Making Sense Of It All

So I realize that it’s pretty much been a week since I last wrote but I’ve been pretty busy trying to squeeze in as many interviews as possible. I actually did my last interview with producers at the organic market on Wednesday so now I have pages and pages of data from my 14 interviews that I need to sort through and make sense of. It’s a bit of a tall order so I’m foreseeing a lot of time being spent in my hotel room this coming weekend. There are a few more people in town that I’d like to have a conversation with but otherwise the rest of my time in San Cristobal will be spent reading articles and beginning the actually writing process. I can’t promise how many interesting posts will come of it but I’ll try my best.

Somewhat on that topic, I realized that I never gave any real description of San Cristobal. I was going to try to draw a map but the  realized that my mac doesn’t have the paint application so you’re gonna have to use your imagination, at least until Ben arrives and then I promise to post my photos.

So we’ll start with the centre of town, which I always refer to as Central Park, though it’s really called Plaza de 31 Marzo (March 31st Plaza?). In the middle is this large white gazebo, which I think is also a cafe. All around the gazebo are small walk ways, gardens and speakers on posts which are always playing soothing local music. To the west of the plaza is a large white colonial building that has been hosting a book sale for the past few weeks. To the north is a huge yellow cathedral and then the south and east sides of the plaza are bordered by either cafes, restaurants and a hotel. Everything in this areas has a very old, colonial feeling to it. There are a lot of streets that meet in this area but in three corners- the two top corners and the bottom left- are where  the pedestrian/tourist streets start. Basically they make me think of Spring Garden Road, except that it’s all cobblestone and no cars are allowed. Basically the only thing you’ll find on these streets are cafes, restaurants and gift shops, but it’s still a lovely walk.

On the two extremes of the city centre (to the left and right) are two more cathedrals on top of hills, and once you make it to the top of the stairs you’re rewarded with some pretty great views of the city. Cathedrals are something that San Cristobal does not lack. I think there are literally three of them on the next street over from my hotel and I hear their bells all of the time.

If you headed north from the Plaza, you’d eventually run into the Artisan market as well as the general market. The market is huge and you can buy pretty much anything you’re looking for, from food items, candles, sweets and tortilla presses. Generally when I go to the market I never go with a game plan because I never remember here exactly everything is, so I just wonder until I stumble across someone selling what I’m looking for. The artisan market is smaller and here you can find blankets, jewelry, bags and wood carving, among other things of course. My favorite though has to be the churros- which is basically deep fried dough covered in sugar and evaporated milk. Trust me they as super good.

To get to my hotel, you head south from the Plaza for about 4ish blocks, passed the Sweet Market- where they sell piles of sugary items as well as souvenirs- and then turn east. Two more blocks and you pass this awesome hole in the wall restaurant that sells quesadillas and a fruit/ veggie stand and voila, you’ve made it to my hotel! I’m in a quieter area of town but still only five minutes away from the centre.

So that as my attempt to give you a better picture of San Cristobal. Though I like the city my time here is slowly re-affirming the fact that I am not a city girl. My past internships have always been in smaller cities/towns, where there was a lot of green space to hang out in or places to bike to. That doesn’t feel like the case in San Cristobal. But my hotel room does have this great window over looking a bit of court yard and some greenery, so even though I’m not exactly outside it’s still not a bad place to do most of my work.

Regarding food, I’ve tried to eat out at some places that specialize in local food but being on a fairly tight budget also means that most nights I make use of the kitchen downstairs, though generally ,when I don’t feel like cooking I usually head to the market to buy some tamales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamales) or something similar. This is definitely an area that Mexico and Guatemala win over Ghana. Ghanian food and I didn’t really mesh (fufu = worst thing I’ve ever had to eat) so it’s nice to actually enjoy the local food. And to be honest, Xela is currently winning the competition for best city that I’ve stayed in for over a month. It has a winning combination of great food, city as well as green spaces and being able to generally communicate with people are all in its favor. Don’t get me wrong, San Cristobal is a great city and well worth a visit but after being here for a month so far I’m looking forward to heading back to Guatemala. Which on that note I’ll update you on the progress of my countdown. In 2 weeks and 11ish hours, I’ll be boarding a bus to head backdown to Guatemala City and in an additional day and 3ish hours I’ll be picking Ben up at the Guatemalan airport. After being gone for eight weeks so far, another two doesn’t seem that long at all- though it’s still crazy to think that I still won’t be home for another four weeks. And since I’m on the topic of countdowns, did you know that it’s only 32 days til Christmas, or so the sign outside one of the stores told me.

Spanish Word of the Day: El Pavo (Turkey)

As I’m sure most people do when they are in a new location for an extended period of time, I have begun to make my list of foods that I want to eat within the first week of being home. So far on that list is Pizza Time pizza, muffins, fish and chips, milk and of course turkey dinner with all the fixings. I think that the last items are due to a)excitement for Christmas and b)the fact that I missed Thanksgiving dinner but I’m looking forward to a turkey induced coma when I finally make it back to Halifax.

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