Signage around Guatemala

These are some of the interesting and often humorous signs that we've seen on our travels around the country and also right here in Xela.

To view the slideshow, click the photo below. When it transfers you to a Picasa photo album, click the "Slideshow" button in the upper left corner.

Enjoy,

Tyler

Signage around Guatemala

You Better Belize It!

"You Better Belize It" was the motto of our spring break vacation spent in Belize, Central America the first week of April during Semana Santa (Holy Week). Eve flew out from Portland, Oregon to meet up with us just hours after we arrived to Belize City from Guatemala. Eve's friend Collin (also from Portland) met up with us two days later. We spent the first four days of our vacation on Cayo Ambergris, an island located just a 45 minute boat ride from Belize City. The last three days were spent in the Belizean jungle at Chaa Creek, near the Belize/Guatemala border. To see pictures of our latest adventure, please click on the photo below and then select "Slideshow". (You may need to click on "captions" at the bottom.) Enjoy!

Cris and Tyler

You Better Belize It!

POTUS (President of the United States) Visit

Often times when working abroad, especially for the government as, say, a Peace Corps Volunteer or an English Language Fellow, one often has unusual and unique opportunities that one wouldn't have back home in the States. For example, while I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, I met First Lady Hillary Clinton while assisting White House staff with her visit to the country. Well, conicidentally, during the month of March, Tyler and I were asked by the US Embassy to assist with events during President George W. Bush's recent visit to Guatemala. Our main responsibilities included escorting the American press to and from the tarmac at the Guatemalan airport, setting up the Press Filing Center at the hotel where the press were staying, and escorting the press to and from the National Palace where President Berger of Guatemala formally welcomed President and First Lady Bush. It was a whirlwind of activities, volunteering long hours to make sure everything went off without a hitch. As the staff from the US Embassy in Guatemala City is rather small, we had help from US Embassy staff from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama. Our team effort paid off as President Bush stated at the press conference and reiterated through White House staff that the trip to Guatemala was one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences for President and First Lady Bush during Bush's presidency. Of course, I also contribute this to the hospitality and spirit of the Guatemalan people.

Please click on the photo below (and then on "slideshow") to see additional photos we took during the POTUS visit:

POTUS Visit

Amy and Jason's Guat Trip

In mid-February, Amy Burge and Jason Beloso, two friends from graduate school, came to Guatemala for a one-week visit. With such a short time to travel, we were sure to take advantage of every minute and planned an itinerary that would keep us moving to a new place each day. Three of our local Guatemalan friends strongly suggested that we go to a place in central Guatemala called Semuc Champey, a place well off the popular tourist circuit made special by its preserved environmental beauty. Brenda (Cris’ director) offered us a car for the week since Semuc Champey was difficult to access. So how could we say no?

Saturday & Sunday / Guatemala City & Coban

We picked up Amy and Jason at the Guatemala City airport and, after spending the night in town, headed north toward Alta Verapaz (the region where Semuc Champey is located). We traveled for several hours by car through an extremely arid region when we detoured onto an unimproved dirt and rock road and started noticing some strange Dr. Seuss-looking flowering plants that seemed out of place in a desert climate. Then, almost instantly as we crossed a dry, dusty, rocky mountain range (crowned with the remains of a forgotten cow) fog appeared, and along with it, Spanish moss, ferns, bromeliads, and other dense vegetation. The hot dry air was suddenly replaced with cool moist air, reminiscent of the central coast of California - one minute we were hot and sweaty and the next, out came the fleece and beanies. It seemed that all of the trees were host to more bromeliads than they could possibly hold, and some trees succumbed to the weight of the little squatters, falling over and sending thousands of the bromeliads spilling down the hillside. As we traveled toward the city of Coban, the capital of Alta Verapaz, coffee plantations appeared everywhere, on valley floors, climbing up the steep hillsides, and the cool fog and mist continued. (Although Guatemala is renowned for its coffee, it is often difficult to find a good cup of java as most of the best beans are exported. The same is true for chocolate.)

Upon finally arriving to Coban, we quickly found the grooviest place in town - Hostal d'Acuña, where we had an excellent lunch and sat surrounded by orchids, wood thrushes, and ceremonial masks. Lunch was followed by scouting hotels around town for a place to sleep. However, after examining our choices, we ended up returning to the comfort and quiet of Hostal d'Acuña for the night.

