Ti’kal

The hotel has electricity only from 6pm to 10pm. So, at 3.30am, you wake up, you wait for your eyes to adjust to the darkness and hope to see some sort of shapes in your room so as not to bump into anything. The eyes don't adjust. It is pitch-dark. I had to rely on my mobile torch. At 4.15am, we went out, and there wasn’t one spot in the sky that wasn’t filled with stars. I don’t think I have ever seen so many stars in my life. We walked through the forest and climbed the highest pyramid. At the top, a guard motioned us to remain quiet. We sat on the huge stairs with a handful of other people, and we overlooked the dense forest, the plains of Péten and the now somewhat black somewhat very dark blue sky with a very faint orange at the horizon. Only one very prominent star was now visible and shining.

All in silence.

Suddenly the howler monkeys start to scream. From one corner of the forest to the other corner (Howler monkeys were used in Jurassic Park for the sound of one of the dinosaurs, so, imagine the kind of sounds we were hearing..) and then the birds woke up and started to sing. And the faint orange gradually turned into a very strong reddish orange.

All in silence.

The day became clearer, and now, we could clearly see the top of the pyramids, the dense forest and the plains no longer looked like a vast sea. The orange faded and became clear blue.

And then suddenly, very far away, we could see a line of very strong orange. It seemed like far away there was a huge fire.

And then, the circular shape of orange appeared.

Bliss.

Tears.

All in silence.

The ball of fire rose.

All in silence.

One of my most precious experiences. It reminded me of another place where at dawn we wait for orange to come out.

Tikal was a prosperous township during the Mayan era. They built their pyramids and temples in such a way so that they could study the movement of the sun and the stars. I think it is appropriate to watch the sunrise there, away from the late morning crowd.

Quetzaltenango (Xela) & Chicabal

Legend says that the Mayans used to mistreat Lake Chicabal by washing their clothes in it and dirtying it, and so one day the lake disappeared. They then asked their gods for forgiveness, and one day, God blessed them and they found that the lake had shifted to a higher altitude on the same volcanic mountain. Studies show that there were always two lakes in the Volcano of Chicabal, one which dried up and got absorbed by the ground, and the other, which still remains today, and is very beautiful. Laying at the top of the volcanic crater, La Laguna Chicabal is now considered sacred, no one can bathe in it or wash their clothes with its water. Mayan ceremonies take place around this lake.

To get to the volcano of Chicabal, I had to spend 2 nights in Quetzaltenango, also called Xela, which is the second biggest city in Guatemala. I liked Xela because it was more local, much less touristy than Antigua, and I could kind of get a feel of what the real Guatemala is like. This also meant that I could meet the Guatemalan people who have a harder life, and since 6 weeks here, I had my first bad experience. My guide in Chicabal worked his way the whole trip into asking me for money at the end and the agency I bought my return bus ticket from told me there was a blockade between Xela and Antigua, and I couldn’t return to Antigua as planned and had to wait until afternoon to get another shuttle. I had to find from another agency that there was actually no blockade and had to fight to get my money back. Just the way one hopes to start a Monday morning! Finally, as most often than not, public transport can be a lot more reliable and a lot cheaper! And luckily, it was comfortable too! I'm glad to be back in Antigua.

Placed carefully in my cupboard is my ticket to Cuba which I bought yesterday. So exciting! Dreams, dreams, dreams… :)

Attempted translation – The Fable of emotions – “Anonymous”

It is said that one day, somewhere in Earth, all human emotions and virtues got together.

When boredom had yawned for a third time, insanity, as crazy as always, proposed: Shall we play a game of hide and seek? Intrigue raised an eyebrow and curiosity could not contain herself and asked: Hide and seek? How do we play that?

It’s a game – explained insanity – where I put my hands on my face and I count until one million while you hide yourselves; and when I finish counting, the first one of you that I find will take my place and we can continue playing.

