From Hostel to Home...Life in Guate

73.4

the forecast tells me that it's going to be 73.4 degrees tomorrow, however, on the top of the mountain where the school is located feels freezing! sitting out in the sunshine warms us right up and we feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful climate.

i started taking spanish classes which are great, but hard. i'm kicking myself for taking french in high school, not that i would know what i was doing in a french speaking country, but to at least have a base would help me out a bit.

christmas is in full affect in the city! lights, trees, wreaths, oh my! it's beautiful...

ben and i do have our picture for the card crafting, and i just need to find the time (and spanish) to get to the right place to print them. 

markets and beautiful children are two of my favorite things in guate, so here are a few snaps. maybe over the weekend i'll download an album from the lake.

much love from us, and cheers to making it to december.

cobble stone tuk tuk ride

join us on a tuk tuk ride in panajachel, lake atitlan...

lake atitlan

before i left on my journey to guate, my friend carrie and i were sitting around a pool in palm springs reminiscing of times that we had both traveled to guatemala and we struggled remembering the name of the famous lake in the country. we had both backpacked solo around the country at different times in our lives, yet we couldn't remember the name of that lake for the life of us. finally, carrie blurts out, "lake titicaca". it sounded familiar to me, so we went with it. we were wrong, it's lake atitlan and considered to be the heart of the world. the colegio maya team gathered together in santiago and spent a much needed long weekend out of the city. i promise to create a photo album when i'm not exhausted and waiting for amazing race to come on, but here is a taste of our adventures. this weekend will go down as one of the favorites living in guate. if we have any visitors, this would be on the places that would be worth going back and experiences again.

volcano san pedro (the view from the pool area at our hotel)

happy thanksgiving! ben taught the table his family toast and stood up and led it. "crumbs on tongues and sips on lips. wild adventures at home and on trips. a toast!" the food was amazing, and the company was perfect.

the markets are always full of beautiful children, and i think i'm going to start carrying around one quetzal to pay them for a photo shot

the path down to the pool at our hotel

a monkey!

zip-lining through the jungle!

we went horseback riding on this volcano (san pedro)

boat ride

much love from guate. feel free to leave us comments:)

 

happy thanksgiving

ben and i are off to lake atitlan for some quality time with friends for thanksgiving. santiago posada is the amazing hotel we've all booked rooms at, and this is where we will all sit down for a traditional thanksgiving meal. also on our agenda for the four day weekend is zip lining, monkeys, shopping, jumping in the lake, horseback riding, massage, pool time and possibly canoes. life doesn't get much better. pictures will be taken, so be sure to check back after the long weekend.

ben's family has a tradition of going around the table and describing (i think 3) things they feel thankful for. my three would be...

• the opportunity to live in guatemala and experience the culture
• ben having the opportunity to start his teaching career in guatemala
• and, the health of my family, especially my dad

cheesy, i know. but i really am thankful for those things at the moment and i feel like a lucky girl. it'll be hard to not be with my family for thanksgiving, but i am excited to experience such a great holiday with my new friends that are considered family at the moment. ben and i plan to take our "christmas card photos" at the lake and i will get busy making the cards when we get back. email me if you would like one and are not on the immediate family/friend list.

much love from guate. we'll be thinking of you all over the weekend (laying out in our bathing suits over looking the lake)

 

video on guatemala

gallo christmas tree lighting

christmas is a big deal here in guatemala, and last night, the city was in high spirits. ben and i met up with our friends to have some warm cocktails before walking down to the square. the "tree lighting" experience was much more than i had hoped for, and will go down as one of my favorite nights thus far in guate. because we were walking, we opted out of bringing our cameras, so this video isn't actually mine, but it gives you an idea of how exciting the night was.

 

children were bundled up as if it were winter, christmas music was playing throughout the streets, fireworks blasted right above our heads, street food, gallo beers, friends...it felt a lot like an ocean beach christmas parade night. i loved it. i love christmas! ben and i went out and bought supplies to make christmas cards, and this tree lighting night has gotten me in the holiday spirit. the weather was a warm 77 degrees today and yet chirstmas is in the air. much love from guate

Sumpango (guate)

ben and i were able to get out of the city yesterday and travel to sumpango to celebrate dia de los muertos, guatemala style. it was an amazing experience. families create these gigantic kites and put them on display for others to enjoy. the backs are large bamboo sticks and they are seriously massive, so one can only imagine if the kite dive bombs into the crowd. the wind wasn't that great, so we actually left the festival before the large kites flew, but they were pretty spectacular to see. the town was full of children flying kites and everyone seemed so happy and welcoming. the kites are flown to release the spirits of loved ones that have passed away, and typically they are flown over graveyards. it's amazing how other cultures celebrate death in a positive light. i created an album "sumpango (guate)" which is worth looking at for the time it took me to create it alone. here are a few of my favorite shots of the day...

i love this little boy

graves

the food

the kites

the view

there are many more pictures in the album on the left, so make sure to check it out!

and...here's a video i took of one of the poles going up that hold the kites into place. it gives you an idea of how intense these kites are.