Monday / Semuc Champey

The next morning we loaded up the car and headed east for Semuc Champey. Numerous low mountains and coffee farms dominated the landscape and the drive on the new and improved road was very pleasant. Eventually, we had to leave our smooth, paved road and detour onto a VERY rough, very steep road cut directly into the bedrock, which slowed us down to a few miles per hour. The slower speeds allowed us a bit more personal contact with pedestrians, who greeted us by whistling rather than waving, a custom we quickly adopted and used for the next several days.

That evening we stayed at a dumpy little backpacker-style hostal called Las Marias, where the service was friendly but the food and accommodations were grim. The big advantage of Las Marias is that it is within walking distance of an elaborate system of caves that tourists can swim through and explore, which we did that afternoon. Our tour guide was a 15 year-old who led us on a one-hour tour of the labyrinth of caves, through which a small river runs quickly and loudly, connecting great pools of water filled by underground waterfalls. During most of the tour we were able to walk up the river through the cave, but in several areas we had to swim for 20 - 50 yards until we could touch the floor again. Amy, Jason and Cris had brought little Petzl headlamps, making swimming easier, but I (Tyler) was equipped with a candle, obliging me to swim with one hand above the water or swim with two hands in the dark. There were several areas of the cave that involved climbing ladders and ropes, which we agreed would under no circumstances ever be possible in the litigious USA. It all seemed very dangerous at times, but it was way too interesting to want to turn back.

Tuesday morning / Semuc Champey

The next morning we went about a mile to Semuc Champey National Monument, which is a bizarre system of waterfalls and hundreds of individual pools of water at the floor of a near vertical canyon. Anyone interested in geology should visit this place as there are many unusual geological features packed into a small area. We walked around for about an hour looking at steaming turquoise pools emptying into one another, and we reached an area where we could hear a lot of water moving very quickly through a small area. A park employee showed us down to a limestone shelf where we observed a large river disappearing beneath us into a small cave. The water was moving so quickly and violently that if you were unlucky enough to fall in, you wouldn't have to worry about drowning as you'd be instantly crushed by the rapids throwing you against the boulders. We realized that all of the pools of water we had been exploring that morning were actually directly over this massive underground river, which surfaced above ground again farther down the river valley. Before leaving Semuc Champey, we climbed up the side of the canyon to a lookout platform to get a view of the whole system from above. The whole experience was spectacular. The site is the cleanest and best-preserved that we’ve seen in Guatemala. Informational signs along the hiking trails warn of the causes of environmental degradation and ask visitors to do their part to protect the area. As Cris predicted, the last sign along the trail indicated the park was a joint effort between Guatemala, USAID, and the US Peace Corps.

Tuesday afternoon / Cuchumatan
Mountains

We left Semuc Champey in the late morning and our next destination was Chichicastenango.
To get to Chichi, we had to travel back through Coban and then continue west on a dirt road through the Cuchumatan mountains for about 8 hours. The climate again turned hot and dry and the scenery was excellent. As we traveled through the mountains near Uspantan, we saw numerous villages with new adobe houses - many of them currently under construction. The neatly built mud-brown houses and terra-cotta roofs blended in perfectly with the green coffee farms on the valley floor and the rocky mountains in the background, creating a modest yet picturesque landscape. In our 6 months in Gautemala, Cris and I have seen many adobe buildings, but they are all old, often in disrepair, but still visually pleasing. New construction, on the other hand, is almost exclusively made with cinderblocks, which is not an aesthetically pleasing building material. Cinderblock construction dominates the contemporary Guatemalan landscape, so we were pleasantly surprised by the adobe construction in Uspantan.

Wednesday/ Chichicastenango and Xela

After driving all day through the Cuchumatan mountains and spending the night in Santa Cruz del Quiche, we quickly left town and made our way to Chichicastenango, a quaint little town in the western highlands famo

us for its Thursday and Sunday markets. We spent the day walking around, hanging out, and admiring the handicraft-like quilts, fabrics, masks, bags, dolls, etc. Amy and Jason scored a bedspread made of huipiles (the traditional blouses worn by Maya women) sewn together, and we all bought wooden masks, like those used in traditional Maya ceremonies.

From Chichi we drove to Xela, stopped by Cris` workto say, and then relaxed at home where we cooked and ate.

