For the past month or so we have been uprooting ourselves often to take in as much beauty and adventure as we can find, but we found ourselves in Quetzaltenango, or Xela (shay-lah) for short, for about two weeks. We spent one week in Zona 1 near the center of town at Casa Seibel, a beautiful (and cheap $12 US) hostel with comfortable beds, hot showers, and an open garden in the center with natural sunlight shining through.
We have been able to enjoy watching the Red Sox and Patriots play in the reception area as we cook our own meals and enjoy a glass (ok… a bottle) of red wine. The staff has been friendly and helpful, letting us leave our bags when we go off exploring volcanoes for a couple days. We have had some wonderful meals; Kourtney’s favorite has been Panquewaffle where she enjoyed a carafe of coffee and a waffle stuffed with mushrooms, cheese, and pesto.
Ben enjoyed the shrimp alfredo pizza and liter of Gallo at Salon Tecun. And, of course, the festivities in town have been an experience rich in culture.
We spent one week at La Democracia Spanish School with two instructors: Ruth, who speaks little to no English, spent 25 hours reviewing Spanish and conversing with Coons, asking him questions like what would you do if you were in in the shoes of an immigrant in the migrant caravan, so he could practice Spanish in the conditional and future tense. Maria spent her days with Kourtney, giving her an overview of Spanish and a traveler’s toolkit of vocabulary and verb constructions. On Friday, we spent the day practicing vocab with a variety of games.
Coons had a great opportunity to put his Spanish knowledge to the test as he had to visit a doctor and get medication for a minor throat infection. We had the best time with these ladies! We highly recommend La Democracia if you are wanting to stay in Xela and practice your Espanol!
As part of our Spanish school program, we spent a week in a homestay at the Casa de Rosy. Rosy is a gracious and patient host and her house was filled with four generations of her family, as well as some other homestay guests. She gave us a nice single room we called the Penthouse where we had views of the Santa Maria Volcano.
She cooked a variety of local meals including fried plantain with black beans, pupusa (fried egg with chicken and cheese), and of course the traditional meal – Fiambre
which happens once a year during El Dia De Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead). The meal consists of all the local vegetables (the vegetables are a very big deal) cooked down and pickled and topped with a variety of meats and cheeses. Rosy spent days preparing this meal and allowed us to eat with her family during the celebration. We actually didn’t have school on November 1st because the whole town essentially shuts down to visit their local cemetery to decorate the graves of their loved ones with gorgeous bouquets of flowers.
They eat and listen to mariachi and fly kites for hours on end! It is a unique way to give thanks and celebrate the lives of those lost.
The Santa Maria volcano was a gorgeous and strenuous hike at 12,375 ft, but we got some great views despite the fog and clouds.
The summit was actually quite warm and you could feel the heat from rocks! They were people decorating the summit with flowers and others attending a church service. The highlight of Kourtney’s hike was the local walking his cow on a leash on the way down!
We practiced carrying clothes, food, and water during the Santa Maria in preparation for our two-day trek to Volcano Tajumulco at 13,850 ft!
We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Xela — unpacking our whole bag to lay out our things has been a blessing in itself — but now we are ready to pack our bags and hop a couple chicken buses to continue our journey through Guatemala at Lake Atitlan and Antigua!
