http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Guatemala , Quetzaltenango en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:10:17 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:10:17 +0000 Quetzaltenango Guatemala a 31 de agosto del 2009.Saludos a todos y todasLa PRIMERA PARTE est en Frontera MxicoGuatemala. Tapachula y Tecn Umn....Quetzaltenango es la segunda ciudad ms grande de Guatemala. Tiene entre 15000 y 200000 almas las estadsticas no se ponen de acuerdo... Sin embargo nadie se refiere a la ciudad por ese nombre sino como Xela shela dado que este es http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-463390.html Hola todosUn Feliz Navidad y un prospero ao nuevoOndertussen 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 mn 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. D http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-461072.html Other Peoplersquos Stories 1Written Saturday November 7 2009Before I left for Guatemala one of the ideas I had was to everyday write down the tale of someone I met that day. It wasnrsquot 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-455668.html I Wish I Had another Plastic ChairI 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 donrsquot like sitting on the stools they are just not comfortable. Andhellipthose chairs and stools are spread out http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-447381.html Choco Crema de Man 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 volcanoformed mountain with naturallyheated saunas built into the ground in the middle of nowhere twice in th http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-446183.html 1 Hiking the bad ass way moonlight sunrises and early morning light2 San Salvador La Capital1 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 13845 feet. The key here is Midnight Full Moon hike which means starting at 12 midnight and hiking by moon light to see sunrise fro http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Volc%E1n-Tajamulco/blog-443843.html Heres my last update from Guatemala. Im in el salvador now but will tell of that next time1 Last weekend in Guatemala Carnivals Big dinners and Soccer Games2 Kids Day1 Last weekend in Guatemala Carnivals Big Dinners and Soccer GamesCarnivals 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 am http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-443841.html My New Best Friend or The Sexuality of Loneliness or Mom Dad or Sarita or Salsa Rosa or Adventures in San Pedro or Volcn Santa Mara and the MiradorSo I have seven ideas for blogs above are the titles. Some of them such as ldquoAdventures in San Pedrordquo ldquoSalsa Rosardquo or ldquoVolcn Santa Mara and the Miradorrdquo would mostly recount activities and events. ldquo http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-441920.html 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. Its the second largest town here with a paltry population of 125000 compared to the 7 million in Guatemala city I loved Xela its relaxed not very touristy has a strong student population and alot of music. The english spea http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-441605.html Hola erstmal. Sprachschule ist kurz gesagt cool aber anstrengen. Muss noch viel lernen aber es ist schon eine kleine Verbesserung erkennbar. Xela wird von Tag zu Tag cooler. Hat viele Parks kleine Restaurantes und Bars und vor allem gibts hier richtigen Kaffee....sonst hats bisher immer nur InstantBruehe gegeben. Schon komisch im Land wo der Kaffee waechst trinkt man InstantCoffee weil der mei http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Volcan-Santa-Maria/blog-439221.html 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. enjoyHeadlines1 30 min after take off i was where i was going. 2 Spanish Schoolhost family3 first weekend hiking the lagun and a wine in the book store adventure4 on my way again and everything else. 1 30 min. after takeoff I was where I was goingwe all travel for http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/blog-439153.html Flying on probably the safest day of the year. Hola At this moment I am in Guatemala. Yes I can hear you thinking a new continent every week Well it sure lookes like it. But probably I will stay for a while in Central America. In the late evening of the 10th of September I left San Fransisco and flew on the 11th of September into Guatemala Cityhellip.This is the second time I hear you thinki http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/blog-438037.html Nach einen kurzen Abstecher in Santiago ein weiters kleines Dorf am Lago sind wir nach Xela aufgebrochen. Dort haben wir durch Edgardo einem Freund den wir hier kennengelernt haben in einem aufgelassen SOSKinderdorf fuer 2 Tage schlafen koennen. Edguardo arbeitet naemlich fuer SOSKinderdorf. Es is echt extrem fein das wir einen guatemalteken als Freund hier haben weil der hat die connection http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-437497.html Quetzaltenango is the name of the town on the map but the locals call it Xela. This is going to be a long one guys...with lots of photos. Ive been here for a week and Im just now getting to the blogging. I have done so much this week so ill try to just hit the highlights. I met two awesome girls Sarah and Rachel on the chicken bus from San Pedro to Xela. They happened already know som http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-436534.html ldquoHow do I weave the ordinary into a story worth writing about worth readingrdquo This was the thought that ran through my head as I rode back on a chicken bus from Las Fuentes Georginas. Fuentes Georginas is a natural hot springs about fortyfive minutes outside of Xela. The water is heated by the volcano and a few pools of stone have been constructed around the fountainhead. To get ther http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-436378.html The official name of the town I live in is Quetzaltenango. The quetzal is the state bird of Guatemala and tenango simply means ldquothe place ofrdquo. Now none of the locals call this city dubbed the place of the Quetzal Quetzaltenango. No instead they call it Xela pronounced Shayla. Maybe this is because the town is 60 indigenous and Xela is the traditional Mayan name. Or maybe it i http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-434375.html Note to enlarge a photo simply click on itSanta Anita La Union Coffee FincaReference www.voiceofamountain.com and www.santaanitafinca.com. The first links to their documentary about the Guatemalan civil war their participation and their efforts to rebuild for the future of their communities and children. The documentary was shown at the Ventura Film Festival in our very own Ventura Califor http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Colomba/blog-430599.html I just had a great idea to start keeping a diary of the places that I have been. It all started with me coming here to Guatemala and how I never want to forget all the people that I have met and great things that I have seen. These things that I hold dearly to me. First of all even if you do not think you will visit any where at all GET YOUR PASSPORT Do not wait until the last moment like I di http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-429956.html 10.07.2009 Going out or notToday for the first time I didn't want to getting up. Not that I didn't feel like going to school. But I was just so so tired. Every single day here is so packed. I go to school I speak Spanish I meet new people I try new things... there are so many impressions to process and I never have time to myself to just sit down relax and think about the wonderful time I ha http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-428356.html 09.07.2009 Yoga and moreI spent another tough morning at school. One of todays activities consisted of a discussion about Pop Wuj which can sort of be considered the Mayan bible. The discussion took place in the morning during class time.Today I called my mom during the break. It was nice to talk to her although it was just for a few minutes. I told her how much I liked Guatemala and she reminded http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Quetzaltenango/Quetzaltenango-/blog-427697.html