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Every now and then we enjoy getting off the road for a few days. Renting an AirBandB house is a great way to take a break from the road and explore a city. This time we decided to rent a house in Guatemala City during Dia de Los Muertos since we weren’t sure how chaotic the holiday might be (and we wanted to enjoy it). The house had a small front and back yard for the dogs. It also had a gated access to keep the camper secure. Those features plus wifi, and a washer/dryer made it a real score for us. In addition to exploring the city and watching Netflix, we laundered nearly everything in the camper! Our rolling home is refreshed and so are we!
The house is located in Zona 14, which is a nice area of Guatemala City. Our neighborhood was a little rough on some streets. But it felt safe to walk the dogs and buy groceries. There were many small tiendas and vendors selling tortillas and food. I think the chicken in this photo met her fate later that night at the BBQ stall on the corner. Now that is some fresh food! (notice the string?)
We visited the textile museum first. It is called Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena (Museum of Indigenous Textiles and Clothing) and is housed on a beautiful, university campus. This is not our first textile museum, but we learned new information and enjoyed the visit.
The museum next door to this one is called Museo Popol Vuh. We had hoped to read about the Popol Vuh (the Mayan creation story) and the history it recorded. But instead the museum offered just a few poorly displayed artifacts in dusty cases. So we wandered across the pretty campus and located a salad bar at the dining hall for yummy lunch. Then back to the rental house by Uber. Yes, Guatemala City offers an effective and cheap Uber service!
Back at the house we walked the dogs around the neighborhood and discovered an interesting place. This walled area offers concrete washing sinks for doing laundry and concrete stalls with toilets and showers. Services such as this were installed into neighborhoods before indoor plumbing was common. A few still survive and are used regularly. This one had people inside EVERY TIME we passed by and was always filled with hanging laundry!
The next day we visited the Municipal Palace and the National Cathedral which are located on the Plaza Mayor (a large open space similar to a parade ground or park). These structures are built of beautiful greenish marble stone and amazing architectural detail. The plaza was filled with visitors and vendors and music and pigeons!
After wandering around the plaza, we meandered down a closed, pedestrian-only avenue and found a myriad of shops and cafe’s. This street offered everything for sale; from cell phones to Nike’s and from pizza to Dunkin’ Donuts. The American influence is strong in Guatemala City!
Our next day was reserved for medical appointments. Visiting a doctor in a foreign country is full of surprises. This was no exception. The building was huge and shiny and fancy. The 11th floor office was clean and quiet, with musak playing on the speakers. We were taken into the doctors personal office and sat with him, chatting across his desk. After the conversation, Geneva was taken to the adjoining space for her annual exam. When we were finished the doctor ordered the routine blood tests and mammogram and assured us we would have the results the next day. We proceeded to another floor to have the technical work done. The mammogram included an ultrasound and the numerous blood tests would be run with just one vial of blood drawn. Everything was sterile, clean, efficient and gentle. Quite impressive, really. The building was packed with contrasts that are typical in Guatemala. Shiny floors, modern, western-style dress and Mayans in traditional attire.
The results weren’t available the next day, as promised. But they came quickly and all is well. Annual-medical-day was done and we were ready to explore some more highlights of Guatemala City. The next stop was the famous Relief Map.
A visit to a large city like this is not complete without some awareness of the dangers and security issues. I mentioned that our rental was located inside a gated, fenced area. Most homes have walls and gates and many have high tension electrical fences.
This city has some great museums. The next three we visited are located in three beautiful buildings that face each other. The Museum of Natural History was a little bit dusty and outdated. But it had an amazingly huge python on display.
That evening we took an Uber to an English-language, Christian church offering a Chili Cook-Off and Talent Show event. How in the world do we find these things, you ask? Well, we search “events near you” on Facebook! We paid about $5 for bowls of chili and watched a few people get up and perform. The brave seven year old doing magic tricks was great, and so was the woman from Germany showing us her dog tricks!
As if all of this wasn’t wonderful and entertaining enough, I am about to hit you with the true highlight of our week. For Dia de los Muertos we booked a chicken-bus ride to Sumpango to see the famous Barriletes Gigantes or giant kite festival. At 7am we climbed aboard this beautiful bus with 35 strangers and headed for the hills of Guatemala.
The festival is an incredible blend of historical beliefs, modern tourism and deep traditions. The practice began by families making small barriletes (kites) to fly over the cemeteries on Dia de los Muertos. Each kite included thoughts and wishes for the deceased, which were then flown to the heavens to be delivered as messages. In the evening the kites were burned as the family shared a picnic dinner at graveside. The modern festival has grown to huge proportions, with some kites as large as 50 or 75 feet tall! Many are too large to fly safely, but we saw many of them take to the skies on that day!
Small, handmade kites can still be purchased. Hundreds of these could be seen bobbing and weaving over the crowd and throughout the city in all directions. They were also tangled in the power lines, laying on the ground, trampled by the crowds and falling from the sky hitting the unawares in the head periodically.
But the real stars of the day were the huge, tissue paper kites made by villages, church groups, neighborhoods and clubs. These carried messages about their faith, their history and their concerns for the future health of Planet Earth and Mother Nature. They were bright, brilliant and chaotic. They waved and flapped and fluttered in the dusty wind as they tried to break free from their bamboo tie-downs and their human wranglers.
To illustrate the project of displaying a kite, I tracked one from arrival, to unfurling.
1- In the first photo, the kite is folded up and laying on the ground. It is made of tape, glue, tissue paper and a plastic backing. It has blankets folded with it to protect it during transport.
2- In the second photo you see the tail of a kite; made of rope and scraps of fabric, each bearing significance to the message or the creators of the kite. Also the ball of black twine that will be used to fly the kite. (this is a smaller kite than the final cowboy)
3 & 4- In the next two photos you see the criss-crossed bamboo poles which make the frame of the kite. The plastic is wired to this frame while it is laid out on the ground.
5- In the final photo of this series you see the cowboy kite being hefted into position. This is the same kite that you see folded in photo 1.
This was an amazing day for us. The weather was great, although we each got sunburned and filthy. The dry, dirt soccer field became dusty as the crowds gathered and shuffled around. But the opportunity to see these beautiful works of art was priceless. Here are a few more images from the day. (there is a video below)
We had a great time in Guatemala City. But the dogs and the humans of “slowcarfasthouse” are ready to hit the road. So we packed up all our clean laundry and hit the highways again.