Guatemala

A few days after school ended, Jordan and I took a trip to Guatemala. We flew into Guatemala City and stayed there for one night. The next morning we took a shuttle to Lake Atitlan. We stayed in a lakeside village called San Marcos La Laguna which is reachable by boat.




In San Marcos we stayed at a beautiful small hotel right on the water. It had a small beach, good food and a beautiful view. It was a little outside of the village itself, which is divided by a road into the local section and the foreigner section. Closest to the lake is where all the hotels and restaurants are. The town is really nothing more than a series of foot paths winding between buildings and trees. It was hippie heaven with holistic centers (where you could have your aura read or be healed by crystals), vegetarian restaurants and small stores selling local produce.





After a few days of relaxing and reading, we headed back to Panajachel, which is the main town on the lake. We took the chicken buses from Pana to Chichicastenango (Chichi) to go the world-famous market. The chicken buses are the local buses that got their names from the birds people bring onto the bus with them. The buses (we had to take three) were an experience in itself seeing as we loaded from the front and the back (with the door being shut and pushing on my rear end), had interesting seatmates, and got up close and personal with the locals.




After about two hours, we finally arrived in the busy city of Chichi for market day. It was the best market of the year because they were celebrating their local patron saint. There were dancers and musicians everywhere. Sometime during the craziness, Jordan had his wallet stolen. This really sucked because we had talked about precautions before leaving and he had his wallet in his front pocket. Apparently that wasn't enough. Everything is okay, though. They only stole a little cash and a card that was canceled before they tried anything.

The market was beautiful and alive with action and colors. You could by just about anything there including textiles, wood carvings and embroidery.



After Chichi we spent the day in Pana looking at the stores and stands. There was a really cool bookstore where we bought new (used) books to read. We've been reading whatever we can get from my school lately so it was nice to have books that we picked out.

We then moved on to Antigua, which is a beautiful, colonial town like Granada. It is surrounded by three volcanoes, one of which is active. We spent several days just walking around town and seeing everything. There were lots of cool stores and restaurants to see. We met up with friends from Heredia and had a fun night complete with salsa dancing and alcohol smuggling.




In Antigua we also went on a coffee plantation tour. Margarita showed use here coffee farm and processing building. It was an awesome tour and a great way to learn about coffee.



We tried to attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve but it apparently isn't at midnight because everything was all closed up when we go there. We did see all the fireworks in town, though. That was fun!

On Christmas day we took a shuttle back to Guatemala City where we proceeded to spend Christmas day laying on the bed watching cable (which we haven't had for a while) because nothing is open in the city on the 25th. We did get to order a pizza later in the day and we watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas in honor of the holiday. That was about as Christmas-y as it got, though.

Our flight back went though Honduras, which was cool to see. We didn't get off the plane, but the landscape looked a lot like Costa Rica. And now, after 4 loads of laundry, we are back and ready to welcome my mom and Frank tomorrow afternoon.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed the snow, if that applies to you. :)

As Santa said in Antigua, "Jo, jo, jo, Feliiiiiiz Naaaavidaaaad!"

Birthday and Thanksgiving

For my birthday this year the school already had something planned. It was nice to be with all the fellow teachers without all the pressure of the party being for me. We went to a Lebanese restaurant in San Jose with whole staff as a going-away thing. The food was really good and it had good ambiance with tapestry and candles. Good times! I don't have any pictures of that, but I do have a picture of the fabulous carrot cake Jordan made me for my birthday. It was so huge I took some to school to share and it got so much talk it was eventually called "the carrot cake".



Thanksgiving is another US holiday that we shared with our students. Each class discussed Thanksgiving and brought a dish to share for the day. Each teacher also brought a dish. On Thanksgiving day, Jordan and I (well, mostly Jordan) cooked a turkey. The turkey turned out really well! We also heated the rest of the dishes and had it all ready for the dinner that night.
We had quite a spread! Turkey (and chicken), potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, veggies, salad, bread and dessert. Mmm...




It was nice to share the day with other Americans (and a few Canadians and a Brit, too). It didn't really feel like Thanksgiving, though. It was a regular work day and it was sunny so it felt more like a random feast a school that we called Thanksgiving.

In other news, we have moved. We are now living in the house of a fellow English teacher. He, his brother and mother are Colombia and have extra rooms that they rent to people. They often have students who are studying at Intercultura or other teachers. Another Tica and a Panamanian woman live here as well. Its nice to be close, 1/2 block from the school, and not have the mold around anymore. Being in the green and fresh air was nice, but I like it here a lot more.

Market and Pupusas

I know I have talked about the market before, but now I have a picture of it! Its our favorite thing to do on Saturday morning. Now, we have discovered a wonderful new market treat- pupusas! They are actually food from El Salvador, but are available here. Pupusas are kind of a pita pocket made of cornmeal with meat and cabbage and salsa inside. They are so yummy!


You can get everything from produce to meat and eggs to clothes, electronics and shoes at the market. It opens really early in the morning, maybe 5 or 6, but we usually go about 9. We're not crazy like that!

Halloween

For Halloween at the school all the teachers dress up and we have a ton of activities for the students. Halloween is not celebrated in Costa Rica so its a good cultural learning day. A lot of students don't know what Halloween is or don't know the customs in the US. So, we read Edgar Allan Poe, played guess the slimy thing in the bag, talked about Halloween vocabulary and danced the Thriller. Each session ended with the hitting of pinata- which was very fun.




Jordan and I were at the door greeting people and helping with the raffle. We dressed up as Dorthy and The Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.


After the fun at school all the teachers and a bunch of friends headed up to a friend's cabin on the mountain and continued the party. We had a lot of fun celebrating our American holiday together.