Xela, Guatemala: Where the Maya meet the world

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QUETZALTENANGO/XELA – It’s 7:30 a.m. at Parque Central and the city is beginning to stretch and come to life. The plaza hums with the voices of students in their crisp navy uniforms and white knee socks, boys with gelled hair combed carefully into a peak, ladies in their cortes tipicas, their brightly woven traditional skirts, making their way to the market with baskets and tubs balanced on their heads. Half a dozen shoe shiners are setting up around the perimeter; one is already at work shining the shoes of a man in a suit with a distant look in his eyes.

The fog that drapes the surrounding mountains and Santa Maria volcano is giving way to bright sunlight here in Quetzaltenango/Xela, as it has every day since I’ve been here in early May. It’s rainy season, but the clouds won’t roll in until afternoon, and even then the rain is usually light and occasional.

I’m getting ready to pack my bags and move on – after two weeks it’s time to see a little more of the country – but I want to capture the essence of this delightful city in the highlands, a sprawling city that feels more like a friendly village at its heart. I don’t feel quite ready to leave, but I will be back, I tell myself. This is a place I think I could live.

I’ve been staying at Hostal Don Diego, a charming Spanish-style hostel run by a local family and frequented by travelers all over the world. I’ve passed many hours in the sunny patio, writing and reading, conversing with other travelers and eating the meals I’ve prepared for myself in the shared kitchen.

This morning, I leave early to catch the city at its most gentle. Yesterday at this hour, the plaza was booming with the bass and snare drums of a marching band from one of the local schools, which was celebrating its anniversary in grand style with a parade throughout the town. Today, however, the normal quiet hum prevails.

Students in the dozens of Spanish language schools that dot the city’s historic core will be out and about soon, but for now it’s just the locals who cluster around tables in the market, eating the savory pork chops, scrambled eggs, black beans and plantains that the ladies have expertly cobbled together on their portable gas stoves. Later more vendors will join them, selling savory nachos, sweet and crispy churros, fried buñuelos dripping with honey and other treats; for now, though, the commerce is focused on breakfast and news.

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It’s the strong international influence from the many language schools and international NGOs that give Xela such a cosmopolitan feel, with its many cafes and bars and restaurants and free wifi everywhere. It’s also the spectacular Parque Central, with its classical Greek-inspired columns and spires and the surrounding neoclassical architecture. But it’s the colorful Maya culture that dominates, and that’s why the internationals are here.
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There are two newsstands, if they could be called that, at the Parque Central. One is a table and a display rack rigged up with paper clips. The other is at the other end of the Casa de Cultura, a series of piles of La Prensa Libre, El Diario, El Quetzalteco and other local and national newspapers. I’m struck by how healthy the newspapers here still seem to be; even on an average weekday, La Prensa Libre is a hefty volume, definitely the go-to medium for advertisers and readers alike. Just like our newspapers used to be, I muse.

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Today’s banner headline refers to another U.S. immigration initiative: “Another racist law afflicts 70,000 Guatemalans,” the big type reads. Rhode Island is considering an immigration law similar to the one recently passed by Arizona, which would require all immigrants to carry ID at all times to prove they are here legally or face deportation proceedings.

Guatemala is barely on the radar screen for most people in the US, but we make their front page in one way or another nearly every day. Yesterday, it was a report released by University of Michigan scientists revealing that the heavy metal content in the blood of people living near the Canadian-owned Marlin Mine of nearby San Marcos is far above the safe levels.

Back at Don Diego now, I prepare to sign off and pack up for a weekend outing to Huehuetenango and then to Todos Santos, a village in the mountain considered to be one of the most picturesque and traditional. Meanwhile, here are some of my favorite images of Xela.


Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.


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