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Published: April 21st 2008
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Mom taking a break in the Jesus chair
at Nim P'ot, while Susan looks on, unsure if this might not be totally sacreligious. When Steve and I decided to spend this year in Guatemala, we were pretty sure we'd have some adventurous friends and family come to visit us. However, I wasn't holding any high hopes of my parents coming to visit since a) they don't like hot places and b) Central America has never been high on their travel wish list.
However, due to the pursuasive effect of of having their grandchildren here (plus the fact that Antigua is not hot!), we had them fairly convinced of taking a trip down to visit. I was really excited for them to visit, and we tentatively set a date for early December.
Due to some unforseen medical issues, however, they had to postpone the trip and my dad had to bow out altogether. This left Mom traveling alone, so in stepped my eldest sister Susan to be her travel buddy.
Anyone who knows Mom knows that to travel with her requires twice the amount of energy than you'd expect; not because she is difficult, but because she is so darned energetic about seeing everthing!
She reads this blog, plus about a bazillion cultural magazines, so she knew all about Tikal and
really wanted to go see the ruins. My mom, bless her, has a ton of energy to see these things. I had to gently talk her off
that ledge, because she is, after all, my mother and I didn't want to see her fall to her death or have a miserable time walking the most definitely
not ADA-compliant pathways with her bum hip and knee. (Side note; in retrospect of Eric's and my
trip to Tikal that week, let's just pause a moment to imagine my mom's reaction to seeing the deadly Fer-de-Lance snake on that pathway in Tikal. Okay now, do you see the image of my mom clutching whatever nearby tree or tourist, eyes shut, begging to go home RIGHT NOW, please God, just get me away from this snake right NOW!? Yes, that's the scene I'm
really glad we avoided.)
So, the day
after Eric and I returned from Tikal and Yaxhá, Mom and Susan arrived to join in on the fun. They had arrived late (after a really bumpy flight through a Texan storm) so we didn't venture too far the next day - mostly walking around Antigua and enjoying the sun and catching up with each other. We
The Gustafsons at Happy Hour
in Hotel Atitlan. Nice lifestyle, there! visited the vast store of Nim Po't and climbed up the garden deck of Posada de Don Rodrigo to view the Antigua "skyline."
It's always fun to have visitors join you in a lovely spot and play host. For me, I got the chance to play both hostess and tourist as we walked around Antigua and shopped around. Normally I don't do a lot of window-shopping here; generally I do better when goaded on by a fellow shopper. (We Gustafson women are especially good at cheering each other on.) So of course we weren't out but a few hours and already Mom and Susan ended up buying jewelry from some local women; women whom I've spent the last 6 months saying, "no, gracias" every time they walk up to me with their armloads of necklaces, and this time I found myself stopping to help Mom and Susan get their treasures at a good price. Fun!
On Friday we loaded up in a rented car and headed up to Lake Atitlán. This was a good chance for Mom and Susan to get a good look at the Guatemala that exists outside of our lovely little bubble of Antigua. (Eric
was already well traveled in Guatemala by then). The car trip, about 2.5 hours, is a nice look at the more typical (and somewhat ugly) parts - such as Chimaltenango - as well as the lovely, hilly, verdant countryside. There are lots of farms and lots of people out working them.
We enjoyed a lovely weekend stay at the Hotel Antigua, exploring the gardens, going in to Panajachel to shop, eating well, and relaxing by the pool. Eric even had the chance to go zip-lining above the jungle canopy.
Once back in Antigua, Eric arranged to take a motorcycle ride with a local guide, and while he was out riding the country, I took Mom and Susan to see the beautiful Casa de Santo Domingo. This has become one of our favorite spots to wow visitors - with the incredible architecture amongst the ruins, the gardens, and the eclectic museums there. We especially enjoyed the art museum that presented art and beauty in earthenware, stone and glass. The exhibit is a comparative sample between an archeological collection and one of modern glass, where the similarities between the two of them are shown. For example, you might see a
Mayan funeral urn that is made to look like a jaguar, and then there might be a modern Swedish piece of glass that also looks like a jaguar.
On Sunday, we had the chance to see one of the very first "alfombras" of the Semana Santa season. Semana Santa, or Holy Week, wouldn't start in earnest until mid-March, but the little town of San Cristobal (which is just a mile or so from our house) had created in its church an alfombra, or carpet, made up of brightly colored sawdust and ringed with fresh vegetables. These are created in larger number during the week of Semana Santa, but this was a great chance for my visiting family to see one beforehand.
The little town was totally decked out to receive visitors; there were various foodstands featuring all sorts of grilled meats, sausages, deep-fried churros and dumplings, plastic chotchkes, and of course sweets. I took a picture of one of the tables set up with gooey and baked goods - this one's for you, Dad!
The rest of our time together was mostly just hanging out with the rest of my family, doing a bit of crafts/textile/jewelry shopping,
Alfombra, or sawdust carpet
The first of the Semana Santa season. Note the vegetables up front. and of course visiting Christine's lovely coffee farm. (Christine should go into the tour business; she gives a great tour and the filter factory is so inspiring.)
Our last little excursion was having Marisol, our kids' tutor and family guide, take us up to San Luis Obisbo to the home of a well-known woman who makes chocolate. We were so excited about getting home-made chocolate! We drove up to the outside wall of a little house, and when Marisol rang the doorbell, a man with a very angry face leaned out of the window and asked what we wanted. Well,
chocolate, you silly, but he sort of harrumphed and called out to someone in the back of the house. About a minute or two later a woman opened the door, and asked what we wanted. I started wondering what the heck our little pack of gringos was really doing here, and maybe we should just slink on home, but it turns out she was the owner of the business and was happy to sell us some chocolate. We got all excited and ordered about 10 pounds of chocolate - they had almond and cinnamon chocolate, so our mouths were
A bakery on the day of the alfombra viewing
My dad would have loved the Nuegados, which look like a little pile of donut holes stacked up. (on right) practically drooling when she brought out these little round packages.
We paid, got in the car, and then looked at our purchases. The chocolate, which sells itself as 100% pure cocoa, (then how do you put in almonds and cinnamon?), is in little flat discs that crumble when you break off a bit. Marisol had some clear ideas as to what we were supposed to do with it; it turns out it's not really for snacking, but for making hot chocolate. Okay then, so we came home and fired up the stove and started tossing the chocolate in some hot water as Marisol spun the handle of a wooden meat tenderizer (we didn't have the official hot-chocolate-spinning tool thingy) between her flat palms to blend the chocolate. About 20 minutes later she proudly handed us our mugs of a rather unfortunately watery and tasteless hot chocolate (perhaps with 100% cocoa you need a little sugar.) We dutifully drank our cups in front of Marisol, but after she left I noticed that no-one finished. I think this needs some work.
We managed to cram a lot of Guatemala in for my visiting family, and I think everyone enjoyed it!
Buying chocolate!
Look at the smiles on our faces at our big chocolate purchase.
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