Christmas in Antigua



antigua from a lookout point called el cerro de la cruz

This past weekend, we went to Antigua, which is the former colonial capital of Guatemala, for Christmas weekend with my mom and her partner Marco (we call him Tato).  The drive across the border was super sketchy.  There really isn't any security there and the border check is a complete joke - it's so easy to see how drugs and people can be smuggled in and out.  Also, people do not respect your private space.  Some lady stood right over my mom's shoulder as she was checking us in with Guatemalan customs.  I asked my mom why people do this and she said that either people want to try to find out info about you if they are from a criminal element or people simply do not respect private space around these parts.  I felt like saying something to her but with the situation the way it is in both El Salvador and Guatemala, you never really know who you are messing with.  But as Julio says, they do what they can at the borders with the resources they have.  Welcome to the Third World.


iglesia la merced

Anyway, we drove to Escuintla, a suburb of Guatemala, where we met my Marco's (my mom's partner) family.  They were very nice and we had a quick lunch together before we drove up to Antigua.  It was a absolutely breath-taking drive with volcanos (active ones) dotting the landscape.  It was amazing to see one of them puffing out smoke as we drove up!  Antigua, like Suchitoto, has a very colonial feel to it and there is definitely a lot of gentrification going on there - I've got mixed feelings about this.  I suppose it is to lure the tourists and bring in the cash flow.  There is so much to see here and with the 2-3 days we spent here it just wasn't enough. 

fincas (farmland) on the drive up to antigua



little boy playing with sparklers on christmas eve

We had a quiet Christmas dinner at a local restaurant with a Cuban band playing Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad" while the firecrackers were going full speed in the background.  Afterwards, we went to midnight mass at the local Cathedral.  Most of the songs they sang were the same ones Julio and I sang as kids growing up.  The next day, we spent the day shopping and taking pics of the beautiful colonial architecture.  We went to one of the Mayan artisan markets and bargained our little hearts out.  Bargaining with Mayans is a lot different from bargaining with Indian people it seems to me.  Mayans will basically ask you what you want to pay after you offer them a counter-offer to the original asking price.  In India, after you try to half the original price, there is a bit of game playing you gotta do to get the price you want.  And sometimes they won't agree to the price until you are literally walking away from the sale.  Not Mayans, they will usually accept the price you want to pay as long as it sounds reasonable.  There is so much to look at in the markets, it was so hard to choose what to buy.  It was all so beautiful, colourful, and intricate.  Julio bought a beautiful leather appliqué of the Mayan calendar.  He got the vendor to explain it a bit.  He asked her if she knew a lot about Mayan culture and pre-colonial religious beliefs and she said that she knew a bit but not a lot.

one of the many mayan markets with church ruins to the left and cerro de la cruz way in the background

mayan girls in the main plaza selling traditional textiles

Antigua brought out a lot of conflicting thoughts for both Julio and I.  On the one hand, it is a very picturesque and beautiful town with lots of beautiful traditional colonial architecture and cultural influences.  It was also nice to see the Mayan people throughout the town dressed in their traditional woven clothes.  But we also wondered how much of it was just for show, to play to the tourist fetish (including our own).  Marcos told us that Antigua is one of the most Catholic towns in all of Guatemala.  I personally found myself feeling conflicted about how much of an influence Catholicism has had on the Mayans here and how much of their own religious beliefs and practices has been lost to the colonial religion and culture.  During Christmas day mass, I found myself wondering about this deeply as I sat in the pews looking at the Mayan women with their traditional dress following Catholic rituals and prayers.  They seem so devout in their traditions, even if they are now heavily influenced by the colonial religion, that it's hard to feel critical about the role that colonization has played in places such as Antigua.  I almost felt bad for even feeling so conflicted about all of this.  It must be the Catholic guilt; or maybe my academia post-colonial mind going into overload.  LOL

 

little Mayan boy bored during Christmas day mass. i definitely know what this felt like as a child lol.   Note Maya woman infront of him wearing a Mayan textile cloth on her head as a sign of humility during mass.  Head covering is actually a Catholic/Moorish custom brought to the Mayans during colonial times.

my mom and marcos going to kiss new born baby Jesus (as played by a toy doll).  this is a tradition in Latin America and is a sign of humble celebration of his birth.

