Western Highlands

So last Friday I went with a paralegal (Beatriz) and a social worker (Delmi) from our staff to Quetzaltenango, otherwise known as Xela, to meet with a client at the children´s home where she is staying. Xela is a small-feeling (though it´s the second-largest city in the country) city 3.5 hours westward into the mountains, with a lot more Mayan presence than the capital. We worked for most of the day, and had to spend the night because we worked so late. We went out with Beatriz´s friends to a classy french restaurant where gypsy jazz/cuban jazz group (they were great!) played the night away. It was a really good time. The next morning, I caught a chicken bus to the mountain town of Almolonga twenty minutes away for one of the biggest fruit and vegetable markets in Latin America. I was soaking wet with culture. Here are the pictures.

Shenni, me, Beatriz, Lilian, Delmi

The central park in Xela.

Get your fungicide right here in the corner store.

I sort of wanna live here.

Farms amongst houses amongst businesses amongst schools and churches. Sometimes not planning leads to great planning?

Taking a break.

The market.

The bulk room.

Cauliflower.

It was all Mayan, all the time in Almolonga.

The Almolonga church.

Gente apretada.

Here´s a video of the market. Take note of leaf-on-the-head lady towards the end.