otra feria desde Xela

la parada

Another rainy afternoon in Xela lead us to a rainy evening. Today, on my way from San Miguel Siguilá, I took a bus to central park in Xela. As you can imagine, with the rain that has been going on since mid-day, there was an incredible rush-hour traffic . The bus stopped frequently. During one of those stops close to the terminal, I was watching people, running under the rain. This woman stood out for me with her calmness in contrast with the rush that everybody else had.

azul y el arco iris

Tonight was the night of saturated colors for me. Another sharp contrast that was created by the bells and the sky stood out on my way back.

Start of the month of Virgin Rosario brought a different liveliness to the center of Xela. Normally, on the way to central market from the cathedral side, there were already many food stands. With the celebrations for the Virgin Rosario, the number of food stands severely increased. From the cathedral's front yard, I came across all these umbrellas, mostly in rainbow colors. I like the contrast they created against the darkness of the city view.

Mario. Isabel y Zuyly

Wandering around the city center of Xela, I saw Mario, while he was trying to warm up his hands over a fire, that Isabel has on her stand where she sells Guatemalan buñuelos. She said this is her job. She comes in front of Iglesia del Espíritu Santo every night all year long. She sells buñuelos from 5 -11 p.m. Tonight she had her daughter Zuyly and her husband with her. When I told them I was from Turkey, like many Guatemalans, they just said "oh! OK.", meaning "I have no clue what you are talking about". I tried to explain where my country is. The only reference I could use to explain where my country is, was Europe.

la feria de independencia en Xela

September 15 is the Independence Day for Guatemala. This year it is the 189th anniversary. Among the celebration activities there is a week-long fair in Xelajú.

While I was wandering around, I came across with this indigenous woman, who carries her baby in an American flag at the Independence Fair of Guatemala.

The exposition hall hosts many companies to promote their products. Many Guatemalan kids take the opportunity to make some money while helping the companies with promotion of their products.

boxea en xela

tejido de guatemala

tuco cárdenas - concierto en Antigua

Fire at the Mini Súper Delicias del Mundo-Nosara, Costa Rica

After the fire was put up, Patricia Jimenez, 36, and other community members started to evacuate the goods that were not damaged during the fire.

Not knowing what would happen on the night of August 4th, Patricia Jimenez, 36, was expressing her concern about having a fire in her store the night before, while she and one of her best friends, Emiliana Garcia were having a short, before-sleep talk. The next night, Patricia found herself trying to put up the fire in her store.

While a life-time investment was burning down in front of her eyes, she sat down on the sidewalk, staring at the fire. After a few seconds, she immediately stood up and "my body just started to move automatically. I didn't let myself feel sorry. I knew I needed to keep going", she said.

Emiliana Garcia said that, "the next morning, she was still realizing about it. She was trying to think positive". While Patricia is thankful for the community help, she is worried about her employees, who will not have a job until she recovers from this disaster with the help of her insurance.

The front window of the store was broken to introduce the hose inside for the first time.

There are no fire hydrants in Nosara. There is a donation of fireman appliances, from Switzerland. However there is no trained team to use the equipment or truck to carry it. Therefore the fire was put up with the help of members of the local community and and the owners. Alex Díaz (left), Ricardo Micali(middle) and Manuel Perez(right) are some of the people who helped to put up the fire.

Francisco Chavarría, from private security company Kearmy Seguridad is watching the damage that fire left on the ceiling.

The construction worker who was one of the first to witness the fire, helped to wash the ash out off the store.

Quetzaltenango: El día y la noche