what rhymes with Santiago?

Howdy!

On my last day at Lake Atitlan I decided that I should go check out the nearby town of Santiago, which is easily reached by ferry. I didn’t know much about Santiago except that it had a market and Maximon. Maximon is Santiago’s version of San Simon. In Guatemala, San Simon is thought of as a saint (though, not officially recognized by the church), but he is really a mixture between some Mayan gods and what may have been a person in real life. Supposedly, Don Simon was a rich drunk, who did good things for others, so now when you bring him gifts of alcohol or cigarettes he will bless you with love or prosperity, depending on what you ask for. Somehow this person, if he existed, got combined with the practice, amongst Mayans, of preserving their religion by concealing the worship of their deities by disguising it as worship for Catholic saints.

I’m not sure that I, or even most Guatemalans, completely understand the real history behind San Simon. What I do know is that many people here really have faith in him. Many towns in the Western Highlands have San Simon effigies that reside in someone’s house for one year. During the festival of San Simon there is a huge party where the effigy moves to a new person’s house for another year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t around during one of these fiestas. I hear they get pretty crazy.

I arrive in Santiago, and I immediately become weary of all the street kids who come up to me asking for money to take me to see Maximon. I probably should have let one of them take me there, but I wanted to discover the city and find Maxi for myself. What I discovered was a city that I didn’t really like. I don’t know what it was about the place that made me so tense, but I felt it lacked charm and beauty. I bought a couple of souvenirs in the market.

This is the woman I bought the souvenirs from. (See what I mean about lacking charm?)

Then I went in search of Maximon. It took me a while, but I finally found him by following some other tourists. I pay the steep $2 entry fee to see him, thinking, “This better be a really interesting idol or that perhaps just paying him a fee was like an offering and I should be immediately blessed.” I step inside the dark room and I take out my camera. Hold it! There is a picture taking fee, which I pay. Maybe it was all the fees, maybe it was my sour perception of the town, but I was not impressed by Maximon. The effigy of Maxi consists of a scary mask with a hat on, and a bunch of scarves for a body. Creepy.

After visiting Maximon, I was happy to get back to the tranquility of San Pedro, where I would rest up for my early morning bus ride to Quetzaltenango.

Next Time: Chicken Buses

xx,
gwen