My Guatemalan Christmas

For my 3rd Christmas in Guatemala, I was invited in Mynor’s family. It was my first real Guatemalan Christmas sharing with a local family so I was very curious. In Xela, there is a big market named La Democratia but in December it’s even bigger with stands covering 3 blocks. They are selling everything from clothes to food. On the 24th, it’s the craziest day with people buying their last minute gifts. We went there around 9 pm to buy fruits and a gift, it was packed!

The first tradition is to go to visit friends in the evening to eat a pache with them and drink a ponche. A pache is a pasta of papas with a piece of chicken inside and enveloped with a palm leaf and cooked in the water.  It’s like the tamales but the tamales are made with corn. A ponche is hot water with cinnamon and fruits, delicious!

So we started the evening at Mynor’s oldest brother home and then went at his parent’s. It was already 11:30 pm! His dad made a fire and when midnight came, the fireworks and firecrackers part started!
The second tradition is at midnight firecrackers and fireworks explode everywhere. You can buy any kind of firecrackers, from the smallest to the biggest. It’s crazy and dangerous. There are many accidents every year with kids. So we had our little private party, listening to the sounds coming from all over town and watching the fireworks.

Then we could finally eat! The third tradition is to eat at midnight. Luckily I ate a pache antes or I would have die of hunger ;) Paches and tamales while drinking ponche. And for desert, apples and grapes.
Finally it was time to exchange presents. Mynor sisters organized a present exchange. We all had to bring a present, then pick a paper with a name to know who we were going to give the present to. It was a good idea and fun. I got a plate and a cup, always useful! We danced a bit and when we arrived back home it was already 3:30 am.

A pache and the punch

Fruits as desert

The fire to keep warm. It was so cold that night!

Mynor playing with the fire

with Mynor nieces

The family around the fire

The parents

Mynor and his nieces

Receiving my present

Celebrating el Dia de Los Muertos in Todos Santos

In Guatemala, there is a big celebration on the  1st of November. One of the place to go for this occasion is Todos Santos, a small village in the Cuchumatanes mountains in the north west of Guatemala. They have kept their traditions alive and one of them is the horse race on the 1st of November. I had wanted to go the years before but never had the opportunity. So I decided to organize a trip with Simone and Emma, two friends from England.

We left on the 1st November very early from Xela to see the races. Its origin is vague. It could be the celebration of the triumph of a group of Mam who escaped from the Spaniards by horses.  Or it could be linked to the purification of the ground, as participants kill a chicken before the race. It is not a competition, people just ride for fun, which is hard to understand for foreigners. Who wants to ride a horse completely drunk with the risk of falling and killing yourself? But it’s fun to watch! The riders dressed with plumes feathers, a special belt and jacket, ride from one side to the other side of an one hundred meter track. Arriving at the end, they come back. And so it goes,  all day long. Some are so drunk that you wonder how they can stay on the horse. The riders had stayed up the night before drinking and organizing a big party for their families and friends. Sometimes some fall off their horses and if someone dies it means it’s going to be a good year for the town. Riders have to participate to the race for four following years. No more, no less or it’s bad luck. For their last year, they have to eat a full chicken the night before. During the race, they carry another chicken on their horses and at the end of the day cut its head. People can spend up to 20,000 Quetzales during these three days which is a huge amount of money for them.

We spent the day watching the races under the rain and in the cold. We couldn’t drink a shot of alcohol to get warmer because in Todos Santos the consumption of alcohol has been banned. It’s allowed only for 5 days during the November celebration. But you can’t buy any alcohol in the shops, you need bring your own. For a few days, the town is full of bolos (drunks) trying to stay on their feet or sleeping on the street in the mud.

On the 2nd of November, we went to the cemetery before heading back to Xela. The population of Todos Santos goes to the cemetery to celebrate their dead. They decorate the tombs with garlands, flowers and candles. They improvise small ceremonies in the sound of the firecrackers and marimba. 
To see more pictures, click here

10 Things You Should Know About Living in Guatemala

1. Quetzal
The Quetzal is the local money but also the national bird of Guatemala. You won’t be able to get any quetzals outside the country. One hundred quetzals equal 15 USD so items may seem very cheap to you. No you won’t be able to pay everything by credit card, so you better get used to have cash in your wallet! When you return to your home country, you’ll be running all the time to the cash machine before thinking “Oh yeah I can use my credit card again!”.

