Well my time at MayaPedal is complete now. I spent a total of 4 weeks here and had an excellent time just slowing life down and enjoying the local culture. I just finished my bicipicadora yesterday and it seems to be working pretty nicely. I am already going through withdrawls about leaving this amazing workshop that has treated me so well.
My original plan was to head straight over and hike the Pacaya Volcano right outside of Antigua, but it seems to have erupted yesterday, covering Guatemala City in inches of ash, leveling some small villages, and killing a few people as well. So I guess that plan's out. My next plan is to head towards the jungle. I may try and catch a boat south from Livingston, on the Carribean side, or I may just travel along the Carribean coast, wildlife watching and communing with nature. It's been raining a lot lately so hopefully that will let up a bit, but I'm not holding my breath.I started a mailing list called Alexs Blog Notification. If you want to get email updates whenever I post to my blog you can join this mailing list. That way you don't have to check randomly since I don't update it much. Go to this address to sign up:
(You can also just email me and I will add you to the list if this mailing list is confusing.)
Since I didn't have much to write this week I decided to add a little story about a controversial local religious figure I have been learning about. I dont usually write stories, but I tried to make it interesting, and it is all true... Hasta luego...
San Andrés Itzapa is a small town not unlike many other small Guatemalan Highland towns, but there is one thing here that cannot be found anywhere else, and that is Maximón.
Maximón (Mah-shee-mohn) is an ancient Mayan god of the underworld said to represent male sexual power. While most other towns have stopped worshipping him, or turned him into a tourist ploy, here in San Andrés Itzapa he is hardly forgotten. It is said that Maximón first appeared many centuries ago not far from here. Legend has it that while the Mayan farmers were out dilligently tilling their fields, Maximon would be visiting their homes merrily plowing their wives.
His original name was Mam (kaqchiquel for Great Grandfather) but when the conquistadors came they changed it to San Simón and dressed him up like Wyatt Earp so they could continue worshipping him in secret. Now he is known familiarly as Maximón. As opposed to mundane prayers (as Jesus prefers) or cookies and milk (as Santa prefers), Maximón has a taste for cheap liquor and cigarettes, and he receives enough to keep his head spinning all year.
Last Sunday I paid a visit to the Church of San Simón to see what it was all about. From the outside it looks like any other mid-sized church, but inside it has a sleezy atmosphere usually only found in the finest institutionalized churches. There is a long line of expectant worshippers on the left side that leads to the seated statue of Maximón, complete with a flashing neon 'Bienvenidos' bar sign above his head. The aisles are consumed by tables with various colored candles representing the patrons desires (Red = Love, Black = Death, Blue = Marriage Counseling) and burning cigarettes. While waiting for their moment at the altar the churchgoers prepare themselves accordingly, sucking down cigarettes and chugging pints of booze like the holy ghost was a prize at the bottom of the bottle. I also saw one man being showered by alcohol from his friends mouth, while another acquaintance beat him with a plant frond.
While the church may sound like a big party of bubbly devotees, and it may be the closest thing to a bar in town, it is most definitely not taken lightly here. Animal sacrifices take place on a regular basis on the main altar and if the church is wronged, it may even take justice into it's own tobacco stained hands. Around two years ago a man was caught stealing a loud-speaker from the church and while fleeing the ensuing mob he actually ran to the police station for protection. The angry (and most likely inebriated) mass accumulated outside saying they wanted to lynch him for stealing the holy Pioneer 3-way. The cops tried to turn them away but the posse persisted, setting fire to the police station and recapturing the unfortunate thief. They dragged him to the center of the town square and proceeded to lynch him in plain sight. Needless to say, the church is now free to blast mariachi music to it's devotees without fear.
All these things are not immediately apparent when looking at the smiling faces in San Andrés Itzapa, but rest assured they still reside in it's thinned out blood, giving new meaning to the phrase 'communicating with spirits.'
