In Guatemala, families celebrate birthdays be setting off a barrage of firecrackers and firing something that sounds like a cannon. Either they try to do this as early in the morning as possible, to get a jump on everyone else, or they set them off to correspond with the exact time of birth of the […]
Mucking around in Las Pilas
Bright and early Saturday morning, Colin and Jack met Curt in the lobby of our hotel to go machete shopping. You heard me: machetes. I’m told there will be no special requirements to get them through customs in our checked bags, but I have to do a little research to be sure. From Reu, we […]
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Visiting Semilla Nueva farmers in La Montana
Friday morning we woke up bright and early in Xela to a street scene reminiscent of early mornings in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Xelanians partied quite robustly until about 5 am this morning after their soccer team won in a match against Guadalajara. Our hotel room overlooked the Central Park area, so we […]
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Xela: The new Athens of the West
Today we drove about 3 and a half hours through the countryside to Quetzaltenango, or Xela (Shay-la) as the locals know it. At a population of about 250,000, Xela is the second-most populous city in Guatemala. We’re at about 7,000 feet above sea level and surrounded by mountains. Curt tells us that Xela is the […]
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The Bad A** Chickens and the Old City
After touching down in Guatemala City, we met up with the rest of our group and headed out of town to Antiqua. There was not much countryside on the hour-long ride, but here and there the jungle seemed to be reestablishing a foothold. Antigua is the most popular tourist destination in Guatemala. It was the […]
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Bargain hunted
I am horrible at haggling. It’s true. The rule of thumb in Guatemala, if the guidebooks have it right, is: Ask a price, offer something at half that amount, wait to hear what they offer in return, go from there, and be gracious, always realizing that the goods in the markets are often those the […]
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Risk averse adventurers
Tonight the kids are happily gathering their electronic devices and books, extra batteries, packs of gum, and knicknacks they think will keep them entertained on the airplane. Earlier this month, though, they were expressing some anxiety about our upcoming trip. We’re traveling to Guatemala for a tour of Rotary projects produced by Semilla Nueva, a […]
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The End of My Affair with the Fair
The kids were astonished this year when I suggested we see the new Batman movie instead of going to the fair. They stood astride their bikes, staring gap-mouthed at me. They couldn’t believe I would cancel the FAIR. “This just ruins my day,” Colin said. I hastily added movie candy and a trip to the […]
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Balcony Club, Bad Language, and Battlestar Galactica
A few weeks ago, I was telling a story to a group of friends. It was after a church service and we were stationed to one side of a buffet table trying unsuccessfully to discourage kids from shoving handfuls of cookies into their pockets. Since my friends know that most of my stories incorporate off […]
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I’m sorry, did you say you CANNOT accommodate my horde of marauding baboons?
We had a family friend who would bring her little dog with her everywhere. “Flurry” would sit quietly in her purse until she arrived at her destination, and then run around like a maniac. I never heard of said friend ever warning anyone that she was coming with her dog. Flurry wasn’t a problem, although […]
