Goodbye Guatemala

In just 4 hours, I'll be flying back to the US, saying goodbye to my summer adventures in Guatemala. Yesterday, I went to the CDC GAP office for the last time. After presenting my project to the office, I was  surprised by an amazing apple cake and flowers. It was the perfect ending and so incredibly thoughtful!

My final meal was at Casa Chapina in Zona 10, which serves traditional Guatemalan food. I finally tried the national dish, pepián. And then I spent the night packing.

Now, I am writing this final blog post from Guate. But don't worry...I'll still blog when I get back to the US (whether people read it or not!). Thinking about how to best capture my feelings of leaving and going home, I thought I would make two lists. First, things I'll miss in Guatemala. Second, things I'm excited for back in the US. These lists could go on forever, so I think I'll keep it to 5!

What I'll miss:
1. Awesome scenery...I wake up every morning to volcanoes and lush greenery
2. The weather...I hear it's about 100 degrees back home. here, it's about 75. YIKES! And I also love the afternoon showers.
3. Adventure...every weekend holds something new and each experience is new.
4. Spanish...I feel like I'm reaching a breakthrough in my Spanish just at the time I'm leaving. BOO!
5. The culture...it's so awesome to see the influence of Mayan culture everywhere you with indigenous clothes and pieces. We definitely have culture back home, but I'll miss the cultural connections to history that are really easy to see here.

What I'm excited for:
1. Friends, family, my dog...enough said
2. Driving...being able to control where I'm going at what time is something that is so underrated.
3. Food...Nanataco, Merritt's, BBQ, blueberries, salad, pancakes, etc.
4. Updates...it seems like so much has happened in the 7 weeks that I've been gone (engagements, pregnancies, babies growing). I'm excited to be 'involved' again. At the same time, I'm not looking forward to being totally accessible again with my phone.
5. Working out...I've had the opportunity to work out here in Guate at a local gym, but it will be nice to get into a work out routine again including running outside!

That's all for now. See you back stateside tonight!

Tikal: Glimpse into Mayan Life

Because this past weekend was my last in Guatemala, I knew I had to travel somewhere. That somewhere ended up being a 10-hour bus ride to visit some amazing Mayan ruins called Tikal. As always, here's a little glimpse/short history of Tikal.

Tikal is located in the Northern department/region of El Peten. It's a really lush and tropical region, definitely a change from the mountainous Xela. Tikal, itself, is one of the larger sites for Mayan ruins and certainly the biggest in Guatemala. Most of the structures date from around 700 AD and it's estimated that about 90,000 Mayans used to live at the site. Tikal became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

Now for the fun stuff. Probably the coolest thing about Tikal is it's in the heart of the jungle. My friend, Emily, and  I were climbing and maneuvering. We heard lots of animals cries, some awesome and some pretty scary. I wish I could report seeing some amazing animals, but, sadly, that's just not so. When we were driving into Tikal, there were all these signs for jaguar, snake, and turkey crossings (and may more). There were also signs for this animal I had never heard of called a pizote. I put a picture of the sign below so you could see what it was suppose to look like. While we didn't see any pizote, I can report seeing howler monkeys!! We saw about 4-5 of them in a tree after we climbed some of the ruins. AWESOME! We also saw these really interesting bright orange caterpillars. They were everywhere. I think the best way to describe our experience is to share some pictures. 

Pizote: a white-nosed coati (according to wikipedia), active during the day except when we were visiting the park :(

Me in a tunnel at El Palacio (this is right before I stuck my hand in a giant spiderweb and freaked out!)

Templo V after a short rainstorm...beautiful

The Gran Plaza pictured after we climbed some ruins

Following our jungle trek, we headed back to Flores, which is the closest big town to Tikal. We decided to continue our journey through the Mayan culture with a traditional Mayan meal. YUM! Then we had about 7 hours to kill before heading back to Guate on the overnight bus. So what did we do? Enjoyed the lake view with a margarita. It was absolutely perfect! I arrived back in Guate on Monday morning to begin my last week at work/Guatemala. Where did my summer go!?!

Traditional Mayan food to refuel after Tikal: yucca, some interesting green veggie, rice, and chicken with sun dried tomatoes and peppers

In Flores on the lago, waiting for our bus back to Guate (not pictured: our amazing margaritas that followed) 

Xela

It's been a busy week! Last week I traveled to Quetzaltenango (Xela). We were training the organization who will be implementing our protocol. It was really exciting to see the protocol come to life, made me feel like all my hard work this summer is actually helpful. Leading the training were two people from our Guate office, Scott and Itzel. Both are picture below.