2. It will take you 4 hours to travel 170 kilometers
Yes traveling around Guatemala takes time, a lot of time. You will soon be used to the bumpy rides on the local buses called camionetas or chicken buses. They are old school buses from the States redecorated in flashy colors. The game is to have as many people as possible into the bus, so you will feel like a chicken. The first drive is always the scariest with drivers thinking they are driving a Formula one. But that’s the best way to live the real Guatemalan experience! You will soon get used to it.

3. Spanish is not just your second language
There are twenty-three indigenous languages in Guatemala so for most of the population Spanish is only their second language, too. Ninety seven percent of Guatemalans speak Spanish so that shouldn’t be a problem when traveling around. But if you go to small villages you might be surprised that nobody understands you. There are still places in Guatemalan where nobody speaks Spanish or so little of it that having a conversation with them might be a challenge.

4. Prepare to get high
If you go to Quetzaltenango which is  located at 2 330 meters high, be ready to be short of breath every time you climb stairs. The first week I was in Xela, I didn’t understand why I was always so tired until I realized it was because of the altitude. Of course!! Guatemala has a spectacular chain of thirty volcanoes in only 109,000 sq km. So you will probably be climbing a few, like Tajumulco which is the highest volcano en Central America (4220 meters high).

5. You’re a gringo
Gringo means American, but for most Guatemalans if you are a white foreigner then you are a gringo. Don’t be offended. You can try to explain them that you’re coming from the UK, France or Spain but if you’re in the country sometimes it’s not worth it. I remember once I was traveling and a guy asked me where I was from. When I answered France, he asked in which state it was (in the United States). When I replied “No it’s in Europe”, he asked me again where it was it the States.

6. La hora chapine
The first time you meet a Guatemalan you might be annoyed because he will be late. Don’t be. Just try to get used to! La “hora Chapine” means people always arrive late. It can be from 10 minutes up to an hour. So if you’re used to always arriving late yourself, you will be very happy here. But if you’re someone like me who likes people arriving on time, you will feel frustrated for sure. Just tell them to meet at 6:30 p.m. if you want to meet them at 7 p.m.

7. You will eat fijoles and tortillas until you get sick of
The fundamental staple of Guatemalan food is the tortilla, a thin round patty of corn dough cooked on a griddle called a “comal”. They eat tortillas at every meal like we do with bread in other countries. It’s the exclusive domain of women and you’ll see and hear women making them in every corner of the country.
The second staple are the frijoles or black beans. They can be eaten boiled or fried, in soup or with tortillas and eggs. Frijoles are served in their own dark sauce or in a thick black paste.

8. Sometimes electricity or water runs out
There are often power cuts or the water runs out. Just be always ready. Have some candles in the house and have your pila (water tank) full.

9. Don’t get bolo with the Gallo
Gallo means “chicken” in Spanish. That’s also the name of the national beer. You can buy it anywhere, even in the remotest village. People may have no electricity but they will surely have Gallo! Alcohol is a big problem in Guatemala and you’ll see a lot of bolos (drunk people) around town at any hours of the day or night.

10.Salsa is in their blood
If you want to dance salsa, you’ll find clubs and dance schools in all cities. Salsa is in their blood and it might cost you a lot to get to their level, but it’s worth it. Many clubs have a special salsa night with free classes. Ask around or check the add  boards around town.

