Xela

After WAY TOO MANY hours and 5 different buses, Keeli, Andrew and I made it from Samuc Champey to the "big" city of Xela (doing the trip in one day is NOT recomended by the way).  Xela is one of the biggest cities in Guatemala (which is still pretty small).  Turns out that my old BabySitter/family friend, Katie, lives there, so I ended up staying for a few extra days while Keeli and Andrew went back to Antigua.  She was a great hostess, taking me around the city, out to bars, to the street fair where I ate my weight in food (check out the I heart food page), finding the Fiabre (see below) and letting me stay with her in her cute house (thanks for everything Katie)

First of all, I have to pay tribute to this kid.  He was seriously the only thing that made the long trip to Xela Bearable! He couldnt stop laughing and his one huge pimpinī gold tooth made me laugh my ass off every time he smiled!! Free intertainment really!

The Guatemalan markets are definitely on the top ten list!! Keeli and I love them, just wandering aimlessly, looking at all the different stuff, eating at little food stands.  Its so much fun!!

Early in the morning, keeli and I saw these guys laying foot after foot of saw dust like colored stuff onto the street, forming these huge pictures.  Turns out that they were laying a path for the parade that happened later that day. Walking along these colorful pictures were men carrying a huge statue of the virgin mary, then two seconds later, they sweep away all of the ruined pictures.

The Fiambre, Before and After

Once a year in Guatemala, on November 1st, it is customary to buy and eat a traditional dish called "Fiambre." You cant get it at any other time of the year, so there are signs out everywhere.  It contains 36 different types of food and is flavored with beet juice.  It is also an "aquired" taste, but we had fun none the less trying to find and identify each of the 36 different ingredients.  I think we managed to find 34 of them