Goodbye Guatemala

Hi Everyone.   I had a very sweet last day.  After class I did a bit more shopping, had a nice Italian lunch with my friend Carol and then went back to school for my goodbye dnner and diploma ceremony.  I had to give a little farewell speach in Spanish and, of course I cried.  Boy, this is hard. When I got back to my room, some of my bed and breakfast freinds stopped by to say goodbye and brought me homemade soup.  We visited and shared a glass of wine and now it's time to pack.  Tomorrow morning, I will take the bus back to Guatemala city, spend the night and then fly home Saturday.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you!

 Love, Judy

My School

My teacher

Goodbye...

 

Winding Down

Hi Friends and Family. Only a few days left and I'm beginning to get that inevitable feeling that comes when a vacation is coming to an end.  As is always the case, I just now feel like I'm really gettig the lay of the land and am beginning to feel right at home, and soon it will be time to leave. I know now how to shop on my own and make my way around the huge market.  I know where to buy the best chocolate blocks for making hot chocolate, when to buy butter and cheese and which vendor has the best buy on avocados.  Yesterday I bought 6 roses for two dollars on the corner of the street where I'm staying and today I bought a huge pinapple from a little boy at the same corner for 75 cents.  I think I've made a lot of progess with my Spanish and I feel rested and healthy from all the walking and fresh air.  I am going to miss it all very much. 

Mary, I haven't taken too many pictures of amimals.  I've only seen a few cows, chickens, and a couple of horses.  However, in all my travels I have never seen so many dogs.  They are everywhere and some of them are very sad and others are a bit scary, although none of them have been agressive.  They just look scary.  Yesterday, after school we played Scrabble in Spanish.  My team beat the pants off the other team and I actually contibuted around five words.  It's not easy playing in a foreign language.  I'm not that great at it even in English, so I felt good about my contributions.  Today I visited another fabric coop for Myan women and, of course, I felt obligated to buy!  I love the fabrics here.  Time to make some dinner.  It's a lot of fun and cooking a meal in the outdoor kitchen.

Jan a special hello, hugs and kisses.  I think of you every day and know you would love it here.

 Love to all!  Judy

For Mary, milking goats in Panachel

Eating breakfast on my upstairs patio

My bounty from el marcado

 

Hi Everyone!
I made the move on Friday to my new place. My family didn't seem to mind and now their dog is free to roam again and terrorize other unsuspecting guests! Today was the first day since I've been in Guatemale that I've really slept in. I had breakfast on the upstairs patio where I'm staying and then headed out to explore the city some more. I went to mass and did some grocey shopping, where I ran into a friend. We spend the rest of the day together and had dinner in an Indian restaurant that had the best Indian food I've ever eaten. Pretty funny really, that I found it here in Guatemale.

Active volcanoe, Lake Atitlan below the clouds

Pueblo Panachel

Outside my new room

My room

Yesterday, I was up at 5 in the morning and met my guide at 6. He and his girlfriend took me to Lake Atitlan, which is high in the mountains, at an elevation of over 10 thousand feet. We spend the day there and took boat trips to two of the many pueblos surrounding the lake. We did a lot eating, walking, and shopping. I would have loved to stay there for a couple of days. Maybe next time. Love to all, Judy

Making Tortillas

After a hard day of studying, my teacher, Layla, taught my friend Carol and I how to make tortillas.  I am so excited I know how to do it now.  They were were perfecto.  My teacher and I shopped in the outdoor market for everything we needed.  Three huge avocados for $1.  For anyone who loves fruits and vegetables, it's paradise here.  Tomorrow, I move, so time to pack.  Love, Judy

Work hard...

...have some fun!

It's an art



So good!



