Prime Rib and some Ben Stiller on the side
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007Note: I have finally added a some photos, and hopefully many more to come! Check for the link on the right side of the page. To make it easy here it is… http://picasaweb.google.com/mikejordana/CentralAmerica
Day: 41 to 43
The next 3 days in Antigua was a relaxing time and we enjoyed the international flavour of the city. We frequented cafes and restaurants with names such as the Bagel Barn, Reilly’s and Cafe Flor. Our days consisted of wandering the cobbled streets, finding a small empty park and sitting around water fountains planning our future travels. However despite the large international presence this still is a Guatemalan city at heart, you just have to look around to find it.
This was quite apparent on the western edge of the city along Calzada Santa Lucia. A sprawling market located next to the bus yard we had arrived at. The south end of the market was filled with weavings and carvings, a tourist market. The north end was chaotic, colourful and all local. Narrow rows of wooden stalls with hanger after hanger of second hand clothing probably donated from the U.S.A. and Canada. I almost expected to find some of my old clothes here. Of courde there was the obligatory section of cheap chinese electronics. The most interesting area and what sets a Guatemalan market apart from a flea market back home is the meat and produce section. Recognizable fruit and vegetables like bananas, cucumbers, avocado and chilli peppers. Then there were things we had never seen before. Giant looking papaya like fruit and tiny round orange fruits. Since I’m linguistically challenged I could ask what they are but I wouldn’t understand the reply. So goes my limited, ok pathetic Spanish. Beside the produce area are a few stalls, the meat section. A vegetarians delight, really it is. As someone who does not take part in consuming animals I feel I have made a good decision when I see half a cow covered in flies hanging in a hot dusty market. Although at least here when people buy their meat they know what animal it comes from. Unlike back home where you go into the local grocer and pick up a neatly packaged steak, never seeing the rest of the animal. Not here though, you want a steak? They’ll hack it off the half a cow that’s hanging and next to that is the head of that very cow just in case you wanted to thank him for that steak. Since we are at the beginning of our travels we departed the market and skipped over the tourist souvenirs. I did however pick up a $3 pair of Oakley sunglasses. Ok they are “Jokley’s” but either way they do the job and I couldn’t beat that price.
The market was a good contrast and reminder that we were still in Guatemala. That night we sat down at Cafe 2000. A bar with a huge projection screen that shows english movies nightly to an audience of tourists. This is was what Antigua is all about, a side of hanging beef for sale in the morning and Ben Stiller in “Heartbreak Kid” on the big screen at night.
Michael Coroneos