Fiesta on the Shiripuno

I stood on the cobblestone roadways, staring at the Spanish Mudejar-influenced architecture of Antigua. It felt like being inside a castle's courtyard. I had just arrived that morning. I checked into a cheap one-bedroom hostel. They gave me a room on the top of the building that cost 50 Quetzales (around seven Dollars) a night. I quickly threw my bag into the room, locked up the padlock, functioning as a door lock, and started my walking tour of the city.

I wandered the city for a couple hours, amazed by the city's beautiful churches. Though I am not religious, the beauty of churches has always captivated me.

I was wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt and some locals that were in their mid-twenties noticed this as I walked through the city. They yelled Maiden at me and made the devil sign with their fingers, the one where you pull your ring finger and your middle finger down. I walked over to them and started talking to them as best I could. I am not fluent in Spanish and they were not fluent in English, but we made it work.

We ended up going to a local tavern where I bought us all a round or two and they showed me the bands they liked listening to on the tavern's jukebox.

They explained to me they were in a band called Corazon Negro (Black Heart). They wanted me to come watch them jam. Of course I could not say no.

I went with them to their jam space. The singer of the band, Juan, must have had fairly wealthy parents because it was an extremely large house, surrounded by a stone wall. There was a separate house, with Juan's room, as well as his brothers.

The other members of the band trickled in and they played music that was not unlike Iron Maiden, but with spanish vocals. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Metal in Antigua. I did not expect to experience anything like this in Guatamala, and it gave me a great insight into the lives of these men. From Canada to Central America, there are people who want to rock out.