Home is where the heart is

It feels good to be back in California, although I'm just now starting to realise how much I miss certain things about living in Guatemala. This photograph on the left shows a typical Guatemalan market, baskets filled to the brim with some of the nicest quality vegetables and for prices you wouldn't believe. And even when they try to charge you the equivalent of $.25, you can still manage to bargain down to $.10 for a yummy avocado or a bunch of bananas.

But here I am anyway, back in the US, and the reality of life here is starting to set in. Gas prices are out of control at $3.35/gallon, and to top it all off, my car broke down over the weekend needing a new radiator and cooling system before I could get back on the road again.

I am happy to be here though, and right now I'm just taking things day by day, figuring out where to go from here, and what my next step is.

The photo album from my trip in Central America is finally online. You can also find it by clicking on the photo above.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to check in on me here while I was away. I always appreciate your comments and encouragements throughout my journey.
And big thanks to all those I met along the way! Stay in touch, and maybe we'll run into each other again in some other part of the world.

Muchas gracias amigos!

Time's almost up!

Well, my time here in Guatemala is quickly coming to a close. After much deliberation, I decided to actually come back to California. There was a possibility that I might stay here for awhile longer, but I think I´m ready to go after all.

I have been working at a cafe in Xela called El Cuartito. It`s a little coffee shop/bar with live music on the weekends. I really enjoy working there, the owners are super cool. It`s a fun job, making very negligible money (40Q in four hours or less than $7 a shift). But it was a great way to meet people and pass the time away making hot chocolates and capaccinos while watching the world cup games in the afternoons!

I really will miss all my new friends at the Yoga House. It`s been nice living in a community of like-minded folks, cooking our meals together, taking day trips to local hot springs, and walks through town for bake shop goodies.

I feel like I`ve learned a lot in my time here in Guatemala... from Spanish lessons to arts and crafts to world politics and scuba diving. It`s been a great experience, and now I`m ready for summer in California!

Plus, High Sierra`s right around the corner, how could I miss my favorite summer music festival with all my favorite people?! See you all real soon!

Rainy days in Xela

I´m living in Quezaltenango (aka Xela, pronounced shay-la) these days at the Yoga House with my friends Rob and Carley as well as about 6 other folks from all over the world. There are yoga classes every day at the house, and it´s been an interesting experience living there with everyone so far. But you know, that´s life, living and learning about people and interactions and relationships. I´m happy to be there and I´m having a great time in Xela.

I´m also back to studying Spanish in the mornings. At this point though, I don´t know how much progress I´m making. I feel like I reached the peak of my learning curve already, and now it´s feeling a bit frustrating and tedious.

Furthermore, I started volunteering at a center for domestic violence. It´s heartbreaking on a daily basis. The place is a shelter for women and a daycare for children who have suffered abuse at home. The children are truly sweet, and it amazes me how people are able to cope with such dire circumstances. I´m constantly impressed with how resilient and adaptable the kids are. The shelter itself is absolutely pitiful. Their so-called ¨classroom¨ has a few books that no one can actually access without a key, rarely are their pencils, and it´s impossible to find blank paper. However, it´s a real opportunity for me to take some responsibility and initiative for coming up with activities for the children, and it´s a great chance to practice my Spanish. Kids really are the best teachers.

In other news, my dad has been in the hospital now for over two weeks after suffering a severe head injury. He´s apparently doing a lot better these last couple of days, although I´m still quite worried about the situation. He´s on the road to recovery, and I plan to make a trip back to Texas when I return to the states this summer.

For now, I´m going to enjoy my time left here in Guatemala. It´s mostly been rainy and cold here in Xela. In fact, last weekend, there was so much rain that the main highway in Guatemala had a major mudslide and has been closed. The pictures I´ve seen are incredible, it makes me wonder if the whole country might just eventually fall into the ocean. It´s funny to be in Central America during the summer and always need to wear sweaters and carry an umbrella. So yeah, that´s the update today.

Life continues to move forward. Sometimes there are ups, other times there are downs, but I´m grateful for it all, and learning all the time to appreciate every moment, every new friend, every bite of mango....

¡Que linda!

I haven´t been anywhere near a computer for days and days. I´ve been deep in the jungle in northern Guatemala and then hanging out near caves and waterfalls in central Guatemala and on dirt roads in the mountains in western Guatemala....

