Guaspitality

 Looking back at Guatemala, Guatemaltecos may be some of the nicest, most hospitable people I have ever met (don’t worry Paisas, you’re still #1 in my book). I can’t tell you how many times people went out of their way to help us out or just chat in a very simple and pleasant manner for the sake of talking to a foreigner.

Only a week later and I'm already wanting to go back. Gracias a Chato, Cristian, Mery and all the other wonderful Guatemalans I met for making it such an enjoyable experience.

Iguana Soup pt. II

Last time Elizabeth and I were in León, our friend Anry took us to eat iguana soup, not having a camera, I was a little bummed not to document it, so without further ado:

 

The crab guarding the iguana is an an important part of the flavor.

Fritanga/Mexifusion

Nicaragua might just have the best street food in Latin America. Fritanga, you can find in virtually any city here, loosely translates as "cheap food." It's usually chicken or beef, grilled on a bbq and served with salad, fried plantain and tortilla. When we rolled into Estelí from San Salvador, we had worked up quite an appetite, treating ourselves to some genuine Mexican-made tacos. The secret, behind Tacos Mario's Mexicanos is that they use Quesillo, a salty type of not-quite-matured Nicaraguan cheese that makes the marinated beef and chicken burst with flavor in every bite.

The next night, we decided to take a walk. You can't really expect to find a fritanga joint as easily as to stumble on to one. Most are away from touristy centers and are almost always run out of people's houses. After a few minutes, we followed our nose to a remote side of town and were treated to some of the freshest chicken I've ever had. There's something so delicious, simple and natural about fritanga, we are making it a daily routine. And at $3-4 a plate, it's by far the most economic option here.

Deuda, El Capital

“Every Salvadorean owes $15,000 if you were to break down our national debt to only the US,” Jose told me on our shuttle bus. Turns out the figure is more like $1,300 but the societal impact is still the same: deep reliance on their massive neighbor to the North. During El Salvador’s civil war, the US loaned the ruling government seven billion dollars over 10 years in military aid. Though in spite of the damage done, San Salvador seems a very modern city by Central American standards. Signs of US-Salvadorean partnerships are everywhere and have no doubt, contributed to the emergence of some sort of middle class, which is probably why El Salvador is much more expensive to travel in than its neighboring countries.

Another externality of its deep relationship with the US is the rise of consumer culture in El Salvador, particularly in the capital. We stayed in near the zona rosa, which may well have been USA suburbia. Wendy’s, Tony Roma’s, KFC, Payless Shoes and no less than three Burger Kings were in the nearby shopping complex. We surveyed the surrounding area, looking for something decidedly third-world. Aha! Between a crack in a fence 10 blocks away we found some ramshackle abodes that are more characteristic of Central America. San Salvador does a pretty good job of hiding its poverty from foreigners, though if we had ventured into the true center, I’m sure we would have had a much different experience.

Poo Poo Saa

Pupusas are the national food of El Salvador. It’s basically a freshly made tortilla/pita with cheese and whichever ingredient you like on the inside. In el Tunco, the pupusa shack was the best food spot we found, I had shrimp and fish pupusas, followed by a half dozen freshly picked oysters. Pair this with Regia, one of the best Central American beers I have found and we were set for an afternoon of bellyrubbing on the beach as the sun set behind the rocks.  

 

El Tunco, El Sal

The first thing you hear about El Salvador isn't really good or bad, it's that you don't hear anything at all because it's not the most touristy of places.

El Tunco in La Libertad province has been touted as a surfer's paradise, comparable with beaches in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The town itself is pretty tiny, about 1/4 the size of the Ecuadorian surf mecca, Montañita. The beach has a huge rock in the middle of it, with a beach break to the left and a point break to the right. Jeremiah, being an avid surfer, picked up a board and rushed right in. After examining the choppy sets rolling in, I decided to give it a pass until the next day.

The beach isn't the greatest for lounging about, as it's covered in rocks. Though there are a few beachfront bars with recliners. The most popular accommodations are a bit overpriced: $10 a night to share a "dorm" room (really just a large bedroom with 8 beds spaced no more than a foot apart) seemed pretty ridiculous. As did $40 for a private room. Luckily, we kept walking and asking questions and found a great little surf shack with a shared bathroom (1 for up to 8 rooms unfortunately) for only $14 a night. That's more our style.

Moses and Indian Nose

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“We can start at 5am or 6am, though some people do it as early as 3am to see the sunrise,” our guide Moses suggested for starting our hike up Indian Nose, one of the best views of Atitlan and the surrounding area. Our late night jam session had resulted in a later start, something I was beginning to regret as we cut an aggressive path straight up the steep walls of Indian Nose. Every time the sun shined onto the trail, we would break out in an intense sweat, pausing to rest every 10 minutes or so. After a steady climb of a couple miles, we reached the spine of the mountain range and proceeded to the nose.

Moses was one of the best guides I’ve ever met. We had instinctually shooed him away when he first approached us after landing at the boat dock; an instinct I’ve had anywhere when first arriving to a new locale. He hooked us up with a great hostel and kayaks and we were more than pleased to have him on the Indian Nose trek. Though fluent in English, Maya and several other language, he firmly stuck to Spanish with us, something that is firmly appreciated with anyone who is learning or looking to practice. A former coffee plantation worker, he gave us a rundown of the harvesting process on our ascent and was full of interesting quips and jokes along the way. At a rough point in the trail I requested that he use his powers to part the bushes, to which he responded “only if brother Jeremiah is here to help lead us.”