Thursday/ Lake Atitlan and Panajachel

The next morning we picked up the same theme,staying home, cooking, and eating some more. We still long for more of Amy ’s Dutch babies.) We packed up the car and made our way to Lake Atitlan where we stayed at the comfy & luxurious Villa Santa Catarina, just a couple miles outside of Panajachel, the tourist hub of Lake Atitlan one. We also stopped in at th. Our shopping adventure in Chichi must have gotten us in the capitalist spirit, because we ventured into Panajachel to take a look around, and before we left, Cris and I had bought 5 large handmade wool blankets, while A&J also boughte nearby Sololá market, possibly the most colorful place I've ever been due to the men and women dressed in traditional traje, but we escaped without spending any money.

Friday / Antigua

With the trunk of our car stuffed with blankets, we drove onward to Antigua where we checked in to the absolutely spectacular Casa Santo Domingo

http://www.casasantodomingo.com.gt/english/index.html - navigate by clicking the arrows under the photo). The hotel structure is a converted convent and the property occupies about 3 city blocks, which includes many gardens, a candle-making shop, a pottery shop, an art gallery, and a museum. In keeping with the tradition of a convent, at dusk a man with censer walked through all of the buildings spreading the smell of incense, and the staff lit several thousand candles throughout the hotel grounds, giving the whole place a peaceful ambiance. We ended Amy & Jason's last night with a pleasant dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Saturday/ The Return Home

The next morning, Amy and Jason caught a shuttle to the airport in Guatemala City, and Cris

and I drove back to Xela along the coast road. It was tough saying goodbye to such good friends and fellow travelers. We’ll have to wait until July, when we’re back in the Pacific Northwest, to share each other’s company again.

Weekend Trippin’ Around the Western Highlands

Chicabal

During Dixon’s two-month Spanish study in Xela, we had the opportunity to go on a school excursion to Chicabal, a volcano with an eponymous lagoon within its crater. It was a one-hour drive and a two-hour hike up to the top of the volcano. However,

we were rewarded with incredible views of the neighboring volcanoes and an intimate look down into Chicabal’s crater. After eating lunch up top at the volcano’s mirador, we descended the four hundred or so steps down to Chicabal’s lagoon and beach. Lester, our Guatemalan guide, explained that the lagoon is a sacred site (therefore no swimming allowed) where many Maya come to perform traditional ceremonies. He told the following story of what makes Chicabal a traditional site: In the past, the lagoon

now found in Chicabal’s crater once was located closer to Xela. The lagoon was fed by the rains, and the lagoon, in return, sustained the people. However, the god that lived in the

lagoon became angry over time as the local population littered the lagoon with their trash, human waste, and detergents from washing. As a result, the story goes, the lagoon dried up and was no longer. The Maya walked the surrounding hills and valleys until many

years later they found where the god had taken their original water source – to the crater of Volcan Chicabal. To this day it remains a protected and well preserved area. We could have spent the whole weekend lying on the warm sands of the quiet beach surrounding the lagoon.

Momostenango

The weekend before Dixon’s return to the States, Brenda (Cris’ director) and her family took the three of us on a one-day excursion to Momostenango, about an hour north of Xela.

Ana Laura, Tyler, and Alejandra explore the sandstone pillars.

Momostenango means “the place of the altars”, which may be a nod to Momos strict adherence to Maya tradition. Momos sits atop a hill forested with pine trees and is home to many sheep. For hundreds of years the local Maya population has formed their own type of cooperative through which they care for the pine trees that blanket the hill top, knowing that the trees are necessary to their survival. The wool from the sheep is used to make beautiful rugs, scarves, and blankets, decorated very simply or with elaborate quetzal bird designs. We spent our time in Momos climbing and exploring Los Riscos, the sandstone pillars located on the northern edge of town. We ended the day by drinking hot chocolate and eating fondue at a Swiss-owned restaurant set atop Cerro Candelario, overlooking the city. The hot chocolate was excellent and went well with the light rain that began to fall that night.

Vuelta de Guatemala By Cris and Tyler

Tomorrow, February 12^th marks exactly two months since my Dad arrived to Guatemala (and two days from which he returns to the States). During his time here, my Dad has been staying at his favored place downtown, Casa Mercedes, just one block from his school, Celas Maya. http://www.celasmaya.edu.gt/ My Dad has enjoyed his stay in Xela so much that he plans on flying south again next winter.

