Guest Entry: Independence Day and My Arrival in Paxtocá

The following is a guest entry by Michael Lewis:

Day #1 – Independence Day and My Arrival in Paxtocá

I arrived in Paxtocá about 10:30am on Monday, 14 September 2015. I came up from Quetzaltenango (or Xela) by way of the “Rosario” bus to Salcajá, followed by a pickup service that runs from Salcajá to Paxtocá.

When I got here the streets were lined with people. It looked like the whole town had come out to await my arrival, so I was a little disappointed when I saw the looks of confusion as I jumped down from the pickup with my luggage. Turns out everyone was just getting ready for the big Independence Day parade. So I called my contact Felipe, who came to meet me near the fairgrounds, we dropped my stuff off at his house, and then we joined the crowd in eager anticipation.

The real Guatemalan Independence Day wouldn’t be until the next day, September 15^th. If you want to see a real party I’m told that’s when you should head down to Quetzaltenango, which I had just left. It’s because the community doesn’t want to compete with the action in Quetzaltenango that Paxtocá and most of the other smaller communities in the area hold their festivities the day before. Paxtocá may be smaller, but it was worth the trip. The 17 indigenous leaders of Paxtocá presided over the festivities, leading the way in the parade. They were joined by such international celebrities as Mario, Scooby Doo, Shrek, and Sid from Ice Age. These were followed by floats from all of the local schools, and their marching bands.

As the last marching band passed, the whole crowd followed them into the fairgrounds which was lined with the tents of various vendors selling food that is recognizable at any fair in the United States, such as cotton candy, as well as some stuff that is typically Guatemalan. There was also a Ferris wheel that spun faster that any I’ve ever seen, and a boat ride called the Vikingo that had a sculpture of a Viking mounted on either side of the boat as a masthead. The boat rocked back and forth so high that you would basically be parallel to the ground at times. It looked like a miniature version of a ride I used to enjoy as a teenager at Kings Dominion called the Berserker.

By the time we got into the fairgrounds the indigenous leaders had taken their positions on the stand overlooking the crowd and some formal declarations were made with respect to commemorating Guatemala’s independence. We then had a presentation of the Guatemalan National Anthem followed by a battle of the marching bands. Each of the marching bands from the various schools that we saw in the parade was now given the opportunity to play a piece that was between 6 and 8 minutes long, for the opportunity to be declared the best band in Paxtocá.

I can’t say the bands were professional by any means, but they were good. They had clearly put in a ton of practice, and I’m pretty sure one of the bands played a piece by Rihanna. Some of them even had band members who were probably as young as eight years old participating. Each band also had a unique uniform, but they were all reminiscent of the colonial period style, with tall hats and feathers and Prussian-style military jackets, almost like it was out of a story book. In fact, it reminded me a lot of the military uniforms depicted in Howl’s Moving Castle. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see who was declared the winner, as Felipe told me his family had prepared lunch and I was invited to join.

After lunch Felipe and I went to the soccer field to watch the remaining matches. The field is literally surrounded by fields of corn, which served as the boundary, and the ball had to be fetched out of the corn every time someone kicked it out of bounds. As part of the day’s festivities a soccer tournament was organized between the six “parajes” with one team from each as well as a team representing Coxóm, supplemented by the water committee and an additional team representing some Paxtocá transplants who moved just across the border into Tigre to build their homes, but who still feel like their roots are in Paxtocá. Even though the teams were somewhat ad hoc, with last minute substitutions across the board to allow as many to participate as possible, the tournament was the real deal. Two sets of team jerseys were provided (one yellow with blue trim and the other white with red trim) that would be passed from team to team between matches. And the referee was dressed in his appropriate jersey (green) as well. But lest you think people took things too seriously, it’s good to point out that there was more laughter than anything else, as the bal would get caught in the tall grass near the perimeter, despite efforts to kick it free, or the one time the goalie stopped the ball, only to drop it and have it roll into the net.

We probably got through three matches before the rain started. The next set of teams was ready to go, and I suspect they waited for the rain to die down a little to get their chance to play, but this was the signal for Felipe and me to head out. We swung by the house where I had stored my stuff, and then went down to Martín’s house where I’ll be staying for the next three weeks.