Co-worker Scott waiting outside the office

Itzel getting crazy during the car ride back to Guate

Just to give you some context, Xela is the second largest city in Guatemala. It's located in the Western part of the country surrounded by mountains, so it's a bit colder than Guate. It also has a more extreme rainy season (although we were lucky in our 5 days with only a few showers). The city itself is pretty cool. There's a big live music scene, lots of spanish schools, and tons of coffee shops. The center of town is so beautiful with several old buildings and a view of the mountains. The town seems really safe and is an easy walk. They even have bicycle parking!

Me in the center of town. It was a bit sunny that day!

Bike parking!

My first day in Xela was pretty exciting. On our way to the office, Scott and I saw a volcano eruption (or the smoke part of the eruption)! I also went to a really good yoga class with Scott's friend, although I was really sore afterwards. Note to self: must do more yoga. We also stayed at a crazy cool hotel near the center of town that had all these antiques. And there was unlimited coffee for breakfast!

Day 1 in Xela: Volcano Eruption

The rest of the week was pretty tranquil, filled with lots of work. But we did have two high points. First, there was the most amazing Indian restaurant in Xela that we ate three nights in a row! It was some of the best Indian food I've ever had. Simply delicious! We also went to a local bakery chain called Xelapan, which makes a range of yummy breads and sweets. I originally bought a box of cookies to bring home to my parents, but somehow they disappeared in our car ride home. Still a mystery!

Best Indian food! Lamb curry thali. Also, in our three nights eating there, tried paneer cheese thali and chicken thali! Soooo delicious!

Xelapan bakery

On our car ride home, I saw a lot of political graffiti from the elections in November. The election systems is a bit confusing, but from my understanding it sounds like everyone runs in the primaries and secondaries (?). In these past elections, Rigoberta Menchu ran (but lost) for president. If you're like me, you probably don't know much about her, but her story is kind of incredible. She's a human rights advocate for indigenous populations in Guatemala. The country has a long history of atrocities against these populations during the over 30 year civil war. The wikipedia page describing the war is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemalan_Civil_War. The current president used to be in charge of a military school during the civil war. This American Life discusses some of the horrors of the civil war in a podcast called 'What Happened in Dos Erres' http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/465/what-happened-at-dos-erres/.

Political graffiti from elections in November. This is the campaign that won.

I also saw some mountain cutting on the car ride home. During the rainy season, the interamerican highway (that takes you from Guate to Xela) is really prone to mudslides. In order to hopefully prevent mudslides, the mountain is cut into something like steps. My guess is these steps help slow down the mud. Sometimes there's also a rock wall at the bottom to trap the mud.

Cutting into the mountain to try and prevent mudslides during the rainy season (May-August)

Finally, during one section of the highway, we saw several men selling parrots on the rode. The idea of buying a parrot from a guy on the rode sounds really bizarre to me, but it was very interesting. I kind of wanted to buy one, but since I'm leaving in a few days it didn't really make sense. Maybe next time!

Well, that's all for now. Be on the look-out for a post about my trip to Tikal to see Mayan ruins. For now, I'll leave you with a beautiful Carolina Blue sky captured on our journey back to Guate!

Beautiful mountains and Carolina Blue sky on the way back to Guate

Fast Food Phenomenon

It doesn't take long in Guatemala to realize the country loves its fast food. On almost every block in Guatemala City, you can feast your mind and stomach on a number of fast food options. Think Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, McDonalds, even Little Cesar (which I thought was extinct!). Most of the fast food joints seem similar to US versions, but on a bigger scale. Just the other day I saw a 2-story Taco Bell! In the US, Taco Bells are usually tiny little stores joined with KFC.

At the posh mall in Guatemala City, the food court is also subjected to fast food take-over. You'll find your Sbarros, Taco Bell (again), Quiznos, and so on. It's like I never left the US. But one thing you can find here in Guate and not in the US is POLLO CAMPERO. Get excited! Pollo Campero is a national fast food chain started here in Guatemala. Essentially it sells chicken (kind of like KFC without the mashed potatoes and other southern sides). I know that doesn't sound exciting, but it's actually delicious. Being in Guatemala, I of course had to try the local food including Pollo Campero. I went in with very little expectations. The menu isn't very extensive, so I decided to order your basic extra crispy sandwich with fries and a soda. My total: Q35 (about $4.5). A few minutes later my food was ready. I opened the foil on my sandwich and saw, much to my delight, some lettuce. This was a good sign. There also happened to be chicken (duh), tomatoes, onions (maybe), and some special mayonnaise. All in all, it was delicious. The fries (and diet coke) were also yummy. See picture below for a look.