After leaving Caye Caulker, Belize (I´ll leave out the seasick diving story for now, but remind me to share that one with you), I headed west to Tikal, the most significant city in the ancient Mayan world. I arrived in the afternoon and rented a hammock near the entrance to the ruins. Sleeping in a hammock in the jungle with the howler monkeys screaming nearby and all the sounds of the jungle surrounding me was an experience in itself. At 4 am, our guide came to wake us up so we could hike to the top of one of the temples to watch the sunrise and listen to the jungle come alive as the sun brightened the sky. It was eerie and absolutely surreal. From the top of the temple the shapes of the temples and the magnitude of Tikal became apparent. It was most impressive with the occasional toucan stopping for a break on one of the massive trees dripping with moss and the spider monkeys hanging from the branches nearby. Hiking around the ruins and climbing to the tops of the pyramids for panaramic views of the jungle all around, I felt as if I had entered another world and can only imagine what it must have been like for the Mayans 2600 years ago.

After exploring the ruins in the morning and before it got too hot, I left Tikal and headed south towards Cobán and Semuc Champay. I was feeling weary from travel, but had found a group of people traveling the same way, so we kept going. After a long day in a van, we finally all ended up at a lodge on the river near the entrance to Semuc Champay.

I spent the afternoon jumping from the rope swing and swimming in the river, and the next morning woke up to share the sunrise with some friends on a hike towards the waterfalls at the bottom of the pools. I swam underneath the waterfalls to a cave where I let the water and the mist cover my face. Amazing!!

Afterwards, I took a trip into a cave. At the entrance, our guide gave us a candle, and into the depths of the earth we went. It quickly became pitch black except for the light of our candles, then as we hiked further in, there were points in the cave where we were forced to jump in the water and swim across holding our candles above water so we could still see where we were going. After an hour or so, we turned around.... apparently these caves were recently discovered and have not yet been completely explored. We weren´t inside for long, but our guide claims to have gone into the cave for 8 hours before turning back. Crazy!
When we finally reached the entry to the cave, coming out into the daylight was a spiritual experience in itself. Hallelujah!

Later that same afternoon, I went into the park at Semuc Champay. I think Semuc Champay is one of the most scenic beautifully incredible settings I´ve ever seen. Caves and waterfalls and pools of crystal clear water surrounded by the jungle with bright blue butterflies and.... it´s just to good to be true. I can´t describe it.... and I won´t even be able to share pictures of it because my camera ran out of memory before I had a chance to try to photograph it. Not that a photo could ever capture the beauty of this place. I swam in one pool and then another and then another. Totally unbelievable really. I very highly recommend this spot to anyone traveling in Guatemala.

I left Semuc Champay yesterday morning, in an adventure to explore Guatemala a bit off the beaten path. I headed west into the mountains with a group I had met in Tikal. We ended up on local buses on dirt roads through small mountain villages... one bus was so full that it couldn´t make it up the hills, so a dozen or so people would hop off and run to the top of the hill so we could keep going.
A trip which should have probably only taken maybe 8 hours or so, ended up being an all day event on dirt roads in a most amazing countryside of lush mountains and tiny villages (from 5am until 8pm). We finally made it most of the way but stopped to rest in Huehuetenango before the final leg of the trip to Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela), where I´m heading this afternoon.

Looking forward to landing in one place and sticking around for awhile. I wonder what adventures Xela has in store for me....

Thanks for reading! Lots of love!

Greetings from Belize!

So much has happened since the last time I wrote here, I'm not even sure where to begin. Right now I'm in Caye Caulker, an island off the northern coast of Belize. It's funny because I wasn't originally intending on coming this far into Belize, but plans change like the wind, and here I am.

I spent a week on a 46 foot catamaran on the Rio Dulce in southern Guatemala, on Lago Izabel, and then on to the Caribbean Sea off the southern coast of Belize. The group on the boat turned out to be a fun and interesting collection of people. Of the 12 of us, eight countries were represented. (France, Argentina, Spain, Switzerland, Slovenia, Germany, Canada, and the US). It felt like such an adventure, sailing along with water in every direction for as far as you could see. Sometimes we'd stop close enough to a seemingly deserted island, and spend the day near the Barrier Reef swimming and snorkeling with manta rays and tiger sharks right under the boat. And barricudas... How could I forget the barricudas!

After getting off the boat, half of us in the group decided to spend a couple of nights at the Finca Tatin just off the Rio Dulce. It was a sweet little lodge set in the jungle where you could jump from a rope swing into the river or take a kayak and explore the surrounding areas. It was a nice way to relax after relaxing for a week on a sailboat.

