Celeste and I climbed a volcano--Pacaya, which gave us a beautiful view of the volcanoes surrounding Antigua and also most of western Guatemala all the way to the Pacific coast. It was an arduous two-hour climb (just the uphill part)--in which many pueblo boys followed us on their caballos (horses) and offered us "taxi naturales" up to the top, I have to say, I was a little tempted--but once we reached the volcano's lava flows and beautiful vistas, it was worth it! Racing down (or rather, sliding down) a nearly vertical lava rock "sand dune" to get to the cooled lava rock and hiking up to the actual spot where the hot lava was flowing, we finally got to walk on the crusted over-layer to stand just above real live molten lava! With a river of heat and sulfur just below me, I could imagine what it might feel like to surf in hell. Luckily, before our shoes could melt, we headed back down with a lovely stroll through pastures and forest, stopping to pet horses set loose in orchards and dancing with mariposas (butterflies).
That night, we went to Takua, a bar Celeste's German friend Liza works at. However, we were there for her going-away party before she shipped off back to Germany. We had fun hanging out in a smaller group of people, where speaking spanish was almost a necessity and trying to explain things back and forth was always a fun interchange. However, when it was already late, Liza had her camera stolen by someone at the party she didn't know well, a friend of a friend. So, while we searched around she went to go look for her friend and the hour got later and later....finally, she got her camera back and we said our goodbyes in the wee hours of the morning.
Usually, it's advisable to take a taxi or "tuk-tuk" back to your hostel after dark, but since Celeste and I had no purses on us and were together, we thought we'd be safe to walk home. Wrong. Half-way to our hostel a bicyclist stop by us to ask "donde esta el after-party?" and before either of us could answer, he grabbed my groin! He tried to take off on his bike, but Celeste was too quick and took hold of his shirt and then the bike, leaving me to scream and slap him. "No molesta!" (and other non-quotables) were flung at him along with fists and feet by two very angry gringas....at last, when he was completely apologetic and scared out of his wits, we let him go. Tag team vengeance of the gringas. Overall, we feel safe walking together at night, especially since we've proved ourselves a force to be reckoned with, but we now also keep our pocketknifes at the ready just in case... Other than the small chance of crime at night, Antigua is pretty safe and feels much safer than many places I've been in Europe.
Saturday night, we went out to Cafe No Se--our local ex-pat tequila bar where we are becoming regulars--where many of our friends either work or hang out. Usually, if we can't find them there, we go to the Rainbow Cafe which has a veggie friendly menu and live music nightly (usually including local musicians who are in our circle of friends). I love that so many of our amigos nuevos (or at least for me, Celeste knew many of them from a year ago) are among the most talented artists and scholars in Antigua, but are also just cool people to hang out with. But going back to Cafe No Se....So Saturday night we were visiting the artist/painters of the group at the bar and pretty soon into the night we heard loud singing coming from the small front bar. I went to investigate, especially since it seemed that a lot of the songs were American or British songs ala Beatles, etc. Well, mi amigo Alvaro was bartending there and promptly introduced me to the group of boisterous singers and solo guitar player, all of whom where prominent Guatemalan men or well-known ex-pats. One of the men just happened to be the Guatemalan ambassador to Portugal (and probably many other countries at some point) and was also very drunk, buying us all a round of shots before belting out his next song request. I offered up the next song, "Cecilia" by Simon & Garfunkel, but the Brit on the guitar said they had already sung it. Then, the ambassador suggested I say my name was Cecilia to get him to play it again. So I did, and danced with Alvaro behind the small bar (not an easy thing to do) and afterwards was solely referred to as Cecilia! Which then went to include every single woman present in the bar....muchas Cecilias...
The ambassador, Don Tono, is a local Bacchian fellow--if there is a place where deviousness and debauchery gravitate, it would be towards him. And yet, he is perfectly honorable and quite the caballerro, and by far the best dancer I've ever had the pleasure of dancing with (which is saying something since he's not only sixty-something but also usually drunk). He later referred to me as "Cecilia Emelia Dancer" and Celeste as "Devious Cecilia". This man is the most quotable character I've been around too--"Cecilia, what is your name?", "I have diplomatic impunity", "Young lady of the quicker shot"--he is a master at clever witticisms that are made even more memorable by the presence of a Havana cigar and Panama hat.
We saw him again at No Se on Monday night, the end of the weeklong festivities for the Dia de Independencia here in Guatemala. He remembered us right away, and thus started another fun night of dancing and memorable banter. And....we're pretty sure he had stayed drunk since Friday. But alas, this politically powerful man invited the entire group of us at the front bar to join him at his casa bonita to play billiards--a friggin' hard game to play, but I did score a point once! It turns out he is extremely rich (not surprising) and also breeds horses! Specifically Fresians and Andalusians....quite the coincidence since I used to say my dream horses where a Fresian stallion and an Andalusian mare! Celeste and I never fail to fall into luxury and fortunate incidents....but adopting a rich Latino grandpa was not what we expected!
So, I will backtrack a little now to Sunday. I had my first experience on one of the "chicken buses" here and loved it! You go to the open market and listen for men shouting, "Guate, Guate Guate!" (for Guatemala City) or "Chima, Chima, Chima!" (for the small town Chimaltanengo). For less than a dollar, you can get outside of the city and into the neighboring pueblos and a free amusement ride as well! The thrill of riding the chicken bus cannot be properly explained, but must needs be experienced for yourself. Imagine hurtling at high speeds up winding country roads with no barrier between you and the cliff next to it. Uh huh. That's what I'm talking about! So, we took the chicken bus with our German friend Andrea (whose Spanish is actually better than her English) and went to visit a friend I had not met yet.
Gabriel, a musician in Antigua, actually lives in a big pueblo outside town called Sumpango. He invited us to come to his house for the day so he could show us his pueblo and the "real" Guatemala (which is true, since Antigua is not really reminiscent of most of the country). Here, we saw his humble dwellings which he shared with his sister's family and met all of his adorable nephews and niece. These children are too precious to describe, but hopefully I can figure out how to post photos soon. Many of the photos were taken by the children themselves who are incredible photographers, especially since they had never used a camera before. The entire day was in espanol, since Gabriel speaks very little English and none of his family members did either. As gringas, we stuck out like sore thumbs, but only because it wasn't "the season" yet. It was nice being the only ones in the pueblo and getting lots of attention from small children and practicing our spanish with them. There was a traditional dance being demonstrated in one of the streets by a school, I think it was called "Conquistadores", since they wore beautiful colorful costumes and masks that vaguely looked like the Burger King head.
Wandering around a pueblo, speaking spanish, tasting local dishes and seeing how people actually live here--it was both enlightening and also humbling. I recently found out that the illiteracy rate here is 60% and that most families cannot send their children to school because they need them to help work to make enough to live on. The poverty here is immense, but the change will come slowly and many of our Guatemalan friends are hopeful that through there political and community work, they will be able to aid that effort to improve their country.
So far, this has been one of the best experiences of mi vida....and it's only been a week and a half! Ay, Dio mio!
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