A Strange Experience

Well, I hate to rub it in, but I'm exhausted after my one hour soak in the hot springs.  However, I feel compelled to tell you about my day.  (I can just feel your concern for my tiredness.)  After school, my guide, Martin, drove me to a small pueblo which claims the honor of housing three things of great interest.  First, the oldest church in Guatemale, built, of course, by the Spaniards in the 15th century.  The second, the first fabric coop formed for Mayan women in Guatemale.  The priest in the pueblo was the one who helped the women form the coop.  It was a struggle because the men were against it.  The third, constitutes the strangest experince I have ever, and I'm not sure I can quite explain it.  In the picture below is a god/occult figure/religious figure/very scary and confusing thing.  His name is San Simon. He is constantly being moved to different locations thoughout the city.  I'm not quite sure why, but finding him was something like playing "Where's Waldo."  My guide had to ask several people in the pueblo where he was and we walked up and around several steep streets before we found him.  Let me set the scen:.  You are high in the mountains,clouds misting around you and the mountains are so close, you feel you can touch them.  It's a bit dark and the steep, ancient cobble stones steets are slippery with dew.  Everyone around you is Mayan, dressed in tradional clothing.  Everything is so ancient, you feel as though you've stepped back in time.  You enter a small dark room, possibly 10 x 12 feet, and there he sits, San Simon.  There are numerous candles flickering in the room and the smell of incense fills the air.  Five or six Myans are waiting their turn to pay homage.  One stern Myan is watching and guarding every move and collecting payment from each person as he or she moves forward and drops to their knees.  San Simon likes to smoke and drink and so offerings of  tobacco and alchohol are placed at his feet.  Upstairs there is another room devoted solely to the burning of  candles and the offering of chickens.  He has been part of Myan cultures for thousand of years; of course, appearing in different forms in keeping with the century.  The way it was explained to me is that embodies ALL; something like Yeng and Yang; everything good and bad, hope and dispair.  But I can tell you, it scared the you know what out of me and I was very glad to get out of there.  You had to pay to take picture and it all just gave me the creeps and so I got this picture off the internet.  I have no regrets, though.  It was really a once in a lifetime experience.  After all that, we went to the hot springs and it was wonderful!

Thanks everyone for all the nice responces.  I always look forward to them.  Jeanette, work?  What is that? And yes, on Friday I'm moving to a bed and breakast.  It is so beautiful and will be a wonderful way to spend my last week here.  Chris, as in Gigi and Chris, I could never forget you!  I just don't know your e-mail address.  I  hope both of you have a great time in Cambodia.  Love to all.  Judy



My buddy, San Simon

Martin, my tour guide

Me in el pueblo 

November 8 and 9

Hi Everyone!  Another busy school week.  This week I am studing irregular verbs and all I can say is, oh boy!  Sometimes I am so proud of the progress I'm making.  My teacher will be talking to me and I'll think, wow, I actually understand her and I"M SPEAKING SPANISH!   Then today, after class, we watched a movie on the civil war of the 1980's and 90's and I hardly understood anything. Oh we'll, I guess it's all part of the process.  Yesterday, an instructor took me to the museum and I learned all about the history of Xela and the Mayan culture.  The Mayan artifacts were truly amazing.  Tomorrow after school, I'm going on a field trip to soak in natural hots springs.  The trip last week was a sauna, but I guess this one is actually hot water.  It's going to feel soooo good.

Love to all.  Judy

Church of the Virgin Rosario in Town Square

Sunday, November 7, 2010, Guatemala

Hello Everyone,  I ended up staying in the city and not doing the tour because Noe felt it would be unwise for me to go with a cab driver alone.  I took his advice and stayed in the center of the city, did more exploring, shopping, checked out a couple of hotels just for fun, bought three huge avocados for $1 and pretty much ate my way through the day.  The coffee here and hot chocolate are amazing and there is never a sense of being hurried.  You can stay as long as you like, even if you only buy a bottle of water.  I had a wonderful breakfast in a cafe, which consisted of a ham and veggie omlettle with picante and sour cream on the side, fresh corn tortillas, fried plantanes, beans, a large coffee latte, followed by a cup of hot chocolate.  I was starving!  The grand total, including tip, was $4.50.  After breakfast, I stopped at the bakery and bought a large chocolate eclair for 50 cents, which I ate in the town square.  Beleive it or not, I've even lost a few pounds with all the exercise, and you never eat between meals here.  I am thinking of moving to a bed and breakfast type place next week where another student and his wife are staying.  Even though the family I'm staying with is very nice, they leave me alone too much and I feel somewhat like an intruder.  We'll see.  Well, time to do a little studying.  Love, Judy

My morning feast!

"My" balcony cafe

Town Square "Feeding the pigeons" I love this picture.

View from "my" balcony cafe