One disappointment was that our sailboating trip was supposed to bring us diving, but that didn't end up working out for one reason or another. As much as I had a great time on the Las Sirenas sailboat, I think they weren't very honest with us about certain things (including their border crossing procedures, which nearly caused me a serious fine). While I would definitely recommend a sailing trip to anyone considering it, I would think twice about recommending the Las Sirenas (John Clarke's boat which is advertised in the Rough Guide, the Lonely Planet, and on flyers all over the country).

I decided to come back to Belize, so I could actually arrange some scuba diving. I just spent the last couple of days in Placencia, a beautiful little town in southern Belize. It was an interesting experience being there, even for such a short time. Last night there was a huge fire that burned many homes and businesses only maybe a block from my hotel. I sat on the porch at my hotel with some new friends and we watched the fire burn while we waited and hoped that the wind wouldn't change in our direction. As far as I know no one was hurt, but it was surely a tragedy.

This morning I left Placencia on a plane, it was great to travel so quickly and also to be able to see the reef from above. Hopefully I'll be going to dive in the amazing crystal clear water tomorrow morning, and then I intend on heading back to Guatemala to visit Tikal.

back in Guatemala

What a day this has been. Never a dull moment, let me tell ya....

It all started this morning when I caught the boat leaving the island of Utila. It's a two hour ride to the north coast of Honduras, where I got off in La Ceiba. From there, I caught a taxi to the bus station. At the bus station, I caught a two hour bus to San Pedro Sula. From San Pedro Sula, I needed to take a taxi to another bus station where there was a colectivo to Puerto Cortes. I had to hop off of the colectivo in the middle of the highway to catch a chicken bus to the border town of Corinto. Here I got my passport stamped out of Honduras, then caught another colectivo into Guatemala. After being stopped twice for identification checks by the police, I got my passport stamped into Guatemala in Entre Rios. The colectivo continued on, until at a point where the road forked, I had to get off the bus once again, in a place where there was little more than a woman selling mangos and pineapples to catch yet another colectivo onto the Rio Dulce. This was by far the most exciting ride, seeing as how I was almost there (after one boat, two taxis, six colectivos, and a chicken bus). But also since the colectivo which is designed to fit maybe 12 people total, in reality was carrying maybe 38 by my best estimate. I literally had to hang on to the front seat while standing in the open doorway. Yeah, so anyway, I'm here now. After 13 hours. What a trip!


About Utila though... I had such an amazing time there. I'm now officially a certified scuba diver. I took four dives in total. Three times we went down to 40 feet, and once down to 60 feet. It was absolutely amazing. I saw some of the wildest fish with the most beautiful colors. And thanks to my awesome dive buddy, Danielle, I was able to see a green moray eel on my second dive and also a spotted moray on my third, both hanging out chilling in caves. Not to mention all the coral, and yeah, I'm in love with diving.

There's more to tell, but I'm exhausted from just about the longest day ever. Tomorrow I'm starting a sailboating trip to Belize. I won't have access to a computer for probably about a week until I return. I'm super excited! We're going north on the Rio Dulce, stopping in Livingston, and then heading to Belize where I'll get to DIVE!!

¡saludos de Honduras!

Another stamp has been added to my passport, as I crossed the border from Guatemala into Honduras near Copàn Ruinas. I spent a couple of days in Copàn, visited the Mayan ruins, checked out the amazing hieroglyphic stairway, saw some interesting glyphs, nearly died from the heat and humidity.

I actually couldn´t wait to get away from Copàn. The heat was suffocating. So I got on a bus yesterday morning, and headed toward the Caribbean. The best part of the trip was the boat ride from La Ceiba, Honduras (after spending a shocking 420 Lempiras), heading north to Utila, where the massive waves caused all 50 or so people who decided to sit in the open air on top of the boat to be entirely drenched by the time we arrived.


Now today I´m on an island in the Caribbean Sea just north off the coast of Honduras. Utila is probably the cheapest place in the world to get certified as a scuba diver. So today, I start the four day course. I´m excited for this new adventure. I´m feeling a bit rushed though, ´cause I made some really amazing plans for next week. I try not to make too many plans, but this was something I couldn´t pass up.... I´ll share more details soon!