 In the end, what Julio and I chose to take away from Christmas day mass was the sermon.  The priest talked about the usual rituals and festivities that take place during this time of the year such as the firecrackers, the food, the music, the shopping, and sometimes even the drinking and showing up to Christmas day mass with a hangover (he actually made a funny out of this LOL).  He said that regardless of these modern day distractions, the message of the Christmas season is what is important and is what we (Catholics) should try to have at the forefront during this time of the year.  Of course, part of that message is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, God's only son and the saviour, but the other part of the message is that this is a time of love, peace, compassion, and sharing with family and friends.

nativity scene at iglesia la merced

I think regardless of one's religious beliefs (or lack thereof) about Christmas, these are things I think almost anyone can appreciate and relate with during this time of the year: the celebration of love, peace, compassion, and sharing with family and friends.

"antigua without barriers" - but it was actually a little challenging to get Tato around.



the beautiful colors of the old colonial town

cathedral of san pedro, patron saint of antigua



reindeers in antigua

Julio and I got DUI's. Oh-oh!

That's right.  DUI's.  Driving Under the Influence.  JKJKJKJKJKJKJK.  Jokes.

No, today we went to get our official Salvadoran identification cards called DUIs (pronounced 'doo-ees').  During the month of December, the government allows citizens to obtain them for free.  They normally cost $10 US.  That's a lot for the average Salvadoran.  So of course, people take advantage of this bargain.  This means that people wake up and get to the DUI centros as early as 4am (they open at 8am)!!!  We got up at 5am and made it there just before 8am.  We were # 85 and #86 in line.

Julio and I have been trying to get our DUIs since we got here, but each time we've gone we've arrived way too late because most centros have met their quotas for the day (usually 150 people).  But today, we finally made it to the Soyapango branch.  We waited 5 hours to get the darned things!!!  3 of those hours were spent standing up; 2 of those hours spent sitting inside playing musical chairs as we rotated seats as we got closer to the attendants cubicle.  It was borderline torturous.  So torturous we played Spanglish hangman.  Good times.

So was it worth getting one for free?  Depends.  We need them to cross the Guatemalan-Salvadoran border, which we are going to do for Christmas.  So in that sense, we totally needed them.  But if I had to redo it again and didn't need it right away, I would have gotten it done in Vancouver through the Salvadoran embassy. 

But for the average Salvadoran who makes anywhere between $1-$10/day, getting a free DUI is a huge, huge deal.  So I felt really bad being such a baby about the whole thing afterwards.  Julio, of course, was calm and collected amongst the frustration playing Sudoku on his cell and chatting it up with the fellow line-up-ees.  But the cool thing is we now have official Salvadoran identification, which means we can vote for the upcoming national elections if we want.  Chivo (cool)!

On a side note, yesterday we went to San Sebastian in San Vicente province to meet Julio's paternal grandmother and family.  It was really nice to meet them.  Such an affectionate bunch of kids.  Julio looks just like his abuelita  and his brother Joey looks just like their uncle.  I took a great pic of him sitting in front of a pile of harvested maiz (corn).  We also went to pay our respects to Julio's late father.  That was an extremely important thing for Julio to accomplish.  RIP Don Jeremias.

happy reunion for julio and abuelita

julio's great uncle - such an elegant campesino if i ever saw one!

Today, we also went to Chalatenango, a bustling hill town that we can see from my mom's veranda across the valley.  It was a very busy place and it reminded me a lot of India.  Lots of vendors, loud music, and tonnes of people and traffic.  I wanted to take lots of pictures but was too afraid to take my camera out, so I got my cousin Nelson to take a couple of snaps cuz he's so tall and buff.  But we didn't get nearly as many as I would have liked to to show everyone the ambience of Chalatenango.  Me and my cousin Nelson went walking around while Julio got his cholco-ness fixed.  I'm sad to see his cholco face go.  =(

part of a chaotic market scene in chalatenango - it really doesn't capture it well enough!

We  also saw a cow riding on the back of a pick-up truck.  Highlight of my day.

hola vaca!  hola!  (hi cow!  hi!)