Caves exploration and Canopy in Peten

I took the opportunity of the independence celebration in September to go to Petén on an organized tour with Descubre Guatemala. Our first stop was Finca Ixobel and the caves Naj Tunich south of Poptun. Finca Ixobel is an ecological friendly hotel and camping surrounded by Mayan mountains, pine forest and jungle. The 162 hectare finca was bought in 1971 by an American couple. They started only with a small camping and now are offering tree houses, private rooms in bungalows and a large camping site. After pitching our tents, we went to visit the caves of Naj Tunich. At thirty kilometers east of Poptun, the caves are unique for its Mayan murals showing religious ceremonies, ball games and erotic scenes (not found anywhere else in the Mayan world). The name means “Paintings in a humid area”. The real caves were closed because of vandalism but we saw the copy of the paintings in a nearby cave. We spent the afternoon cooling off and swimming in the lake at the finca while enjoying the nature.

After a night listening to the bird singings, we went to visit the caves Ixobel at 45 minute walk from the finca through the green mountains. The formations of stalactites and stalagmites are impressives. After lunch, we left Poptun to go to Parque Ixpanpajul, a natural reserve at 10 kilometers south of Flores. It’s a beautiful place to walk, do some bird watching and experience the jungle in a way you have never experienced. We went on the Sky-way, six hanging bridges at 40 meters. You feel like a bird! The track brought us to the top of hill where there was a beautiful view on the surrounding forest and the Lake Petén Itza. We camped but a surprise was waiting for us. We had tents with mattress, real mattress! A luxury camping!

On the third day, we went to play Tarzan at the Canopy Tour in Tikal. It was the first time for me and at the beginning I was scared, but then the adrenaline hit me and I wanted more. There are twelve platforms on five kilometers across the jungle and seeing monkeys. I felt like flying like a bird going from one tree to the other one, it was so much fun. We ended up the day at the archeological site Yaxha watching the sunset from the highest pyramid, the temple 216.

To see pictures of my trip, check here








in the Caves Ixobel
With Sonia and Ana M.











scaryyyy!!














on the Skyway












the girls













No I'm not scared
Ready for the Canopy!


















I'm a bird!!!!
















yeah we did it!
when are we going back?






















sunset in Yaxha

A weekend 100% Chapin: River Rafting &Tubing in Semuc Champey

The last time I went river rafting I was 21, so when I saw that the TO Descubre Guatemala was offering a rafting weekend in Semuc Champey I decided to go.

On Saturday morning, the meeting point was at 5 a.m. in front of Tikal Futura, a big shopping center in Guatemala City. When the taxi arrived late I was starting to get anxious. But living in Guatemala should have teach me that Guatemalan are never on time. We left Guatemala City at 6 a.m. on board of 2 mini buses. What a surprise when I realized I was the only foreigner, but good for me. Here I was ready to spend a weekend 100% Chapin! We were a group of 25 plus 3 guides, mostly women.

After a trip without incident, we arrived at Lanquin where we left the buses to jump on two pick up. The road between Lanquin and Semuc Champey is bad but beautiful. Being in the back of the pickup, we were able to enjoy more the view. We arrived at the hostel Las Marias and after everybody changed, we headed to the Park of Semuc Champey to refresh ourselves in the natural swimming pools. It was my third visit but the first time during the raining season and I could see the difference of the level of the water. After a late lunch, we went to discover the caves Kan’-Ba’. Their particularity? There is no light so you go with a candle. This is a unique experience of 1 ½ hour! Walking in the caves the feet in the water with only the light of the candle to guide you. You even have to swim with one hand holding the candle, climb a small waterfall with the help of a ladder, climb in and down the rocks. And finally you arrive to a large room where is the Hat of the Rey (in mud). A good place to take a group picture before heading back to the entrance. When we went out, it was night and that made our way back to the hostel even more mysterious. After changing in dry clothes, we had diner why listening to a marimba concert. But tired after a long day, we all went to bed early.