La Luna Llena y Semana Santa

My time on Lake Atitlan is coming to an end. This is my last weekend in San Pedro la Laguna. I´ve studied Spanish pretty consistently for over five weeks now for a little over 100 hours. I can honestly say my Spanish has improved quite a bit. It´s still difficult to speak using all the correct grammar, but I´m able to hold pretty decent conversations with people which is pretty exciting for me, and definitely fun to practice. It´s also great when people don´t realise I understand what they´re saying right in front of me....


This past Thursday night, there was a party for the full moon (la luna llena) at an amazingly beautiful secluded location on the lake. Arriving at a party after a 45 minute boat ride, stepping off the boat onto a beach with the full moon reflecting on the water, and two stages of music with black lights and trance music emanating from the woods was an astonishingly surreal scene. Then watching the sun rise directly over the mountains across the lake after dancing (and hula hooping) all night is a memory that will surely last a lifetime.

I managed to make it back to San Pedro Friday morning just in time for a special religious procession in town. This past week leading up to Easter Sunday (aka the Resurrection of Christ) is Semana Santa (Holy Week). In Guatemala, Semana Santa is a huge deal with processions sometimes two or three times a day. The people carry huge representations of Christ carrying the cross on their backs through the streets. It´s a laborious display of love and devotion, which has made quite an impression on me. Yesterday morning in the streets surrounding the Catholic church in San Pedro, the local people spent hours decorating the streets with ¨alfombras¨ (carpets) made from flowers, fruits, vegetables, and sawdust of every color.


Each ¨carpet¨ was unique, some with amazingly intricate design and the brightest of colors. It was truly beautiful and went on for blocks and blocks. When the procession began, the people carrying Jesus on their backs walked through the streets over their freshly made carpets, yet another display of the temporary nature of life and art.

I leave for Honduras on Monday. I plan to make a quick stop in Antigua before heading on to Copán, where I will visit my first Mayan ruins. It´s about a 9 hour bus ride altogether from the lake. I´m looking forward to having a new stamp in my passport.
I will definitely miss this lake though. It´s been home for me for over a month. I´ve made some good friends here in town. And I´ll miss my room at the Buenas Nuevas with a view of the lake and the nice kitchen on the roof. I´ll also miss the endless availability of ¨pan.¨ Pan de canela, pan de piña, pan de chocolate, pan de banana. ¿Quiere pan?

Los AtrapaSueños

Since I´ve been in San Pedro, I´ve noticed these amazing dreamcatchers everywhere. They´re in all of the hotels, the restaurants, the schools, hanging from the trees on the street. They´re really interesting, unique dreamcatchers, three dimensional with different shapes and colors and sizes.

I have been asking around town, trying to find out who makes the beautiful dreamcatchers (or in español, ¨los atrapasueños¨). I had told a few people I was looking for the guy who makes them, who I found out is named Alejandro, and I knew eventually I´d meet him. It´s a small town, one way or another you meet everyone you´re looking for if you´re here long enough.

Today, as I was leaving Spanish class, a guy was sitting on the curb right outside my school... he had a couple of dreamcatchers and feathers and string and beads... I say to him, you must be Alejandro, and I tell him I´ve been looking for him because I want to learn the craft. He tells me he didn´t know why he decided to sit in front of the school that day, but that some energy caused him to stop there. Interesting, I think... some force brought us together today, and tomorrow I will learn how to make dreamcatchers. Alejandro learned from his father, who happens to be a local Mayan shaman.

I´m enjoying my time here in San Pedro. Interesting encounters such as these don´t happen just anywhere.

Buena Vista de Corazon

Over the weekend, I decided to take a trip back to Antigua to see some live music. There aren´t too many opportunities to see good live music here in Guatemala. Also, my friends Rob and Carley were making the trip from Xela, so I thought it´d be fun to meet up with them for the show.

First on stage was a group from Livingston, Guatemala called the Jovenes Garifunas. They´re a Carribean band with unique instruments like the ¨tortugas¨, drums made from tortoise shells, and conch shell horns. The music was lively, like what you might expect from the Carribean with drumming, chanting, and full figured women on stage shaking their booties. Good times!

Next up was Sol Latino, a band from the Andes. Their music made me nostalgic for Peru with the sound of the pan pipes and their colorful alpaca shawls. It wasn´t too interesting of a set though. I was ready to hear some Cuban salsa.

The main act was a Cuban band formed from some of the remaining members of the Buena Vista Social Club along with other musicians. The music was really great. And occasionally they would have these amazingly gorgeous salsa dancers on stage. Once the VIP seats were overtaken in favor of dance space, the show got to be a lot more interesting with everyone dancing in front of the stage. It was a fun show, and the night ended with a fireworks display that would put 4th of July in the U.S to shame.

