Picture: Nebaj from a distance (this was hiking to Acul), main street in Nebjaj, Central Park, the firework contraption.Hi again,
A few random stories and notes to end my time in Nebaj:
I forgot to write the last time that a few days ago we were walking through central park, and I saw a little Guatemalan girl who was wearing a traditional Mayan skirt and nothing other than a University of Washington sweatshirt. It was so crazy! There are tons of used American clothing stores all over Guatemala that sell used, leftover American clothes for a few Quetzales (less than $1 per item) and somehow this University of Washington sweatshirt made it all the way from Seattle to Nebaj, Guatemala. I smiled at the girl and thought it was kind of funny that she had no idea that what she was wearing was located 20 minutes from my house. I have also seen 2 Seattle Mariner baseball hats, too. Yay Seattle sports teams, getting some loving in Nebaj! Ha.
Last night Jenna and I went to central park with Gaspar, Jacinta, and Olivia to watch a firework show as part of the big festival, which is definitely picking up. Side note, I learned that the festival is in celebration of Santa Maria's (Santa Maria Nebaj) birthday. Every city or town in Guatemala I think has their own saint, and the saint's birthday is always greatly celebrated with festivals and parties. Santa Maria's birthday is on Saturday, so apparently we are missing the biggest part of the festival. Also, Guatemala City must also have the same saint because their celebration is also Saturday, when we fly out. The firework show was out of control and so awesome. First of all, there were these huge wooden contraptions that shot off fireworks and were carried by people. Sometimes a random firework would shoot off into the surrounding crowd, or the people wearing the firework shooting contraptions decorated with sparklers would simply walk into the crowd. Don't worry Mom and Dad, we kept our distance. Then after these were done, they simply set huge firework boxes in the middle of the park and these huge fireworks would be shot off into the sky directly above us. There were kids everywhere running around this boxes and collecting firework shells or something, and the debris and sparks would fall onto the crowd. Jenna and I could not help but laugh and try to picture this scene in the US, mainly because it would never happen. Ha. It seemed so dangerous, but no one seemed to care. The firework show was long, maybe 45 minutes, and I enjoyed seeing some different fireworks, like one looked like a hose shooting out fireworks going in 180 degrees, like it started pointing one direction, then go 180 degrees, stop at the ground, and go back, if that makes sense. There was also a smoke ring that was set off. My ears hurt quite a lot after that, but it was so much fun experiencing Nebaj in this way and being out with Jacinta, Gaspar, and Olivia. So great.
This morning there was a big parade in which every local school walked through the streets, all dressed in themed costumes, gymnasts, cowboys, traditional Ixil dress, gym workout outfits, sailors, etc. It was crazy and probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. Jenna even got to help Jacinta with her kindergarten class, so she was in the parade, and Ben and I cheered really loudly for her. (She is an elementary education major and has had fun going to Jacinta's classroom a couple of times.) Ben and I then went to Q'anil, but no one showed up for our English class, so we said goodbye to Pedro and left. Both Cristobal or Esteban weren't there, oh well. We then walked to the soccer field which was the end of the parade, met Jenna, and saw more cute kids walking through the streets. I don't think many people are working today because the streets are absolutely packed. Oh man.
OK, well that's it from Nebaj! Just a few final stories. After lunch we are going to watch the Mexico USA soccer game hopefully, then it's off to pack! We are taking a bus at 7:00 am tomorrow out of Nebaj, change busses again in Santa Cruz del Quiché (it's not a single bus ride), and head to Guatemala City.
Adios from Nebaj, Guatemala!
Rachel
A few random stories and notes to end my time in Nebaj:
I forgot to write the last time that a few days ago we were walking through central park, and I saw a little Guatemalan girl who was wearing a traditional Mayan skirt and nothing other than a University of Washington sweatshirt. It was so crazy! There are tons of used American clothing stores all over Guatemala that sell used, leftover American clothes for a few Quetzales (less than $1 per item) and somehow this University of Washington sweatshirt made it all the way from Seattle to Nebaj, Guatemala. I smiled at the girl and thought it was kind of funny that she had no idea that what she was wearing was located 20 minutes from my house. I have also seen 2 Seattle Mariner baseball hats, too. Yay Seattle sports teams, getting some loving in Nebaj! Ha.
Last night Jenna and I went to central park with Gaspar, Jacinta, and Olivia to watch a firework show as part of the big festival, which is definitely picking up. Side note, I learned that the festival is in celebration of Santa Maria's (Santa Maria Nebaj) birthday. Every city or town in Guatemala I think has their own saint, and the saint's birthday is always greatly celebrated with festivals and parties. Santa Maria's birthday is on Saturday, so apparently we are missing the biggest part of the festival. Also, Guatemala City must also have the same saint because their celebration is also Saturday, when we fly out. The firework show was out of control and so awesome. First of all, there were these huge wooden contraptions that shot off fireworks and were carried by people. Sometimes a random firework would shoot off into the surrounding crowd, or the people wearing the firework shooting contraptions decorated with sparklers would simply walk into the crowd. Don't worry Mom and Dad, we kept our distance. Then after these were done, they simply set huge firework boxes in the middle of the park and these huge fireworks would be shot off into the sky directly above us. There were kids everywhere running around this boxes and collecting firework shells or something, and the debris and sparks would fall onto the crowd. Jenna and I could not help but laugh and try to picture this scene in the US, mainly because it would never happen. Ha. It seemed so dangerous, but no one seemed to care. The firework show was long, maybe 45 minutes, and I enjoyed seeing some different fireworks, like one looked like a hose shooting out fireworks going in 180 degrees, like it started pointing one direction, then go 180 degrees, stop at the ground, and go back, if that makes sense. There was also a smoke ring that was set off. My ears hurt quite a lot after that, but it was so much fun experiencing Nebaj in this way and being out with Jacinta, Gaspar, and Olivia. So great.
This morning there was a big parade in which every local school walked through the streets, all dressed in themed costumes, gymnasts, cowboys, traditional Ixil dress, gym workout outfits, sailors, etc. It was crazy and probably the cutest thing I have ever seen. Jenna even got to help Jacinta with her kindergarten class, so she was in the parade, and Ben and I cheered really loudly for her. (She is an elementary education major and has had fun going to Jacinta's classroom a couple of times.) Ben and I then went to Q'anil, but no one showed up for our English class, so we said goodbye to Pedro and left. Both Cristobal or Esteban weren't there, oh well. We then walked to the soccer field which was the end of the parade, met Jenna, and saw more cute kids walking through the streets. I don't think many people are working today because the streets are absolutely packed. Oh man.
OK, well that's it from Nebaj! Just a few final stories. After lunch we are going to watch the Mexico USA soccer game hopefully, then it's off to pack! We are taking a bus at 7:00 am tomorrow out of Nebaj, change busses again in Santa Cruz del Quiché (it's not a single bus ride), and head to Guatemala City.
Adios from Nebaj, Guatemala!
Rachel
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