Peacefulpig

Long time, sorry, and a long, long, long story. See, as sad as I was to say my goodbyes to the little ones, I had been masticating my nails to oblivion in anticipation of two weeks of pure relaxation, with only a few English classes (paid, with adults, the best kind) a day as any sort of freetime-breaker. I had big plans, I did--hiking around town, stretching out under the sun in the Parque Central, cooking, what have you. It was the thought of this copious luxury of time that carried me through the final, often toilsome weeks of class. And then, not a few days into my first week of awesome fun time, my stomach was all like, "So, it's free time you want? Something you haven't had a lot of since you arrived? Time ... read more

Some people are just not satisfied with what the ordinary and sane have to offer Xela: salsa lessons, both the kind that you cough up a Quetzal for and the free kind taught by eager young local "teachers,"the buoyant Pasaje Enrriquez with its endless number of drinking and fry-eating alternatives; creamy, melty, seratonin-augmenting Dona Pancha hot chocolate. No, good food and company isn't enough: some people need the thrill of the unkown, the unwelcome, that which will leave them scared s!%tless. And Xela really does have something for everyone. As with many places in Guatemala, Xela´s long and at times chilling history has left a legacy of haunted areas. Adventure junkies, please read on for some of the most bewitched areas in the fair town. 1. The cemetery. Yeah, I know, how obvious--a haunted cementery. It´s ... read more

Well, howdy there. Welcome to Holy Week in Guatemala, land of the giant purple Virgin Marys and the little girls dressed up in what appears to be bridal costumes. Truly, Ive never spent Easter in a counry quite as traditionally Catholic as Guatemala, and it appears that it will be quite awesome. So, a note on the endlessly entertaining subject of travel: everyone has their own reasons for obsession. Some people travel for the natures highs they get while scaling the tallest volcanoes in the land. Others flock to the markets of the most sensory-overloading kind, all for the joy of finding that one right placemat set. And yet others seem hell bent on visiting every museum in every country, regardless of historical significance. Me, I like food. Guatemala, to be fair, is not known as ... read more

Had another cooking class with the niños and...so far...fingers crossed...not bowing before the omnipotence of Cipro. So yay. So, what did we cook this time? Granizadas, which is basically a snow cone usually topped with grenadine, canned fruit which must have been stewed by a seven-year-old because it tasted more like sugar than anything resembling a substance with vitamins, and condensed milk. Although the cooking classes are usually a hectic affair, after having heard the aforementioned description, I decided that fulfilling my sugar addiction was more important than safeguarding my sanity. All the while as I hacked at a giant block of ice with a machete alongside the kids (that´s right. Sharp, pointy, perilous objects are barely given a second glance here. Dang.), I dreamed about that first taste of syrup so sweet and yet so ... read more

Not really an erudite observation of Central American culture, but funny to me nonetheless... Although Quetzaltenango is not overrun with foreigners, you do see your fair share. We tend to congregate around such cocktail-dispensing destinations as the La Rumba, a salsa club which offers free lessons at 10 pm on Fridays, and whose ambiance is pretty bouncy at all times. Although I wouldn´t go as far as to say that you´ll find an international cross-section of dancers rivaling the United Nations pretending to know anything about the machata, you´ll get the feel for NATO at least. One of the more entertaining experiences I´ve had at such places involve the good-ol´nationality guessing game. For some reason incomprehensible even to me, no one, and I mean no one, ever guesses that I´m American, even other Americans. Perhaps this ... read more