The last weekend in October I took students to Champerico, a beach town about 3 hours from Xela. It is definitely nothing to write home about (but ironically that is exactly what I am doing now) but it was certainly a nice change of climate and pace from the cold city of Xela. However, what happened is kinda interesting. We decided to go for a swim. I told the students to be careful because the undertow is very strong in Champerico. This is due to the fact that it was formerly a major port for exporting fish and other mariscos (seafood) [View Full Entry]

---

---

On a Sunday morning we headed out of Xela for the coast. First to Reu, then to El Asintal, and finally a pickup that took us to Las Ruinas de Takalik Abaj. The name Takalik Abaj, which was until recently known as Abaj Takalik (wow! big difference I know), means "Stopped Stone". It was a pre-Classic site and is not very interesting for the average site-goer, but for someone who is interested and has read about the religious, cultural, and political significance of this place it is incredibly saturated with interesting tidbits. I had never been here before so I had [View Full Entry]

---

---

This past weekend I went to the country with my friend Jaime who works in the office with me. He is the cousin of the owner of the school. They are both originally from Francisco Vela, a canton (kinda like a suburb, but more country and not ´rich´ part of the surrounding area of a town) of the pueblo of San Felipe which is down the mountain and alot warmer. On Saturday we hiked La Muela which is just outside of Xela and then in the afternoon we headed to San Felipe, the municipalidad of Jaime´s pueblo. When we got off [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yesterday I woke up around 5:30 am (cause I couldn´t sleep) and went to meet the bus for Nueva Alianza, the trip that we are going on this weekend, at 7 am. Like every year, I called my mother for her birthday on May 20 instead of May 23, sometime before 7 am (sorry Mom). Nueva Alianza is an organic coffee and macadamia finca which is owned and operated cooperatively by the campesinos who work it. The patron (the old plantation owner) went bankrupt and lost the farm to the bank. Now, the campesinos must pay off the debt and they [View Full Entry]

---

---