Enthusiasm started dancing with euphoria, happiness jumped so much that it ended up convincing doubt and apathy who was usually never interested in anything. But not all were willing to participate. Truth preferred not to hide… What for? In the end you always come to me. Arrogance thought that it was a stupid game (in reality it was tearing him apart that he hadn’t come up with the idea first) and cowardice preferred not to risk anything…

“one, two, three…”, insanity started counting.

The first to hide was laziness, who, as always just let himself fall on the first stone on the way.

Envy hid behind the shadow of triumph, who with his own strength had succeeded in reaching the top of the highest tree. Generosity couldn’t find a place to hide, every place that she found seemed perfect for one of her friends… A crystal lake? (Ideal for beauty). The crack of a tree trunk? (Perfect for timidity). The flight of the butterfly? (The best place for voluptuousness). The gust of a wind? (Excellent for freedom). Generosity ended up hiding in a sun ray. On the other hand, Egoism immediately found the best place to hide, in air, since it was so comfortable... but only for him. Lie hid at the bottom of the ocean (she was actually hiding behind the rainbow) and passion and wish hid at the center of volcanoes. Forgetfulness… I forget where she hid… but that is not important.

When insanity had counted until 999999, love had still not found a place to hide, since all the places were full… she finally found a rosebush and with a shudder, she decided to hide between its flowers.

One million! Shouted insanity and started to search for the others… She first found laziness three steps away from her behind a stone. And passion and wish were sitting in the vibrations of the volcanoes. By accident she found envy and of course, she could deduce where triumph was hiding. She didn't have to look for egoism. He came running out of his hiding place on his own which was the nest of wasps. Having walked a lot, insanity felt thirsty, got closer to the lake and found beauty, and it was a lot easier to find doubt who was sitting on a wall since she couldn’t decide where to hide. Thus she found all of them, talent in fresh grass; anxiousness in an obscure cave, lie behind the rainbow (lie, of course was at the bottom of the ocean) all until forgetfulness... who had forgotten that they were playing hide and seek... but insanity could not find love...

She looked for her behind each tree, below each stream of the planet, above every mountain and when she had almost lost hope, she saw a rose bush and roses… with a hairpin she moved the branches until she heard a painful cry… the thorns had wounded the eyes of love… insanity didn’t know what to do to apologize, she cried, she begged, she asked for forgiveness and she promised to be her guide...

Since then… since the first time the game of hide and seek was played in the world…

Love has been blind and insanity always follows her.

Fabula sobre los sentimientos - desconocido

Cuentan que una vez se reunieron en un lugar de la Tierra todos los sentimientos y cualidades de los humanos.

Cuando el aburrimiento ya había bostezado por tercera vez, la locura, como siempre tan loca, les propuso: ¿Vamos a jugar a las escondidas?. La intriga levantó la ceja intrigada y la curiosidad, sin poder contenerse preguntó: ¿A las escondidas? ¿Y eso cómo es?.

Es un juego —Explicó la locura—, en que yo me tapo la cara y comienzo a contar desde uno hasta un millón mientras ustedes se esconden; y cuando yo haya terminado de contar, el primero de ustedes que yo encuentre ocupará mi lugar para continuar con el juego.

El entusiasmo bailó secundado por la euforia, la alegría dio tantos saltos que terminó por convencer a la duda, e incluso a la apatía a la que nunca le interesaba nada. Pero no todos quisieron participar. La verdad prefirió no esconderse... ¿para qué? Si al final siempre la encontraban. La soberbia opinó que era un juego muy tonto (en el fondo lo que le molestaba era que la idea no hubiese sido de ella) y la cobardía prefirió no arriesgarse...

uno, dos, tres… comenzó a contar la locura.

La primera en esconderse fue la pereza, que como siempre se dejó caer tras la primera piedra en el camino.

