Almolonga, Guatemala...the fruits of their labor, or vegetables rather

I have written this blog three times and lost much of it, as the computers here are slow and nothing seems to be compatible with my thumb drive, my photos, or cutting and pasting. So, here is the shortened version:

We took a 6km trek over a little mountain pass from Xela to Almolonga, a little, rich puebla, which also happens to be mostly Evangelical Christian. It was Sunday and naturally the town was having a huge, colorful, loud religious celebration. Why though, is it so rich?

Well, it is one of the main vegetable producers not only in Guatemala, but also for El Salvador. The soils are rich from ash and volcanic debree from millions of years ago. And, the farmers practice good crop rotation. Beans, carrots, radishes, green beans, lettuce, garlic, onions, potatoes, and other vegetables of which I'm still learning the names. And other vegetables of which I know the name, but don't feel it necessary to list every single one. You get the point.

And, despite my 60 SPF sunblock, baby sunblock I might add, I still got sunburned.

We went though, for the swimming. Despite the hot springs that surround the area, the two swimming pools are a Sunday ritual for many Almolangas. There are picnic tables, bbq's, a little restaurant that sold snacks, changing areas, bathrooms and many locals.

You'll notice the women at the table wearing all similar colors. In Guatemala each pueblo in famous for a unique weave pattern. So if you study really hard, you might be able to tell where a group is from just by the clothes they are wearing.

The farmer above it watering his fields with grid-like irrigation. I call it the shovel-heaving method for watering.

Another discussion that came up during this weekend activity was the fact of gender roles and the absence of women's rights. Very few women were swimming. They were taking care of the babies, cleaning, preparing and cooking the food while the men relaxed and swam. And even if the women wanted to swim, the men most likely wouldn't let them. So, there you have it. A patriarchal society with clearly defined gender roles. Interesting to say the least. Gives you a lot to think about...

Xela, Guatemala

Greetings! I made it to Quetzaltenango, more commonly known as Xela (pronounced shay-la). It is the land of the Quetzal bird, hence the name. And the former Maya name was Xelaju, hence the nickname for the place.

It's big. My host family is sweet. It's mostly a grandmother with a miniature poodle that is while and named Diana. I'm not sure if anyone else lives in the house, but I know she has five children and eight grandchildren and many of them come to visit daily. I live on the third floor...it's a slender house with three floors. My room is among the roof with the laundry and where the dog eats. I love the privacy and the immense morning light that comes pouring in, especially in the morning.

So, yes. It's a big city that will take some time to get smaller and get  used to. One day at a time. This is my home for at least the next week...perhaps the next three months.

Xela taken from a nearby mountain hike.

My room with my host family. Simple. Yellow. Sunny. Soft bed. Might have bed bugs-hopefully not...ugghhh!

My rooftop balcony. It's kind of like camping out. There's a constant breeze, but I have the privilege of lights and plugs and a kind of dirty bathroom downstairs:) I'll get used to it, I hope.

My morning alarm clock. I woke up at 5:30am with pure white light and birds singing songs of sweetness. I think my routine will be an early exercise regime, and home early...as it's unsafe to walk after dark, which is 6:30pm. How things are a changing!

Bad Choice, Good Choice

Lesson learned. Ask to see a room before saying you want a room. This hostel is recommended in all the guide books to be a hip place, great to meet other travelers, not as much of a party scene as the "Jungle Party" hostel, etc. A friend also recommended it. The Black Cat or El Gato Negro.

I leave my cute little Casa Cristina to find something less expensive...from $22 a night with my own room and private bathroom, to a $7.50 a night with a dorm bed and a huge breakfast included.

Yes, the black cat has a happening bar out front, but the dorms are small, cramped, noisy, and dirty. The dirty factor bothered me the most. Dirty bathrooms. Pot smell wafting through the whole place almost the entire time, despite the "Absolutely no drugs allowed" sign.

Besides the dark bar out front, this was the only place to gather and talk. It's little and odd. But it worked for a good place to check email or read a book if you didn't mind the pumping music from the bar 10 feet away.

I did like this window that was directly above the benches in the above photo. Though notice the rolled and hanging towels to the left. Are they clean? Are they dirty? Who do they belong to? A musty-mildew smell hung in the moist air.

I guess you could call this a typical youth hostel. Seven super soft beds (three bunks and a single) huddled in the dark room. My first encounter with the room was up a slippery, steep stair case that twisted so tight it was almost impossible to climb it carrying a bag. Then pushing my way through five clothes lines with wet sheets, I made my way to my bunk.

