Central and Remote

It seems like lately everyone has been talking about the Maya, the ancient civilization best known for their impeccably accurate astronomical calculations and calendrical cycles. By now, the average American knows that the Mayan Long Count will end on Dec 21, 2012 – that is, the B´ka´tun, a cycle that lasts 144,000 days will reset. Depending who you ask, this will either cause worldwide catastrophes, a global shift in consciousness, or will pass by unnoticed. Since Guatemala is in the Mayan heartland (they make up about 50% of the population here)  it would have been a shame to leave without visiting any ruins to learn a bit more about this fascinating civilization.

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So here’s a quick history lesson: some 2700 years ago, a group of Mayans settled on a low-lying hill in the swamplands of Mesoamerica. This particular settlement, known as Tikal, was of strategic importance due to its proximity to abundant flint, used for arrowheads, knives, and various other sharp pointy implements. As the centuries passed, the settlement gradually became a city, and by the mid 4th Century AD, it became the dominant kingdom and military power in the region.

Temple 1 of the Gran Plaza

By the middle of the 6th century, Tikal covered 30 square kilometers, and had a population of up to 100,000 people. Compare that to Rome, which had a population of only 40, 000 at the same time. In the 700s, King Moon Double Comb came into power, and started building a series of lavish temples overtop the graves of rulers.

About a hundred years later, the Maya civilization suddenly collapsed. The exact cause still isn´t totally clear, but the rapid decline at Tikal was most likely a result of overpopulation, deforestation, erosion, and water shortages. The city was particularly vulnerable since it relied entirely on rainwater as a drinking source. By the year 1000, Tikal was totally abandoned, and the jungle slowly started to reclaim the temples. The ruins remained untouched by Spanish Conquistadors, and it wasn´t until 1848 that the Guatemalan Government sent an archaeological expedition to uncover Tikal from the Jungle.

The Lost City of Tikal

Today, several of the Temples have been restored, as well as numerous acropolises, stelae, and plazas. About 5 temples stand higher than 40 meters, and the tallest one is over 60m high. In real life, the pyramids are far bigger than they look in pictures, and they´re steep, steep, steep (at least two tourists have died tumbling down the steps up Temple 1). To see these age-old ruins poking out of the forest canopy where a great city once stood is impressive to say the least, and it´s a good reminder that civilizations are more fragile than we like to think.

Going Nowhere Fast

Earlier this week I jumped on a bus from Lago de Atitlan to Xela (aka Quetzaltenango). I was left standing in the aisle with just enough space to plant my feet on the floor. After a quick count I estimated there were 80 people on a school bus designed to comfortably seat 36 children. As my head bumped against the roof, I realized it was more comfortable to hold on to the hand rail and lean back a bit. With the bus swerving back and forth, and with no view of where we were going, I started feeling increasingly green and nauseous.  Looking around, I noticed a girl sleeping soundly on the seat next to me, clutching a plastic bag. I figured it would be just within reach should I feel the need to vomit. However, in that case I would be forced to let go of my handrail – if I lost my balance, things would get really ugly… Fortunately, the bus ground to a halt before that scenario played out.

The following day, I stumbled across a second-hand bookstore that also happened to rent bikes. The clerk excitedly told me about a fantastic trip to some nearby hotsprings. I told him I was interested, so he handed me a hand-drawn, not-at-all-to-scale map with 2 pages of written instructions.

Treasure Map

Off I went, following instructions such as ´turn left at the pole that says Solo Jesus´, ´turn right at the former garbage dump´ etc. As I followed the dirt roads, I was treated to a surprisingly spectacular countryside, subsistence gardens scattered on the hillsides, friendly people wishing me a good afternoon as I passed by. As I wound my way up the hills, I ended up  high in the cloud forests. The hotsprings were a welcome way to warm up in the chilly mists. Cruising back down into Xela, I thought about how much more enjoyable it is to see the world by bike or by foot…

Guatemalan Countryside

So what next? It has taken me 1 month to travel 5 km south of my starting point, at my current rate it will take me approximately 70 years to get to La Paz, Bolivia. My original plan would require a bare minimum of 4 full days in  bus to make it to Panama, 5 days on a boat, then 50 hrs on a bus to make it through Colombia. Probably another 5 or 6 full bus days from there. Right now that plan is not very appealing… So the options are:

A) Stick to the original plan, spend countless days on buses, and get only a slight taste of every country I pass through.

B) Stick to the original plan, but take more time.

C) Fly to Ecuador from here or somewhere else in Central America.

D) Who needs buses or planes? Find a bike or start walking.

Out of Antigua

This past week I stayed with a family in Antigua while continuing my Spanish lessons. Cool experience, but it wasn’t the total immersion I was hoping for. Most host families in Antigua have a steady flow of at least 2 or 3 students at a time, so I shared the place with a couple of Americans, and didn’t get to practice quite as much as I would have hoped.

I can’t complain though, Iris was an awesome host mother, super friendly and a great cook. I also felt I was able to communicate what I wanted to in Spanish, so at least I’ve made progress. Every day after dinner we were entertained by Mexican Soap Operas, which are definitely a notch up from North American Soap Operas. The acting is so dramatic and over the top that it’s actually pretty hilarious.

Since I started getting into the trickier aspects of Spanish grammer last week (ie. imperativo, past participles, etc.) my brain is feeling very full right now. I think I will take a break for a little while, and continue learning Spanish once I find a place with good schools, where less English is spoken (possibly nearby Xela).