Well, feliz navidad everyone (Merry Christmas)!  Everyone here has their nacimientos or nativity scenes out in full force and you can hear the cuetes (firecrackers) going off here and there.  Christmas here has a lot more of a religious feel to it than it does in Canada, but it is also WAY more festive.  The 10 or 12 days before, Catholics will participate in a tradition known as las posadas.  This ritual is supposed to represent or re-enact the journey of Mary and Joseph as they seek shelter for Mary to give birth to baby Jesus.  Children get dressed up as Mary, Joseph, Jesus, an angel, and the star of Bethlehem and they lead a procession of devotees around the local barrios or neighbourhoods singing villancillos or Christmas carols.  Neighbours volunteer their homes to represent the different inns Mary and Joseph go to and the final home is the home where Mary and Joseph are given the posada.   More villancillos are sung and the host family gives out treats at the end while families and friends socialize and celebrate the symbolic manger location where Jesus will be born.  I did one with one of my aunts and cousins last week.  I haven't done on in a long time and it felt really nice to take part, even though I am no longer necessarily a devout Catholic.  I think it's all about the warmth and festive nature of rituals.  =)

my adorable nephew Kike messing around with my aunts' ellaborate nativity scene

Salvadorans (and I think most Latin Americans) actually celebrate on the 24th which is Noche Buena or Holy Night.  Most families will have dinner early and then go to midnight mass.  Then they go back home or to family or friends homes and wait until midnight when we play traditional Christmas songs and hug each other at midnight and blow up firecrackers.  Then we open presents (if we buy them) and then dance, celebrate, and maybe drink the night away with family and friends.  I'm no longer a very religious person, but I can appreciate the warmth and festivities that is the Latin American fiestas navideñas (Christmas fiestas).

posadas - the "inn keepers" are inside singing while the angel, mary, and joseph wait 

Tomorrow we are off to Guatemala.  We will be staying in Antigua for the weekend to spend Christmas.  Can't wait to see Christmas here!  Fireworks galore!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

Can't have a Latino Christmas without some Jose Feliciano!

Some things are meant to be!

Life is funny sometimes.  A few weeks before our trip, we went over to my dad's house for dinner together with Julio's mom.  Our families are very close.  My family was one of the first families Julio's family met when they arrived in Canada about 21 years ago.  Both our fathers were FMLN supporters during the war.  And we both knew that both our fathers were captured and tortured as political prisoners during the war.  What we did not know was that our fathers were both rescued by the same man, Father Gregorio Rosas Chavez, so that they could come to Canada as refugees.  Julio and I were both so shocked to discover this connection because we had never heard of this story before! 

Father Gregorio helped countless political prisoners by advocating on their behalf together with some human rights groups to negotiate with the Salvadoran Army during the war.  His compassion and solidarity with the Salvadoran people is legendary.  We knew we had to make an effort to try to meet him while we were here and thank him personally for helping free our fathers, because without his help, who knows where we and our families would be today.  Julio was at the age where the state military was recruiting child soldiers.  My mom had to deal with the stress of caring for 5 small children on her own after my dad fled to Canada.  There are many possibilities to where our life paths could have taken us.  This just happens to be ours.

Today, we got to thank Father G. 

We went to the church in San Salvador where my cousin Nelson told us he works from.  We saw a sign on the main gate that said appointments would not be granted until after Christmas.  We were bummed.  But then, a young boy came to the gate and asked who we were.  We told him we were visiting from Canada and wanted to meet with Father Gregorio to thank him for helping our fathers during the war.  The boy asked us to wait.  Two nuns came out shortly and let us into the church courtyard.  They told us Father G was just about to start afternoon mass, but that he had agreed to say a quick hello.

He looked younger than we both imagined.  He asked who our fathers were and he totally remembered Julio's late father, who was very active with the church at that time.  I told him he helped my dad around 1983-1984, and he said that at that point, things were really bad and there were many people being captured and tortured and he remembers helping many people get released.  We told him we were visiting from Canada and we wanted to personally thank him for everything he did for our fathers.  He humbly gave us his blessings and said he was happy to know we had returned to our homeland.  With that, we hugged him and said good bye.