This is my favorite shot of the place. Are those mattresses there because of a bed bug problem? Or are they just collecting moisture and getting rained on every night because they needed a wash? Or maybe they are trying to give it a rustic, storage feel? This about sums up the Black Cat experience for me.

Stay at El Gato Negro if you want to get so hammered you can't walk home, you want to get high, or you want to have a drunk hook up. Some young guys were talking about staying at The Black Cat to hook up with some girl they met at a bar. Enough said.

I quickly packed up my bags and after looking at a couple of different choices in the same price range, I chose The Yellow House Hotel, which the same friend also recommended.

I am going to let photos do the talking here. There are tons of places to sit, hammocks, flowers, quiet, clean. Clean. Clean. With the exact same price. AMAZING!!! Take a look. I highly recommend it...and it's only a seven minute walk to Central Park.

My bed is straight ahead against the wall with colorful artisan masks hung above, a shelf for storage, and DOUBLE BED. Only three of us are in the room! And we can lock the door!

Painted animal mask on wall above bed. Love the art. Not sure exactly what it is, perhaps a deer? Little splashes of art hang on walls through the entire hotel. 

 

A bright yellow tile table greets you as you walk up the stairs. It is outside, bright and beautiful! This was my breakfast table.

The rest of the upstairs area includes comfy chairs, hammocks, a little bookshelf full of books in an assortment of languages for trading and reading, flowering plants and healthy greenery.

As you enter the hotel from the street it looks like a little, glass enclosed travel agency. It is easy to miss! As you walk through the hall, you pass a little garden area on your left, which then opens up into a beautiful little courtyard where they serve an amazing breakfast of eggs, black beans, pancakes, curry potatoes, buns, sweet rolls, watermelon, papaya, melon, banana, pineapple, coffee and tea. True enough the coffee is instant, but the purified water is free all day long. You can refill your bottles. Oh, and there's wi-fi!

To find a high quality product, you must shop around. All this for $7.50! I guess I had to learn this lesson the hard way!

Volcano Pacaya

It was named after a Maya fruiting plant that used flourish in the area. It is a small plant, but is now rare. Pacaya is one of the 36 volcanoes Guatemala. Nearest to Antigua are a handful of volcanoes, one of which is Volcan Fuego (fire vocano), which is too dangerous and unpredictable to climb. So, Pacaya it is.

The coffee colored soil has a richness that boasts fertility in rows of corn, flower gardens, and coffee plantations. At the base of the hike, we are greeted with eager horse taxi's. Make a buck, save your legs, help the economy...sorry horses! I was excited to hike, so despite my persistent no's, a pack of about 5 horses and guides followed us up the first half mile waiting for the steep incline and our sweating bodies to beg for a horse. I never begged and eventually there were no more following me. They stopped at the overlook of the geothermal plant that Canadians built to provide electricity to local communities.

In 2007 Pacaya let a huge lava flow, or burning river as they used to call it, flow down her side and into the green countryside below. It's quite a striking image to have a black path where there was once a flowing river of molten lava. Word on the trail is that locals expect a similar flow to occur soon. It usually does every couple of years.

Until alas, we had no more green grass or trees. In literally felt like we were on another planet.

The only reminder of life was the adjacent valley and mountain, which provided life and color to the black, dead presence of the volcano.

Although the rainy season starts in May, locals say that the rainy season is coming early this year. Last night on the mountain a huge thunderstorms competed with the knocking and cracking of the blowing volcano. As we hiked today cool mist mixed with steam coming out of wide cracks along sides of the volcano. In the above photo you can see the steam to the right of the cloud, creeping out of the volcano in a horizontal line.

I didn't matter that there was no actual lava flowing today. Perhaps another time. The 2 foot hole blasting heat was proof of the intensity that lay brewing below us. And the marshmallow were pretty good too. But talk about being a pro cooker. If you left them longer than a second, they instantaneously went up in flames.

It was HOTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite the incredible scorching heat and sticky goo that encrusted fingers and clothes, our guide, Abraham, really like the marshmallows (knows as Angelos in Guatemala).

This mist rolls in as quickly as it crept out. My ability to take a clear photo or be able to pick up the smoke or lava being spewed for the top was nearly impossible. But the mist did make for some cool photos.

I met a lot of really interesting people on the hike. A couple from California. A Check born man from Portland, OR who was with a guide that specialized in camping expeditions and orchids. He had found two new species in the last couple of months. So, there you have it. My first active volcano hike. It won't be my last!

