Quetzaltenango's Greek Fetish

I am not sure what Quetzaltenango's city planners and bigwigs were thinking in the late 1800's/early 1900's, but I do know one thing. It is obvious from the most ornate colonial buildings still standing around town that they all definitely had some type of fetish for Greek style architecture. A short walk through town takes us past the city's main buildings where the architects got freaky with columns galore.

Teatro Municipal (Municipal Theatre)

Built in 1894, this place is still going strong with events happening quite frequently. I just went to a free jazz concert here last week. Though the seats are wooden and uncomfortable. I guess the ancient Greeks didn't like cushions either.

The following photos were taken in and around the town's central plaza (parque central) which is adorned with columns on the northern and southern side and a round columned gazebo-type thing in the middle. In Quetzaltenango, the central plaza holds a lot of festivals and events during the year. Interestingly (though not really) there is no Greek festival.

A doggie beauty competition at the parque central

The Municipal Palace

The Town Hall was completed in 1895, rebuilt in 1903 after a huge earthquake and sits on the eastern edge of the central plaza.

Inside the Municipal Palace

Casa de la Cultura

At the southern end of the parque central is the Casa de la Cultura. It was built in 1870's over a church cemetery, so it kind of makes sense that it now houses the natural history museum full of dead, taxidermied animals and fossils. It was originally used a prison and storage warehouse. In 1955, it became the cultural center that it is today.

Rotunda

I am not really sure what this thing is called or when it was built exactly, so I am just calling it "Rotunda." This sits in the middle of parque central and is used in the evenings and weekends as a meet up/hang out point for Quetzaltenango's young people to chat, make out, and breakdance--just as I am sure the original Greek fetishing architects envisioned.  

Minerva Temple

The Minerva Temple (Minerva is actually the Roman goddess-not Greek, but close enough for my purposes) is a city landmark about a twenty minute walk from the parque central. It was started in 1914 at the behest of the Guatemalan president at the time to symbolize his plans to modernize Guatemala and to create a cultural powerhouse of Central America. The fact that it took until 1973 to complete, is a very fitting metaphor for the pace of modernization and the cultural stalwartness of Guatemala.

The $5 Shopping Challenge in Xela

Some Guatemalan quetzals

The $5 Shopping Challenge
One of the best things about traveling and living in other countries has got to be the never-ending game of price comparison with where we are from and what we know. Whether it's oohing over the twenty-five dollar watermelons in Japan or aahing over the obscene amount of bananas one can get for $1 in Ecuador, I think everyone likes to play.

So with that in mind, what I have done for this blog post is to go out to a typical market on a typical shopping trip in my current hometown of Quetzaltenago (better known as Xela) and record what I can get for around five US dollars which equals about 39 Guatemalan quetzals. Admittedly, I am not the best bargainer, but most of the ladies here are honest enough, and they almost all offer the same prices anyway. Usually my shopping conversations go something  like this:

Me: "How much for a pound of tomatoes?"
Seller: "3.50, but for you 3."
Me: "2.50?"
Seller: "No."
Me: "Okay, give me a pound. How much for a cucumber?"
Seller: "2.50, but for you 2."
etc, etc

But before we get to the results of my shopping challenge let's look at some background info...

Welcome to the Market
There are four markets that I know of in Xela. One is small, easily managable, indoors, and near the Parque Central, another small one is Mercado Las Flores (Flowers Market) near the large municipal cemetery which could be how it got its name, the third is Minerva Market near the bus terminal which is huge, normally chaotic, and has a large section dedicated to secondhand clothing. The final market, La Democracia, sits right in the center of town and competes with Minerva for title of 'Xela's largest'. The indoor market part of La Demo encompasses an entire city block with everything sold here from pigs feet to push brooms and from pastries to hand-woven tapestries. The market than spills out onto the surrounding streets in every direction with specific blocks dedicated to clothes, food, and pirated CD/DVDs. La Demo also happens to be only four blocks from our house so the market of choice for our fruits and vegetables shopping.

A street outside La Demo market. Normally there is traffic access, but for the holiday season the street has been completely covered in temporary stalls selling even more stuff

Use the Sales Force
In most all Guatemalan markets there are three types of fruit and vegetable sellers (98.8% female):

The fixed stall sellers who use tables or stalls and carry either the widest selection of items or a mountain of one particular item.

The on-the-ground sellers who sit on tiny stools or the ground with their goods in baskets or on a blanket. They'll have anywhere from one item-one bucket to getting very ambitious with a lot on offer

The ambulatory sellers are the rarest type, who walk around selling just one item. This could be a good chance to see a guy selling something.

A very ambitious on-the-ground seller

The Results Are In
My shopping formula:
Quantity of Item = price in Guatemalan quetzals = price in US dollars

1lb of Tomatoes = Q3    =  $0.38
1lb of Onions     = Q3    =  $0.38
Half dz. Carrots = Q2.5 =  $0.32
3 Avocados       = Q7.5 =  $0.96
2 Cucumbers     = Q4    =  $0.51
bunch Spinach   = Q4    =  $0.51
bunch Radishes  = Q3    =  $0.38
Pineapple           = Q7   =  $0.90
3 head Garlic     = Q3    = $0.38
Today's Total     = Q37  = $4.72

The results coming in at $0.28 under $5

So how'd I do? Not bad, right. So now it's your turn to take the $5 challenge and let us know in the comments below what five bucks gets you at your favorite local (super)market.