Trip to Quetzaltenango or Xela as the Mayans call it

     On the morning of June 30, 2014, we set out for the fourth time to visit Xela.  We had tried to visit here in September of 2011 with the missionaries from El Salvador, but our visa's didn't come so we had to stay home.  We again tried in January of 2012 but the road was blocked by students protesting so we again didn't get there.  We tried the third time in January of 2014 but I broke both legs so again we stayed home while the missionaries from Guatemala went.  This time, Sister Paniaqua, one of our single senior Missionaries invited us and Sister Tanner to go with her to Xela to visit her family and see the city through her eyes.  We were very excited to go.  We arrived at the bus station at 6:00 AM

                                       Los Thompsons, Hermana Tanner, Hermana Paniagua 

     We were told that the bus would not be running on this day.  We and two other men had called on Sunday to confirm that the bus would be running because the 30th is a holiday here.  We figured that we would just have to chalk this up as our 4th try and go back home.  Hermana Paniagua and the other two men were more persistent.  We waited for 30 minutes to make sure that the bus was indeed not coming, then walked two blocks to another bus station and were able to catch a different bus.

     We were supposed to travel on a bus called ADN but were able to catch this one, called Frente de Norte.  It was to be a direct route, but we did stop a few times to let on other people and to let others off.  The drive was beautiful as we were able to see the countryside.  We went up and down mountain passes and the air got cooler and cooler.  We arrived in about 4 1/2 hours and were met by Hermana Paniagua's nephew who would be our driver and guide for the next three days.  We went to lunch at one of their favorite sandwich shops and were met by one of her brothers and his family.

     Brother Raul holding Raulin, Hermana Paniagua, Nephew Randy (our driver and guide) sister-in-law Eva holding Evaugelina in front of the restaurant.

The town square was very old.  The town itself is huge, but had the feel of a small town because there were no high rises.  Our driver knew every side street, having been a taxi driver at one time, so we missed any heavy traffic.  Here are a few pictures of the town square.

 This is the oldest cathedral in Xela.  Part of the church was destroyed in an earthquake

 You can see the new construction of the cathedral as they are trying to rebuild it

                                                   The decoration around each window

 This is where the missionaries stayed when they came in January, and where President Burk hit the sidewalk with the door of the van and had to tie it shut for the trip home.

When we saw these dancers, we thought that it was three young men dancing, but it was only one, the middle, and the puppets danced with him because of the pipes holding them together.  It was very fun to watch.

Hermana Paniagua with her brother, Raul

     We drove to the top of a mountain named Baul.  From this height, we could view the whole city.  There was a beautiful park there and we ran into a dancing group who were practicing and taking pictures for their performance at the National Theatre.

We could spot the Temple in the valley from here

The sad thing is that there is construction in front of the temple and within a year you won't be able to see the temple because of it.

The park at the top of Baul

 Before we headed to the park, we had to stop in City Center to buy me a jacket.  The air is definitely cooler here and a jacket felt real good.

These kids were enjoying the slide down the mountain.  The day had been sunny and beautiful but just as we were leaving the park, the rains came in.  We could not see anything as we drove back down the mountain.  We were glad that the rains had stayed away so we could view this valley from this viewpoint.  It poured for the next couple of hours but we didn't mind as we were at the Albamar for supper and to listen to the Marimba Band.

 Hermana Paniagua and her nephew, Randy enjoyed the dancing.  You can still see the rain drops on Randy's shirt.  The food was real good.  It had been a real long day by now so we went to the motel for a good nights sleep before we continued our adventures.

 Our motel, the Mayaland

                                       Huge king size bed with clean sheets and towels daily.

 We had hot water.  The breakfast was included in the price of the motel, only $50.00 a night.

                                                    Scrambled eggs, beans and tortillas

 We are outside the motel, waiting for Randy and Hermana Paniagua to pick us up to go to the Xela Temple.

                                                            The city in the background

One of the volcanos that we could see from the motel.  And then we got to visit the Xela Temple.  It was beautiful and we enjoyed the morning there.

