Land of small things

Woohoo, very excited to add my thoughts to Jeff's excellent snap shots of Guatemala and Xela so far. I'd like to use this post to talk about the small things that I'm still getting use to in this city. First of all, the people here are very petite! I can never tell how old the younger people are because they're all quite small. The majority hover around my height, so you know that's short. No, that doesn't make me feel more at home.

The other distinct characteristic is the narrowness of the streets! It's a miracle that the drivers here don't clip each other or the pedestrians... The sidewalks are even more baffling to me. Most of the sidewalks in the city are barely wide enough for me to walk down. Jeff and I never walk side-by-side anymore. He can't risk walking in the street to be next to me because cars will hit him! The sidewalks are often challenging terrain paved with large, uneven rocks. Occassionally, we will be surprised by deep holes, dog excrements, or more often, telephone poles that take up the foot-wide sidewalk. As Jeff observes, "It's a tough hike to walk down the street!" It's incredible to me that I still can't recognize the stores on streets that I walk down everyday because I have to watch every step.

While the main streets are difficult to walk down, the more private roads are truly lovely. The old, stone streets are lined with colofully painted houses. Turquoise, yellow, orange, and lime green are very popular in Xela. Often these houses have equally colorful doors and ornate windows. Even better are the exotic flowers that frequently stop me in my track, to the dismay of Jeff, in order for me to voice my admiration in broken Spanish, or worse, to unsuccessfully capture their brilliant petals with my camera. Fortunately these quiet side streets are easy to find and jeff and I have many opportunities to amble.

Ah, this post got quite off track from the topic of small things. Yep, the stores, restaurants, schools, etc are very small. It's difficult to find buildings more than 2 stories high. Consequently, the sprawling city feels crowded. Vehicles are also too small for what they transport, but that's another post, another day.

On our way to El Parque Central

Big piñatas though!!!