La envidia se escondió tras la sombra del triunfo, que con su propio esfuerzo había logrado subir a la copa del árbol más alto. La generosidad casi no alcanza a esconderse, cada sitio que hallaba le parecía maravilloso para alguno de sus amigos... ¿Un lago cristalino? (Ideal para la belleza). ¿La hendija de un árbol? (Perfecto para la timidez). ¿ El vuelo de la mariposa? (Lo mejor para la voluptuosidad). ¿ Una ráfaga de viento? (Magnífico para la libertad). Así terminó por ocultarse en un rayito de Sol. El egoísmo, en cambio encontró un sitio muy bueno desde el principio, ventilado, cómodo... pero solo para él. La mentira se escondió en el fondo de los océanos (mentira, en realidad se escondió detrás del arco iris) y la pasión y el deseo en el centro de los volcanes. El olvido... se me olvido donde se escondió... pero eso no es lo importante. Cuando la locura contaba 999.999, el amor aún no había encontrado sitio para esconderse, pues todo se encontraba ocupado… hasta que divisó un rosal y estremecido decidió esconderse entre sus flores.

un millón!. Contó la locura y comenzó a buscar… La primera en aparecer fue la pereza sólo a tres pasos detrás de una piedra. Y la pasión y el deseo, se sintieron en el vibrar de los volcanes. En un descuido encontró a la envidia y claro, así pudo deducir donde estaba el triunfo. Al egoísmo no tuvo ni que buscarlo. El solo salió disparado de su escondite que había resultado ser un nido de avispas. De tanto caminar sintió sed y al acercarse al lago descubrió a la belleza, y con la duda resultó más fácil todavía, pues la encontró sentada sobre una cerca sin decidir aún de que lado esconderse. Así fue encontrando a todos, al talento entre la hierba fresca; la angustia en una oscura cueva, a la mentira detrás del arco iris (mentira, si ella estaba en el fondo del océano) y hasta al olvido... que ya se le había olvidado que estaba jugando a los escondidos... Pero solo el amor, no aparecía por ningún sitio...

La locura buscó detrás de cada árbol, bajo cada arroyo del planeta, en las cimas de las montañas y cuando estaba por darse por vencida divisó un rosal y las rosas... Tomó una horquilla y comenzó a mover las ramas hasta que un doloroso grito se escuchó... Las espinas habían herido en los ojos al amor... la locura no sabía que hacer para disculparse, lloró, rogó, imploró, pidió perdón y hasta prometió ser su lazarillo...

Desde entonces... desde la primera vez que se jugó a las escondidas en la Tierra…

El amor es ciego y la locura siempre lo acompaña.

El día de los Santos

In Central America, on El día de los Santos, the people pay their respect to the dead and fly kites to send messages to the heavens and the departed.


I was a little bummed because I didn’t get to travel this weekend, I was asked to stay in Antigua to visit the little villages around it. That didn’t ensue, well it did, but not in the way it was planned. Instead, I went solo, on a cycle riding under the sun. I ended up having the best Sunday I have had in Antigua, and probably the best day of my five weeks here. What is it about team sports that can make your spirits soar to another level? For the first time, I tried my hand at “Frisbee-Football”. My body still aches, my left pinky finger is swollen, but simply put, it was awesome being out on a field running in grass.

As a teenager, when everybody would go to the mission, he would take me to Status Bar and he would have a whisky, and he would talk to me. I was never a talker, still am not really one. I would sit quiet opposite him. On Saturday, for the first time in my life, I went to a bar on my own, sat in a stool, asked for a beer and had a conversation with the bartenders and the people sitting next to me. One can get to know interesting people! http://gustavoestrada.artelista.com/

And Monday, was El Día de Los Santos. We went to Sumpango, where they flew huge decorated kites into the skies sending messages to the heavens. I tried flying my own little 4 Quetzal kite, for him. It flew very little, and then came down. The expert kids would probably have had better luck with it, and so, they deserved to keep the kite. I hope it went flying high, got detached from its string and went into the skies.