We started off staying with a local family. Iris and her two children provided us with the usual overwhelming amount of hospitality and delicious food. We got to host Adam´s sister, Maria for a week, had 5 days to gather our thoughts and then both sets of parents came down for 10 days. We have since transitioned to another house (not because we didnt love Iris, but because we had other old friends in Danny and Ana and their children that we wanted to spend time with). During our parent´s stay Tracy and her parents lived with Iris while Adam and his parents lived with Danny and Ana, making for a true Guatemalan experience. Because we are not in the mood for a narrative, here is a list of things we have done since arriving in Antigua with our parents and Maria:
-Walked cobblestone streets surrounded by 16th century architecture
-visited villages of indigenous communities (Guatemala´s majoirty population remains indigenous Mayan, speaking a total of 22 languages and keeping beautiful traditions alive for thousands of years)*Photos are best not taken due to sensitivity in indigenous villages
-shared meals and conversation with local families
-Tracy and both mothers took a class on traditional Mayan backstrap weaving (moms-send us some pictures of this)
-visited traditional street markets in Chichicastenango and Sololá
-rode "chicken busses" (old USA school busses with souped up paint jobs, new transmissions and a load of courage and adrenaline coupled with no fear of death behind the wheel) here and there and everywhere
-caught rides in the backs of pick up trucks with out parents to visit and make an offering of a wild necktie to a Mayan saint (Maximon, look it up, it is fascinating)
-Tracy, Papa Juan and Adam had their feet traced by master shoemakers for a pair of custom fit boots in Pastores
-hiked an active volcano to the lava flow and roasted marshmallows on the lava flow with sister Maria, fathers and the Mami Pumas
-visited and learned about a sustainable macadamia nut farm from a wacky, foul mouthed ex-pat and his loveable Guatemalan wife
-rode boats between small villages in Lake Atitlán
-watched hummingbirds feed off of a wild array of flowers
-did a crafts project with children at El Buen Samaritano in Jocotenango where Adam and Tracy have been spending afternoons helping 3rd, 4th and 5th graders with homework
-delivered lots and lots of supplies to El Buen Samaritano to aid in their work to help with nutrition, education and development of children in Jocotenango
-took salsa lessons (with what we considered to be impressive results)
-celebrated Tracy´s birthday with our Guatemalan friends and our parents, eating a traditional dish called Pilojada, a dessert called molé (made with platanos, not chicken for you Mexican food buffs), a piñata and horchata
-more? maybe our parents or Maria will want to be more specific or will add something we forgot about in the comments section.
We will try to get back on our blogging A game as we enter the last leg of our journey. Orale pues!
1 comment:
Thanks for the update, and for all the planning and logistics to make our stay truly remarkable. It was soooo good to see you.
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