San Salvador, El Salvador. That is where this blog entry comes to you from. Today is Saturday and this is how I got here......I left Maya Pedal yesterday and stayed the night in Antigua and left early this morning to begin the 2 day voyage through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and to my final destination of Managua, Nicaragua. My brother comes into Nicaragua to meet me on Tuesday so the time came that I had to leave Maya Pedal and close one chapter of this journey and open a new one.
But before I take this blog journey out of Guatemala, let me tell you how I spent my last few days. First off, I went to visit Maximon. Who is Maximon? Well....I wish I really knew, and even around Itzapa if you ask 5 people, you will get 5 different answers...but here is a shot at who I think he is. He is a kind of Saint, a deity from Mayan times named Mam I think, who they then made into a Saint....and he has something to do with Saint Simon...as he is sometimes called San Simon. He also gas something to do with Judus Iscariot, but obviously Mam existed before those guys so he is a mixture I think. He is the kind of guy that has a good side and a bad side, and you definitely want to be on his good side. Anyway, the Catholic church does not recognize him, and he is quite controversial. His temple is in Itzapa and so I went there. At the temple there were lots of shamans doing rituals. They say that Maximon is a very human saint, so he likes the things humans like....alcohol, cigarettes, cigars...so that is what people bring him as offerings. The shamans were burning piles of candles, flowers, cigars, alcohol, sand, wood, all kinds of stuff and chanting over them. They were also smoking cigars. It was really quite a sight. I was mostly an observer, but I did do what everyone told me to do and bring him an offering. I took him some cigars and placed them at his feet as I made my wish. I wont tell what it was but it was a pretty good cigar so hopefully I came out on his good side.
On my way out of Itzapa, I was riding on a bus that was loaded down with people. There were 3 people to every seat and the aisles were full of people standing. It was pretty hot and I was getting a little grouchy when I heard the bus driver yell ¨ladies and gentleman please if you could do me a favor and duck down, we are passing the police, thank you¨, and everyone standing up in the aisles ducks down and squats. So apparently, it is illegal to have people standing on the busses, which is pretty much hilarious because almost every bus I have ever been on in Central America has had people standing in the aisles. So, anyway, I was surprised and looked at the woman sitting next to me and we both started laughing. And I wasnt grumpy anymore.
So, it was sad to leave Maya Pedal and I left feeling like I was so blessed to have found such a great place and get to hang out there for three weeks. My final reflections on my time spent there are that I had a rare and beautiful amount of time alone to read and think and look a walls and sunsets, and also that I was stretched and learned to do new things and I am proud of myself. I also leave feeling peacefully happy that there are cool, small, innovative local organizations out there doing incredible and cutting edge development work. For my last day, Johanna the secretary took me to the nearby city of Chimaltenango and we ate pizza...a real treat. We exchanged hugs and commitments to keep in touch and I hope I can keep up my end of the deal, I sure want to.
So today I spent 10 hours in transit, first 2 hours in a shuttle through Guatemala City and then 6 hours on a bus into El Salvador. Right now I am in the hotel and I have to say, I have only seen about a 3 block area of San Salvador, but it is the ritziest thing I have seen south of the Alamo. I got in at dark and didnt want to venture too far but I did make it to the nearby Sheraton Hotel to use the ATM and ate dinner at the Pizza Hut down the road...pretty snazzy, but just like in the US, despite being so famous, Pizza Hut actually sucks.
So today has been the day of surprisingly good songs being played on the radio. So far I have heard ¨Ïll be missing you¨ by Puff Daddy, ¨Can I hold You For A While¨ by Tracy Chapman, and ¨What I Got¨ by Sublime¨. Cool eh?
Ok so this is it I guess...next time I write I will be in Managua...yay! Managua feels somewhat like a second home to me, if feels great to be going back. Hasta Luego!
Bree
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4 comments:
say hi to the nicas, specifically gloria, eat sour pineapple, buy me a gallo pinto Tshirt, and think hard about the blood sucking bats that you will never see on the other side of the street. im so glad you loved guatemala, i told you so. :)
I am a fan of legends who are actually several people in one, like an interesting sort of multiple incarnation. Way to get on the offering bandwagon. I hope your wish comes true. I also hope that you are eating better food than pizza now. And to finish off the hoping, I hope you enjoy my comeback blog entry.
you're back in Kentucky. Can we get a blog for that?
to resume, I hope you write a new blog again soon. your life is way interesting.
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