Swimming Between Volcanoes, an Unusual Religion & My New Routine

Last weekend we went to Lago Atitlan and Chichicastenango. Lago Atitlan is a big lake about three hours from Antigua surrounded by volcanoes. There are tons of little towns surrounding the lake and we always go to a town called Panajachel. When we got there we didn't spend too much time in Panajachel. Usually when we come on the short trips we have less time so we just spend the day there, but this time we were staying the night. We dropped off our things at the hotel and then we headed to the lake to go on a boat for a mini cruise. Because we have less time on the day trips we go to a town that is closer to Panajachel, but this time we headed to a town that was on the opposite side of the lake. About halfway through, the boat stopped and we got to jump off the side into the water! Since it was a double-decker boat we could jump from up high. That was definitely the highlight off my day, to throw yourself off the railing and see the water rushing up at you and the wind blowing your face. Then to crash into the water and sink down in the midst of bubbles, I loved it. So much, that I jumped eight times while everybody else jumped three or four. When we had all dried off we were almost to Santiago, the biggest town on the lake. In Santiago there's a pretty big market but we didn't do any shopping since we thought we would have other opportunities. Then we had a tour of the city.

In Santiago they also have one of the four Maximon (pronounced Mashimon) dolls in Guatemala. Maximon is a saint of a religion that is an off-shoot of Catholicism, a mix of Catholicism and Mayan traditions. We were there when they were doing their rituals and it was very interesting to watch. First they drank a whole lot of alcohol and then they put some on the doll. They also lit a bunch of candles that they put around the doll and in the doll's hand. Different color candles are for different things, but I don't know for what exactly. After lighting the candles they started saying words and swinging incense, but they spoke Cakchiquel (a Mayan language) so we didn't understand. It was a really interesting and different religion that not too many people practice any more.

We then continued our tour of Santiago on the back of a pickup! All of us hopped in the back and I thought it was pretty fun. We went to the plaza, the center of town where the church is and learned a little bit about what happened there. From the 1960s to the 1990s there was civil war in Guatemala, a very bad civil war. We didn’t learn that much about it, but we learned there was a massacre in that plaza around 25 years ago. It was super sad hearing and reading about, I don’t want to get into details, but a lot of people died. I was thinking afterwards, how could someone willingly shoot innocent people, how could you live with that, I just don’t understand how it happens. The way back to Panajachel went by uneventful, and apart from a great dinner at a great restaurant, so did the rest of the night. I was really glad that we got to have more time there because there’s so much to see that we usually don’t see.

The next day we went to Chichicastenango, which is a pretty big town with a humongous market. The market is famous in Guatemala for all its colors and its diversity in products. When we got there we were immediately immersed in people trying to sell us things. At first we just walked until we got to the church, which was going to be our meeting spot since people were splitting up. The church was pretty big and was divided into two sections. Before, the Indigenous people would sit on one side and the priest would speak Mayan languages, while the mixed (Spanish and Mayan) sat on the other side with another priest speaking Spanish. After visiting the church my mom, dad, brother and I went off to look at the market. The first section we walked through had a lot of food. There were lots of fruits and vegetables of all kinds and there were small stands with things similar to quesadillas and tacos. When we kept going deeper we got to the handicraft section. There were a lot of jade and obsidian things there and it was really cool. There were also a lot of things made out of wood. This was my favorite section because it was full of things that really interested me. I’ve always been fascinated by rock and wood products. I ended up getting a necklace made of jade with my Mayan symbol on it. I’m Toj, which means shark in Cakchiquel. My brother Carlos is Kan, but I don’t know what that means. After the handicraft section we got to the traditional clothes. I wasn’t really that interested in that section, but I still thought it was interesting to see the traditional clothes. I actually found some similarities in them to Indian clothes, especially the men’s clothes. Even though they were different, for sure, they had some of the same textures and patterns. By the time we had finished seeing the clothes we had almost completed a full circle. This market was like the markets in India. They have a bunch of little shops that sell different (or the same so there’s competition) products. This was totally new for me/us because back home it’s not like that. This was a really cool market with lots of cool things and I’m glad we got to visit it since I hadn’t before.

Last time I said that we had to move out of our house and I forgot to add that we are in a new one. Our friends in the US have a house here but they’ve lived in the US for a long time now so they let us stay in it. Their names are Tina and Tono. Thanks to them! It’s a really nice house and we’re lucky to have it. Some other friends in Antigua have a spare car that they let us use, so we’re all set. My brother and I also have a Spanish teacher come every morning. My mom and dad really wanted us to come out of this with fluent Spanish so for an hour and a half we each have Spanish class. All the volunteers in the gap year program also have Spanish class, but for four hours. The entire morning! I really like my teacher and I’m learning a lot. Even though the Spanish is really good for me, now I have extra work. I was still doing Spanish class in India, but not as long and I definitely didn’t speak as much. I also have homework! For the first time in 6 months! We have a good routine here and we’re already as comfortable as we were at the end of India.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas!