what's shakin?

I ventured onto the public bus yesterday. I have been a bit leery about taking the bus because riding the bus means you are taking the risk of being shot. Not to make that sound too dangerous or dramatic, but there is a lot of violence here. At least four bus drivers get shot and killed in the city everyday. The violence has to do with the gangs and narcotic trafficking in the city although I am not exactly sure of specific details. It's relatively safe to ride the bus during the day, but nights I've been warned against.

At about one in the afternoon, my co-workers and I stepped to the curb outside of our school and hailed a bus as it came flying around the corner. There are bus stops here, but you don't need to be at one to jump on or off the bus. City buses here are old school buses from the states, but painted red. Like the chicken buses, they also have pictures of Jesus and Christian stickers plastered all over them. I've seen quite a few with huge Mercedes Benz signs stuck somewhere to the front of the bus. A "bus helper" stands in the doorway of the bus and yells out where the bus is going. He also whistles to the driver to stop if people are hailing the bus. It costs roughly 8.5 cents to ride the bus. The aisles of the bus are wider than the seats; it is a squeeze to get two people on a seat.

As I was squeezed next to my co-worker and fellow Wisconsinite, Ben, a man came on the bus with a huge box of candy bars. He started describing the product in a really loud voice as he weaved down the aisle handing out candy bars. He weaved his way between all the people standing in the aisle and gave out three candy bars to each person. He was speaking so fast in Spanish that all I could make out was "very delicious, children, gifts..." I was thinking, "Sweet! Free candy bars! I'm hungry!" Turns out, they weren't free. Good thing I didn't rip mine open like I had wanted. I was fighting the urge to do that, trying to avoid looking so gluttenous on the bus! Once the man got to the back of the bus he turned around and made his way back to the front saying, "Cinco Quetzales por tres" which means three candybars for about 80 cents. I tossed mine back in the box as he passed, disappointed.

After school I went out for tacos at a little stand that our staff frequents almost every Friday night. For some reason, the stand and the street were busier than usual. All of a sudden, in the distance, I could see about six gladiators in the distance... actually, they were Guatemalan men dressed as Roman soldiers, short skirt and strappy sandals included. Turns out there was a "procession" being held on the street that night. For about the past month random streets will close down for about an hour as a "procession" makes its way down the street in honor of the upcoming Easter holiday. Antigua, a city about 45 mins from me, is famous for it's processions that march through the town over Easter weekend. Most churches will do a small one. But anyway, back to the gladiators...

They were standing on the street with their shields, a little embarrassed that they were being stared at in their skirts. Behind them were members of the church and men carrying huge spears. Further down the street is a florescent floating figure of Jesus Christ in a blindingly white robe bearing his cross swaying from side to side as it moves slowly down the street. The float is a huge platform, made of wood, I think. Behind the huge Jesus and his cross are a few angels and in front of him a bunch of sheep. The strange thing about the float is that it is being carried by about 40 people. Men and women of all sizes have the float resting on their shoulders. The men are all stooped over because the women are all so short. It takes a long time for the float to make it down the street. A brass band and a few drums follow the float, providing the rhythm for the float's gentle swagger. About ten minutes later the procession is gone; or at least out of my sight. I can hear faint sounds of out of tune brass intstruments trumpeting Jesus's triumph over life as a mortal.

On a side note, I'm officially on vacation! I taught my last class today and have a week off for Semana Santa, or holy week. I'm headed up to Coban, to experience all the wonderful nature it has to offer. Also, I felt two earthquakes today! I was reading in the paper that people aren't supposed to be climbing Pacaya, one of the few active volcanoes here, because it has had some really strong activity lately. I think the two earthquakes today were connected to Pacaya. The whole house was shaking. Nothing broke or fell, but it did make me a little nervous because I wasn't quite up to date on earthquake safety protocol. You should stand in a doorway, in case you didn't know.

So yeah, that's what's shakin' round here! (oh, the pleasure of a cheesy pun!)

Peace out, y'all!