Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a huge deal in Latin America, with the largest celebration being hosted in none other than Antigua, Guatemala. Traveling with three other teachers (Caitlin, Tim, and Hanna), I was able to experience this grand celebration firsthand.
Our journey consisted of visiting three main cities in Guatemala, all leading up to the big finale in Antigua:
Guatemala City (1 night)
Panajachel (2 nights)
Antigua (4 nights)
Saturday
After 15 hours on a bus, including the 2 hours stopped at the Guatemala-El Salvador border, we were more than pleased to have arrived in Guatemala City. Our bus came in at night, but even then we noticed the dramatic contrast between Guat. City and Tegucigalpa.
Comments:
"Wow-there's not trash everywhere"
"Wow-people follow the driving rules"
"Wow-the roads are really smooth"
That to say, we would have been glad to be anywhere, if we were able to stand on solid ground.(that didn't need Dramamine)
Our hostel (Quetzalroo) picked us up from the bus station, which was an extra bonus, and as soon as they showed us our rooms, we were out like the light.
Sunday
Woke up leisurely to find that the shuttle to San Pedro was leaving at 11a, and Tim and Hanna were nowhere to be found. Thankfully, they returned half an hour before the shuttle was supposed to leave. We packed in a rush to hop on the shuttle which, had we known how long it would take to get to Lake Atitlan-a 4 hr trip turned 8 hrs-we would have taken our sweet time.
Our shuttle turned out to be the collectivo-type, and it needed to stop in Antigua to pick up more passengers. Due to several streets being closed for processionals and alfombras, we drove around quite a bit looking for the people we were supposed to pick up. Though it was an unexpected delay, it was a great introduction to the city. We even passed a few churches that had been destroyed in the 1700s by a huge earthquake that hit the area. On our shuttle were Australians, British, North Americans, and Guatemalans. It was fun exchanging travel stories, and I was particularly amazed by the people who were backpacking for 2 months throughout Central America, Mexico, and up to Cuba. Inspiring!
When we did finally arrive in San Pedro, taking a "fast and furious" road to get there, it was evening. A New Mexican couple we had met on our shuttle ride pitched in to help us bribe a local boat driver to take us across the lake to Panajachel, where our hotels were. The dock had closed around 4p, so the sailor opened up the docks just for us crazy N. Americans. We sped across the lake at breakneck speed, the wind whipping our faces. We glimpsed faint outlines of hills and watched as the tiny lights of the shoreside towns flickered and blurred past. Meanwhile, the captain stood at the front of our motorboat with only a flashlight to light the way.
As we neared the shores of Panajachel, we saw sparks of color illuminate the sky. Fireworks!
Hey, they know we're coming! I said jokingly. Though, knowing Latin American celebrations, fireworks could mean the beginning of a town festival or just the birthday of someone special. I called them "Palm Sunday fireworks."
Then, when we arrived ashore, we had no clue where our hotel was, so we went around asking outside the local restaurants: "Donde esta Hotel Utz Jay?" (only we pronounced it: uhtz-jay, uhtz-hay, etc) Finally, we showed a waiter a paper with the hotel name written on it. He read it and said, "Oh....Oootz Hie. Si yo conozco." (thought translation: Oh, silly Americans, you've been pronouncing the hotel name wrong this whole time. Of course I know that hotel.)
We arrived safe and sound at our correct hotel, and collapsed again, exhausted from the extra hours traveling.
Monday
We took a morning/early afternoon boat tour of three towns around Lake Atitlan. We had a completely different perspective seeing the lake in the daylight, but we still boated across just as fast.
1st stop: San Marcos
-conclusion: hippie-like/new age minded town
-asked a 10-year old boy named Gabriel to be our tour guide; gained good insight into living there, heard our first words of Kachiquel (one of the native Mayan languages spoken)
-saw a bilingual school that was Kachiquel and Spanish
-observed beautiful gardens and their simple lifestyle
2nd stop: San Pedro
-highlight: internet cafe and coffee to go
-explored indoor tourist shops
-avoided hovering shopkeepers
-played with a yard full of puppies
-looked for our British friend
3rd stop: San Antonio Palopo
-conclusion: anything and everything you would ever want to buy from Guatemala
aka. bartering training school
-escaped the market for a sit down lunch at a peaceful restaurant
-invited a fellow traveler (Australian) to have lunch with us
-bought a set of musical instruments and a bag to carry them in
-glad we only had 2 hrs there
Back to Pana..unloaded our treasures, explored Pana's shopping prospects then went to dinner at a place we fell in love with.