I asked one of my co-workers about the Guatemalan fascination with fast food. He said fast food was actually a fancy kind of food here. When people go to places like Pizza Hut, they are going out in style because the prices at these places aren't really that different than the US. That means, for a typical Guatemalan, fast food places are actually pretty expensive. 

In addition to the endless array of US fast food chains here in Guatemala, you can also find US restaurants. So far, I've seen an Applebee's and Chili's. Hope this gives you a glimpse into Guatemalan fast food. Blog soon (get it? instead of talk soon...my little joke).

Pollo Campero, a Guatemalan KFC (but better!)

A Little Piece of Heaven

Hello again! Hope ya'll had a good weekend. I spent the weekend in paradise...

My weekend began with a trip to Antigua. Myself and three other interns spent the night in Guatemala's Europe eating yummy food (think beef stew flavored with cardamon) and laughing. Early the next morning we boarded a two-hour shuttle for Panajachel. Panajachel is a small town that serves as the gateway to Lago de Atitlan. During our journey, we passed a number of small town, catching a glimpse into Guatemalan life. We also stopped at an overlook outside of Panajachel to capture a panoramic pic of Lago de Atitlan. 

Travel buddies at the Lago

As you can see, it's beautiful. Just a little info about Lago de Atitlan...

The lake was originally an unfilled caldera formed by volcano eruption 84,000 years ago. It then filled with water (hence lake). Today, the lake is the deepest in Central America at 340 meters (or 1/5 of a mile). It's surrounded by 3 volcanoes making it especially picturesque. Lago de Atitlan is also home to several villages and towns of Maya people. In other words, it's like heaven. 

So after arriving in Panajchel, we made our way to Santiago Atitlan, a small town across the lake in a little bay. The boat took about 30 minutes, crossing the entire lake. After arriving in Santiago Atitlan, we walked another 20 minutes or so to our amazing house/hotel. 

At this point, I should thank trip advisor and Scott, who works at my office. With both of their suggestions, we chose to stay at La Posada de Santiago. La posada is so incredible I'm not sure where to start...

We stayed in the casita cafetal, which is a small cottage with it's own hammock and fireplace. I put a pic below to show part of the casita, but it just doesn't capture everything.

Our awesome casita

Our hotel is made up of these different sized cottages, making for a very private and serene vacation. La posada also has it's own pool, hot tub, canoes, coffee farm, and, best of all, a restaurant. We ate incredibly well during our 24 hour stay. We started our food journey with homemade ginger beer at lunch (pictured below) and guacomole/frijoles/blue corn tortilla chips. We ended with breakfast the next morning with blue corn pancakes and homemade cinnamon/walnut syrup. YUM!

Homemade Ginger Beer!

Based on this, you might think all we did was eat, but that is not the case. We swam in the lake, shared stories, napped in the hammock, and used our fireplace. It was absolutely one of the most relaxing mini-vacations (or any vacation) I've ever had. We all wanted to stay!

We finished our trip with a tuk-tuk ride back to the dock. It was my first tuk-tuk ride (don't know how I avoided it in Thailand) and so much fun! 

I guess that's it for now. I'm not sure what is coming next (possibly Xela or Tikal), but I'll keep you posted. For now, I hope you enjoy a few snapshots below of the weekend.

Scenic pic of Lago de Atitlan

tuk-tuk ride

the lago looking a little eerie 

I speak 'English'

In the past few days, I've noticed two new things about Guate I wanted to share with you.

First, the taxi drivers know me now. I apparently take so many taxis that when the cab I called yesterday from the gym arrived, the driver knew exactly where I live (not an easy feat). I started to realize this when I would get drivers in the morning who knew where I worked without me telling them. If I didn't mention this, Guate is a driving city. Being without a car, I have to depend on taxis a lot. I take at least one a day, sometimes 2 or 3 or 4. The city does have buses, but, I think I mentioned before, these are not safe as many bus drivers each year are murdered (in addition to bus robberies). A significant portion of my summer expenses are supporting taxi drivers, so I guess it's nice that they recognize me!

Second realization, a lot of people say they speak English and very few do. As a 'gringa' I stick out. Usually the first or second question people ask, is 'de donde eyes?' or where are you from. Either it's my bad Spanish or my answer of 'the United States' that compels people to begin practicing their 'English' skills. I fully appreciate their enthusiasm, but I do have a two concerns.

1. I can to Guatemala to practice Spanish. It's not very helpful when everyone wants to speak English with me!

2. Speaking 'English' means different things to us. Naturally, it makes me think you speak English, but that's just not the case. So many people will tell me they speak English and then I realize they really know things like 'what do you call....?' It seems their English skills and my Spanish skills are equivalent. Needless to say, I do NOT speak Spanish.