On Sunday, up at 7 a.m., we started the day by doing Tubing on the Rio Cahabon. Everybody on an inner tube floating on the river, a fun way to start the day! After a good breakfast, we jumped in the pickup to go back to Lanquin. Where we only took what we needed for the rafting and jumped in 2 other pickup for a 30 minute drive. We went to the Comunidad Saquija de Cahabon where we got ready for river rafting. We jumped on board of the 3 rafting boats after listening the instructions. My team, the survivors, was composed of 7 members plus 2 guides. The trip took us 2 hours with several rapids level III, IV and V. And between each rapid we had time to swim in the river and do some fun games. Like the one where everybody had to stand up on boat boards and walk around without falling in the water. It was a nice way to do rafting, a lot of adrenaline during the rapids and some fun time between. We arrived just when it started raining and after a 30 minute trip by car back to the Community, we had a delicious local lunch. But it was already time to head back to Lanquin, get changed (yeah dry clothes!!!) and head back to Guatemala City. Bye Bye Lanquin, we had a fun time and we’ll come back!

Fore more pictures check my album

on the road to Semuc

Champey

waterfalls in Semuc

Champey

the group















with Sonia and Ana Maria













the river Cahabon













the Survivor Team



















in the caves of Kan'-Ba'





















group pic

Guatemalan Experience: Driving in Guatemala

Everybody has heard, read and live the experience of traveling on a chicken bus. But who has ever tried to drive in Guatemala? Being in Guatemala for almost 3 years, I have finally decided last May to buy a car. Guatemalan will tell you: “be careful, you’re white and you are a girl so people will try to sell it for more expensive”. Well I got lucky, the brother of a friend was selling his Isuzu Trooper. It was perfect, I needed a 4x4 wheel car because what is the use to have a city car in Guatemala?

So here I was, with an old car ready to hit the road!! I saw how Guatemalans were driving but living it on live is something else! I’m still learning…here are some basic rules!

First rule on the road: there are NO rules! Means you can do whatever you want to go faster. Overtaking with no visibility, overtaking on the right, forcing the other car to stop to make your way, and so on… the first time you hesitate to overtake in a curve but you quickly understand that if you don’t do it, it might take you a lonnnggg time to go home. You’re going to feel your adrenalin go high I promise.

Second rule: drive the fastest and craziest you can! Roads in Guatemala are well as you can guess not really well maintained. There are holes in middle, dust. And Guatemala is a country with mountains so roads are sinuous. So you rarely use the 5th gear. And when you do, wouuaa you’re feeling that you’re going fasssttt!!! Com’ on baby you can do it!

Third rule: use your horn as much as you can. First I was too shy to use it but now I understand the reason Guatemalan use it all the time. Get out of my way! Or I’m here so please watch out! Or Fucker! You’re no allowed to overtake me! So people don’t seem to see the other car on the road, so that’s good to let them know that you’re here.

Fourth rule: when there is a block on the road for maintenance work, don’t queue. Do like the chicken buses or other cars, using the other line to get as close as the beginning of the line.

Now you’re ready to enjoy your drive and the unforgettable experience!

Guatemalan Experience: Weekend at a coffee Finca

Just four years ago, the community of Nueva Alianza wasn’t sure how they would survive. After working hard for generations for the sole benefit of the coffee plantation owner, they were left with nothing after he declared bankruptcy (due to the global drop in the price of coffee) and fled, still owing them 18 months of back pay.

Located in a temperate area 1000 meters above sea level in the Guatemalan municipality of El Palmar, Quetzaltenango, about 45 minutes north of the coastal town of Retalhuleu, this small community looks quite different today. They no longer live their lives in fear working under slave-like conditions but are working collectively, for the benefit of all 40 Guatemalan families in the cooperative. Thanks to sustainable projects like organic coffee and macadamia nut production, bio-diesel production, hydro-electric power, and a purified bottled water facility, Nueva Alianza has greatly improved their quality of life. Another project that has made a significant difference is a thriving ecotourism program through support from Café Conciencia, (an international, non-profit organization that works in solidarity with worker-owned coffee cooperatives in Guatemala to help them achieve social and economic justice).

I weekend trip to visit the finca and hear all about their history and projects.

The weekend starts at 7:00 am at the Parque Central in Quetzaltenango where a private mini bus picks up us for a 2 hour drive. Arriving at the Finca, we have coffee and fruits before going for a 2 hours hike in the jungle. The guide explains the use of the different medicinal plants present in the finca. Some have been used by generations to cure the cold, the pain or the insomnia. The path brings us to the nursery of the coffee plants. They mix two families of coffee plants to make a stronger plant and let them grow for a year before planting them in the field. It takes 2 years before they start producing fruits.

