(Second week in Quetzaltenango) Pre Spanish conquest, Quetzaltenango was called “Xelajú” derived from the Mam “Xe laju’ noj,” meaning “under the ten mountains”, an aptly descriptive name for a city in a valley of hillsides and a volcano. The Spanish swept through in the 1520s, and renamed the city Quetzaltenango, “land of the quetzal bird”, a name derived from the Mexican indigenous Tlaxcaltecas who accompanied the Spanish during their invasion of the Guatemalan highlands. Today indigenous and ladinos alike call the city Xelajú or even just Xela in deference to their ancestors. There are no longer quetzales in town, but there are certainly rolling hillsides all around.

Week two in Quetzaltenango, and still eating! Chicken with rice

We had seen the florescent pink tree on the back of a pick-up earlier in the day and were impressed by such a vibrant-looking tree; not realizing it was fake. There was a procession that involved this float, a band, and excessively loud fire-crackers (near firework power). Julien was especially tickled by the baby-saint in his rain poncho to protect from the rainy-season afternoon showers.

Typical breakfast, typical dinner

Cornflakes breakfast with a cookie (champurrada) topped with cream cheese. Apple syrup available for extra topping

Dinner; though sometimes quite simple and repetitive from breakfast, our host-mother Christy always had delicious home-made salsas available for spicing up dinner, usually a spicy one for me and a not-spicy one for Julien.

Cornflakes and French toast, always perfectly grilled

Pasta, Argentinian empanada, and julienned vegetables with mayo

Photos of notes to copy notes

Plátanos, frijoles, and egg with salsa

Potatoes, red-pepper salad, and beef

We went on an afternoon school field trip to visit the oldest church in Central America located in Salcajá. It was built in 1524 in a bit of a rush, and the flying buttresses where added later in the form of clunky stone supports on the four corners.

Quetzal-shaped bush!

It’s always amazing to see the ease with which these women move about large baskets filled with food, textiles, or any number of random objects, balanced seemingly precariously on their heads.

MISH, one of the largest thread producers, necessary for textile weaving. Our friends Alex and Anthony coming out of the store

Rompopo, a liquor made with an egg base

Chicken bus rolling through Salcajá

Soup with noodles, a large piece of chicken, and a variety of veggies

Blogging and homework…and happy-hour

Plátanos, frijoles, eggs, and pure cream.

One Saturday we left the house for a morning walk and found an incredible team building up an additional floor onto the Evangelical church next door. At this point the ladies had come to bring the workers lunch, workers that had been at it since 5am.

We walked to the northern end of Xela in search of flip flops and got to see a bit more of the city we were calling home.

Rice, guacamole, and veggie-beef patties

Xela from the CRISTO VIVE church perched on the hillside

The green hillside to the right is called el baúl, or trunk for its shape like a chest.

Graffiti quetzales

Tamál, bread, and plátano

The parque central from a terrace bar

Our second weekend we headed to Chichicastenango best known for its twice-weekly markets, and deservedly so. We went on a Sunday and enjoyed the vibrant colors, endless textile stalls, and bargaining spirit.

Breakfast of pancakes with fruits. Fuel for shopping!

Flower section

Masks, purses, hats

Fiesty babies

The poultry section. The lady at the bottom left, sleeping along with her beloved chicken, is my favorite.

Grain-sorting

Bus back to Xela

By the end of week two we had developed a pretty set routine: wake up, breakfast, attend class, lunch, café to study, dinner, sleep. Julien’s Spanish continually improved and his stories extended to recounting events in the past, and even the simple future. I was discovering and pushing back against the fictional world that is the imperfecto del subjuntivo, the imperfect past subjunctive.