I hope these two realizations are as interesting to you as they were to me (even if the last one was a bit of a rant). Have a wonderful weekend!

I'm a Rebel

First of all, Happy Birthday America! Unfortunately, Guatemala does not seem to recognize the 4th of July. So while all of you are celebrating by the pool, I'm here at work:( It's really not so bad, I'm in Guatemala after all!

Anyways, just a short post today. Yesterday, I was part of group that pitched the protocol I'm writing to a local NGO. Overall, it was a success! Looks like I might even be traveling to Xela for the last few days I'm in Guatemala to help with the site inspection and some initial training. YA!

But that wasn't the most exciting part. The meeting was held in Zone 1 so I got to do about 10 minutes of exploring. As mentioned before, Zone 1 is not so safe at night. Which really stinks cause zone 1 is also the historic part of Guate complete with the big central market. We're not advised to go to zone 1 as foreigners so many people at the embassy have never (and will never) walked through this beautiful part of the city.

During my 10 minute exploration, I totally felt like a rebel who was exploring this forbidden part of the city. You definitely have a sense that you're an outsider since very few 'gringos' venture to zone 1. Wish I had taken some pics, but I didn't want to attract anymore attention to myself. A quick search in google images can help you imagine :)

That's all for now. This weekend I'm heading down to Lago de Atitlan so be prepared for amazing pictures next week.

Enjoy the pool!

Living in Guatemala City

I officially arrived in Guate three weeks ago! Guess it's about time I share a little about where I'm living,  Guatemala City. Guatemala City, if you couldn't guess, is the capital of Guatemala. It has a little over a million people living in the city with about 4 million people living in the metro area. It's also the largest city in Central America!

People seem to have lots to say about Guatemala City, so here's what I heard about it before arriving:

1. You either love it or hate it.

2. It's really different from the rest of the country, which is generally rural. 

3. It's dangerous...one stat I heard is that more murders occur in the 'ciudad' than in all the other parts of the country combined. YIKES!

4. It's a city (very insightful I know!). 

5. The city clashes with the insanely rich and the poverty stricken person. 

6. June and July (the time I'll be in Guate) is their winter and rainy season. 

7. There's a lot of volcanoes. 

My impression three weeks later...I kind of agree with what people say. 

1. This is the one point I might to disagree with. In my three weeks, I can't say I love it, but I also don't hate it. I think I would love it exponentially more if I had a car cause I have come to realize this is definitely a driving city!

2. I've only been to Antigua so far and, yes, Guatemala City is definitely different. It's fast paced for one thing. 

3. Yep, this one appears to be true. Knock on wood, nothing has happened to me so far. But all you have to do is talk with someone to hear a bunch of personal stories regarding the safety of the city. But, really the safety of the city depends on where you live. Just so ya know, Guatemala City is divided into 18 'zonas.' The four safest zones are 10, 14, 15, 16. Luckily, I work in zone 15 and live and in zone 16 (on top of the mountain!!). Zone 10 is where all the restaurants and nightlife are located and my gym. As you saw in earlier posts, our clinics are in zone 3 and 4 so sometimes I go there. Zone 1 is the old city and is pretty dangerous at night. Zone 18 is uber-dangerous (embassy won't come help you there!). Airport is in zone 13. Based on where I live and work, I have to say I only see a small part of the city! I also learned this weekend that legally you are only allowed to have 1 person one a motorcycle at a time. Why you might ask? Because there were too many assassinations occurring with two riders on a motorcycle. I think that accurately reflects the safety level. 

4. It's still a city (SHOCKER!). 

5. Definitely true that there's an interesting mix here in Guate of rich and poor. At a mall you might see someone with 2-3 bodyguards. Step outside and you'll see people with nowhere to live. 

6. So it's winter here for Guatemalans. Apparently there are only two season, winter and summer, and which one it is really depends on the day. Kind of strange! Oh yeah, it's also rainy season. We don't get as much rain as other parts of the country, but it still rains at least every other day.

7. Guatemala City is surrounded by beautiful volcanoes. And these volcanos are ACTIVE! Just last week, I experienced my first ever earthquake as a result of an active volcano!

To finish, I thought I should include some pics of where I live so see below :)

One of my roommates we call 'gatito'

Brad Pitt (let) and Lolita (right), two other roommates in the house

Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Awesome stairs leading to the bedrooms

Chicken Bus. I've only had the pleasure of riding these one time. They are super interesting! We actually don't ride them here in the city because it's really dangerous. Lots of bus drivers are killed every year because they won't pay extortion fees.