I’ll let the view speak for itself, but upon arrival, Moses asked us if we wanted to learn some Maya. We surprised him with the basic “Mahk Diosh,” (thank you) and he seemed pretty pleased that we had even gone that far to remember Maya. Afterwards we cruised by the village of Santa Clara and were treated to a spectacular market scene.

Lago del Paraiso

 If Lake Atitlán truly is paradise, then San Pedro is your gateway to it. There are several small pueblos lining the magnificent Lake Atitlán, which is ringed itself by several volcanoes and steep cliffs, owed to its gradual creation by means of volcanic eruptions and collapses. Low prices, friendly locals and a great vibe are what make San Pedro the go-to spot for backpackers.

We intended to go to Zoolah, the largest Israeli-owned hostel which was booked up, so we ended up at Pinnochio, a locally owned hostel/hostel with privates for only $12 a night. The interactions with the locals were a definite highlight. Not only did we learn several words in Maya (schooled by a sassy 10 year old working her parents corner store), but also that there are actually several different Mayan dialects spoken around the lake.The large number of Expats living in San Pedro means great asian-influenced food is available at affordable prices; I had excellent Pad Thai and Green Curry dishes for under $7. The local grocery store boasts the largest variety of Asian spices and sauces I’ve seen in one place anywhere in Latin America. 

We began our first day by renting kayaks and paddling across to San Marcos, an even smaller pueblo famous for its yoga and meditation retreats. There was also a large platform to go cliff diving off of, though Jeremiah pointed out that the drop was much less dramatic, due to the fact that the lake had risen 15 feet this year alone. We finished off the day with beers and a sing-along jam session, already feeling we could stay there an eternity.

Easy Spanish 101

I'm not too surprised at the amount of people here in Antigua studying Spanish. Guatemalan Spanish might just most understandable that I have ever encountered. Their speech cadence is slower than most Latin Americans and they speak clearly and simply. No puzzling colloquialisms, no chopping the ends or beginnings off words (I'm looking at you Chile and El Salvador), no slurring or messing the words about (costeños!), just pure, easy-to-understand Spanish.

Oh, and the going rate for 4-hour lessons, 5 days a week: $90

The worst beer

Latin America as a whole is not well known for its diversity in cerveza. The obvious exceptions are Mexico and Argentina, who's cultural proximity to the US and Europe (respectively) affords them a decent beer selection. Most Central American beers are about the same: pilsner/lager style, light in color, soft on flavor. It's possible to find darker beers, but along with imports, these are usually twice the price and not nearly worth it.

Throughout Central America I've noticed that most local beers hover around $1, a fair price for the beer-flavored water, whether you buy it at a grocery, bodega or cheap bar. Belikin from Belize has been one of my favorites for this reason: reliable quality, inflexible price. Colombia's local beers follow this trend as well, everyone knows the price, so to charge anything greater is a grand offense to Juan Q. Beer drinker.

 Gallo (Rooster) Beer from Guatemala breaks with this trend. I've seen the price fluctuate from as low as $1.25 to $3.00. Considering we are paying $10 a night right now for a private hostel room, this seems a little absurd. Throw in the fact that Gallo does in fact, taste like drinking a rooster (or chicken feed), you can sense my frustration when Guatemalan's ask me if I "love" their national beer. I mean, everybody has pride in their dometic products, some for very good reason: Guatemalan coffee is among the best I've ever had. I just find the slogan of Gallo particularly annoying given the aformentioned info: "La mejor cerveza" (the best beer). Yeah. Right.

Kite Stunnaz

--> Our first excursion in Guatemala was to Sumpango, a village famous for its kite festival on All Saints Day. The locals spend hours laboring over massive kites, strung together with bamboo and pasted with layer upon layer of colorful tissue paper. The kites carry messages to the gods for the year to come, reflecting the pains, hopes and desires of their creators. The event starts with the whole crown flying their own kites, leading up to the larger ones, some spanning up to 20 feet in diameter.

The launching and flying of the big kites takes a lot of effort. 4-8 men on the ground race off with a rope, launching the octagonal disk into the sky. Most of the time the kites make a massive crash onto the public below but others remain aloft for a while, fulfilling their purpose of bringing their message closer to god.

My highlight was finally getting my poorly-made (chino) kite assembled and ready to fly. After a while, a young boy came and watched as Jeremiah and I coaxed the bird into the sky. He stared at us for a while before I asked him if he wanted to fly the kite. He quickly grabbed the lead lie while I held the spool. Every time he got the kite more than 10 feet off the ground, he would pass the line off to me and jump up and down as I let the kite race higher into the sky. (This scene reminded me when my brother and I would play Super Nintendo and on a particularly challenging boss, my brother would jump up and down as I came close to winning).

After a while, the kid asked me if I would give him the kite. Now normally, I hate giving things to people who ask for them, it strikes me as disingenuous and a little pushy. However, on this day, with this adorable kite-less kid, I couldn’t say no. I passed the kite off to him and headed off to watch some more larger kite crashes.

Migrating South

Migrating home is more what it feels like, having spent the majority of my last three years in South America. After a couple months in the US, I felt recharged with massive consumption of my favorite foreign foods and other things unavailable South of the border; I was ready for my vuelta a Colombia.

The return will be extended, as I am traveling with one of my best friends whom I have known since high school, Jeremiah. He's headed down to Colombia to try and set up his personal training and massage business and we've decided to take the long way down. We'll be bussing our way from Guatemala, headed through El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama before hopping a boat to Colombia.

We are in a little bit of a time crunch so my observations on chicken buses, electric showers, strange foods and the like may be limited, but I'll try my best to paint a picture of the region I've only known in a brief visit before. We are also bringing our guitars and have been working on a good repertoire of good songs that will provide the soundtrack to our (as well as new friends') trips in Central America.