Notable Times: Adventures in Guatemala, Part II: Stranger in Antigua, Friend in Xela

In the last episode, Linette and I traveled with our friends Neal & Stephanie Summers to Guatemala City, where we had breakfast with Maria & Oscar Marroquin and then visited with Dr. Carlos & Lilly Perez, old friends of Malcolm & Thelma Merrill. Oscar lent us a Ford Yukon to drive for the week and even set us up with two cell phones so we could contact each other when split up, or call him with any questions we might have. The trip couldn't have gotten off to a better start, and we were blown away by their kindness.

Once on the road towards Quetzaltenango, we saw on the map that Antigua wasn't very far out of the way. "Antigua" means "ancient" and was the original capital of Guatemala hundreds of years ago before earthquakes and volcanoes prompted a move to present-day Guatemala City. There is great old colonial architecture in that city, including ruins, some of which are still put to some use for markets and such.

One of the things I inherited from Grandma Merrill when she passed away was the book, A Doorway in Antigua, which was, as I've put it, "a book about a guy who went to Guatemala to write a book about being a guy who went there to write a book about it." The author wrote other books while he was there, too, but this book was about his own experience and his observations. I read it in preparation for our trip, and between that book and the other pictures I had seen, I thought it would be neat to see Antigua. So, since we were in no hurry, and now had a set of wheels, we took a detour.

Once in Antigua, we drove up a random street, and soon realized that we weren't seeing anything amazing yet, so I suggested we pull over and ask directions from a random guy on the side of the street. The guy started telling what to go see and where it was, but the directions were a little confusing, so finally he said, "Do you want me to just jump in and show you?"

"Sure!" we said, and he hopped right in. We did this partly because we could use the directions, and partly because it was hilarious. Here is a picture of our spontaneous tour guide, whose name turned out to be Wellington (which was awesome in its own right. Apparently naming kids with English names is a big trend in Guatemala in recent years).

(Wellington with Stephanie Summers)

Just after we kidnapped this random guy off the street, our car alarm went off and it took a while to figure out how to get it quieted. This of course happened just as some police were driving by, and they looked at us funny but didn't do anything. I called Oscar Marroquin and asked what we were supposed to do to properly disable the car alarm. He gave me a lengthy explanation, and I thanked him and hung up. When everyone asked what he had said, I replied, "Push the button."

Wellington talked nonstop for an hour as we drove around. We saw cathedrals, arches, a few ruins and other cool architecture. Everything he said was in Spanish, of course, so I didn't catch much, but it was still cool to see.

When we saw the central park, I recognized it as the one described in the book I had read, so we hopped out and took a look. I bought some necklaces from this young lady, so she let me take her picture. She said that she made all of these clothes herself.

During the entire trip, I was amazed by the colorful patterns woven into these hand-made clothes. Each village has a distinctive pattern, and Guatemalans can tell where someone is from by looking at their clothes. The skirt is called a corte (COHR-teh) and the blouse is called a huipil (WEE-peel). They also use their "shawls" for all sorts of things, including carrying babies on their backs, carrying goods on their heads, warmth, or for adornment. In the picture above, for example, you probably wouldn't guess that the gal has a hundred or so necklaces draped on her arm, hidden by her blanket.

We didn't spend much time in Antigua, but it was neat to have caught a few glimpses of it. It turned out that Wellington had been waiting for a bus to take him to a town that was on our way back to the main highway, so we dropped him off along our way, so he got a free ride out of the deal.

On our way towards Quetzaltenango, there was an overlook along the highway from which we could see Lake Atitlán (the lake Grandma [Thelma] Merrill had painted), so we pulled over for a moment to take a look. Then the car alarm went off and it took a while to figure out how to turn it off. Then we couldn't figure out how to get the car started, and we didn't want to bug Oscar again. There was that little moment when we wondered what we would do if we found ourselves stranded in the middle of Guatemala. But we finally got the car all calmed down and locked up, so we pretended we were just approaching it by hitting unlock, opening the doors, getting out and back in (though that couldn't possibly have helped), closing the doors, pushing the button, and starting the car. Luckily, that did the trick, and we were on our way.

(Volcanoes over Lake Atitlán, from the main highway lookout point)

Here are some pigs we saw as we drove along ("this little piggy went to the market").

And it wasn't uncommon to see kids taking care of other smaller kids.

Finally we arrived in Quetzaltenango, or "Xela" as it is called by the locals. ("Xela" is the local Mayan word. "Quetzaltenango" is the word assigned by the Incan guides that accompanied the Spanish into the area when it was being explored).

We checked into our charming bed & breakfast (La Casa San Bartolomé), which was hidden behind a nondescript doorway in a normal alley-like street, but which was beautifully adorned inside with plants everywhere. Here is Linette in the courtyard.

Next we checked out the central square, where we ate lunch, hit the ATM and then bought "pan" (baked goods, like pastries and cookies). Neal Summers was especially excited about the bakery, "Xelapan", having fond memories of eating there as a missionary. Here is Neal with his "shopping cart" full of goodies.

We also got gelato (ice cream) and ate it in the central park.

That evening when we got back to our bed & breakfast, there was a note from Linette's old missionary companion, Yamilet, saying that she had been by. Yamilet lives right in Xela, and is the main person Linette had kept in contact with over the years. Yamilet also was the one who arranged tickets for us for both the temple dedication and also the cultural celebration that would be the night before.

We bought some minutes for our phones and then gave her a call and she walked back over to see us, along with her daughter Kimberly. Linette only comes up to my shoulder, but Yamilet only comes up to Linette's shoulder, so when they were companions, the people would call Linette "La Alta" ("the Tall One"). Linette loved that companion.

Linette had brought a huge suitcase stuffed full of baby blankets that were donated by friends, neighbors, made as young women projects, or made by Linette herself. It was actually really touching to me to see so many different people donate some, including an inactive sister that I hadn't seen in a long time. One sister in our ward made these cute fuzzy hats that were the most adorable things I've ever seen. Aunt Beth even donated some crocheted blankets. (Thanks to Andrea for breaking me into Bruce & Beth's house to get them, even though it later turned out that Bruce had been downstairs during the entire break-in. :)

Linette showed the blankets to Yamilet and asked if she knew where we could donate them. Yamilet was the stake relief society president, so she said she could place all of them where they were needed. So we decided we would deliver the entire suitcase to her house the next morning and let her have at them. (We saved a few out to take to one other place).

Here is Yamilet, her daughter Kimberly and Linette, talking about the baby blankets. (You can even see one of the cute hats).

That night was also "burn the devil" night, where at 6pm people burn a paper devil so that Mary and the baby will have a safe trip on Christmas Eve. Plus they light off firecrackers because it turns out you can do that any day of the year for any or no reason whatsoever. (I had read that in the book, too, so lighting off some firecrackers became one of my goals for the trip as well).

Pulling the car into the courtyard was tricky, there only being a couple of inches of clearance on each side of the car, even with the mirrors folded in. But by the end of the week we were getting pretty good at it.

Each morning a nice lady would make us breakfast to order, which was included in the $40/night we were paying. We usually got black beans, some sort of eggs, a glass full of random blended fruit, and a couple times we talked them into giving us hot chocolate instead of coffee. (After the first time, we bought our own for them to make for us). Their hot chocolate is made by melting a big block of chocolate in water, and it was really good to dip the cookies in that we bought at Xelapan.

Linette loves the Guatemalan black beans.