The first two weeks of my Dad’s stay in Guatemala began with a vuelta (or trip) de Guatemala and Honduras. After waiting for what Tyler called my Dad’s “adventure travel gear” to arrive from its three-day layover in Houston and for Tyler and I to renew our 3 month visas at immigration in Guatemala City,we hopped on a mini-van for a bumpy, five-hour ride to Copán, Honduras. As a result, my Dad was quickly “broken in” to the luxuries of traveling by crowded private (or public) transportation in Guatemala. The border crossing from Guatemala to Honduras was uneventful and simply required a small payment of 10 quetzales (about $1.30). (The Central America Four agreement allows one to travel across the borders of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador without a visa for each country. This is, of course, very convenient for those travelers just passing through. However, now that Tyler and I have already renewed our visa once in Guatemala City, we’ll be required to head to Mexico or Costa Rica to renew our visas again in March, since the above agreement does not allow for visa renewals within the Central American Four.) The bruises from our sardine can-ride were quickly forgotten as 15 minutes just past the Honduran border we were met by the very friendly people of the small town Copán Ruinas. We were immediately charmed by the smiling faces of young kids; the cobblestone streets; impressive, tropical plants; red-tiled roofs; absence of trash; and excellent food. We immediately decided we’d be staying longer than we had originally planned, just as our guidebook warned might happen.

The small town of Copán Ruinas is located just a mile from the archeological site of Copán. This “southernmost center of Maya civilization” (Rough Guide to Guatemala) was just a short, pleasant walk down a country road. Upon arriving, we hired a knowledgeable guide to show us around the central part of the massive, 24-square kilometer site. This was the 8^th abandoned Mayan city that Tyler has visited, and while the architecture, symbolism and ornamentation have become familiar, Tyler states it has never gotten dull.

We learned that Copán’s location in a long broad valley made it quite suitable as a site to build a city. The small river running through the valley floods during the rainy season and brings nutrients to the flat valley floor, perfect for growing crops. Also, the two nearby outcroppings of stone in the surrounding hills made for excellent quarries. Sometime around 100 AD construction at Copán began, only later to be abandoned in the 9^th century AD. The best guesses as to why the Maya abandoned the city include over development, over-exploitation of resources, and war. (Again, another opportunity for us to learn from history.) If you’re in the neighborhood, Copán is not to be missed.

After our two-day stay in Copan, we returned to Guatemala and headed for the Caribbean Coast. We arrived to the ugly industrial port of Puerto Barrios, the main port from which the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Banana) exported its goods to the U.S. and the rest of the world. We only stayed in Puerto Barrios long enough for my Dad to use the restroom at the brothel I accidentally escorted him to and to take the 30 minute ferry ride to Livingston, a coastal town only accessible by boat.

Livingston (population 6,000) is an interesting little town on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of the Río Dulce. As there are no roads connecting Livingston to the rest of the country, all goods must be brought into town in small boats. Unlike Puerto Barrios, there are only low docks that do not allow for large, industrial deliveries. Although there is a minimal road system in the town itself, there is very little motor traffic. A taxi driver told us that there are 80 registered cars in Livingston, as 80 was the limit of car permits the city allows. Pedestrians and bicycles rule the road here. This was definitely our kind of town.

Livingston’s isolated location probably allowed the distinct Garifuna culture of the town to thrive despite being surrounded by the dominant Guatemalan culture. The Garifuna have much more in common with Belize and the Caribbean Islands than with Guatemala. The Garifuna are ethnically a mix of African, Carib, and Arawak peoples and their language is today a mix of Arawak, Carib, French, English and Spanish. The Garifuna men and women use distinct dialects of the same language, which may be a result of pre-Columbian ethnic wars in which the males of the losing side were dispatched and the women were taken as captives and later companions by the victors.

The obvious cultural differences that you see walking around town are the slower pace of life and the music. Reggae, punta, and soka music displace synthesized merengue and traditional marimba ensembles that are ubiquitous in the rest of Guatemala. The main tourist activities in town are eating and chilling out.

While in Livingston, we stayed at a small resort on the sea a couple of kilometers north of town. We took a taxi about three miles from the dock where we arrived to the edge of downtown where the road ends. From there, we walked about a mile along the beach to get to our resort. The resort was composed of a group of several cabins made from lath walls and palm roofs, with a central large open palm roof structure that served as a restaurant and dining room. The first night we unsuccessfully slept through a major offensive launched by the local mosquitoes; however, the second night our mosquito nets acquired from the resort’s caretaker foiled these menaces’ blood-thirsty plans.

