Tikal

We finally made it to Tikal, the Mayan ruins in the north of Guatemala. This site is known for having the tallest pre-Columbian structure in the Americas. It is in the heart of the Mayan Biosphere, the second largest protected jungle in Central/South America next to the Amazon. Over the years, the jungle has overtaken the pyramids, many of which are yet to be unearthed. We didn't see any jaguars or get to raid the tombs, but we did see a ton of monkeys and other critters. When we first arrived, all four of us took a blazing hot afternoon tour with a group we couldn't really keep up with. When it cooled off, I got to have a nice evening walk alone through the park, and Michael woke up at 4:30 a.m. the next morning for the sunrise tour. We got a package tour which included the short plane ride there and back, and two nights in a hotel walking distance from the ruins. The pool at the hotel wasn't working, though, so we spent our second night at the air-conditioned Westin with a pool and a little beach on beautiful lake Peten Itza.

N'awlins Bound

Our family is preparing for our next big move, which is bringing us to Louisiana. Though we are saddened that we will not be returning to friends and family in Chicago, we are very excited to be starting a new chapter in New Orleans. Though I (Michael) am from Louisiana, I don't feel like I really know the city. I am really looking forward to exploring and contributing to rebuilding. Also, I am looking forward to being closer my family in Louisiana. A great job opportunity is what will bring us down there. As most of you know, Katrina devastated the New Orleans Parish school system, which was already in dire straits. This event, however, might turn out out to be a silver lining on the cloud that was Katrina. Now in New Orleans, reform-minded educators - led by Paul Vallas- are flocking to the city to undertake one of the most compelling transformations in the history of urban education. I will be in the awesome position of founding and leading a new charter school. It is a unique opportunity to directly affect the lives of children and families in New Orleans (and those hoping to return) while contributing to the larger reform experiment. Over the next year, New Schools for New Orleans (thanks to the Broads, Gates, and Fishers for the $17 Million) will be supporting and training me in an incubation period, where I will be planning my dream school. We will open in the fall of 2009. Needless to say, this was an opportunity I could not pass up. I look forward to discussing details and getting ideas from all of our friends and family. Reservations for Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest chez Richard will fill up fast, so make yours soon. We look forward to playing hosts down in the Big Easy!

Semana Santa

We had been looking forward to it for months, and finally our week of Richard-Dreyfuss toddler baby Spring Break madness arrived! The very adventurous Dreyfuss family came down to spend 10 days with us touring Guatemala. We rented a 12-passenger van, packed in four car seats, four adults, and a ton of gear, and toured the country. We spent two nights at the Posada Santiago in Santiago, Atitlan on the lake (Atitlan) in a cabin with a little kitchenette. Santiago is an amazing little town where the indigenous culture is very strong, the lake surrounded by volcanoes is awesome to behold, and the Posada is a lovely inn with beautiful landscaping and a great restaurant. We then headed further west to Fuentes Georginas, where we stayed in some very rustic cabins at the hot springs. It was pretty cool there, so the springs were very steamy! I had an awesome time there for a little while under the moonlight at night which made up for the lack of sleep I experienced while Dahlia clung to me all night. We made a side trip to visit a coffee finca about half an hour downhill from there where it was much warmer. Our third stop was in Las Lisas on the Pacific coast. Although Guatemala's beach is pretty rough, it is still great to experience sun, sand, and the relaxation of lying in a hammock in front of a beach cabana. Lastly, we stayed in a couple of cabins at the Earth Lodge above Antigua, a backpacker hang-out with a great view of volcanoes Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango and pretty good food, too. In Antigua proper, we visited Finca Filadelfia, a high-end coffee farm and hotel and got to witness one of the Holy Week processions. The pics are from Good Friday, so there is a decidedly somber mood. We had meant to stay two nights at the Earth Lodge but detoured a bit before heading there to return to our home in Guatemala City for one night of regrouping. Overall, our trip went well, especially considering the time our children spent in car seats! The real test will be whether the Dreyfuss family ever goes on vacation with us again! I really hope so, since, among other things, Tony takes awesome pictures. Be sure to check out his at the link below!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sutono/sets/72157604263590318/show/

Music Festival

While I was in Chicago with Dahlia, Michael went to a music festival with Shalom. They spent the day with some of our colleagues who were at the festival and then camped out for the night. This daddy-daughter music festival & camping outing is becoming somewhat of a tradition since Michael also spent a few days over the summer camping with Shalom at the 10,000 Lakes Festival. Corey from school took (and then colored in) this picture of Shalom, who had fun painting and getting her own face painted.

