Quetzaltenango (Xela)

Some volunteers and I decided to go to Xela or Quetzaltenango for Independence Day in Guatemala. We had an extra-long weekend and heard that festivities in the formal capital were always worth seeing! It also happened to be feria (traveling carnival) in Xela that weekend. We tried to save some money by taking chicken buses. We should have known better! We ended up standing on the hour and a half ride through the steep curving mountains. The bus was packed with people going to Xela and I just had to focus on not throwing up on everyone. We arrived safely in Xela and eventually found the Air BnB our friend recommended for us.

From there we went out to explore Xela which is basically a bigger and more urban version of Antigua. The center of town is very similar to Antigua with cobble stoned streets and colorful houses. We walked down to central park and ate at a taco shop where we knew the owner.

(Mural is one of the restaurants we visited)

From there we walked around the square and noticed a few drumming groups hanging out doing some drum routines. Eventually we realized that they were to be part of a drumming competition happening right in front of the main church on the square. It was a competition between the Xela high schools and it was awesome! Everyone was cheering on their team and the drummers were very impressive! We watched that for about two hours and were exhausted enough to go rest a bit before checking out Xela nightlife. After living in Pana, going out in even a slightly larger town, much less a large city, is exciting for the volunteers and I!

The next day we just walked around town exploring new places. We made our way up a nearby hill side with an incredible view of the entire city.

Feria in Xela was huuuuuuuge, and had much newer looking rides than others we had been on in smaller towns, so I felt more secure taking the risk to ride one again. They’re always more scary and sketchy once you are locked in and the ride is about to start – still fun though!

For our third day in Xela we decided to travel to a few towns I was familiar with outside of the city. Stay tuned for those adventures! Here is a sneak peak of the textiles we saw there - my favorites from Zunil!

(Photo taken by my good friend Marlene!)

After returning from those adventures, we went out to explore the many festivities happening around town to celebrate Independence Day. First we went to see some friends play music at a taquierria. Then we went to a huge concert where a popular rock band was playing. We shoved our way through the crowd and were only able to get to 100 yards from the stage but it was so much fun dancing, jumping, and singing with everyone. At midnight there were fireworks and then we made our way back home.  I really loved Xela and can’t wait to go back!