Our first day on the beach we spent listening to the rain pound the palm roof of our cabaña, which deafened the sound of the Caribbean Sea lapping on shore just 20 feet in front of us. The following day the clouds broke, the sun filled the sky, and we hiked north along the beach to Siete Altares (Seven Altars). Siete Altares aptly describes a nearby river that runs out over smoothed, limestone rocks, turning into a series of waterfalls and shallow pools. It was a treacherous hike for Tyler as he was barefoot, but even he agreed the gain was worth the pain as you can see from the photos. There were orchids growing on everything and the river was crystal clear.

As the three of us walked there from our resort, we avoided the crowds that often arrive to Siete Altares by boat together from downtown Livingston. Will, a local who had just moved back from New York, taught us how to climb up the face of the waterfall so we could jump off into its deep, pleasant pool. On our way back from Siete Altares, some of the local Maya kids spotted our camera and asked us to take their pictures.



Obviously they have learned from previous tourists that if they stand long enough to pose, they will be awarded with a glimpse of themselves on the playback screen of the digital cameras. I did, however, have to draw a line in the sand to prevent the kids from continually moving too close to the camera’s lens. J I learned this trick from our friends Mark and Bev with whom I sailed to Tonga where we also met enthusiastic local subjects.

In the evening, as the temperature inside our cabaña rose, Tyler and I took our pillows and sheets outside, set up a couple of the resort lounge chairs on the water’s edge and went to sleep to the gentle rolling of the shore onto the beach. We moved back in to our cabaña only as the rain of the days before returned.

The next day we arranged for a boat-taxi to take us from our cabin on the sea back to Livingston. As we were in a very remote location and had spent our last quetzales on breakfast, we notified our “lanchero” that we would have to pay him for the boat ride once we arrived back into town and could get some more money. Once back in Livingston, we learned that there was no cash in either of the two ATMs, that they weren’t expecting any more cash for a couple of days, and our credit cards were useless at the banks but could be used at some restaurants to buy lunch.

As we wondering how we were going to pay the lanchero, Carlos, the Argentinian owner of the jungle eco-resort Finca Tatín, the next resort where we would stay, pulled up to the dock. As he was there to retrieve us, we explained to him our situation, and he quickly lent us the money to pay the lanchero and to get a cup of coffee while he did some grocery shopping before returning to the finca.

Having paid our debt and filled up the small boat with provisions, we all climbed in and turned south up the Río Dulce. Although it began to rain on us in our open “lancha”, we hardly noticed as we were captivated by the numerous birds and 300 feet high, vertical canyon walls that surrounded us as we motored toward the finca. Upon our arrival to Finca Tatín (http://www.fincatatin.centramerica.com/mainE.htm), we immediately knew we were going to like this place. Tyler, my Dad, and I were assigned a comfortable, quaint cabin right on the river’s edge, with a complete bathroom and single bed downstairs for my Dad and a double bed upstairs for me and Tyler. All over the swampy ground of Finca Tatin - around our cabin, around the common areas, etc. - there were thousands of tiny blue crabs slowly crawling around and threatening each other with their 1” long claws.

The common area at the resort was filled with hammocks, books for trade, and handmade scrabble, backgammon, and chess boards. The menu listed good, healthy options for breakfast and lunch while dinner was communal, bringing everyone at the resort together at one table. Everything eaten or enjoyed at the resort was based on an honor system.

The resort kept a book in which each guest had his or her own page where one kept track of one’s meals, drinks, kayak trips, etc. At the end of the stay, one’s total was added and then paid. We added a couple nights stay, a kayak trip to the Biotopo Chocón Machacas (a government protected manatee reserve), and a couple of T-shirts to our tab before moving on up river to the town of Río Dulce. The town of Río Dulce wasn’t much more than a crossroads where we withdrew money from the ATM to pay our hosts on the river and catch our bus northwest to the town of Flores, seven hours away.

Flores, the town nearest to Tikal, the most important ancient Maya site in Guatemala, is a touristy but cute little town built on an island in Lake Petén Itzá. The town is basically looped by one cobblestone street and is connected to the mainland by a human-made bridge. The cobbled streets are clean, the restaurants generally decent, the motor traffic minimal, the people friendly, and there’s always a view of the lake. We were still dealing with a shortage of cash as we quickly learned there were no ATM machines in Flores, and those ATMs in Santa Elena, the town on the other side of the bridge, did not contain any cash. However, we got lucky when an armored car arrived as we were standing outside the third bank we tried and the ATM was restocked. After withdrawing as much as we could, we returned to our pleasant, air-conditioned rooms.

