Chichi and the Volcano!

Last week I had two adventures.. the market at Chichicastenango and the volcano Pacaya.

Chichi: This is a huge market area, that spans the area in between two old churches. Anyone who knows me, knows that shopping is not one of my favorite activities.. especially when small children and old men are following me around trying to sell me things I have no interest in. But despite my aversion to shopping, I really enjoyed Chichi for all the culture of Guatemala it represented. People from the more indigenous areas of the country come together to sell at Chichi. All around you are different languages and cultures and lots and lots of colors. It was really facinating.

For example, in the churches there were people performing prayers or rituals totally unfamiliar to me. They were a mix between Catholocism and the native Mayan religious beliefs.

I bought a small pan flute there which I have been attempting to play in my room. I think I´m getting better but I haven´t been playing as much since the time I was jamming in the "privacy" of my room and I came out to my sweet German room mate telling me that she thinks I´m getting better. Or in other words, please stop... please please stop.

A few pictures from Chichi

Saturday, we went to the volcano early in the morning. At first the hike was just a really nice, not too hard, pretty views of the nearby volcanos and plenty of horse ¨po po¨ from the horses some people choose to ride up on.

But as soon as we got a little closer to the top we started walking on the dark volcanic rock which was really amazing.. when we got to the top we saw this huge river of lava flowing down the side of the volcano. It was about 2 or 3 feet wide and super hot, as you can imagine. I am so amazed that we were able to get that close to the lava since it was surely very dangerous. We actually brought marshmallows and were able to roast them over the lava. It was amazing. Truely.

pictures of Pacaya

yay.. i finally got this video uploaded. It was touch and go for a while trying to get it on here.. but I had to put it on because you can see the river of lava flowing and how close we were and how many people were jammed on this rock. You can see Lea, in the pink, my German house mate and my friend Byron in the blue helping her up.