Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Xelaju - Quetzaltenango - Xela (shay-lah)

Although the official name for this city is the mouthful, Quetzaltenango, most people here choose to call it by it's original Maya name of Xelaju or simply Xela. Thank goodness!

We had a fantastic time wandering the streets of this city which has been conquered and destroyed by earthquakes and rebuilt. Some of the streets felt similar to the lovely Antigua, but with a grittier, real-life feel to them and LOTS of hills throughout the city. The 7500 feet in altitude made made my lungs & heart notice those hills as we walked around and I couldn't help but think this is how San Francisco would feel at the same altitude.



































































I am in love with doors here --









































The hostel we stayed in (Casa Renaissance) was a huge highlight -- the cleanest place we've stayed in since coming to Guatemala and such a sweet spot.
Our quarters:

























Jason thought maybe this was supposed to be "market" ??  But the word peleteria seems to have something to do with fur, so .... poor cats?






The real market --

Outside
































And, inside -- I got to see cow lungs, kidneys & stomach (yummy) and much, much more!



Never been this happy to see a Walmart! Ha! It was lovely to be in a nice big store, with neat, clean aisles. As much fun as it is to check 10 tiny tiendas in Pana for one item, it was so so nice to walk through a store that had everything in one place. Of course, now that we're down to less than three months left here, there was very little that I could justify buying at this point, but it was fun to look.

Some of the local women in traditional outfits - we enjoyed checking out the differences in their clothing from what is worn around Lake Atitlán.





Jason was so tickled to see all the datsun, nissan and toyota vehicles from the eighties - some of them in amazing shape!



















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