Sempuc Champey and Coban

We visted Semuc Champey National Park today, a great place to swim and check out the Rio Chabahon (River). The river goes under ground for about a mile and on top are these really beautiful pools of water that are warm and green. We spent the day lounging about and loving it. Tomorrow, we're off to Flores, in the state of Peten, where we will be exploring Tikal, an ancient Mayan civilization in ruins.

On to Coban

Just a quick update for those who like to know that we are still alive...

We left Xela on Thursday and after an excruciatingly long and twisty ride, made it to Coban last night. We stayed in a super cute hotel called Casa D'Acuna and visited a working coffee farm. It was really amazing to see the process from plant to cup, and we got to drink a really, really good cup of coffee at the end. We then hopped on a bus to Lanquin, to stay at the super "hip" hostal, El Retiro, on the banks of the Rio Chabaon. We are headed to Semuc Champey National Monument tomorrow, which is supposed to be an incredible site to see. I'll try and post some pictures tomorrow.

I'm feeling better after a scary bout with food poisoning...at least that's what i think it was. It's been a good week since I've had a solid meal and I'm looking forward to chowing down on some home cooked food tonight. Unfortunately now that I'm well, Matt isn't feeling too hot. It doesn't seem too serious yet, so we're keeping our fingers crossed it goes away quickly. Hope everyone is well!

Nueva Esperanza and Quetzaltenango, AKA Xela

We have had quite an adventure these past few days in the Western Highlands. We left Lago Atitlan on Sunday evening and arrived in Xela. We spent Monday shopping for our donations for Nueva Esperanza, the school in a smaller village about an hour south of here. Tuesday morning, we hopped on a Chicken bus (recycled American school buses painted very loudly, often with blinking lights we like to call ¨bling.¨ They are called chicken buses because people often have live animals with them. I can attest to this, as there was a box of chicks above my head.) to get to the school. This was quite complicated, as the bus is cramped and we were carrying brooms, balls, and buckets. We were the only white faces on the bus and I´m sure people thought we were nuts. Then, in an error in communication (probably my fault) the driver dropped us off about 1/2 past where we were supposed to go, requiring a trudge back up a steep hill carrying the aforementioned things.

Once we got to the school however, we were so happy we had made the effort. I´m pretty sure the kids there don´t see many white folks, and so they all congretated to watch us speak with the director, Marvin. We brought school supplies which Marvin said they will hand out to the students who cannot afford to purchase their own. We also brought cleaning supplies for the classrooms, and 7 gallons of paint to paint the students´ desks, as this is what Marvin said would be most useful for them at this time. The teachers and students treated us like guests of honor and the kids who were brave enough to talk with us were very friendly and curious about us. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves, and then the best part happened.

The next day (today) was a special celebration at the school. Marvin asked us to come back today and ¨observe¨ the event, an athletic/dance competition. Before we really knew what we were getting ourselves into, we said sure. So...we arrived this morning around 8 am. Turns out, there were 26 schools competing against each other, Nueva Esperanza included, and we were 2 of 5 judges who were going to decide the winners. There were probably about 1,000 people in the crowd, and again, we were the only white faces around. The other judges were dance teachers and PE teachers at nearby schools. We found out that this competition happens every year, and that it´s a pretty big deal. Needless to say, we felt a little out of our element, but smiled our way through it. It turned out to be a blast. I didn´t get to take many photos because I was busy with my judge duties,which is too bad. The kids were all wearing costumes and you could tell they had practiced for a long time. Some of them were downright adorable. There were even a couple of all boy schools competing. We got to choose 9 teams to win trophies (one that we bought and dontated) and we even each announced a winner (in Spanish!) in the microphone. Nueva Esperanza won the third place trophy, and after the competition was over, all the girls who had danced for the school gave me a hug and said thank you. The whole day, Matt and I were treated like special guests, even receiving our own round of applause and thanks from the crowd. It was definitely the best part of the trip so far.

On that note, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to our friends and family who donated money and supplies to help us in this adventure. It is truly helpful to these kids and we could feel the sincere appreciation from the school community. You helped us to make a contribution to this beautiful country and it´s people, and we love you for that.

Things that amaze/confound/make me love Guatemala

1. Firecrackers at 5:30 am for no apparent reason. They´ve been my alarm clock many a morning. No one really seems to be able to explain why, just that it´s normal.
2. Air fresheners with the scent ¨Black Ice.¨¨
3. Vehicles meant to hold 12 people stuffed with 22-literally hanging out the windows, sitting in laps, and in the aisles.
4. Pan, Pan, and more Pan. These people love bread more than I do.
5. Dogs, Dogs, Dogs. They are everywhere! They wander in and out and no one pays them any mind. There was even one today in the middle of a dance competition.
6. Queso Fresco. God, that stuff is good.
7. McDonalds three times as big as the ones at home full of people at any given time of the day. What is it with that place?
8. Bumper stickers that read "Obamanos" and "Jesus: mi mejor amigo"
9. The song called "Te Amo" It means ¨I love you" and we´ve heard it at least 100 times since arriving.

A lazy week at Lago Atitlan

Bad news: Unfortunately, during a kayaking adventure, my camera got wet and is now toast...so, no new pictures, but I´m hoping to replace it soon.

