Brrrrrrr....

As luck would have it, Guatemala city is having record low temperatures. The picture is actually not of Guatemala. It is just for dramatic effect. Pretty dramatic huh? Actually it is just a low of 44 today but it felt real cold. It will be back in the 60s by Thursday.

Festival de Barriletes

Barriletes are kites. The kite festival is held in Santiago Sacatepequez, every November 1, the day of the dead. Some say the kites help the souls of the dead to reach the heavens. We also heard that loved ones send messages to passed souls by way of the kites. The kites are made of bamboo and paper. The day we went was not quite windy enough to fly kites, though. The one you see pictured soon crashed down onto the crowd. The larger ones standing up measure at least 20 feet in diameter. Luckily, they did not attempt to fly the larger ones. By attempting to fly, we mean setting them up and then sprinting through the cemetery while pulling the kites' strings. It is quite a sight to see a team of locals (with gringo tourists mixed in) running hurdles over the tombstones.

Our trip to the festival was actually organized by our school director, who was kind enough to provide a free bus for us. Unfortunately, the bus driver did not have the sense to avoid the small town's traffic nightmare. When it was time to depart, the bus was blocked in on three sides by doubly parked cars and a line of cars behind a half mile long. Diana, Shalom, and I decided to try our luck finding a taxi back to the city about 45 miles away. As we looked for the taxi, a police officer pointed out that the local bus would be leaving shortly for less than a dollar. These buses, known as "chicken buses" for their frequent cargo, are infamous around here. They are retired US school buses that have been put on steroids of some mechanical sort and then given flashy paint jobs with odes to either Jesus or some senorita that inspired the artist. We would like to have a picture of the bus, but our camera had been stolen earlier in the day as we made our way out of town in the packed crowds. The pictures included here are from our friend Kari. The bus drivers pack on the locals like sardines, with at least 3 to a seat and another 30 people standing in the ailes. Tourists are repeatedly warned to avoid these buses because of the risk of theft. Well we were SOL without a ride an not many options, so we went for the adventurous ride home and truly enjoyed it. The street wise bus driver avoided all the city traffic by taking a dirt mountain road back to the highway. Shalom worked her magic on the bus by charming everyone and keeping the faces friendly. She is like our good luck charm.

Panajachel

We had a glorious three-day weekend October 20 in honor of Guatemalan Revolution day. We joined several friends for a caravan to Panajachel on lake Atitlan. Panajachel is the tourist center of the many lake towns. During the 60s, it became a central-American hippie mecca, and is reported to have one of the world's few vortex energy fields. Energy field or not, the lake and its surrounding villages have an astonishing beauty.

Our second day there, we enjoyed a boat tour of the lake. This brought us to the villages of Santiago Atitlan and San Pedro La Laguna, which still boast strong Mayan culture. In both villages, locals were speaking in tribal languages. The beaches, like many in Guatemala, are black sand due to the volcanic ash. The man above has avocados ready for delivery. Yum! We will definitely return to the lake, where we can visit more of the little villages around its shores.

Sipicate

Three hours per week of Team 7 meetings at CAG is no picnic, but our Team 7 week-end at our team coordinator's family house on the Pacific was just wonderful. Our accommodations were quite rustic, but the small sacrifice in comfort was greatly outweighed by our reward of being literally steps from the beach. Compared to our earlier beach week-end at the more popular beach of Monterrico, the beach here was perfect. We were outside of the small town of Sipacate, and the beach was cleaner and practically deserted. The ocean was calm enough to swim close to the shore and the waves were big enough further out for one of the 7th grade teachers to surf. Plus, it just amazes us that the same Pacific which was ice cold in Santa Cruz is as warm as bath water down here! Shalom enjoyed the beach and the waves and LOVED the small pool she played in for hours with the L.A. teacher’s kids (our hosts). We ate s’mores, home-made tortillas, and on Sunday, the caretakers grilled ten or more freshly-caught fish. Nothing like eating barbecue, sipping a few Gallos, and watching the waves crash. Now we’re back to our week with three hours of meetings…but that’s not what we came to Guatemala for. We're here for the beach! (and the volcanoes, and the sun, and the jungles..)