Antigua, Guatemala

I made it. No problem. Took a $10 shuttle bus from Guatemala City to Antigua. Then walked around Antigua to get minutes on my cell (technically Diana´s cell) and buy huge quantities of water after getting a headache that was on the verge of a migraine. This seems to happen to me when I travel if I´m not overly careful with water intake. So, after a reminder from my beloved man friend Dave, I chugged a bunch, had an emergency and slept for 10 hours. I awoke at 6am ready to start the day!

The side street where Casa Cristina lives.
A couple of interesting tid bits:
* The co-pilot on my flight here looked and sounded exactly like the Govierno/drug mafia from the series Weeds.
* I have a terrible sense of direction, and unless I pay extremely close attention to exactly where I'm going, I get lost immediately. It's slightly troubling.

The front entrance to Casa Cristina.

* The Black Cat Hostel is a dirty backpacker hostel. There are a handful of other hostels for a dollar more that are clean, open, airy and friendly. I don't recommend staying here. Sorry Diana. I suppose if you are planning on trying to hook up for a night, smoke some pot, or get drunk and stumble to your soft, cramped bed, it might be a good option.

The front entrance of Casa Cristina. I took the photo from my bedroom door.

* Staying in my own room with my own bathroom the first night was a must. I was sleep deprived and and needed a quite, safe place to crash. Plus I got to watch some old Friends episodes, which I wouldn't normally do, but given the circumstances, it was just right!

My bedroom. Little, quaint, with a window into my shower and into the hall. Kind of strange, but it worked for me.

So, here are some more shots of Casa Cristina. I adore the little place with the super helpful owner, Rosario. She was kind of like a mother figure to me. Sweet lady! Perfect for my first day in Guatemala.

Is it a wooden bench or a piece of art or a leopard? All three!

A cool breeze wafted in as I sat at the hotel computer to let my loved ones know I made it safe and sound. This was the main room with three wooden benches and a table with free purified water, manzanita (chamomile) tea and coffee..instant, of course! They also had rolls in the morning.

Roof Top Terrace. Flowers, plants, an umbrella with chairs and a lounge chair...just in case I wanted to throw on my bathing suit and work on my tan!

After a reminder from Dave to get photos of myself and lots of arms length shots, I got a nice Canadian couple from BC to take a shot on the roof in the morning mist. I was showered, hydrated and ready to find an adapter for the computer plug!

Iglesia and Covento de Nuestra Senora de la Merced. This church/convent was around the corner from my hotel. It is said to be the most immaculate and decorated church in the city.

Bloomers

If you were hoping to read about underwear or panties, I'm sorry to disappoint you! Gorgeous blooms tiny and huge, grace me with their presence. Just thought I'd share a few. Can you name any of the flowers below? Enjoy!

OK, OK! This is not a cleverly shaped flower. But it's appropriate and cute and funny! Happy Spring!

Heading South

Somehow a 12.5 hour trip took over 16 hours. Burlington, VT to Cardinal, VA. After four cups of coffee and three large large bottles of water, I finally made it to Virginia. I don't have much to say about the trip. It was long. I'm glad I drank as much as I did and stayed hydrated because if I didn't, my butt would have been so numb and sore, I wouldn't have been able to step on the break.

Vermont: Every time I leave Vermont I realize how lucky I am to live there...because of the lake and mountains, and breakfast sandwiches and locally owned stores and farms.

New York: I'm always amazed at how gorgeous New York is. While I was driving a hawk flew across the road with a dangling, wiggling snake in it's claws. An omen of good luck. One photo I misses taking: a mobile home painted like a dairy cow. Honestly, I might have still been in VT. It was white with black patches and even pink udders painted on the back. Classic! Odd!

New Jersey: Got stuck in Princeton in lunch hour traffic. It was gorgeous and worth going slow and steady. 

Pennsylvania: Coffee #3. Iced. It could have been a Dunkin' Donuts anywhere. With a local diner anywhere too with a guy's first name. Could of been Adam's or Anthony's or Tony's or Jacks, or ... Small, uneventful, but the people were incredibly friendly and the sun was shining intensely down on me. 

Delaware, Maryland, Virginia: I was over it. Got stuck in traffic behind an accident, then in traffic around rush-hour traffic. 301 is strange. But, once I saw pieces of the Chesapeake Bay and it's tributaries, I remembered why I love this part of the world so much. 

Oh, and that it was April and Spring was in full force...cherry blossoms proudly shaking their petals in the wind in the D.C. area and south, along with green grass, fresh buds on trees and little tiny leaves. 

Just as I was losing my sh** for the third time, I turned the corner five minutes from my "childhood" home and a huge, yellow-orange moon hung on the horizon leading the way. The photo doesn't look like much, but the wind was slight, the air was fresh and the night was full of peace and stillness. Magic hung with the moon, talking to the water and everything in between.