Good news: I got hired to teach summer school in Seattle! My first actual teaching job. More Good news: I have new niece as of the 20th! She´s healthy and perfect and doing great.



We´ve been at the lake for about a week now doing a whole lot of nothing. The hostel where we are staying in Santa Cruz is awesome-family style dinners, great folks, yoga in the morning, and views of the lake. We met some cool people our age from Alabama and have been hanging out with them. We´ve been visiting the surrounding pueblos and taking in the sun when we are not helping out with art projects at the local school, which we have been doing in the afternoons. The kids are great-they are super patient with our mediocre Spanish (it´s actually their second language as well) and are friendly and curious about us. We´re having fun here, but are moving on back to the real Guatemala soon (it´s pretty much gringos all around, except when we go up to the school. The lake seems to attract people from the states and Europe who come for a week and then never leave). Tomorrow we´re headed to Chichitestanango or Chi Chi for short to go to a huge, super popular outdoor market. After that, we are probably headed to Xela and to the school we collected donations for, Nueva Esperanza.

LAVA! Our adventures at Volcan Pacaya

Yes, that is real, burning hot lava. And yes, Mom, we are mere feet from it. This is just about the coolest thing I have ever done. We hiked (hard) up the volcano for about 2 hours, then sat and watched the lava flow and the volcano smoke until it was dark. It was incredible.

We finished our last Spanish class on Friday and took off to the beach for the weekend. It was super hot and sunny and we definitely enjoyed the change from rainy Antigua. We actually got to watch an incredible (if somewhat scary) lightning storm from the deck of a bar last night. I got super sick Saturday night, probably from some of the questionable food we have been eating, but I´m feeling 100% better now, aside from the hundreds of mosquito bites.

We left the beach this morning and are currently in Panajachel, a crazy busy backpacker pueblo on Lago Atitlan (after riding on the most winding road I´ve ever seen-I kept my eyes closed a lot of the way-there was not a guardrail to be seen, only massive drop offs!) . We´re headed to Santa Cruz, a smaller village, tomorrow to spend some more time relaxing and possibly volunteering with an organization started by some folks from Lopez Island, WA.

Mas Photos de Antigua y cerca (More photos from Antigua and vicinity)

Hola Amigos y Famila,

Here are more pictures and adventures from our time in La Antigua Guatemala.


This is the house where we are living. All the homes here are behind concrete walls and have big wooden doors. The door opens into a outdoor courtyard where the kitchen is. All the rooms have doors that open to the courtyard. Our family would probably be considered middle class here, as they have electricity, a tv, a stove, etc. The two sons share the job of driving a tuk-tuk (a motorcycle taxi) and the daughter goes to school.

Volcan de Agua (Water Volcano), called so because in the 1770´s, the crater filled with water, then overflowed, destroying most of old Antigua. This is the view from town .

These photos are from a parade on Mother´s Day, which turned out to be a big deal here. The man is carrying an inscense burner and the ladies are carrying a big wooden thing that has statues of the Virgin and Jesus Christ. They carried it around the plaza in the center of town to the beat of the drums for about 2 hours.

This is the oldest and first Catholic church in Guatemala. It was built in 1534 and has stood ever since. They paint the outside once a year and it´s still used for mass every day.

This is a photo of one of two churches in all of Guatemala that are not painted yellow or white. I asked why, but no one could explain it. This one is in a small village that we visited today just outside of Antigua called Ciudad Vieja. (New City). The Spainards moved the capitol from the Mayan capitol to here when they arrived, but it was destroyed by the water volcano. The capitol was then moved to Antigua, which was destroyed in an earthquake, but then rebuilt. That makes Guatemala City the 4th capitol.

We also visited a 100% organic macadamia nut finca (farm) today, (I got a facial massage with macadamia nut oil!) , as well as some smaller villages surrounding Antigua. Our classes are going very well, and we have homework every night! Tomorrow, we visit an active volcano! We´ve seen it smoking the last few days, so we´re definitely looking forward to getting up close and personal. We go in the afternoon and get to be there at night, when apparently, you can see real live lava. We are eating pretty well, as our Dona (polite name for an older woman of the house) is a great cook and piles the food high. We´ve also had some pretty fantastic coffee, tamales, tostadas, and homemade ice cream from vendors on the street.

Guatemala City and Antigua

We made it! We spent our first night in Guatemala City, but left early the next day for La Antigua, the 2nd capitol of Guatemala. It's a beautiful colonial city with cobbled streets. We met our Guatemalan familia on Friday afternoon and have been living with them since. They are fantastic. Dona Cony, the mother, is a great cook (they feed us a lot of food!) and is ever so patient with our Spanish. She has two sons, Fransisco and Antonio, and daughter, Lucky. Francisco is married to Heidy and they have a baby named Fransisco who is six months old. In Latin American culture, it is normal for families to live all together like this. They are all very kind and gracious. Their home is right around the corner from our Spanish school, La Union. We started our classes on Saturday, but have today off. So far, we both like our teachers and think we are going to learn a lot. The folks are the school (well, everyone so far) are very friendly and welcoming. In the afternoons, we've been wandering around the city looking at beautiful old cathedrals and convent ruins. On Wednesday, we are going with a group from our school to visit Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano that you can see from town. We leave Antigua on Friday, possibly south to a beach town called Montericco.