with friendly people. I have been lost and people will help direct and tell me what bus to get on. It has been great! I have seen no other tourists around except at my hostel... the tourism industry has not hit here yet.
First, for breakfast I had a fried plantain stuffed with creamcheesefrosting-custard topped with raisins... mmmm! I will have to have another one of those.
We took the bus to the Historic District where we went in the Catedral Metropolitana. This is the cathedral where Archbishop Oscar Romero (assisinated in 1981) was priest and is not entombed. It was a beatiful cathedral and very moving to see the dedication that is in the basement to him, and the artwork that is his tomb.
Then we saw National Theater and the National Palace. The market was already bustling open with load music booming and pupusas on the grill.
We continued south on a bus to the Playa del Diablo. This is a lookout over the city that has an almost 360 degree view. From here you can see the Volcan San Salvador and all the way to the ocean. It was awesome.
Then we returned to the city to find the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. This was a cathedral dedicated to the Black Virgin, and it was in stark contrast to the previous cathedral because it was purely feminine and adorned with Mary.
We walked over to the University of Central America, which has a nice pleasant and well manicured campus. Here, they have the Centro Monsenor Romero, a museum dedicated to the assisnation of the Archbisoph Romero, the 6 priests, and the many massacres that occurred between 1977 and 1991. The exhibit was very worth going to, very moving, and kind of scary. The UCA campus was where one massacre happened, and it is now restored but there were pictures of the room we were sitting in after the killings. I could not look at all the photo albums but they have original photos of the assassinations, things that a person should not necessarily see... They did have photos of some of the missing children. Anyway, it is all very moving and a very recent history here. A woman who has lived here for 18 years now (moved here just after the war) said it took many years before people started playing ball in the parks again and coming out to say hi to neighbors.
After this we went to Museum of Modern Art and were happy to see the rich diversity of the Latin American artists on display. Beautiful place.
It´s amazing how the museums here are anywhere from free to $1.50... and to take a bus anywhere in the city is between .20 and .32 cents.
Off to get a good night sleep after all that moving around! Tomorrow I have another day planned of museums and seeing the Santa Tecla, a city that is attached to san salvador, also known as the new San Salvador.
Buenos Noches!
This city was pretty quiet yesterday, the 1st, most everything was closed, so we walked around a lot and orientated ourselves.
Today was a day of seeing and experiencing the city. San Salvador has been filled with friendly people. I have been lost and people will help direct and tell me what bus to get on. It has been great! I have seen no other tourists around except at my hostel... the tourism industry has not hit here yet.
First, for breakfast I had a fried plantain stuffed with creamcheesefrosting-custard topped with raisins... mmmm! I will have to have another one of those.
We took the bus to the Historic District where we went in the Catedral Metropolitana. This is the cathedral where Archbishop Oscar Romero (assisinated in 1981) was priest and is not entombed. It was a beatiful cathedral and very moving to see the dedication that is in the basement to him, and the artwork that is his tomb.
Then we saw National Theater and the National Palace. The market was already bustling open with load music booming and pupusas on the grill.
We continued south on a bus to the Playa del Diablo. This is a lookout over the city that has an almost 360 degree view. From here you can see the Volcan San Salvador and all the way to the ocean. It was awesome.
Then we returned to the city to find the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. This was a cathedral dedicated to the Black Virgin, and it was in stark contrast to the previous cathedral because it was purely feminine and adorned with Mary.
We walked over to the University of Central America, which has a nice pleasant and well manicured campus. Here, they have the Centro Monsenor Romero, a museum dedicated to the assisnation of the Archbisoph Romero, the 6 priests, and the many massacres that occurred between 1977 and 1991. The exhibit was very worth going to, very moving, and kind of scary. The UCA campus was where one massacre happened, and it is now restored but there were pictures of the room we were sitting in after the killings. I could not look at all the photo albums but they have original photos of the assassinations, things that a person should not necessarily see... They did have photos of some of the missing children. Anyway, it is all very moving and a very recent history here. A woman who has lived here for 18 years now (moved here just after the war) said it took many years before people started playing ball in the parks again and coming out to say hi to neighbors.
After this we went to Museum of Modern Art and were happy to see the rich diversity of the Latin American artists on display. Beautiful place.
It´s amazing how the museums here are anywhere from free to $1.50... and to take a bus anywhere in the city is between .20 and .32 cents.
Off to get a good night sleep after all that moving around! Tomorrow I have another day planned of museums and seeing the Santa Tecla, a city that is attached to san salvador, also known as the new San Salvador.
Buenos Noches!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)