July 4th and 5th:

July 4^th and 5^th: Monday:  The temple is closed for
two weeks for maintenance, so Elder and Sister Hurst and Mom and I, left at 7:00am and drove to Quetzaltenango or Xela (pronounced Shela) as the locals call it, which is short for the Indian name, Xelaju.  It only took us about 3 ½  hours.  We found the main market, Mercado de Democracia, Market of Democracy, and mom and Sister Hurst bought an apron.  Aren’t they cute? Aprons are part of the native dress and they can be as distinctive as their huipiles (blouses).  The aprons in Xela go over the head and are pleated and decorated with ribbons.  

Mom and her new apron.

Eldon and Dawn with her new apron.

Mercado de Democracia.

Mercado de Democracia.

Leaving the market and looking straight up the street to the temple.

We then had lunch at a steak-house.  After lunch we went downtown and found the main plaza and an artisan market.  

Main Plaza

The facade of this church is all that remains.  Just behind it is a modern church.

Volcán de Cerro Quemado, Volcano of the Burnt Mountain, also known as Almolonga.  Seems kinda close to the city to me.

Nothing really spoke to us, so we decided to drive to Zunil, which the guide book said had an interesting church.  We drove down a beautiful canyon and then proceeded to get lost on a very narrow road that we had to follow to the end in order to be able to turn around.  The road ended in the middle of some fields and all we could see were vegetables being grown everywhere.  We got turned around with a 15 point turn and headed back into town.  We finally found the church and then we asked some locals where the market was.  Well, it was right next to the entrance to the town and we had driven right by it.  We only had two options and we took the wrong street which proceeded to get us lost.  The market was closing down, but we saw some of the gigantic vegetables that this region is known for.   I bought a beautiful table cloth or a piece of fabric to cover a chair or hang on the wall, who knows? 

On the way to Zunil.

This is very fertile ground and the veggies grow right up to the road.

The church in Zunil.

Doors to the church.

The inside of the church in Zunil.

The women carry everything on their heads.  We saw a woman carrying a turkey on her head today.  Missed the photo.

The streets are sometimes quite narrow.  This happens to be a two way street.

Market winding down in Zunil.

The vegetables are beautiful.

The carrots are somewhat bigger than we see in the states.

Lychee season.

Woman selling vegetables in Zunil.

Fabric we bought in Zunil.

Close up.

It was getting late, so we headed back to the temple.  “Lola”, our GPS, got us right there without any mishaps.   After the fiasco in Zunil, we were starting to lose faith in her.  We arrived right at four and President Galvez met us outside the patron housing.  They had two vacant missionary apartments that they let us have for our 2 night stay.  This beautiful temple was dedicated in 2011.  We got settled and ran to the store for a few groceries and then went to their Family Home Evening.  They have about 8 missionary couples there, 4 North American and 4 Latin.  They were celebrating 2 birthdays and had a meal and cake and then a nice lesson on one of the last conference talks.  

Mom in front of the patron housing building.

Happy Birthday to two of the senior sisters in the Xela temple.

 

Tuesday we got up early and went to the first session at the temple (8:00am).  It was great to be in the temple.  There was such a sweet spirit, very peaceful and the temple is beautiful.  We then drove to the Salcaja and it was their market day.  Salcaja is a small town a few miles to the east of Xela.  It is known for its’ Jaspe cloth, used by many of the different ethnic groups to make the skirt, corte, worn by the women.  There were so many vendors and big crowds.  These markets sell food, clothing, household goods, animals and almost anything else you might need.  Mom bought 2 matching huiples (blouses) for little girls to probably use as either doilies or make into pillows.

The front of the temple in Xela.

Looking at the temple from the patron housing building.

The view of the city form the temple.

In front of the Quetzaltenango Temple.

We are off to Salcaja. 

The jaspe material for the skirts come in all colors and patterns.

Market in Salcaja.

Very colorful fabrics and a cute little girl.

Venders are on both sides of the street and sometimes in the middle also.

On the right are belts that the woman use to hold up their skirts.

On the left are aprons.  Most women had an apron on over their huipil.

The markets can be quite crowded.

Mom loves all the spices and dried beans.

Mom taking pictures of women selling veggies.

Woman selling her vegetables.

Here is a close up of her.

We then drove to Totonicapan which also has its market day on Tuesday.  The markets are very crowded as you can see by the pictures and mom likes to take pictures of woman sitting on the ground selling vegetables.  We bought a large piece of jaspe material.  It is big enough to use as a table cloth on the table back at our house in Guatemala.  It is just over 10 feet long and will be about 6 feet wide, once mom sews the two pieces together.  

Market at Totonicapan.

The women have such colorful outfits.  Notice the cloth on their heads.  It is to keep the sun off their heads.

The women carry everything on their head.

Jaspe cloth we bought in Totonicapan.

Baby huipiles bought in Totonicapan.

Close up of huipil, needle point.

Chicken for lunch in Totonicapan.

We ate lunch in Toto and then headed for Fuentes Georginas, Georgina’s Fountains, which are hot mineral pools that are produced from the Zunil Volcano.  The pools are located in the mountains above the town of Zunil, where we went there yesterday.  Lola got us there just fine and it was a beautiful drive up into the tropical forested mountains.  We all had our bathing suits and enjoyed a few minutes in the big hot tub.  Sister Hurst, being a good missionary, chatted with a couple from France who didn’t speak much Spanish.  They were asking us about a shuttle that would take them back to Xela.  We didn’t know anything about a shuttle and so we offered them a ride back to Xela.  The views on the way down were spectacular.  

Leaving Totonicapan.

Chapel in Toto.

They farm all the way up the mountains.

Looking down on Zunil from the rode to the hot pools.

Close up of the church in Zunil. 

We braved the hot pool.  Our fingers came out all wrinkly.

Coming down from the hot springs we were in the clouds and had some amazing views of the volcano.

The pictures don't do these views justice.  So magnificent.

We dropped the French couple off at the main plaza and then drove to the temple.  We had dinner at a restaurant just a few minutes from the temple.  We played a game of Five Crowns ( thanks Kennedys for teaching us this game) and then we all crashed.  This is such a beautiful country and we are so blessed to be able to travel a bit and see such gorgeous places and have so many rich experiences. Sorry I am going to have to do 3 blogs for this trip.  I have over 500 photos to pick from and it would make too long of a post to do more than 2 days worth of traveling.