On our second day in Flores, my Dad took the day off and chilled out in town while Tyler and I took a hired sardine can/mini-van to Tikal. We got there relatively late in the afternoon, found a guide, and took an express tour of the ruins. We got really lucky with our guide, who grew up just a few miles from Tikal in Uaxactún (sounds like Wa-shing-ton, seriously), and was extremely knowledgeable in medicinal plants, botany, biology, and local history. Our late arrival turned out to have an advantage; there were no tourists to distract our enjoyment of the park. We climbed several pyramids to find that we were the only ones on the structure. The views from the tops of the pyramids were spectacular, and the forest was busy with spider monkeys, parakeets, parrots, wild turkeys, oropendolas, woodpeckers, brown jays, hummingbirds, and much more. We saw many groups of leaf cutter ants carrying little green flags across the footpaths. The ants put their leafy treasures into fermenting holes and later eat the fungus that grows on the rotting leaves. We learned from our guide that these ants are basically mushroom farmers.

Our third day in Peten (the northern Guatemalan state or “department” where Flores and Tikal are located) was spent visiting Ixpanpajul, an overpriced park with suspension footbridges and tree canopy excursions located not too far from Flores. The staff at the park keeps the paths in good condition, and the long suspension bridges offer nice views of the park and surrounding area, but we felt the $25 entrance fee per person was a bit steep for a hike through foliage similar to that found at Tikal. While Ixpanpajul did offer the sounds of howler monkeys miles off in the trees, it lacked the magnificence of the ruins and flora and fauna of Tikal, for which we paid the equivalent of $7.00 each. On our way out of the park, I politely told the woman at the front desk about our disappointment at being charged so much for so little.

Our next destination from Peten was the old colonial city (and former capital of Guatemala) Antigua, about 45 minutes outside Guatemala City. We had two options for making the trip to Antigua: 1. Take a 9.5-hour bus ride from Flores to Guatemala City, then a shuttle to Antigua, or 2. Take a 1-hour plane ride (for about $100.00) from Flores to Guatemala City, and then a shuttle to Antigua. It didn’t take long to make that decision. We flew at night and the whole country was dark; only a few times were there a few lines of dim street lights indicating a village below. Suddenly we came over a mountain range and the orange-yellow lights of Guatemala’s capital spread out to the horizon. We arrived at our hotel in Antigua, an elegant colonial style building with a courtyard and garden, at about 11 pm and quickly went to sleep, dreaming of the next day’s adventures.

We woke up in Antigua on Dec 24^th, had our complimentary breakfast, and took a stroll around town. Our only plan for the day was to find the best coffee and pastries in town, an admirable goal for which Tyler happily takes credit. As it turned out, Christmas Eve was not the best day for pastry hunting as many shops were closed; however, we were able to find some acceptable cheesecake and cappuccinos.

On Christmas Day we had lunch at the Swiss owned Mesón Panza Verde. The three of us agreed that this was the most significant culinary experience we’d had in a long time. Tyler tried to take note of all the subtle and perfectly balanced flavors so he could try and recreate them later in his tiny kitchen in Xela. Beginning with our incredible arugula salads with a homemade dressing, we knew we were in for a culinary treat. My Dad and I went for the traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes– the best I’ve ever had (sorry mom!). Tyler had salmon with baked squash and yams. We were in ecstasy all the way through to the arrival of our chocolate mousse and apple streudel desserts, and even then we were not disappointed.

As we walked off our lunch around town, we happened upon a Christmas parade. We were enjoying the antics of the masked parade-goers and marimba players so much that we followed them for a couple of blocks. Later in the evening, Tyler and I went out in search of dessert and came upon a fusion Thai restaurant called Café Flor. We enjoyed the live piano music that was playing, but I was a little put off by my chocolate brownie made from corn flour, and we were both put off by the host/pianist’s peddling of music CDs at our table when the bill came.

On December 26^th, we headed back to Xela from Antigua by bus. We were glad to see the landscape change to pine trees and feel the air change to the cool mountain climate of the Western Highlands. After two-weeks traveling around Honduras and Guatemala, we were happy to be back at our home away from home.