Although I have never been to San Francisco, California, I can say that I have been to San Francisco, Guatemala. San Francisco El Alto is famous for its huge market that takes place every Friday. Unlike Chichicastenango, which is an artisan market that exists primarily for tourists, San Francisco is a market for Guatemalans. It has endless rows of vendors selling fruits, vegetables, queso fresco, grains etc. as well as lots of vendors selling traditional Guatemalan skirts, blouses, and small blankets (that women use to carry babies on their backs). You can also find almost any brand of knock off clothing you can imagine. “Adidas”, “Nike” and “Hollister” seem to be the most popular brands reproduced here. San Fran is also the place to go if you want to buy live animals. This explains why, on the way back, the chicken bus truly became a chicken bus. Several women standing in the aisle on the packed bus held a chicken in each arm. And a little girl and her mom got on carrying ducks, which I must say were much better behaved than the chickens. I actually didn’t end up buying anything at San Fran because, as I said before, it’s not really a market for souvenirs; it’s somewhere you visit for the experience. And it definitely is an experience. You probably haven’t truly experienced pushing until you’ve been in a market like this. Guatemalans may be tiny people but don’t be deceived, they can be quite forceful. At one point a woman shoved past me and I came very close to completely face-planting in a woman’s pile of potatoes; Lucy actually had to grab the back of my shirt to keep me from falling over. The most notable story from our trip to San Francisco El Alto, however, is Lucy’s slashed bag. When we got off the bus back in Xela, Lucy looked down at her purse and saw that it had a huge slash in it; someone at the market had evidently cut through it with a knife hoping to snag her wallet, camera, etc. Luckily all of her stuff was still there, but, unfortunately, in addition to cutting her purse the knife also slashed through her rain jacket that was inside.
Saturday was a lazy day. Lucy and I wandered around Xela for a bit, took some pictures, visited a bookstore and a chocolate shop and grabbed lunch. Not surprisingly it rained for a good part of the afternoon so I spent some time inside reading. I decided to read War & Peace this summer, which, for those unfamiliar with the book, is freaking huge! At this point Xela has become my home and, just as at home I often prefer spending Saturday nights in, I spent my Saturday night hanging out at “home.” Call me lame if you want, but it’s actually really nice to live in another city/country for long enough that you don’t feel like you have to spend every waking moment seeing this or that city/monument/museum/show/etc. Nevertheless, Sunday I did make a point to experience Xela’s market day and a Guatemalan church service. Although I would consider myself proficient in Spanish at this point, I couldn’t follow the sermon. I also spent like 5 hours on Sunday cooking, and although I’m still not a boss in the cocina like Cater, I have learned to make quite a few interesting and totally random things – guacamole, fried rice, gnocchi, hummus, quiche and beans. That night, a bunch of us hung out at the office for a while which was actually a lot of fun. I definitely feel at home here now and have gotten so much closer to the women I work with. Juanita is like my mom away from home. Haha I love the way she says “LADYYYYYY.” We pick on each other a lot, which becomes even funnier when she has to explain to me what she said haha. How to describe everyone else.. Claudia is like a fashionable older sister (not replacing you, Jordan) and Sylvia is like your favorite high school teacher. Hilda is so full of energy, like that friend you have who does everything (*cough cough Kaz). They are my Guatemalan family (plus a few extra gringas – Cater, Kirsten and Lucy), which is why the thought of leaving them in 3 DAYS seems absolutely crazy. How did 5 weeks pass already!?!?
ARGH. FEEL FAMOUS NOW. LOVE AND MISS YOU.
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