I think Rob and Carley would agree with me on this. The night of live music and dancing under the stars in Antigua was ¨muy especial.¨

Muy especial.

Then Sunday, we hit the road back toward San Pedro la Laguna, stopping along the way for fantastic views of Lago de Atitlan from the highway.
Today I´m back to my studies in Spanish. I also decided to move into a new hotel with a bigger room, a better kitchen, and a view of the lake for the same price as I was paying before (Q 20/night). What a deal. I intend on staying in San Pedro for at least three more weeks, although anything could happen. ;-)

San Pedro la Laguna

I decided to move over the weekend to a little town called San Pedro La Laguna on Lago de Atitlan. As much as I loved it in San Marcos, it wasn't quite what I had in mind for my trip to Guatemala. So here I am in a new town, where I'm just starting to feel settled.

In fact, it looks as if I'll be here for at least a month. I got a great deal on a room in a cute hostel. I mean, you can't really beat Q450 for a month of lodging. (That translates to about $60) The room is fairly basic, and the bed is really just a foam slab on a board. The hammock on my front porch and the cat that likes to curl up in my lap while I read make the place quite tolerable though. There's even hot water in the shower sometimes. Plus it's a great location, not too far from any of the fun night time activity in town, and the restaurant across the road has an awesome view of the lake.

I started Spanish classes again this morning. I'm not sure how productive the class was today though. Sometimes I would rather just have a conversation than try to suffer through the grammar. It was an interesting conversation though. The history of Guatemala is so tragic, you can see how it affects people to discuss the topic. Tomorrow I'll try to actually learn something about the language.

San Marcos la Laguna

Oh, how I love San Marcos la Laguna! This is the kinda place I could hang for the rest of my life, staring at the lake, drinking limonada, chatting with beautiful people from foreign lands. This morning I woke up for yoga class held in a pyramid. Then I headed to a cafe with awesome coffee made from local beans overlooking the lake with hummingbirds and butterflies flitting about.

Other than the scenery, it´s a little hard to believe I´m actually in Guatemala. I´m not sure how I´ll ever learn Spanish here, considering everyone here speaks English. Occasionally I will meet people who are willing to try to suffer through my Spanish to practice conversation, but when you both speak well enough in English, it´s hard to be very disciplined about it. Still though, I am improving day by day. I´ll start class again next Monday in San Pedro la Laguna. I´m thinking I might live in San Marcos for awhile, and study in San Pedro, which is apparently a 15 minute boat ride away.

Tonight there´s a party to celebrate the full moon. Looking forward to meeting some more of the local gringos in town... think I´ll bring my hula hoop along. ;-)

fun in the sun

Monterrico turned out to be the perfect weekend getaway from Antigua. It was definitely fun being a beach bum for a couple of days sunbathing and stargazing on the warm black sand. The bus dropped us off right in front of Johnny´s Place, a cool little beach hostel with a beachside bar serving up pina coladas and yummy fresh guacamole. I stayed in a dormitory style bungalow (Q45) with ocean views. The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore filled my dreams.

On Saturday morning, me and two of my new friends signed up for a sunrise boat ride (Q50) into the nearby mangrove reserve. We woke up at 5am to head to the dock and into this beautiful area where we watched the sky change colors as the sun came up, surrounded by dozens of species of birds. There were the strangest fish with four eyes that would literally fly through the air above the water ahead of us. It was all really amazing. And by 9am, I was back asleep in a hammock, and being served pina coladas by noon. Ahhhhh...

Now I´m in Panajachel on the edge of Lago de Atitlan. I´ve only just arrived, and so far haven´t seen much. The lake is amazingly beautiful with volcanos all around. I plan to take care of laundry and money stuff before heading onto San Marcos tomorrow morning. I also hope to download some photos soon.

sonrisas en Guatemala

I´ve really only been in Antigua since I´ve been in Guatemala. Other than the short trip to Volcan de Pacaya, I haven´t seen much of the country yet. Antigua is an attractive little city. There´s not much poverty and suffering here on the surface.