 

We were invited to lunch at the home of Hermana Paniagua's other brother.  He is quite well to do and is the boss that Randy works for.  He paid Randy his normal wages and gave him a company car to drive us around while we were in town. 

 Karina and Armando, brother and sister-in-law with Hermana Paniagua and their children, Jeane and Jose.  We had a delicious meal of BBQ chicken and rice. 

We drove through the center of the city open market.  The fruits and vegetables looked wonderful. 

 Then Hermana Paniagua and Randy parked the car and we walked down town and into the city market where the people buy all their groceries, clothes, shoes, and anything that you can imagine.  This is one great big building with hundreds of small shops inside.

                                Meat market

Antique sewing machine still in use.  I wanted to purchase a typical skirt and blouse like we had seen the dancing girls wear so we went to the dress shop.  I picked out the color of both the skirt and blouse and while we waited, they sewed the hem and fixed the blouse.  These are the ladies that owned the shop and helped me.

 They put the finished product on me so that we could know how to do it (right over the top of my clothes as there are no dressing booths there)  What you see is the whole shop.

There is enough fabric in this skirt to make three skirts.  As close as I could measure, it has about 8 yards of fabric.  I can't wait for you to see it in person, the details in the blouse are amazing.  As we left, I got hugs from women who thought I had done a good job picking out this outfit. 

        Statue of a marimba with a dancing girl on top with Hermana Paniagua, Hermana Tanner and Los Thompsons

 The custom in Xela is that you eat your breakfast around 6 or 7, then have your big meal of the day around 1:30.  Then at 5-6 you stop in at one of the many little shops for hot chocolate and a bread of some kind to dip in the hot chocolate.  That is your supper.  We loved this custom cause you didn't have to eat a lot just before bed.  But Hermana Paniagua wanted us to try enchiladas so we included this with our hot chocolate. 

 Enchiladas here are a tortilla tipped with tomato sause, then a mixture of chicken, onions, and tomatoes, then topped with peppers if you wanted it.  The end of another wonderful day and back to our motel. 

     Our third and final day in Xela, we headed out of town and up another mountain to visit the Georginas Piscinas de Aguas Termales, or the mineral hot springs.  We drove through the rich and beautiful farm lands of Guatemala.  These next pictures are of the countryside and people.

     The drive was so interesting and the clouds stayed away so we could see the countryside.  We arrived at the hot pools and enjoyed the mineral water.

 These first pools were not as hot as the next ones and had most of the people in them.

 This pool was right at the source of the hot water and was so hot we could only dip our feet in.

 Only Hermana Paniagua was able to actually get into the water.  We headed back to the cooler pools to soak our weary legs.  It really felt good on my legs.  We may have to spend a lot of time in Hagerman when we return.

  As we headed back down the mountain, again the clouds came in and visibility was limited.  We were so thankful that we had taken the pictures on the way up the mountain.  Randy didn't want to take us back to the city of Xela cause he would have to go back to work, so we headed to the coast and would catch a bus there and go home along the coast instead of through the mountains.  It was an interesting drive and the climate changed.  It got real hot and humid.  We, with Hermana Tanner, caught a bus that was not in the same class as the one we had taken from Guatemala City.  When the rains came, the sky light in the roof of the bus began to leak and President Thompson had to use his umbrella in the bus to keep dry.

 

We arrived back in Guatemala at the central bus station or the cenma.  Our taxi driver was not happy that we arrived there.  He is not allowed to enter and was really worried about our safety.  He walked us to a well lighted area, with two police officers very near and said, don't move.  He went for his car, which took an hour, and pulled up on the street outside the station.  We arrived back to our apartments about 6:00 PM on the 2nd, tired but happy that we had finally made it to Xela and enjoyed our trip, seeing Xela through the eyes of Hermana Paniagua and her nephew, Randy.  We will spend Thursday getting our laundry done and packing for our trip to El Salvador on Friday. 

       I will blog about our next adventure tomorrow.  It is time to head to bed now.  We send our love to all.  Love Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Lon and Nancy