It happened so quick.  Julio and I both wanted to ask questions, like how it all happened and why our fathers were chosen to be let go when others weren't.  I guess life is just like that sometimes, things happen for a reason.  Both our fathers were blessed enough to be released so they could come to Canada, when so many others could not.  We keep hearing from people about how they suffered and witnessed so many horrible things during the war, things that we only got small glimpses of or that we learned about as we got older.  And I guess it just makes us think how unbelievably lucky and blessed we are to have been able to leave when we did, so that we could live in peace and have a better chance at life.  It's all so humbling and so mystifying.  It makes you ask the question "Why me?". 

Even though our meeting with Father G was brief, we felt such a deep sense of accomplishment and gratitude.  My dad and Julio's mom told us before we left that Don Jeremias (Julio's  late father) would be so happy and proud of him going back to El Salvador and that he would also be so pleased to know that him and I would get to experience this moment together.  I believe Don Jeremias was definitely with us today and I believe he is very proud of Julio too.  This was definitely one of those life moments we will never forget.  =)

Father Gregorio Rosas Chavez

It's not as bad as they told us ...

We've been here one full week now.  Things have not gone according to our original plans.  But I guess I should have known that since I've already experienced how things in Indonesia and India function in their own way and on their own time.  LOL

There is so much we want to do during our stay here, but logistically, things are not very easy to accomplish.  For one, my mom's place is way out in the boonies and she does not own a car.  So we have to make arrangements with my cousin Nelson, who lives in the capital San Salvador (about 40 minutes away from the main road and another 15 up the dirt road to my mom's), to come pick us up and take us out.  We have not been brave enough to use the transit system.  I hope we can attempt it before we leave, but with all the stories we've heard, I don't know if that is a wise idea.  But apparently the bad stuff happens more on the urban bus routes, not  so much on the rural ones.  So maybe we'll do a local route soon to test the waters.

Before coming here, everyone told us that it is very dangerous here, that we would have to be super careful.  We were told we can't be out after certain times, we can't speak English in public, or that we have avoid dressing all "fancy" like we do in Canada.  Julio and I were very concerned about security based on all this talk.  But we've realized that it really depends on where you go and who you are with. There are some obvious places you have to avoid, such as Apopa and parts of Soyapango, both suburbs of San Salvador.  But for the most part, we have not run into any obvious dangers nor have we seen the famous mareros (gang members) that we've heard so much about.  But apparently, they are not easy to identify because they no longer sport the mara (gang) tattoos on their faces nor do they dress like they used to.  One of my cousins told me they look just like regular every day people, and that has now become very scary because you never really know who you are dealing with.  And when it comes to fashion, I look like a hippie bum compared to a lot of the women here.  Many of them sport heels and skinnies with nice tops.  So the "fancy" clothing thing was a total lie.

All this tension gets to me now and then.  Sometimes I feel very safe and happy here, sometimes I feel very, very afraid and tense.  In those moments, I feel like going back to Canada.  It makes me very sad to feel this way in my own homeland, but this is the reality of my country and the legacy left behind by the Civil War.  Sometimes I wish I could pull up those carefree feelings I had in India when I was travelling alone, but the context is completely different - TOTALLY not the same thing!  Julio, on the other hand, is completely at ease it seems.  He's become quite oblivious to the stares we get when we are out on our own or when we are at the beach and he is topless sporting his tattoos.  I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.

(Note: actually I just asked him how he felt.  He says he does notice and it does really bother him, but he chooses not to show it cuz what's the point?  There's nothing he can do about the stares, especially towards his tattoos, and it's better to not show anger or fear because that will just get him into trouble).  Very smart.

Anyway, I guess my point is that in general, things are not as bad here as everyone makes them out to be in terms of security.  Obviously one has to take certain precautions and avoid certain areas, but in reality, El Salvador is a beautiful place with charming people.  Yes, there are moments where we feel a bit insecure, but this is our homeland and we cannot let our fears take over this moment we have to reconnect with our roots.

