Yel Kaye – Travel Blog, Writing and Photography

I have been back in Quetzaltenango (Xela) for about two and a half weeks now, and already it feels like a lifetime.

Xela, or at least the downtown area around Central Park, feels kind of like a college town. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everyone’s business. Really.

I was showing a new Trama volunteer around today, and I think I said hello to about 500 people.

“You know everyone,” she said.

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “It only takes about a month to get there.”

Xela is also like a college town because everyone always goes to the same (shitty) clubs every week. For extranjeros and the Guatemalans that love them, there is for all intents and purposes only two clubs in Xela matter: La Rumba and La Parranda. Wednesday night is salsa night at La Parranda, and Friday it’s at La Rumba. La Rumba is seedy and plays horrible music 75% of the time, but it’s always jam packed on Fridays. La Parranda is slicker, classier, and generally more enjoyable place if you’re in the mood for the same old thing.

So even though they complain about these clubs, everyone goes back again and again to see everyone that they know. Oh, we all vaguely know that there are a bunch of other clubs five or six blocks north in the “Zona Viva” (where most Quetzaltecos go to party.) But despite plans to go to these more “authentic” places, come Friday it’s La Rumba again.

I’ve promised myself five or six times to never go back to another salsa night at these bars. But just like hangover promises to never, ever drink again, I never stick to my word. Because when it’s a good night, there’s a lot of fun to be had in these bars. Especially right now that it’s low season: in the summer Xela is jam packed with Spanish school students. In the fall it’s a different world: there’s actually a lot more Guatemalans that white faces at the bars downtown. That means more room to dance and an easier time finding a salsa partner.

(For the record, there is a fantastic variety of non-clubish, excellent bars in Xela for those not itching to dance. I will discuss some of these at a later date.)