Blogs from Quetzaltenango, Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 2

As nice as the lake is we still decided that we were getting too settled in our Atitlan ways and felt the need to re-experience life at sea level. We hired Lee, our host, to run us over to the Pacific coast for a two night road trip. Lee is a certified guide and has lived here for the past nine years with his wife, Elaine. We boated over to Pana where Lee keeps his ride, filled the tank for $3 a gallon and vibrated westward over pot-hole riddled roads. We stopped just above the lake near San Lucas Atitlan to catch the spectacular view of the volcanoes and lake-shore. An old man, sitting on a shady bench, told us some local facts in exchange for a few coins. Two dogs dozed under a bush. It ... read more

Wczoraj po całodziennej podróży z San Cristobal de las Casas dotarłem do miasta Quetzaltenango w Gwatemali. Jechałem autobusem turystycznym. Kwestia przejazdu pomiędzy oboma krajami wygląda tak, że w miejscowości granicznej Ciudad Cuauhtemoc wysiadamy z busa meksykańskiego, przechodzimy odprawę paszportową, przekraczamy granicę i ładujemy się do busa gwatemalskiego, który czeka już podstawiony po gwatemalskiej stronie. Nie ma czegoś takiego jest bezpośrednie przekroczenie granicy w jednym busie. Z daleka widać, że Gwatemala to kraj gór i wulkanów. Cały horyzont przed nami to góry i stożki wulkanów. Samo miasto graniczne to nic specjalnego. Dużo straganów i syfu. Najlepiej to od razu stamtą spadać. Później robi się już fajniej i droga wiedzie wzdłuż malowniczej górskiej rzeki. Dookoła wysokie zalesione góry. Trochę przypominało mi to niższe partie Nepalu. Już na pierwszy rzut... read more

February 5th, Rog and I woke up early to start our trek to Guatemala City so we could pick up his sister, her boyfriend, and our roommate at the intl airport. It's a good thing we decided on an hour earlier than normal because that was the day the chicken buses decided to protest the government and shut down all major highways. I wish I was joking, you guys. But nope. We get on our first chicken bus, and I pop a dremamine (super sleepy but no motion sickness) since it was supposed to be just a straight 4 hour ride there. Ha! After an hour the bus stops and no one has any idea whats going on. We finally get informed that the bus we're on is heading back to Xela and there's another bus ... read more

Not too much has been happening lately. Just living life in Xela :) I started teaching English to a really nice lady 3 times a week. Her husband is Canadian and she'll be moving there in a few months so we're working on just getting her already-good English even better! I'll get paid in Spanish lessons (my choice), so that's pretty rad. It'll be nice to get some formal Spanish in while I'm down here! We only have 10 days left of our TRAMA volunteering. It's a bit bittersweet. I really love the association and everything they do for so many women in Guatemala, and I've been able to travel with them and meet some really great people through volunteering. But at the same time, it's a lot of work some days and it can be ... read more

Earlier this week (the 19th), we had our first benefit party with TRAMA! They actually had a benefit party like, the night before we started volunteering with them, but this was the first one we had a hand in helping out with. It actually started because a lady named Denise, who owns a restaurant called La Esquina Asiatica (the Asian Corner), was being featured on a program back in Singapore, her home country. They were doing a piece on entrepreneurs who have been successful outside of their native country. Well, Denise lives at Yoga House with a number of TRAMA volunteers and it was brought up that we should collaborate on a night. Denise wanted a full house to show the news crew and everyone back home; and we can always use fundraising ideas! We called ... read more