We picked up Lydia and company in the morning and made our way to Tecpan. An hour and a half later, we arrived and went straight to the cemetery to visit my grandfather´s grave (my mom´s dad). Afterwards, we kept going for another two hours to Panajachel. We arrived around 2pm, and would have arrived earlier, had it not been for the construction on the highway and the directional signs being removed as a result. We passed up the Panajachel exit by like 30 to 40 minutes, and had to make our way back, so we lost valuable time there. And [View Full Entry]

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On sunday I woke up with no voice and a horrible cough. I went to the pharmacy and was given meds. This is me with them. Crazy thing...all I did was go in and tell the guy behind the counter my problem and he came back with antibiotics and some cough medicine'. No doctor necessary! I had my last spanish class on Sunday morning. It was a struggle because I didn´t have a voice, but I got through it and my teacher had me writing a lot more than talking. Every day during my break I had been running back to [View Full Entry]

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We got our wake-up call at 5am and decided to skip breakfast at the hotel and take a gander at the island of Flores, located right across the lake from us. We only had 20 minutes to take a peek, but it sufficed. Then it was off to the airport and eventually we made it back to Guatemala City at 9am. Lydia and company hung out with her family, and Fabi and I hung out with my family. We rested a bit, and then made our way to the cemetery to visit my grandmother (my mother´s mom) and my great aunt [View Full Entry]

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Here I am in Antigua, Guatemala! I've been here for a few days now. I have relaxed in the beautiful Central Park, enjoyed the international cuisine (I'm not sure that they even serve rice and beans here!), been propositioned by an aggressive Guatemalan, and walked in circles. Although Antigua is built on a very practical grid system, most of the streets look the same and there are very few signs. It is amazing and beautiful to see the historic buildings and cobbled streets. My hostel is quiet, clean, and very nice. I met up with a girl today and we stopped [View Full Entry]

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BE SURE TO VIEW THE EXTRA PHOTOS ON THE BOTTOM OF THIS TEXT!! ************************************************ Today we woke up at 4am and by 5am we were out the door to pick up Lydia, Max and Ivy and head out to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 6:05am for our 6:30am domestic flight to Tikal. Much to our surprise, we were told that we couldn´t board the plane because they had closed the doors at 5:55am. We missed our flight by 10 minutes. Not a great start. After pondering our options, we were put on the 10am flight, so we had [View Full Entry]

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Sore. Very sore. That´s how Fabi and I woke up today from yesterday´s Pacaya climb. The kind of sore where it hurts to walk up or down stairs. The kind of sore where your body hurts in places you never knew could hurt. Fabi kept saying even her organs hurt. Needless to say, it was a good thing we decided to have today be an off day - a day to just stay home and chill and enjoy family time. And eat. A lot, I may add. Lydia, Max and Ivy hung out with Lydia´s family. My cousins made pepián today, [View Full Entry]

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The official name of the town I live in is Quetzaltenango. The quetzal is the state bird of Guatemala, and tenango simply means, “the place of”. Now, none of the locals call this city, dubbed the place of the Quetzal, Quetzaltenango. No, instead they call it Xela (pronounced Shay-la). Maybe this is because the town is 60% indigenous and Xela is the traditional Mayan name. Or maybe it is simply because Quetzaltenango is just too long of a word to say. Or, my favorite reason, maybe the human population in “the place of the Quetzal” has gotten so large that the [View Full Entry]

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My real reason for rushing back to Guatemala was the start of the Moon course in San Marcos La Laguna. Far more hippy and low-key than San Pedro, the lakeside lanes are home to crystal healers, massage therapists and herbal remedies as well as the locals selling fruit, veg and cake. The village is also home to a meditation and yoga centre called Las Pyramides; here I will make my home for a month and try to get to the bottom of who I really am. This is the objective of the Moon Course; to give you time, space and exercises [View Full Entry]

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BE SURE TO VIEW THE EXTRA 33 PHOTOS ON THE BOTTOM OF THIS TEXT!! ************************************************ We woke up at 4am and by 5am we were headed out the door to pick up Lydia, Max and Ivy, who were just as tired and exhausted as we were. Not a good way to start off such a physically challenging day. We arrived in Antigua at the O.X. offices and climbed into their van and made our way to the Pacaya Volcano, signing waivers of release in case we died or got injured. Nice. The van took us up the volcano up to a [View Full Entry]

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After a short mini bus ride back to Guatemala City, we jumped on to the bus to Flores, armed with jumpers in case it was cold. Unfortunately, jumpers weren´t enough and we found ourselves shivering in our seats and praying that the journey would go quickly. It wasn´t to be, and we arrived virtually sleepless in Flores early the next morning. As soon as we got off the bus, we were surrounded by taxi drivers offering to take us straight to the Tikal ruins. As we wanted to dump our stuff at a hostel and get a couple of hours rest [View Full Entry]

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