Back to the hotel, we have lunch following by a quiet time to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and the warm weather. At 3:00 pm, we go for the coffee tour. This year they have changed their machines to be more ecological, using less water and the recirculation the water. The whole process, from the time they bring the fruits from the field to when the coffee is ready to be sold, takes about 80 hours. The harvest is between July till December.

After diner, they are selling coffee and macadamia. Then someone from the community comes to talk about their history. In the 80’s, the finca was owned by a man and everything was going fine until he died. One of his sons took over the finca but he was a bad administrator and with the drop of the price of the coffee he started owning them many months of salary. The situation got so bad that people left the finca to look for a job in Quetzaltenango. After the owner declared bankruptcy, they took a loan in 2002 to pay the finca. Fondo Del Tierra, the organization that loaned them the money, gave them 12 years to pay back the 1.2 Million of Quetzals. So they organised themselves in a cooperative and have been working hard since then.

On Sunday morning, we do the tour of the different projects: bio-diesel, purified water, furniture in bamboo, macadamia, compost and organic garden. Each project is independent and run by a committee. They have too a chicken farm and a pig farm run by the women committee. The Bio-diesel project started with the help of an American student who teach them the process and gave them their first machine. Then thanks to a donation they were able to buy better machines. Now they make bio-diesel for the community, to use for the trucks of the purified water and the motors.
We finish the morning by a small hike to a waterfall before having lunch and getting ready to go back to Quetzaltenango.

For more information about the tours to Nueva Alianza, check the community website http://www.comunidadnuevaalianza.org/index.htm . If you’re in Quetzaltenango, visit the office at 12 Avenida 3-35, Zona 1.

Guatemalan Experience 1: traveling on a Camioneta or Chicken Bus

After 2 years living in Guatemala, traveling by Camionetas or Chicken Buses (this name was given by Americans because the day of the market people travel with their chickens) is for me something as natural as taking the train in France.

First, you have to be sure that you’re taking the right bus. Look at the front of the bus to know their destination, but most of the time you can hear the ayudante shouting « Guate! Guate ! » or « Xela ! Xela ! ». And the only thing to do is to jump aboard for the drive of your life!

Second, you have to find a place to seat. An advice, don’t seat at the front or you might have a heart attack before you arrive at destination. Sometime it’s better not to see how they are driving. Some drivers forget they have a bus in their hand and think they are driving a Formula 1. Well if you’re a believer you can always make a sign cross when you enter the bus, many Guatemalan do. And don’t seat at the back if you don’t want to be shaken like a milkshake! So… try to seat in the middle. On a seat for 2 people, can seat 3 or 4 if there are kids. So don’t hesitate to push people to make space for you to seat. And now hold on strongly to the bar…

Third, you have to pay the ayudante. That’s the name for the guy collecting the money, bringing up the bags on the roof, helping people to get in and out the bus,… they are usually very young guys and are like monkeys, climbing up and down the bus riding at full spead, arriving to get all the way through the bus even if it’s so packed that nobody can get in. To know who much you have to pay, ask people around, they will usually tell you. Or trust the ayudante (usually you can but sometime they try to get a few more quetzales).

Once you’re seated, you can start enjoying the ride. A Camioneta is like a small market, people getting in and out selling medicines for your stomach, for your headache, selling food, drinks, or preachers telling you how to save your soul. I’m always amazed that people believe in these people and give money, when they have hardly any to live.

So here you are enjoying being packed like chickens, having loud music shouted at your hears, being shaken like potatoes, trying not to fall on you neighbors in every curves, promising God to go to church once a year if you arrive safe at the destination, while observing the Guatemalan being so calm or sleeping when the driver is overtaking another bus in a curve with no view. But don’t worry that’s just a question of exercise. After a few trips you will do the same, just listening to the ayudante shouting the names of the stops to be sure not to miss your destination.

Yes traveling by Camionetas around Guatemala is an experience you will never forget and will miss when you go home !