Navidad

One great tradition here is tamales on Christmas Eve and Christmas. They are different than Mexican tamales because they are softer and have a red sauce inside, but still delicious. Tuesday night began the laborious process of making the mixture and stirring it over the stove. We started at 11 pm and finished about 1 am. Then in the morning the following day, the women lug the pot upstairs to cook over fire. Once finished, they wrap them in banana leaves. Rosario sells some too. She made about 150.

Like Bingo, the Guatemalans go all out for Christmas Eve. Saira kept saying how wonderful it is, blah blah blah and I couldn´t see why because we didn´t do anything out of the ordinary. I accompanied her and her man to San Antonio to drop off a gift and saw an elaborate nativity scene at a monastery, but then we returned home to hang out. So I was surprised when the events started happening. First off, at about 5 pm, a character parade of what you might see at Six Flags came to the neighbors house. There were all types, about 30 or so. A truck with maybe five loud speakers strapped to the back, pulled ahead and blared merengue as the costumed people danced in lines up and down the street. Kids came from all over. I couldn´t stop laughing, it was such a wonderful event! Then a band with a nativity set on their shoulders came up the street and played Christmas songs. Neighbors dropped by all night to buy tamales and to rummage through the Mexican clothes Rosario sells or to drop off a basket of treats.

When I thought the festivities were over, I fell asleep at 10, exhausted from the previous night of tamale making and dancing with the characters in the street. I was awakened at 11:40 with booms of fire works and Rosario calling out to me:"Chesly!" I climbed the roof to see in a 180· view fire works in every direction, in every color - one of the most spectacular events I have witnessed. This went on until 12:15 when a layer of smoke covered San Felipe, Guayano and Jocotenango. Then we opened gifts. I got a lovely, lowcut Styles For Less-like dress, a wallet and a scarf. The biggest hit was the Spanish Scrabble game, thanks to Estevan, which we played right away.

The firework noise still continues on...

bingo, san felipe style

I will never play BINGO the same again. I went with the family to BINGO night, sponsored by the church. It was held in the soccer stadium; we went thirty minutes early to get good seats. Cards cost about $2/person. The festivities opened with men in black suits walking around the stadium and throwing candy and little toys to the crowds. Once Santa Claus came out, the game began. When someone won, they flagged down a man in a black suit who then carried a blue flag to the caller. The caller read aloud the numbers, if the person won, the crowd boo'd, if they were incorrect, the crowd cheered. The winner has an "option" to donate part of his winnings to the church. How much is donated is announced! There was one winner who opted out of the donation. Poor decision because then as he walked back across the soccer field, popcorn, chuchitos, balls and trash were hurled at him amidst shouts of angry church-goers. I didn´t win. I didn´t even come close, especially since I kept getting the 'O' 60s and 70s confused (sesenta and setenta), so a lot of false hope. I sat next to a really nice 8-year old who helped me when she could. The highlight was this dark drink reserved for Christmas that has fruit in it (plums, grapes?).


The men in black suits, Santa doing toe touches.

So many people.

fuegos artificiales

They love their fireworks here. I finally witnessed it. For any celebration, no matter how small, fireworks are set off. It´s 4th of July year round in Guatemala. I hear it all the time, but I finally witnessed it as I was walking home yesterday. There was a parade coming down a random street in San Felipe. The booms started and I took cover, only to see white lights in broad daylight. They set off maybe 25 as the parade waited. Fireworks are so important here, the birthday of the man who brought them the glorious lights is celebrated.

Baby Phat

After traveling around Guatemala for a few weeks, my bag is lighter a Spanish/English dictionary, a wash cloth, about 20 bobby pins, tweezers, a black fleece, one sock and one earring. My body added a few pounds to make up for it though. I have found my packing couldn´t have been much worse. The weather is colder than I anticipated, and I didn´t bring a jacket. So I made my way to the secondhand section of the market and bought a lovely cream down jacket, with gold buttons enladen with the wonderful signature of Kimora Lee; yes, they have Baby Phat in Guatemala. All I need are my G-Unit jeans and I would be the ultimate gringa here. In my head, I´m compiling the perfect packing list which I plan to sell to Lonely Planet to include in their next guide book with an accurate description of the weather. As well as a few corrections on their price lists.



I´m in San Felipe de Jesus right now, which is about two miles outside of Antigua living with a family of four. The girls are wonderful, ages 24 and 26. I love the food here, as proven earlier by the additional poundage. The staples are beans, cheese "queso fresco", eggs, bread and platanos. Although, I have had some tastey soups. Soups I think Lori Riley would want to make. My favorite was a pumpkin/squash one at a family´s house in Antigua. The Antiguenos call themselves Panza Verdes (green bellies) because they eat so many avacadoes. I have found the avacadoes to be a little watery though, different than the ones I´m used to in Visalia, but still delicious. Recently, in a trip to Flores, the avacadoes were amazing, just right. I made up for all the watery ones I had here.


Beautiful breakfast, lovely face.
Photo courtesy of Roger.