Right now I’m in San Pedro at Lago de Atitlan, which is a very scenic lake ringed by steep cliffs and a series of volcanoes. Apparently the lake used to have crystal clear water, but unfortunately it´s suffering from an algal bloom these days, which has been all over the news. Too much sewage and too many fertilizers from farms going into the lake, not a good thing. At least they’ve tried to clean up the sludge at the lakefront towns, and the weather is great now that the rains from Hurricane Ida have passed by,  so I’ll probably do a bit of hiking here before moving on.

Lake Sludge

Kites and Chaos

Het blijkt dat ik hier in Antigua meer dan alleen Spaans kan oefenen. Toevallig spreken ongeveer een derde van de studenten op mijn school Nederlands. Vorige Zondag zat ik aan tafel met een aantal Nederlanders die nog niet door hadden dat ik ook hun taal spreek. Ze zaten een beetje te roddelen, en na een tijdje sugereerde iemand dat het meer beleeft was om door te gaan in het Engels. Ze keken nogal verbluft toen ik zij dat dat niet hoefde, dat ik hun gewoon kon verstaan.  

That incident occurred at the ´Day of the Dead´ Kite Festival in Santiago de Sacatapequez. What a crazy event. Thousands of people packed in a narrow avenue lined with multitudes of vendors selling a plethora of foodstuffs and souvenirs. Everyone in the crowd was impatiently trying to make their way to the cemetery at the end of the road. At a certain point, the avenue was so choked with people, that the crowd came to a virtual standstill. A few of us waited it out, and managed to get moving again about an hour later.

Kites and Chaos

 

As we crested the hill at the end of the road, a scene of chaos unfurled. About seven absolutely massive kites stood over the edge of a cliff. In the cemetery, people were trampling all over graves strewn with fresh flowers. There was a group of men in front of us trying to get an enormous kite aloft. They would get a grip on the rope, then plough their way through the crowd, taking out people left, right, and centre. Fail. Then try again.

In a way it all sounds very disrespectful, but in reality the kites are meant to honour the dead. Notes to deceased relatives are placed on the tails of the kites, and a special (once per year) meal ´Fiambre´is eaten in the evening. It certainly seems to be a lot more meaningful than Halloween.

Also worth mentioning, I survived Central America´s most dangerous tourist attraction, the hike up active Volcan Pacaya. I´d say it´s dangerous because hordes of tourists crowd around directly below a lava flow in the dark. ´Flow´ isn´t really the right word, because it doesn´t ooze out very smoothly – instead, the lava lurches a bit, and has a crusty consistency. Just as we were walking away, a microwave-sized piece of molten lava tumbled from above.  The crowd dispersed pretty quickly after that.

Terrible picture, but it gives an idea

So as my intro might suggest, I have probably spoken more Dutch than Spanish this past week. To remedy that, I will move out of the student house soon and try a homestay with a local family. Cesar thinks it will be good if I´m forced to speak a bit more Spanish by neccesity, a painful yet efficient way to learn a language.

¡Saludos desde Antigua!

And so the journey starts… After touching down in Guatemala City last Saturday, I quickly made my way over to Antigua. After being here for a week, I´m still not quite sure how to describe Antigua - imagine a Spanish colonial town with colourful cobblestone streets, backdropped by lush green hills and an enormous volcano towering over two vertical kilometers above. Kick out half the locals and replace them with youngish Europeans and North Americans. Clearly it´s not an authentic Guatemalan experience,  there´s more of a transient college town vibe – many foreigners stay for at least a few weeks or months to learn Spanish, and want to have a good time while doing it. There are a ton of great cafes, bars, patios and restaurants, and the town still manages to have a relaxed feel to it.

Antigua

After getting settled, I started investigating a few of the many Spanish Schools. Nearly all provide one-on-one instruction at a pretty modest price, but of course the quality of instruction and learning environment can vary greatly. At one of the first schools I visited, students and teachers were crammed in all corners of a small and dingy building. At the next school, I walked through an arched gate and entered a leafy courtyard with student-teacher pairs neatly lined around the perimeter. I quickly made up my mind and decided this would be my school of choice.

Thus started my apprenticeship at the Academia Español de Sevilla. I was paired with Maestro Cesar Perez - a moustachioed and bespectacled gentlemen in his 50s, definitely a joker. I´d call him distinguished, but the girls say he´s sleazy. Whatever the case, he seems like an excellent teacher, and after one week I feel like I´ve learned a lot. The way Maestro Cesar cringes, shakes his head, and buries his face in his hands when I misconjugate my verbs has been incentive enough to do my daily homework. At least he seems impressed with my progress.

My School

Another bonus of the school is that daily afternoon activities are organized for the students. Earlier in the week we made kites, which is the tradition here for Day of the Dead Festival (Nov 1). Then yesterday we went to a local village to fly our kites with the children. Most took off, but my Canadian flag inspired kite did not, much to the chagrin of little Tommy. Guess my kite engineering skills can also improve.

Right now I´m staying at a student house a few blocks from the school with about 8 others (including my friends Leanne and Omid from Calgary), which helps create a feeling of camaraderie. I´m about to head to the School´s Halloween party, which should be a blast. All said, life is great in Antigua, so I´ll stay here for at least another week before I decide if I´ll move on.

Adios!

The Next 6 Months

As most of you know, tomorrow I will be flying to Guatemala to start a six month stint in Latin America. The plan (roughly) is to stay in Guatemala for a month, learn as much Spanish as possible, travel overland down to Panama, grab a boat to Colombia, then make my way to Bolivia where I hope to help out with the Bolivian-Canadian Clean Water Network. Along the way I plan to visit some farms, hike a few trails, and climb a few mountains. Maybe it’s an ambitious trip, but at least I’m not on a tight schedule. I’ll try to update the blog on a regular basis, as long as you guys keep me posted on the goings-on back home. Bye for now!