Dr Corey Mr Chris

The day starts as the sun just begins to clear the mountains here in Xelaju (Quetzaltenango). We wake up and get ready for class eating breakfast with our host family before walking 4 blocks to school. We are studying at Escuela Minerva and every student there has a private tutor for 5 hours per day monday through friday. Corey´s instructor is named Astrid and Chris´ instructor is Miriam. The teachers focus on how much time you have and try to personalize the instruction to your Spanish level coming in. It can be hard for teachers to gauge what level you are at so Corey and Chris made it easy on them and admitted to being total beginners. Our lessons have been going for the majority of our time here and have focused on gramar as well ... read more

On a sunny January 25th, we crossed the Cook Strait that separates the two islands of New Zealand. Less than two weeks before the strait had 3 meter swells but on the day of our crossing was peaceful and calm. After a short picnic in downtown Wellington, we spent the afternoon and early evening in the Te Papa museum. The museum is home to an extensive collection of Maori art and artifacts, including a full scale meeting hall that museum patrons can enter in stocking feet, a war canoe and a scale model of a boat design believed to be used by the Maori tribes to cross from Tahiti to New Zealand. There are also exhibits on the natural forces shaping New Zealand, from earthquakes and volcanoes to introduced species. All of the mammals in New ... read more

As children, we visualized Australia as an exotic place on the opposite side of the world. Somehow it didn’t seem nearly as far away after a four hour plane flight from Bali! But 80 degree temperatures and decorated Christmas trees soon reminded us that we were quite a distance from the gale force winds hitting Seattle. The historic port of Fremantle, known to the locals as Freo, made an attractive and comfortable base for exploring the nearby city of Perth. Perth has been compared to Seattle in many travel guides, and we agreed they weren’t far off. With a compact downtown and several large waterfront parks, it’s a great place to explore on foot in good weather. Fremantle had plenty of its own attractions, including museums, a sprawling covered produce market and a harbor full of ... read more

After the peaceful routine of our Issan village, it was quite a change to join the crowds at some of Thailand's major tourist attractions. But our brief introduction to ordinary life certainly enriched our tourist experience, making us more attentive to detail and more appreciative of Thai culture. Our few words and phrases helped make the Thais we met even friendlier, and we even got a few positive comments on our blessing strings. Our first stop was Sukothai Historical Park, one of Thailand's best preserved historic capitals. Acres of park like grounds surround a varied collection of temples and stupas, creating plenty of quiet areas for reflection. Many of the stupas have holy relics buried inside them, ranging in importance from part of Buddha to something blessing during one of his incarnations. The following day we ... read more

India has made us realize that we will need a minimum of another 4 or 5 trips back here to see at least most of what we want to see in this amazing country. We arrived in Delhi from Jodhpur and explored Delhi with new found confidence from our experience in Rajasthan. Delhi was still very smoky and hazy but it helped having a little experience of bargaining with auto rickshaw drivers. Delhi allowed Corey and Chris to connect with Corey's mom, Bonny and her tour group who had just returned from Bhutan. The three of us took a taxi to the Arts and Crafts Museum from Bonny's hotel and explored the museum for the majority of the afternoon. The Museum had many highlights but the main draw was the artisans. Several weavers, painters, statue builders ... read more