2019: Guatemala

Jan 24, 2019. Posada San Pablo, Rabinal, Guatemala 

• Checked out of my hotel; hanging around the market most of the day. Not sure when / if the Rabinal Achi will be performed, but I’ve got plenty of time, and still off my feed (3 days!), so no hurry leaving.  Music from the grand stand in the central park was so loud I’ve removed my hearing aids.  Had my first local slice of pizza - not too bad, actually.

• 2:30 PM: another big noisy mask dance, accompanied by band on stage.  Strange phenomenon: no smiles or expressions of excitement by the spectators - even the kids.  Favorite costume: a miniature elephant, trunk & tusks, on the back of one dancer.  Band now playing “ La Bamba”.  Occasionally a helper goes out to fix a costume malfunction or provide a drink.

• 3:30 PM:  Dance is over.  People still hanging around.  Could the Rabinal Achi be next? ... Nope - more masked & costumed dancers.  Back to my hotel, which only had a room with no bathroom, no fan, and three beds.  BUT I was assured by the manager that the Rabinal Achi would take place tomorrow at 7 AM at the church.  The market is going gangbusters, and the hotel is full - could this finally be it?

Jan 25, 2019.  Radiosonde Hotel, Guatemala City

• Nope.  Not it.  Still, a rousing 7 AM scene, with artillery shells blasting away, Christian effigies carried through the streets, a motley band with tuba, trumpets, and drums, old men dolled up in white pants and colored sashes, marimbas played by three, and a nice procession around the market, with guys using long forked sticks to lift the lines across the street to make room for the floats.  Even found a fresh squeezed o.j.  

• People I asked either denied there was a Rabinal Achi ceremony, or said it was somewhere else, at some other time.  I quit. Time to move on...  So, three buses later, back in the capital.  Damn it, I need a nice night’s stay.  Because tomorrow, I'll be in San Salvador!