Independence Day (Sept 15) at Plaza Mayor in Guatemala City

September 16 –  7:30 PM:  At the moment, I’m sitting in my armchair in our little apartment in Chichicastenango, where we arrived a few hours ago, having been picked up at the Spring Hotel in Guatemala City at midday.    We just got to Guatemala City yesterday in the early afternoon – exhausted after having gotten up at 2:30 am to get on the plane. There were a few things I really wanted and needed to do yesterday in the City.  But alas, I had forgotten it was Independence Day in Guatemala, and that there was no bus transport running, almost all the merchants were closed, and many of the streets were blocked off by parades of high school marching bands making their way through the street.  So after we finally got to the hotel – getting snarled up in traffic twice to wait for parades to pass by – we took a short nap before forcing ourselves out onto the street to check out all the teenage bands parading around to the accompaniment of ferocious drum beating and startlingly generous and vociferous fireworks and frequent window-rattling bombas exploding overhead.

We found ourselves 7 or 8 blocks up the street at the Plaza Mayor, two blocks of concrete park bordered by the Cathedral, the National Palace, the old arcaded Paseo Aycinena shopping center, and the National Library and archives.  The Plaza Mayor is probably best known as where many protests happen, but on this day it was pura celebración, muy alegre, a big carnival atmosphere.  So we strolled around and I snapped a few photos with the little camera – mostly of the various food carts.

I love to see Guatemalans having fun this way.  All seemed very wholesome, and a couple of my favorite photos were when I capitalized on local folks taking pictures of each other, and snapped my own pictures.  I didn’t make it a secret that I was taking the pictures, and nobody seemed to mind.  Even had a couple of very nice interactions with the subjects of the photos.

We ended up the day with a very early supper at Sand Sand 888, an excellent Chinese restaurant on 12a Calle, just off the 6a Avenida promenade. The owner is a very nice fairly young man named Miguel, who immigrated from Hong Kong to Guatemala when he was 14 months. Since my first chat with him back in June, he has responded to my enthusiasm for the chef’s (that would be his mother, who speaks Spanish only marginally) great cooking, by bringing over and sending home little treats. Yesterday a plate of pastries with mixed candied fruits and nuts that he says are served only in September.

Great first day!