Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, a 31 de agosto del 2009. Saludos a todos (y todas): La PRIMERA PARTE está en "Frontera México-Guatemala. Tapachula y Tecún Umán. (...) Quetzaltenango: es la segunda ciudad màs grande de Guatemala. Tiene entre 150,00 y 200,000 almas (las estadìsticas no se ponen de acuerdo)... Sin embargo nadie se refiere a la ciudad por ese nombre, sino como "Xela" (shela), dado que este es su nombre original en maya quichè (Xelajù), mientras Quetzaltenango era el nombre dado por los aztecas (y los conquistadores españoles)... De hecho todos los autobuses que vienen aqu [View Full Entry]

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Hola todos, Un Feliz Navidad y un prospero año nuevo! Ondertussen ben ik in Guatemala aangekomen en heb ik weer heel wat mooie fototjes geschoten om met jullie te delen. En het is ook weer een aantal weken geleden dat ik m´n vorige blog geschreven heb. Dus het wordt weer eens tijd. Net voordat ik naar Guatemala wilde gaan, werd ik flink ziek in Esteli, Nicaragua. Dit bleek het dengue virus te zijn. Dat was even een mindere periode, voelde me zwaar beroerd.. maar heb het overleefd. Vooral veel geslapen, veel water gedronken, paracetamol geslikt tegen de pijn....en na 7-8 dagen [View Full Entry]

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Other People’s Stories #1 Written Saturday November 7, 2009 Before I left for Guatemala, one of the ideas I had was to everyday write down the tale of someone I met that day. It wasn’t important whether the person was Guatemalan, a traveler, or a person I met in some other way. All that was important was that they had an interesting life story. Well, I had forgotten about this idea for a long while—until now. About a month ago I made a friend at my school, Jason. We had a mutual interest in motorcycles and dreams of riding down the [View Full Entry]

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I Wish I Had another Plastic Chair I wish I had another plastic chair. Eight people live in my house, and our house has a total of four chairs and I think four stools. If you do the math that means that we have enough seating for everyone in our house. But here is the problem: I don’t like sitting on the stools; they are just not comfortable. And…those chairs and stools are spread out all over the house. One of the chairs is mine—I am sitting in it right now, it is my desk chair in my room. Another chair [View Full Entry]

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Choco Crema de Maní Banano licuados con Leche de Soya y Fibra Motorcycle adventures. Cliff diving. Excursions to ancient ruins. Waterfalls, parties, hot springs, volcanoes. These are the things I feel expected to write about. But this is not my life right now. Sure, I hiked La Muela (a volcano-formed mountain with naturally-heated saunas built into the ground in the middle of no-where) twice in the last week. And Saturday and Sunday I took motorcycle rides to neighboring pueblos. Saturday I went to San Marcos, a 27 mile ride through the mountains with a beautiful valley overlook, and Sunda [View Full Entry]

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Heres my last update from Guatemala. Im in el salvador now, but will tell of that next time: 1) Last weekend in Guatemala: Carnivals, Big dinners, and Soccer Games 2) Kids Day 1) Last weekend in Guatemala: Carnivals, Big Dinners, and Soccer Games Carnivals: A few quick notes here. First, I went on upside down amusement rides that cost $1.25. My first week here included independance day (most cenral american countries celebrate it on the same day). And Xela, my town, is the hub of the celebrations for much of guatemala, so naturally the carnival was in town. And, having worked [View Full Entry]

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1) Hiking: the bad ass way (moonlight, sunrises, and early morning light) 2) San Salvador: La Capital 1) Hiking: the bad ass way. The Thursday before I left guatemala i went on a midnight hike to climb Volcan Tajamulco, the highest point in Central America at 4220 m (13,845 feet). The key here is Midnight Full Moon hike, which means starting at 12 midnight and hiking by moon light to see sunrise from the peak. We left Xela at 10 pm and started the hike at 12:30 am Friday morning. Our goal was to make it to the summit (of central [View Full Entry]

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My New Best Friend; or The Sexuality of Loneliness; or Mom & Dad; or Sarita; or Salsa Rosa; or Adventures in San Pedro; or Volcán Santa María and the Mirador So, I have seven ideas for blogs; above are the titles. Some of them, such as “Adventures in San Pedro” “Salsa Rosa” or “Volcán Santa María and the Mirador” would mostly recount activities and events. “The Sexuality of Loneliness,” which will probably never get written, would mostly recount they ways in which I see intercultural relationships manifesting themselves and the consequences of [View Full Entry]

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So I took myself off towards the north west of Guatemela to a town called Quetzaltenango - mercifully abbreviated to Xela (pron. Shayla) by the locals - to learn spanish. It´s the second largest town here with a paltry population of 125,000 compared to the 7 million in Guatemala city! I loved Xela; it´s relaxed, not very touristy, has a strong student population and alot of music. The english speakers who go there to learn spanish tend to stay for longer in central America and be on more of a budget than in Antigua. It was kind of comforting to be [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone, Ive made it safe and sound, and heres my first blog entry. i know its long, so pick and choose what ya want. enjoy: Headlines 1) 30 min after take off, i was where i was going. 2) Spanish School/host family 3) first weekend: hiking the lagun and a wine in the book store adventure 4) on my way again, and everything else. 1) 30 min. after takeoff, I was where I was going we all travel for different reasons, and i think my favorite one is the social aspect of meeting new people. (and from there seeing and [View Full Entry]

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