Second City

QUETZALTENANGO, Guatemala--Fortunately, most people call this city by its nickname.

"Quetzaltenango" means, roughly, "place of the quetzal,"--the Guatemalan national bird--in one Mayan lanaguage. (There are more than 20 living Mayan language.) The city's older name in another Mayan language is Xelaju, or roughly, "place of the 10 leaders." So people call it Xela, pronounced Shay-la.

It's the second largest Guatemalan city and the long-time trading center for the largely Mayan altiplano, or high plane,  area. (It's at an altitude of almost 8,000 feet.)  I made a quick visit this past weekend, just because I've never been there.

Xela is no Guatemala City--and what a good thing that is! The capital is the financial, cultural and intellectual center of this country. It's also crowded, filthy, polluted and dangerous. (Hey, that's probably the most generous description possible!) Xela is smaller, less crowded and cleaner. When I asked the young reception clerk at my downtown hotel whether it would be safe to walk around the neighborhood at twilight, she said sure, just avoid dark streets. In many neighborhoods of the capital that would simply be unthinkable.

Xela is also significantly less touristy than Antigua, the town where I have been living. In other words, it's the kind of small city where people actually live. Take a look at these photos. They focus on the downtown area; I didn't get to many residential neighborhoods.