Antiqua Guatemala

Well we have been in antiqua for 3 weeks and are loving it. It is quite a lively place with the month long celebration of Christmas that we've previously mentioned. Lots of fiestas almost every night which include bombas (basically the same as fireworks except they're just extremely loud explosions with no visual benefits whatsoever--nevertheless seem to be quite popular). The streets are filled with colorful Mayan women usually with large heavy baskets balanced perfectly on top of their heads holding up to 60 pounds of goods, and a baby slung snugly around their backs with a couple more children in tow strolling the city selling their hand made goods (strong women to say the least). The city is surrounded by beautiful volcanoes and the cobblestone streets are full of large families crammed onto tiny motorbikes. Not many minivans here, they're used mostly to cart tourists. The coffee here is incredible if you know the right spot. Stronger and more delicious than stumptown in portland if you can believe that! There is beautiful colonial architecture, much of which is crumbling to the ground after 300 years of wear and earthquakes, but many buildings have been restored to their former beauty as well. Most homes and restaurants have huge indoor/outdoor patios or garden areas filled with gorgeous tropical plants. John loves fresh air all the time so it suits him quite well. Much like Portland, there are no screens on any windows and everyone's doors and windows are open all day long. Today we went to a couple of local art galleries and found many pieces we would love to purchase if we weren't on a budget. We included a picture of a couple of horses downtown--not tied up or anything and with their owners no where in sight--almost like they were just hanging out on the corner. Homeless dogs travel in packs here scrounging for food and pooping all over the place which makes walking around a little precarious, and of course like all 3rd world countries, there are plenty of classic American schoolbuses from the 60's and 70's spewing black smoke into the air for everyone's enjoyment (no emissions standards here I'm pretty sure). This has obviously given us a greater appreciation for clean air and dog pounds. Oh yeah and clean water too. We're a little behind on our posts but will get some Birthday and Christmas photos posted here soon.

Hostel

Here a couple pictures of our 1st hostel, and our vicious guard dog. Also some friends we met along the way.

Starting Spanish School.

On monday Stacy and I started language school, beginning with 4 hours a day monday through friday. The picture is from the garden where we study one on one with our instructors every morning. My first day was a bit frustrating primarily because my skills were so rusty and pronunciation was so aweful. I tried explaining the mortgage lending industry to my instructor right off instead of focusing on simple things like being tall or hungry or tired etc--you can probably imagine how well that went. Stacy politely reminded me that most people don't understand what I do when I describe it in english let alone on my first day of spanish (stacy's first day was quite a bit better as she focused on the basics). After class stacy, amy and I moved in with our host family. They are quite nice and accommodating with Stacy and I even getting our own room--a nice change from the hostel which we were sharing a room with 4 other people and sleeping on concave bunkbeds that smelled a bit different to say the least. We get 3 meals a day, with black beans at virtually ever meal to accommodate the vegetarians, our own bedroom, and 20 hours of lessons one on one each week for only 145.00 dollars. The vegetarian meals were obviously a welcomed surprise for me even if it means excessive amounts of black beans. Stacy gets all the carne and pollo she wants. We plan on spending Christmas and my birthday back at the hostel for a welcomed break and some time with friends and then will most likely return for at least another week with the host family before some new year's festivities. Christmas should be an interesting one this year--the Guatemalans are quite festive and have been celebrating the holiday ever since we got here. We'll keep you posted.

Went to climb the Pacaya volcano today, we arranged for a shuttle to pick us up at our hostel and take us on a guided tour (which is the only way to see the volcano if you are a gringo-apparently unsafe if you go without one). The tour was in Spanish of course but luckily we understand more than we´re able to speak at this point. The hike gave us some much needed exercise after a week in the hostel bebemos muchos cervezas. We headed off at 2:30 and got to the top just in time for the sunset. Literally two minutes later and we would have missed it. Very beautiful. We have never really been on an active volcano trek before where you can see real lava--very cool and an absolute must for anyone that comes here. The town that sits at the base of the volcano was very interesting all dirt roads, lots of stray dogs, some rustic living to say the least. The ride back was definitely a taste of patience, lots of traffic and we couldn't have asked for a better driver. A FANTASTIC TRIP
rut

Organic macadamian nut farm

Woke up today and decided to visit a macadamian nut farm that Julio our server from the rainbow rooom recommended to us, he works there during the day. So we headed to the bus stop, got on the bus, waited until the bus was completely full with almost no room to breath and we headed off, but of course lets pack a few more people along the way. What an experience!! The bus dropped us off at the farm and we headed up the road. Luckily Julio was working and gave us an excellent tour. The farm is famous worldwide for its sustainable and good organic practices and delious Macedonian nuts. At the end of the tour we were treated with deliousous chocolates which of course I did not get enough of.

1st night in guatemala city/2nd night in antigua

We made it to Guatemala city, arriving at 10 pm thanking ourselves for arranging transportation to our hostel our first night. 4 other passangers on our plane were thanking us as well. They ended up coming with us. We stayed at hostel los volcanoes. It was around $30 a night including breakfast and airport pickup. Hopefully the most expensive staywe will have. After we arrived at our hostel we sat around with our new friends . jb, laura, luis, itza. We all shared a few Gallanos which is the local beer monply. JB and laura were from denver traveling around for around a week. luis and his daughter were visiting family for the holidays. It was nice having luis around for his fluency and helpful tips. He made our first night so much easier and more enjoyable. His daughter was very sweet as well we played house for about an hour, she was my mom so she could give me advice and tell me what to do. Guatamela city was hectic, congested, dirty and heavily polluted, and we were happy to leave the next morning. The next day we took a shuttle with jb and laura to Antigua. We got a room at the jungle party hostel with a very cute golden retriever guarding the front door. They have a great atmosphere and great place to meet fellow travelers from just about everywhere, England, Norway, Germany, ireland, canada, israel and even indiana. Since it was jbs birthday jungle house arranged for a party which included cake, pinatas, and games. we walked around with our new friends tom and amy looking for a spanish school to attend for next week. We start on Monday 4 hours a day, staying with host family with 3 meals a day for around $140 a week. We are very excited to be learning some spanish, it will help us communicate more with the locals and will make our trip so much more enjoyable. Tomorrow I think we are going to hike up the pacaya volcano, it will be some good exercise and give us a chance to see some lava and a beautiful view of the guatemalan highlands. Last night we had a real taste of antigua when we had dinner with our new friend amy at the rainbow reading room. live guatemalan music with a little western flavor, some tofu ginger black bean comfort food and the coolest waiter ever who grew up on a small highland coffee plantation but had just returned from studying photography in ch¡cago of all places. all and all everything has been just perfect so far and we´re ready for more. feel free to say hello as often as you like and stacy and i will do our best to post as much as possible.

much love

john and stacy