don´t miss this at guatemalan christmas dinner:

The night of the 24th december - Nochebuena - is important for the families. And the same like Germany, they have dinner together! What you shouldn´t miss is:

chocolate: hot as a drink or cold, perfect with different tastes (cardamom, cinnemon, milk, nuts...)
bread: mostly white bread, it is very cheap here in Xelapan, the most famoust bakery with several shops all over Xela)
tamal de arroz: this is like cooked rice and mais flour wrapped in banana leaves, the main dish! you can find it in every house coloured or black
galletas y dulces: YEAH sweeties, we all love it
apples and grapes: in every household to find, because they are the fruits of the season
ponche: also known as bebida (drink) or caliente (hot), this is a drink with the main ingredient pineapple, coconut and sugar, but you can add other fruits, too!

christmas Posadas in Quetzaltenango

newspaper picture from Xela

Another word is : Procesión de Alegría (procession of joy).

A Posada is a procession through the streets of Xela, starting at the 15th december and ending 8 days later. The objective is celebrating and the birth of Jesus. A group of 30 people is going to the streets with paper lanterns, making noises with thunderer whistles and carrying a statue of Maria or Joseph and Maria with Jesus.  One participant told the newspaper: We are doing this activity because we believe in and know about Jesus existence, not just in the world, also in our hearts!

There are several Posadas walking around the streets every night. They carry the statue from one house to another. There where it one day ended, starts the Posada next day. The people are from all ages, very young kids (they love the lanterns and making noises ;) ) to their grandparents.

One Posada ended at the 23rd in the Spanish School ICA. We students went to the staring house at 7 pm. The director told a bit about Posadas, but unfortunately kids kept me busy asking what several spanisch words are in english. But it was also sweet! Then we started walking with the lanterns to the city center, and then to the school. We students had to carry the statue, too. We met while walking another Posada, but I don´t know, how many were there every night. I asked, but nobody knew exactly.

ready?

We stopped in front of the school and started singing a song. We outside staying people sang a verse, inside staying people answered. But finally they opened the door. Inside we prayed and a guy reminded us, what is christmas important for. Then the teacher Gato started playing games with the children, woman, men, teachers and sometimes a student had to help. Many people hold a present at the end of the night. It was very funny, also because Gato likes to joke and always laugh a lot!

me carrying

After the games, Kirstine, a danish woman and professional violin folkmusic player, had to play some christmas songs, before the school started serving food and ponche (a typically christmas drink). After that, all was over, the statue found his last place for this year and the people left). Not so the students and the teachers, we stayed a bit more talking in the school and went then drinking some more beers in a bar. I could hit the road finally at one while nobody was watching me :)

USA - country of limitless opportunities!!!

Yesterday was the International Day of Migrants, and I read something on the online issue of Quetzalteco, a newspaper from Xela.

According to this 158 000 Guatemaltecos are currently living in the United States (not included illigal immigrants). The most coming from the villages Salcajá, Concepción Chiquirichapa, San Juan Ostuncalco and San Carlos Sija. You can listen there to many stories like that from Juan Francisco De León. He crossed the border in 1980 with a suitcase full of dreams and hopes to find the American Dream.

After 8 years of work in the States and saving enough money, he decided to go back to his hometown where his family was waiting for him.

In the article they go on with a citation, which I heard sometimes in a similar way:
I have 5 siblings in the United States, we use the money they send us to build two houses and to study. (María Guzmán)
This woman is from the village Llanos de Pinal, where the majority is feminin, because the husbands are working in the States.

In the nacional comparison Quetzaltenango receives the 5th biggest amount of money from the states. Families with members in the States get apprx. 224 dollars a month.

reasons why the people migrate:
- unemployment
- health care
- bad-paid work
- studies

I also have a friend who migrated 2 weeks ago to the states. He is going to marry there next year and we will see if he will come back to Guatemala, his homecountry, in his life!

searching zapatistas with Marcus

Hey,

I left Guatemala the first time after a bit over 2 months the 27th November to go to Mexico and meet up with Marcus, a friend from Dresden/Germany.

the order en La Mesilla (Guatemala)

To be sure to get to Mexico I wanted to take a shuttle bus to the border, La Mesilla/Ciudad Cuauthemoc. Good idea, but I just made it to 4 Caminos, like 15 minutes away from Xela. The bus broke, we had the choice to stay on more night in Xela or go on our own to the border. Finally we took chickenbusses for 4,5h to the border. I was two hours to late and Marcus worrying, where Iam. I couldn´t call him from my guatemalan phone to his mexican phone. But he was waiting in front of the passport control in Mexico, so we finally met, very happy that we found each other.

Then he showed me his car, it was like a monster, so huge!!!

We started driving a street in Chiapas. Marcus heared that there were a lot of Zapatistas living along this street. after two days we got to Palenque (after more than 400km) without seeing anything of the Zapatistas.

river between Mexiko and Guatemala

Our research in Palenque figured out that there are ´caracoles´ (they call their 5 regions likes this) near San Cristobal de las Casas. SO back into the car and to San Cristobal. On the way we found an old camp, but it seemed very empty. Some women told us, where to find somebody, but the house was empty!

a sign

From San Cristobal we went to Oventik, one Caracol, like 1 hour away from SC. From Oventik you can receive permissions to go to other Caracoles as well.

entrance Oventik

At the gate they ask us for our names, age, profession, and what we want to know, how long we want to stay. We tried really hard to explain well with less spanish what we want. After this we waitid for 10 minutes and they came back and told us, that we can´t come inside, because there is nobody in the village at the moment, who can answer our questions.

We drove back to SC and picked up 3 Serbians, who also wanted to see Oventik. They showed us their Couchsurfing host Jose-Luis, with whom we finally stayed for 2 nights. He has an awesome house, and he had also 2 guests from Argentina. We shared some time with them, playing games, cooking and Oventik agian. But the second day we couldn´t go inside again, so we left Mexico last Thursday and went to Huehuetenango. At the border all went out well with Marcus car, so we arrived Huehue already in the dark!

Marcus, me, Clara, Jose-Luis, Julian

where our host lives and Marcus car in front of it

Last friday we went to Xela and Marcus signed in for 3 weeks spanish lessons.
Saturday we celebrated Erins birthday with a Piñata. This is a big figure filled with sweeties. The birthday-girl has to hit the Piñata with closed eyes with a stock so long until the Piñata breaks. And there is also somebody who moves the Piñata, so that you never know where she actually is. We shared all the sweeties and also put some in every classroom. Sunday I left Xela agian to see more of Guatemala, and now Iam in Livingston, Carribean coast.

Piñata Dora before...

during....

and after the fight!