Sitting in the back of the bus is only cool in high school

So after 2 and a half weeks of being here, I finally felt comfortable taking a ¨chicken bus¨on my own. It was to a town called Zunil about 9 km south, and it has a pretty church and an idol called San Simeon that the townspeople dress in a different costume every 2 days. Hmm, they probably wouldn´t call him an idol because they are catholic...maybe he is a saint? In any case, the bus took about 30 minutes and cost less than 50 cents. As the bus went through one town, I saw a lot of people walking down the street together, the men in suits and woven hats, and wonder if it was a wedding because at the front of the group was a man and a woman, both young, holding hands. But she was in traditional Mayan dress, not white...The Mayan women all wear intricately woven blouses and shirts, and they either have a long colorful scarf with pom poms at the end that they wear over one shoulder, or have their ponytails sheathed in a woven tube that is long enough for them to wrap around their heads like a crown. I also find it interesting how in the States we need to buy baby backbacks and baby carriers, etc, and in other parts of the world (is Guatemala and Africa, at least), women have figured out how to carry their babies using a rectangular piece of fabric. In addition, we westerners need luggage carts, wheelbarrows etc and in other places, people use their heads at carry huge packages.

The bus passed by a place and the driver yelled out ¨banos!¨and I wonder if it was for my - the only non-Guatemalen on the bus - ´s benefit. But they werent natural baths, as their are further from Xela, but seemed like bathhouses where they have brought in water. It didnt really look like a place westerners would want to go.

On the buses, people seem to want to sit in the front. At one point, a family of three, with the father carrying a one year old, got on and they all decided to sit in the seat with me, even though there were plenty of open seats. Sure the seats are longer than in normal school buses, but I still didn´t think sharing it between 3 adults was that comfortable. When the seat in front of us opened up, I was wondering if they would move or if that would be rude, but they did move. Also, the baby was wearing a gold necklace with a Star of David pendent, but I dont think it was because they were Jewish. I´ve seen a lot of stores with the star on the sign, or cafes and tuk tuks with ¨shalom¨written on it, but I dont think it has anything to do with Judaism. I probably spelled that word wrong, I always do.

From Zunil you can hire a pickup truck to take you to the natural baths, but I wasn´t really interested and the pickup ride is relatively expensive - about $10. Instead I walked to what seemed to be the highest point in the town, which was a graveyard filled with tombs and tons of flowers. I wonder if it was because it is just after Easter or if there are always many flowers there. It was a good view of everything. Seeing tourists is always funny because they take pictures of things that locals are used to seeing all the time - like me taking a picture of huge bunches of onions that a man carries one at a time on his back. Then walking down I passed the only 2 other westerners I saw in the town, and I considered asking them where San Simeon was. I didnt, but at the bottom of that hill I turned around and they were motioning to me to come back up and go down a totally nondescript alley. So I found San Simeon after all, who is about 3 quarters lifesize and was wearing a cowboy hat. He had about 5 people attending to him - dusting him off, whispering in his ear, kissing him, clearing off the ash from the lit cigarette in a holder coming from his mouth, and arranging candles in his lap. It was amazing all the attention they were giving him, and I wonder whether he gets it all the time or I was just there at an opportune moment? The church in the town was pretty too, with lots of carvings on the outside.

Although I am really enjoying my time in Xela (all 2 days of it so far), I am going to go to Ecuador on Sunday and I´m excited. Maybe I will come back to Xela one day if I want to brush up on Spanish. I would want to stay with the same woman then, although last night I locked myself out of my room after dinner, which wasnt too fun. At first I thought Doris was mad (although I am the one to pay for the locksmith) but then she was saying it happens almost every week. I had a great sleep last night with my earplugs in and an eye mask on! It is a good thing I like sleep so much!

There is probably more to say but I cant think of it. I finally found a book I am excited about reading, but I dont really have the time since I go to sleep so early. It is called ¨The Historian¨and is by a woman who lives in Ann Arbor...I´ve seen raves and pans about it, so we´ll see.

Hasta luego!