Guatemala: Wait...when did I start working for National Geographic?

Our second day off in Guatemala can only be described in one way: complete cultural overload.

Annette, Hidayat, Kiana and I got up to catch a 7 a.m. ride to Chichicastenango, a small Mayan town about 3 hours north of Guatemala City. We parked around 10:30, after weaving through tiny village streets (the kind where two-way traffic means someone has to pull over and allow you to pass). We headed into the market, which is famous throughout all of Guatemala for its size and variety of goods for sale.

Mayan women still wear traditional garments; many Mayan men, however, wear whatever they want.

A very popular brand of shoe that we noticed was "Pamu"...the fake version of Puma.

Flowers for sale, and flowers being offered on the steps of the church.

After this short excursion to Chichicastenango came the real treat: a visit to Lake Atitlán, widley considered to be among the most beautiful lakes in the world. We drove through the streets of Panajachel (which is, oddly enough, filled with hippie ex-pats) to the edge of the lake, where we then caught a boat to San Antonio Palopó, a small Mayan village.

A view of Volcán San Pedro from the shore of Panajachel.

Looking back at Panajachel.

Cue the I-can't-believe-I'm-here-and-I'm-not-sure-when-I-started-working-for-National-Geographic moments. San Antonio Palopó is reachable ONLY by boat. To give you a better idea of just how isolated it is, 97% of the tiny village's population will never leave the village.

San Antonio Palopó as we approached.

When our boat first pulled up to the dock, we were unexpectedly greeted by what may be the funniest display of male behavior I've ever seen. Five young, teenage boys were at the next dock over preparing for an afternoon swim. However, when they saw Annette and Kiana in our boat, they were suddenly overcome by an innate need to flaunt their bodies for our boat. It began with some basic bicep flexing, but soon progressed to displaying abs and taking off t-shirts. And then before we knew it, pants were off and a pull-up competition was underway. We never learned of the winner, though, because we had a village to explore.

After a few minutes walking around, we came in contact with a group of villagers who didn't seem to mind our presence in their village whatsoever. Not exactly what I expected, but I guess enough non-natives come through that it's not a big deal. The man with us couldn't fully communicate with the villagers because they speak a regional dialect, but it was similar enough to Spanish that basic conversations could be had between the parties.

He engaged a young teenage girl in conversation. Then he said to us in English, in front of her, "You see that gold in her teeth? The reason that she's smiling so much is because she wants to show you that gold. It means that she comes from a prominent family in the village. You think she's smiling to be friendly, but that's not the reason."

The girl on the left has gold around her teeth. The woman on the right very much treasured her necklaces, and was visibly proud of them (they appeared to us to be Mardi Gras beads).

At the moment, though, I was more distracted by the young boy next to her who happened to be wearing an Arizona Diamondbacks t-shirt...what?! Who would've though that an Arizona Diamondbacks t-shirt would end up in a small Mayan village reachable only by boat?! Crazy. I did see a large water tank donated by UNICEF a while later, so I imagine that the villages around Lake Atitlán receive quite a bit of international aid. (A massive mudslide in 2005 wiped out an entire village.)

We also went into the town's church, which had no front door. Though there are incredible pieces of art inside the church, no one would dare to steal them for fear of severe repercussions. An example of severity in punishment would include the following: a married man seen interacting questionably in public with a married woman could result in the man's castration, and a married woman instigating similar behavior could be put to death. [We were told "walking down the street" with another's spouse could result in these punishments, but I feel like maybe something was lost in translation? On a related note, trust and honesty are so valued in the village that if a villager was to be arrested and sentenced to 30-days jail time for something like public drunkenness, he would be expected to go work every day and then return to the jail every night after work--of his own volition--for the duration of the sentence.]

Looking out the church at Lake Atitlán.

While we were inside looking around, the church "guard" showed up, a position filled by a villager who was merely on duty for that afternoon. A female villager who had followed us into the church (she had been trying to sell us some scarves for the 50 yards of road prior to the church), encouraged us to take pictures with him. He obliged. Interestingly enough, he put his arm around both Kiana and Annette when they took pictures with him, but he did not put his arm around Hidayat and I (though we both put arms around him).

The guard outside the church.

With the guard inside the church. Moreover, Mayans are a very small people, as evidenced by this picture.

After about 30 minutes exploring the village, we returned to the dock to find the teenage boys, in their briefs, standing in a line on the edge of the platform. Upon seeing us they began, one by one, to jump into the water in the most impressive ways they could each manage. We learned that in Mayan culture the best way a man can show a woman he loves her is by engaging in some sort of demonstrative, physical activity. Well, these Mayan boys certainly showed us that. It was--without a doubt--one of the most hysterical and genuine human experiences in which I've ever participated; the boys were having so much fun showing off for us, and we were having so much fun just watching them engage in feats of strength. Thank you, Females, for making Males do hilarious things for thousands of years!

Leaving San Antonio Palopó in hysterics, jaws-dropped by all that we've experienced: from gold teeth and open churches to hilarious teens in their skivvies.

Even two weeks after this all happened, I'm still reeling from shock. I can hardly believe as I write this post that I experienced these things...

It's weird to think that I'm while writing this on a laptop in cars and hotel rooms, publishing it to the internet with photos from my digital camera, (simultaneously catching up with my friends on facebook,) and traveling the world playing violin in a band, someone in San Antonio Palopó is still guarding the church. And the very same sun that helped me to do these things is the one that guided him through his day, too. Odds are he'll never leave the village, he'll never stay in a hotel room, and he'll probably never check e-mail on the internet either. I doubt he's ever had Thai food or listened to Bach. Has he ever seen a picture of da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Michelangelo's David? Is he aware the Arizona Diamondbacks t-shirt his neighbor sports is from a baseball team? For that matter, does he even know what baseball is?

...and yet, I'm sure that he finds his life to be just as fulfilling as mine or yours.

Humanity is amazing.

-----

Being continually awe-struck by the unbelievable opportunities traveling with this band affords, I need to thank Annette for some of her pictures and Kiana for help remembering names of cities. In taking it all in, I often forget to capture it...