Tuesday
Check out was at 1p, shuttle was coming at 4p, so we decided to check out early and walk up to the Nature Preserve.
-highlights: rope bridge in front of a steep waterfall
-saw:
-a Mayan woman cross the rope bridge in heels!
-spider monkeys in the trees (yes, they were eating bananas)
-coffee beans being grown
-4 butterflies in the butterfly garden (dry season)
-unusual plantlife (a flower that looked like a Dr. Seuss hat)
-sprinklers (yes, we ran through them)
-a small stretch of beach (We bottled a sand/water mixture and found volcanic rock floating in it!)
*Besides exploring the ruins in Antigua and seeing the night processional, the Nature Preserve was my favorite part of the Guatemala experience!
Tuesday night/Wednesday
It didn't take half as long to arrive in Antigua as it did to get to Pana., and the alfombras were everywhere. Alfombras are the intricate sawdust carpets that Guatemalans make to line the streets before each Semana Santa procession. Alfombras are extraordinarily beautiful and sometimes take hours to create.
We checked into our hotel, which is run by a servant-hearted family, and felt welcomed right away. Got dinner at a nearby pharmacy/cafe that had their electricity go out while we were there.
Wednesday morning, Tim, Caitlin and I headed to Iglesia y Convento de al Recoleccion (Antigua). Insert history excerpt: "Inaugurated in 1717, it survived just half a century before being ripped apart by the earthquake of 1773. Most walls, a beautiful archway entrance, and a staircase (to nowhere) still stand. Huge chunks of roof and walls lay scattered all around the site."
It was a sight to behold..definitely memorable.
Wednesday afternoon-Thursday--I got food poisoining, so couldn't venture out much.
Though, Thursday morning the rest of the group hiked up the active Volcan Pacaya, climbed in sauna caves, and roasted marshmallows at the top. Missing the volcano hike just means I have to come back :)
Friday
Caitlin and I mapped out a route between all the major sights in Antigua and did a self-guided walking tour of them all. She was the map keeper, and I was in charge of the camera. We made a good team, and, often, we'd just be walking and all of a sudden see something that looked like a ruin.
L: "Hey, what's that?"
C: "I don't know. Let's go see!"
So our directions didn't exactly follow our original route, but it was a good deal of fun "discovering" all day. Not to mention running into our share of Good Friday processionals.
That night we all headed to bed early with the intention of waking before dawn to catch a shuttle to Guat City. Yet, we each received a knock on our doors from the friendly hotel owner telling us, "There's the largest processional tonight. You don't want to miss it."
So we jumped out of bed, threw on our sandals (we were already fully dressed), and walked sleepy-eyed downtown. Mobs of people were already standing there. Some held candles, others digital cameras, and still others plastic, wind-up windmill lights.
You could hear the monks' Latin sing-song from where we were standing, and the crowd waited expectantly. We had a great view, but couldn't move from our spots if we tried to. There were so many people! As the processional float rounded the corner, peoples' jaws dropped open. It was magical. The way the float was lit up, illuminating the detailed scene of worshippers laying palm branches at Jesus' feet as he entered Jerusalem, made it seem like the people in the scene were alive. And our eyes followed them down the street. Soon after, followed 13 more stations of the cross equal in magnificence and powerful in message. My favorite part of the processional was the velvet signs people carried each with words Jesus had said while on the cross, like "My God, why have you forsaken me?" and "Today you will be with me in paradise."
I walked away from the procession with a renewed sense of gratitude for my salvation.
On the bus ride back from Guatemala, I praised God for a wonderful week of vacation and the powerful reminders of Jesus' sacrifice to bring us new life. These verses come to mind:
Ephesians 2:8-9 (Amplified version; I like this version because it makes it clear without a doubt.)
8For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved ([c]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
Are we living daily in light of that grace?