But occasionally I hear stories and see things that change my perspective on the true story behind Guatemala... like about the hundreds of children who live off of the scraps of food they´re able to find in the Guatemala City garbage dump. I´ve met people who have given up everything in their lives at home to come here to help make a difference in the lives of those who are suffering. I´m enjoying my time here in Antigua because of all the interesting people here studying Spanish. Most of whom came here to learn Spanish for such altruistic reasons. I´ve been feeling really inspired to do good in the world. I´m looking into volunteer opportunities around the area. Yesterday, I visited a local orphanage filled with kids in really difficult circumstances both mentally and physically disabled. It was truly heartbreaking. It´s amazing how much difference it makes to them when you spend even just a few minutes playing or just holding their hands.

Yes, I feel so appreciative of my life, and will never let myself take what I´ve been given for granted, especially when there are those with so little who can still find it in themselves to smile and laugh.

I´m leaving Antigua today. I plan to spend the weekend in a little beach town on the Pacific Coast (sounds a bit familiar, eh?). The town is Monterrico, and it´s apparently one of the places the sea turtles come to lay their eggs. This isn´t really the season, but who knows, maybe I´ll be lucky and spot a sea turtle while I´m there.

I´ll return to Antigua Saturday evening for a chance to say adios to mi familia, and then I´m heading to Panajachel on Lago Atitlan Sunday morning. Just checkin´ in here... love to you, mi familia de mi corazon.

Hola mi familia! Adios mi amiga!

I moved in with mi familia yesterday morning. Anabella and Cesar have two teenagers and two parakeets. The house is quite nice. In fact, I believe this would be the nicest accomodation I´ve ever had in Latin America, by far, complete with clean sheets and hot running water. It´s a bit strange though, living in someone else´s home, although they´re quite used to having Spanish students living with them. The teenagers aren´t too interested in chatting with me, not surprisingly. I did manage to have a nice conversation with Cesar over dinner last night. My grammar and pronunciation could definitely use some work. He was very patient with me though. They´re very nice people, and it should be an interesting week attempting conversation with them.

My friend Nicola took off toward Lago de Atitlan this morning. Since the day after I arrived, she´s been my travel companion here in Antigua. We enjoyed lazy afternoons drinking cappucinos while watching the world go by. One day, we indulged ourselves in an entire loaf of fresh hot baked banana bread simply because our noses led us to the bakery. Occasionally, we would get ourselves randomly lost in the cobblestoned streets. And we were nearly tempted into late night "candy floss" and costume parties in sketchy neighborhoods. It was fun getting to know her and giggling the afternoons away together.

Now I´m on my own here, and I realise there´s not much to do in Antigua. Life is slow-going and relaxed. Wandering aimlessly is the way of life, and I could probably get used to it. I hope to meet some new friends here soon.

First days of escuela en espanol

I started Spanish school yesterday morning here in Antigua. Tomorrow I will be moving in with mi familia. I met mi madre, Annabella, briefly this morning, and she seems really sweet.

In school, so far, I've just been mostly going over the basics.  I'm feeling frustrated though. I can understand pretty well when I see things written down, but my listening comprehension is not so good. I guess it just takes time and practice. I'm feeling a little discouraged though after eight hours of instruction.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to a nearby active volcano (Volcan de Pacaya) for a hike (Q70). It was more challenging than I expected, and I didn't quite make it to the top. However, I was close enough to see rocks and dust spewing from the top. Pretty cool! There was an amazing sunset on the hike back down. Then when the sun had set, it was dark enough you could literally see red and orangish lava shooting out of the volcano. Que bueno!!

More adventures coming soon!

¡saludos de Guatemala!

¡Hola mis amigos!

I wanted to let anyone who´s reading know that I arrived in Guatemala safely earlier today. I´m currently in Antigua, a colorful little town with cobblestone streets and beautiful colonial architecture. The scenery with the volcanos in the background is magnificent.

Already I´ve met up with several other travelers.  I´m staying at a cute, albeit, simple hostel (Q25) with a courtyard and a shared kitchen where people gather to get acquainted. And I might add, there are plenty of attractive young men, Austrians, Canadians, and Argentinians, oh my! ¡Yay Guatemala!

Tomorrow I´m on a mission to find a Spanish language school. I think I´m going to enjoy Antigua. ;-)

next stop, Guatemala

Pretty soon, I leave for Central America. I'm looking forward to spending four months in Guatemala.

Ever since returning from Peru, I've felt this strong desire to learn Spanish. I decided to make it a goal for this year. I started looking into Spanish language immersion courses around the world, and Guatemala is by far the cheapest route. So off I go.

I head out at the end of February, with plans to return in time for High Sierra and the Oregon Country Fair. Hope to see you before I go!