Travelling and Staying

Sometimes, as I walk down the road in La Campa, I am amazed and wonder that I really am here, despite having called it home since September. Here in rural Honduras. Here, where I skirt around dogs, horses, cows, chickens, and everything that they leave behind in order to have that walk down the road. Here, where the mountains surround the valley with beauty. Here, where the church is at the centre of the community, and its bells call people together. I notice my town more if I go away for a while, or if somebody comes to visit. Both have happened in the past two weeks, with much enjoyment.

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is a holiday in most of Honduras and the rest of Central America. As the office was closed, I took my vacation time and merged it with my friend Lexie’s visit. We decided to spend this week in Guatemala, in Antigua and Panajachel. I was curious to see what differences I could notice between Guatemala and Honduras, and I did notice several, including:

• Higher and steeper mountains in Guatemala, including the presence of active volcanoes
• More and better terracing of fields on hillsides in Guatemala
• Greater prevalence of indigenous clothing and culture in Guatemala (in this case, Mayan)
• Many more private tour agencies in Guatemala
• Having to bargain in Guatemala, whereas in Honduras, nearly everything except taxis is a fixed price (as I can’t bargain well, the fixed price is nice!)

We spent the first several days in Antigua, which was beautiful and very tourist oriented. One of the Semana Santa traditions in many cities is to make intricate sawdust carpets in the street which get walked on by the processions which follow. I do not have any pictures, but if you look here ( ) you can get an idea of what they were like. Antigua was also full of old churches which had been destroyed during many previous earthquakes. We wandered through ruins of cathedrals, convents and monasteries which are scattered throughout town.

There are several volcanoes surrounding Antigua, and we decided it would be a fun idea to climb one of them. So we joined a guide, and hiked up! It was beautiful and unearthly! We couldn’t make it to the very top, as last year’s eruption made it unsafe, but we got to walk over the lava field and feel the heat radiating up.

We also spent some time in Panajachel, which is on Lago de Atitlán. This large lake is surrounded by three volcanoes and is said to be extremely beautiful. We were there during an unseasonable time of rain and cloud, and could not see the lake in all its glory. But we did take a boat across the lake to another town, where we accidentally joined a Maundy Thursday procession, and bankrupted ourselves buying Mayan fabrics.

As no buses run on Good Friday, we had to take advantage of the many tour agencies, and join in a private shuttle bus to get to Guatemala City. The difference between the private shuttles and the local buses is astronomical. The price was way more than doubled, there was air conditioning, we were dropped off at our hotel door, there were only foreigners, and there was lots of leg space. But it was boring. The local buses play loud music, squash three (or more) people into a seat, are very cheap, take a bit longer, but give wonderful and colourful experiences. We made it to the city in time to see the Good Friday procession.

This procession was wonderful to experience. Hundreds of men in black robes formed the procession, carrying the Stations of the Cross, playing funeral marches in the two bands, or just marching in the procession. The largest ‘float’ was carried by 60 men, and was Jesus in the tomb. Women, also in black, carried images of the pains of Mary. It was a full experience, with sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. We awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of another procession moving through the streets.

On Saturday we travelled for 11 hours, but made it back to La Campa before dark! Our goal was to be in my home community for Easter Sunday, and we were. The service was full, as all the parts that had been left out during Lent were now brought back: incense and gloria and gifts before the altar.

We spent most of the following week in La Campa, as I had to teach and work. Our time here was very tranquilo and very pleasant. After a quick visit to the Mayan ruins in Copán Ruinas, Lexie flew home, and I took the series of local buses that got me home, just in time to prepare exams for my grade 4, 5 and 6 English classes. I don’t approve of a week of exams for kids this young; many of them are quite stressed out. I think that well-spaced smaller tests would be better. The exams were this morning, so we'll see what the results will be!