Highlights since we got here:

·         Radio interview: we went to this radio station called Radio Cadena Mi Gente (loosely translated to 'the people's radio').  My dad belongs to a support committee that raises funds to help this radio station stay on air.  It provides critical commentary on Salvadoran politics and dialogue/debate on social issues affecting the country.  It also serves as an educational tool, providing educational programming on things such as community health, education, etc.  Radio is the main method of communication particularly for the rural poor.  My dad send us on a mission here to visit and say hello on behalf of the Vancouver committee.  Julio and I ended up getting interviewed on the air and the host asked us our opinions on what we felt the Salvadoran needs to set as priority to help the Salvadoran people.

After our radio interview at Radio Cadena Mi Gente.  Radio booth in the background with a pic of Monseñor Romero.

·         El Boqueron volcanic crater: My grandmother's house is at the base of this volcano.  It was so cool to see, I'll put pictures up soon.  It was a lot more chilly up there then down in the capital and very very windy.  Vendors here grow all sorts of berries which I was really shocked to see.  The crater inside the volcano serves as a water store during the rainy season.  There are little hiking paths you can take down to the inside of the crater.  Definitely on a future to do list.



El Boquerron, loosely translates to "the big mouth".  Sorry it's sideways, can't fix it.

·         Visiting madrina Soccorro (Julio's godmother): it's been over 20 years since he last saw her.  She is an elderly woman now with a very sick husband.  We spent some time with them so Julio could catch up.  They told us stories about Julio's late father and about their experiences during the war where their neighbourhood was taken over by the 'esquadrones de la muerta' (the Death Squads) during the war.  Their youngest son was an FMLN guerrilla who was one of the desaparecidos (the disappeared) during the war.  There are hundreds of people who disappeared during the war, without any trace or knowledge of what happened to them.  Very sad.  They were so happy to see Julio and it was really beautiful to see them reconnect, especially considering how much they took care of Julio when he was little amidst their poverty.

·         Suchitoto: this town is about 20 minutes away from my mom's place.  It is considered the safest large town in all of El Salvador because it gets a huge amount of tourists from Europe and Asia.  It has the old colonial style going on and there are lots of international NGO's that have set up local programs and small businesses in partnership with the locals.  You can totally see that it's been "gentrified" in certain ways to attract the European tourists though.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  My cousin Gertrudis, a local doctor here, told me it works here because it focuses on capacity building with the locals, so it's not like the 'cheles' (white people) come here to impose their value systems on the locals.  This town photographs beautifully, especially with nearby Lake Suchitlan - it looks a lot like Lake Okanagan.

Lake Suchitlan with adobe rooftops from the colonial town of Suchitoto.  Too bad our camera died after this pic.

·         Playa del Sol: my cousin Gertrudis had a conference at one of the beach resorts on the coast.  She invited Julio and I go to hang out with her son Elias while she attended her conference.  We spent the day being beach bums and enjoyed the beautiful coast line.  The waves were huge and along the shore you could see miles and miles of sand the gates of the local land owners who own most of the beachfront property.  The local beach futbol (soccer) team, La Seleccion, was practicing on the beach.  This is where Julio got tonnes of stares from the local young men for sporting his tattoos.  It kind of creeped me out.

Well, that's all for now.  Enjoy the pics everyone!  More to come.

Juliana goes to Cuzcatlan!

Hola!  Julio and I (aka Juliana) made this blog to keep familia y amigos in the loop about our adventures in our motherland El Salvador (originally called Cuzcatlan in the Nahuatl language by the original inhabitants, the Pipiles).  

The last and only time I've been back was about 10 years ago.  This will be Julio's first time going since he left about 20 years ago.   So this trip is very important and meaningful to both of us on many different levels and we are very excited to be able to travel to our homeland together to reconnect with our families, our homeland, and our cultural/ancestral roots, our raices. 

We hope to update the blog as much as possible, but it will really depend on how accessible internet is to us.  We feel so happy to know that so many of our family and friends are so excited for our trip and for us and we thank our Salvadoran experts for guiding us with advice and love.  Y'all know who you are  ;)
Below is a YouTube video showing the approaching landing and our beautiful coastline!  We will be arriving after sunset, so unfortunately we will not be able to see the amazing landscape, but we are sure it will look just as beautiful to us at night with all the lights.

Here we go!  Aqui vamos!