Learning the Spanish alphabet

Two weeks ago we completes a week of Spanish school in Xela (pronounced Shela). The family we stayed with was so friendly and insisted on only speaking Spanish...all the time. I wasn't convinced that learning the alphabet with my maestra was the way to practice conversational Spanish but I was truly surprised at my improvement after I mastered the abc's. Our school was only a 10 minute walk and close to the central park, a perfect route to discover the city during the day.

Our madre Blanca cooked 3 meals a day for us, her husband Alejandro and her grand daughter Andrea. Oatmeal for breakfast, large portions of traditional Guatemalan dishes for lunch and light dinners. We saved the money we would otherwise spend on going out, food and drinks. Win, win!

Xela is a beautiful somewhat happening city. Much more is available here. I attended a yoga class, we got pedicures, went out for drinks and nice dinners with friends like Nick, Lindsay, Maya and Kris. There's even a man with a trolley filled with candy walking around central park. The pistachios never fail my tastebuds.

As someone told me "Guatemala is the land of close calls" with parts of the mountainous highways destroyed from deforestation, mudslides, bribing military and security officers, overpacked shuttle buses driving 100km/hour and much more. I've been impressed with what Guatemalans can do with so little though. From food to clothes to money. We saw a little boy tie a string in the handles of a plastic bag and run with it. A kite of some sorts. No G.I Joe. No toys. And he's perfectly happy.

So here's to living simply. May we all remember to enjoy the small things that bring us joy. And here's to Guatemala, for opening my eyes to new food, people, culture and beautiful landscapes.

See you in Mexico!

A week at the lake

San Pedro has been a week of fun. Surrounding Lake Atitlan are 12 Mayan villages including San Pedro known for an abundance in Spanish schools, funky bars, early morning treks to Indian Nose, fantastic organic coffee. We enjoyed our week of fun, sun, and drinks with friends from Canada visiting Guatemala. On our third day in, we all took a boat ride over to San Marcos. The waves were huge compared to the boat and I was holding onto my man for dear life. We finally made it to the cliff. It's a 7 meter jump into Lake Atitlan. I looked down from the drop my heart sank. No matter how calm I remained and thought positive thoughts, I couldn't find it in me to do it. I'm almost certain that had I been there alone in the early morning in silence I could have done it. Maybe next time!

Our evenings were filled with great food, cheap beer and fun bars. Even though reconnecting with my man was a priority after being apart for a year, it was fun to spend time with everyone together.

After my stomach flu, I bounced back just in time for the search for Maximon. The local deity Maximon (pronounced "Mashimon") also known as Saint Simon is portrayed as a small statue, funny mustached man with a panama hat no bigger and taller than me (5 feet tall). The whole experience was bizarre- we got off the boat, hired a local to walk us to the location of the statue as it travels from one home to another in Santiago. We walked through a narrow aisle in between homes until we reached our destination...there was no front door only a dark room with millions of candles, 2 shamans chanting and 5 locals gathered around Maximon crying and praying aloud. For a small fee you could purchase Quetzalteca, a local rum and a few cigarets as an offering to Maximon in exchange for a prayer. What he symbolizes still wasn't clear to is. But what I know for sure is that spirituality lives in everyone, everywhere.

Our early morning routine was my fave. A fresh smoothie at Señorita Annita's street stand was just the perfect start to the day. For 9 Quetzals, just under a dollar, you can order a combination of banana, orange, mango, carrot and beet mélange of goodness!

We're already in Xela gearing up for Spanish school. Stay tuned for another post!