Quetzaltenango, or its Mayan name Xela, is Guatemala’s second city. Although at just over 300,000 inhabitants, it is considerably smaller than Guate. It is located high in the western highlands and gets very cold at night. For the most part, there is little to see in the city itself which is mostly dirty, noisy and […]
So I figured, let’s checkout Santiago today. Santiago is a 45 minute boat ride past three volcanoes to the east side of the lake. It is a place of contradictions. First noticeable thing is that the hustle is really on there. As soon as you set foot on solid ground you are immediately asked to […]
Preface: During my second week of school, I caught a cold. It came on fast and strong, but only lasted two days. The following Saturday, I decided it was time to attempt the climb to Indian Nose. There were four students from the school. The school’s gardener, Delfino, agreed to be our guide. We left […]
On Monday I decided to visit Santa Cruz La Laguna on the other side of the lake. Santa Cruz can only be reached by boat as there are no roads leading there. As a result, there are no cars, tuk-tuks or trucks. Santa Cruz is strung out along the lake for a couple kilometers. There […]
I finished two weeks of school and debated on a third. I decided that I had absorbed about as much as my brain could handle for the moment and that I would take some time to integrate and converse with my new Espanol. I had a heartfelt farewell with my adopted local family, but decided […]
Saturday I walked from San Pedro around the northern shore of the lake to San Carlos. First stop, 2km away, was the town of San Juan which has an intense rivalry with San Pedro. They have some cooperatives that specialize in dying fabrics with natural pigments. Leaving town I walked past this casa which I […]
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I am studying Spanish at La Escuela Cooperative or the cooperative school in San Pedro La Laguna, Lake Atitlan, San Pedro. I am in my second and probably last week here. The cooperative is a school that is collectively owned by the teachers. In addition to one-on-one teaching, the school gives back to the communities’ […]
Lake Como, it seems to me, touches the limit of the permissibly picturesque; but Atitlan is Como with the additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It is really too much of a good thing. After a few days of this impossible landscape one finds oneself thinking nostalgically of the English Home Counties. Aldous Huxley, Beyond […]
I arrived back in Guate, as Guatemala City is known by the locals, yesterday. My friend Annabelle Romero picked me up at the airport and whisked me back to Quetzleroo, The coolest hostel in the world that she runs with her brother, Manuel. When I was there in May, they were just getting started with […]