Guatemala - Part XXI

Saturday, July 4th - travel home day 1

The trip home would take me from Guatemala to Panama to LA, CA before reaching Nebraska on Sunday, July 5th.  But, before I could leave, we Americans had to celebrate our Independence Day.

I'm not a fan of firecrackers, but boys will be boys.

Nothing bonds a father with his sons like blowing things up in the street next to someone else's house early in the morning...
especially in a foreign country over a different country's independence.

Once the neighborhood was good and awake, a driver, navigator, and a couple of my friends climbed into the van to take me to the airport...after taking a moment to take a group picture of those of us who happened to be present at the time.

And this isn't even all of us!

I left Guatemala City with an invitation to come back any time.  My first flight dropped me in Panama City with approximately a four-hour layover.  I wandered back and forth through the airport, stopped long enough to eat some awesome ribs and french fries (con una cerveza), and then it was time for the long flight back into the U.S.

Taking pictures of the interesting cloud bank and caught some of a river.
I might have still been above Panama.

Lightning as seen from inside the plane.
I took video too.  You should see it sometime!
It's far more impressive than the still photo.

You know you've been in the airport too long with too little sleep when you start taking selfies with the outlet by which you've camped.

Suffice it to say I made it back home safe and more or less sound.  I would go again given the time and money (and nowhere else unexplored) to be.  I still have some pretty impressive ruins to see and a sponsored child with whom to stay in touch.  But I am very glad to be back in my home with my doggie, going to my church, speaking English, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

But I am already thinking of where to go next!  Now that I have a passport, I might as well use it, right?

Guatemala - Part XX

Friday, July 3rd (part two)

My last night in Guatemala we ran to one more area full of beautiful architecture so I would have seen in person as many as possible of the places pictured on the postcards I got in Panajachel.

Catedral Metropolitana (a.k.a. National Cathedral)

Palacio Nacional (a.k.a. National Palace)

The next morning would be time to head home alone (nothing scary there).

Guatemala - Part XIX

Friday, July 3rd (part one...or, the moment we've all been waiting for...except maybe the ruins)

It's still difficult to wrap my mind around the fact I was in Guatemala at all.  Thank goodness for all the pictures!  But this day is especially difficult to fathom.  On this day something I never expected to be able to do actually happened!  On this day, I met my sponsored child!

I started sponsoring Carlos when he was just 4 or 5 years old.  He's 19 now (which blows my mind).  I never once imagined I would ever meet him let alone half his family.  Suddenly the possibility became a reality as the trip neared and then the day.  Finally the day came.  I was nervous.  I think everyone was.  There was a great unknown (even though we have "known" each other for so many years).  There was a language barrier.  The experience was surreal.  We were to ask each other questions, get to know each other.  In the moment, the mind went blank and suddenly I had no idea what to say or ask.  When the experience was over I could think of so many things I could have asked or told them about, but I suppose the most important questions were answered...and some less important ones.

We met in front of the La Aurora Zoo in Guatemala City.  As we walked through the zoo we talked about his job, my job, his schooling, my schooling, how I don't like snakes, whether I've ever seen a tornado, how raccoons, skunks and red-tailed hawks are seen in their natural habitats where I live, how the weather had been uncommonly nice that week.  We began the adventure, though, by doing something you wouldn't get to do in most zoos.

Each of us took a turn feeding the giraffe.

Yes, yes, I did feed a giraffe.
It wasn't slimy like a cow's tongue...but the banana was pretty gross.

All the proud giraffe feeders.

 The zoo really was nice.  Nothing beats the Henry Doorly, but for a small zoo, the habitats for the animals were really pretty good.  I'd go again...if it was a little closer.

One of the two big brown bears.  The other was lounging in a pool.

I don't remember ever seeing one of these before - Northern tamandua.  Now I've seen two.

Yes, I did go through the snake house...and those snakes were very active.
I had goosebumps the whole time and felt paler than I naturally am!

Sleepy kitties!

The lemurs were a big deal in their new fancy habitat.

Cactus?!  I guess these are desert-dwelling penguins?

Selfie at Pollo Campero!

So this is me between Carlos and his mom and two of his three brothers.

It was nice to find out that they look forward to receiving my cards at Christmas with the picture(s) I always include.  I shared that I have kept all the letters and cards he has ever sent me.  His mom said meeting me was an answer to prayer and that my support has given her son opportunities he'd never have had otherwise.  She cried which made me cry.  The agency folks took pictures of us crying.  Carlos worried I wouldn't write anymore now that I've met him.  I assured him that quite the contrary, I would write more.  I said it was basically a miracle that I was able to come and meet them.  It really was.  And it was amazing.  They were all so nice.  I hope I could go see them again.  Don't know how that would ever happen, but if it happened once...who knows.  I need to get these pictures printed off and sent to him.  I'll save the best one for Christmas.

Guatemala - Part XVIII

Thursday, July 2nd (part two)

Thursday afternoon we visited a place called Iximche (pronounced Ih-shihm-chay).  We needed a lot more time to visit all the amazing Mayan ruins in Guatemala.  These were the only ones close enough for me to get to visit.  They are impressive even if they aren't the most famous ones.

Welcome to Iximche!

The lay of the land

A replica of one they found here.

