Guatemala

Remember us saying something about a trip to Guatemala? And then never blogging about it? Well, here is the long overdue recap:

Our friend Ben was down for about two weeks in August, and he came to visit at a perfect time. In the first week of August, the nation’s teachers declared a strike which ended classes, and effectively destroyed all of our current projects in the process, or at least put them on hold until classes restarted. Nobody really knew when classes were going to resume, and there was wide speculation that the strike would last until the end of the school year in November. This also coincided with our need to shake things up a little, as we were both hitting a burnout stage in our work and desperately needed a change of scenery to recharge the batteries. Neither of us had left Vegas in months, and the strain was starting to show.

We decided to take some vacation time and to go visit neighboring Guatemala, and it was, in a word, fantastic. Perhaps it was the fact that we had been in Honduras for almost a solid year without leaving the country, and needed to get back to our travelin, ramblin´ways, perhaps it was presence of the predominant ethnic groups wearing traditional dress and speaking in indigenous tongues, perhaps it was the fact that you could buy beer in liters. Whatever it was, we instantly fell in love with Guatemala as soon as we crossed the border.

For the first part of our trip, we took Ben to visit the Mayan ruins at Copan which are in Honduras, but used to be the easternmost part of Guatemala prior to the area’s declaration as Honduran territory. These ruins were discovered after the border relocation; much to the chagrin of the Chapins (nickname for Guatemaltecans) I’m sure. Copan boasts lush green foliage combined with ancient dwellings, and scarlet macaws flying all over the place. From there we took a van to Antigua, Guatemala, a tourist hotspot for its European appearance, a result from Antigua’s importance as a colonial center during the Spanish involvement in Guatemala. Located in a deep valley surround by three volcanoes, the city and its surroundings are stunning, my like what we anticipated from Latin America before our arrival. We spent a couple days wandering the cobblestone streets, noshing on Antigua’s international cuisine, and browsing the many markets that offer hand-woven handicrafts, pottery, and woodcarvings. We also had the chance to go out and participate in some nightlife, which is usually impossible in our town which shuts down at nine. From Antigua, we took a little trip to Lago de Atitlán, a large lake surrounded by yet more volcanoes in the highlands. The lake is ringed by five villages, each with its own store of ethnic crafts and culture.

The most striking aspect of Guatemala was the people, who are extremely helpful, polite, and cheerful, and who are more laid back than most Hondurans. One would not expect to find such a drastic change in attitude, demeanor, and worldview less than hundreds of miles away from where we live, but the experience left a mark upon us displaying the true influence of indigenous culture upon a group of people. The interactions that I hoped to make while in Central America have occurred more in Guatemala thus far than in Honduras. We can’t wait to get back, hopefully soon.

The first day that we got back from Guatemala and back to Las Vegas (after 15 straight hours of bus travel) somebody broke into our house and robbed us. We assume that they broke in looking for Ben’s camera, (which was pretty spiffy) and in the process stole our cell phone, crystal’s camera, and my shoes. As anyone who has gone through this can contest, we felt violated and upset, as well as disappointed. However, these things happen, and there is not a whole lot that can now be done about it now. As a result, we have switched houses for the third time, and we now reside in a much more secure house in a better part of town. After the break-in, we took a quick trip to the north coast of Honduras, where Ben got to log in some beach and jungle time on the beaches of Tela. A couple days later Ben was back in Minnesota and with the end of the teacher´s strike we were back to work.