Our guide was awesome!  He did the whole thing in Spanish and English.
Here he's telling us about the ball court's function and history.

The Moon Temple

The Sun Temple

A very attentive audience.

This site is huge!  This is such a small part of it.

"part of a ritual deposit"

One of the interesting things about Iximche is that it's still an active Mayan sacred site.  Indigenous people are still doing rituals here.

Places of prayer and ritual sacrifice.

When I took that picture, on the other side of the mound there was a small group burning sacrifices of flowers and other things and praying.

Never thought I'd ever be found hanging out at the corner of a sun temple!

From Iximche we went into town and had dinner at a little family restaurant where some local students were giving a marimba concert.  Then we drove into the evening back through the mountains and back to Guatemala City.  The next day was very important.  I was going to meet my sponsored child!

Guatemala - Part XVII

Thursday, July 2 (part one)

Thursday morning we woke very early and to the cacophony of stray dogs howling, roosters crowing and birds chirping that made me wonder why we weren't also hearing people yelling and guns firing.  People would be getting dragged into court or sued if that much noise was happening in a town in the U.S.!  But in general it was a beautiful morning for a drive farther north into the mountains.

The pretty courtyard in our hotel.

This brings a whole new perspective to carpooling.

Our first destination on this day was the largest outdoor market in all of Central America found in Chichicastenango.  We got there as the artisans and vendors were setting up their booths.  The market was an intense maze of color, sound and smell!  I really have no idea how we got in and out of there without help.  We made so many twists and turns.  I'd have been totally lost if I hadn't managed to stay with the group.
But trust me to find churches even when in an absolutely massive outdoor shopping experience!  At these two considered sacred locations, Mayan tradition meets Catholic tradition.  People were praying at the chapel outside the door on the stairs (not pictured, but witnessed).  People buy flowers to offer as sacrifices on the church steps.  The smoke from candles and incense over the centuries has covered the insides with soot so that the ornate paintings and sculptures are almost completely obscured.

Capilla del Calvario (Calvary Chapel)

Iglesia de Santo Tomas (circa 1540) with attached convent.

I wish I had more pictures of inside the market, but there was so much happening I pretty much didn't have time.  But I got one just for Samson.  Not all of the market was for the tourists.  A large portion of it was for the general needs of the populous.  No Walmarts up in the Guatemalan Highlands!

A rainbow of dog food!

Somehow we found our way out of the maze and hit the road again.

The countryside is a patchwork quilt!

Looking back at where we've been.

Another view of Lago de Atitlan and the volcanoes

Our next destination: Mayan ruins at Iximche.  Stay tuned!

Guatemala - Part XVI

Wednesday, July 1 (part two)

From San Juan la Laguna, we climbed back on the boat and went on to San Pedro la Laguna.  Notice the theme?  Saints on the lake!  :)

A good portion of San Pedro la Laguna with Volcan San Pedro in the background.

We didn't stick around San Pedro long, though.  If you want a town full of foreign hippies, this seemed to be the place to go.  So we walked through a few blocks just to take in the sights and then headed back to the boat.  On to Santiago Atitlan!

We strolled up the main street checking out the shops full of all manner of art and craft.

Everything from tiled steps to quilts, scarves, tablecloths and more had so much color!

After a walk up one side and down the other of the main street of Santiago Atitlan, we got back on the boat for the boat ride back to Panajachel.  On the way, we saw more of the indigenous culture.

Doing laundry the "traditional" way.

A couple gentlemen out in their boats.  Fishing maybe?

Back in Panajachel, we walked around some more, had some dinner and then a few of us went back out to find the kind of store I can enjoy no matter what country I'm in - a for real bookstore!  I was able to get postcards for my collection and a new book all about Guatemala.  It is heavy and full of pictures many of which are of places I visited.  Come see it sometime!

Yea, books!

Guatemala - Part XV

Wednesday, July 1st (part one)

On this day I took somewhere between 115 and 150 pictures!  It was probably one of the most adventurous of our adventures.  On this day, we awoke in Panajachel, one of several towns on the shores of a beautiful (and large) lake surrounded by volcanoes.

On our way to and from breakfast (at which I had the best orange juice I ever tasted), we were approached by a man with a bicycle and a map offering a boat ride to and tours of some of the other lakeside towns/villages.  As hinky as that sounds, ultimately we put our trust in these people and got on a boat headed for a village named San Juan la Laguna.

Selfie with the volcanoes - the three of them that fit in the picture anyway.

Three words: scariest - pier - ever!

On our way!  (I got so wet!)

Now that's extreme-angled farming!

That's Mayan for...something.  This is what you see arriving at the pier at San Juan.

This contraption is called a "tuk-tuk" and somehow we fit seven adults and eight children into two of these.
The words "clown car" come to mind.  (Surely that's a direct translation.)

Learning from some Mayan women how they make all those amazing, colorful, woven products.

This Mayan woman is telling us about medicinal herbs she and others use to make medicines and many other things.

San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) church...The brick to the left is the original.  The grey is the newer addition.
See the "reclining Mayan man" on the left?  Look again at the mountain.  See his forehead and nose and chin?
A visual representation of how the traditional culture and the Western religions are living together everywhere here.

From San Juan we got back into the boat and headed back onto the lake to visit the next town.  We'll visit it together tomorrow night in another post.  :)