Feliz dia del Carino

Shalom, with one of her valentines, our little neighbor Juan Fer. He even picked a flower from the grass to give to her!

Sibling rivalry

Part two of our Saturday morning fun...

Creeping? Crawling?

Just this week, Dahlia has made great "strides" in creeping (crawling?), sitting, and standing up with support. This is the kind of fun we have at 7 in the morning on Saturdays when the rest of the world is sleeping.

Casa del Sol

One of the things we enjoy most about our time in Guatemala is the excellent and affordable child care. That extends to Shalom's preschool, Casa del Sol. Her teacher, Carmen, has created a Waldorf school where the children garden and play in an environment that is designed to be "unstructured." Shalom goes every day unless she is sick, but some of her schoolmates only go two or three times a week. A friend of her teacher picks her up and drops her off, so there is little hassle for us besides remembering to pay, sending fruit on Wednesdays, and repairing the broken toys Carmen has been sending home lately. Every day, the kids work in an organic garden from which they harvest and eat vegetables. On Friday, I spent a few hours there since Michael and I had no school. First, Shalom and her little friend Simon (damn that kid's cute--he really makes me want to adopt a little Guatemalan boy) played indoors with some wooden vegetables. Then, the kids put on their rubber boots to go outside. Shalom and Simon took turns filling watering cans which they dump in random parts of the garden. There are quite a few gringo American kids enrolled, but they are outnumbered by the Spanish-speaking Guatemalans which makes for a bilingual but mostly Spanish-speaking school. Besides the gardening component, the Waldorf philosophy advocates letting children's imagination run wild in a neutral environment, so the school features a lot of unpainted wood toys, colorful scarves, and nothing decorating the walls. The students help cook and then eat a healthy meal each day. When I got home, I eyed our many bright-colored electronic noise-making toys with a new dose of skepticism.

Check out their website:

http://waldorfguatemala.blogspot.com/

Central America!

It is hard to sum up our amazing 3+ week family road trip. For one thing, I spent dozens of hours recording our daily adventures in what turned out to be a 30+ page journal. We slept in a tent, stayed in some dives, and spent a few nights at some real swanky joints. We drove through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and into Costa Rica. All of these countries are just beautiful, with impressive volcanoes, mountains, forests, and the Pacific’s white sand and black sand beaches. Our Jeep got us over some horrible roads that were barely meant to be trafficked, with only two small repair jobs! We got lost a few times, one of which was a near-disaster in San Salvador, but it worked out all right. Traveling with small children was definitely a challenge, but they get us a lot of cred with the locals. Shalom asks “Que tiene?” to everyone she meets, and strangers equally love Dahlia’s big drooly smiles. This was not an entirely relaxing time, but Michael and I managed to squeeze in a few naps here and there. Shalom continues to love being carried in her backpack, and we took a lot of hikes with the two of them in tow. (Note to self: bring snacks on 5-hour hike). We encountered talking parrots, monkeys, leaf-cutter ants, crazy-scary spiders, stray dogs, bread-thief magpies, hummingbirds, ox-carts, and of course so many cows, horses, and chickens… The people we encountered were very friendly, though it is shocking to see the poverty of locals carrying water and firewood for who knows how far, or throwing old tires over cliffs. We are excited to share the beauty of Central America with the friends of ours who will be visiting. Yeah Dreyfuss family! Yeah Scott & Angela!

Gallo Holidays

Gotta love that teacher schedule. As of noon on December 7, we are on vacation until Jan. 3. Woohoo! We have been taking it easy in November, spending the Thanksgiving weekend at the Earth Lodge overlooking Antigua. The hammock and hiking shots are from there.
Check out the shot illustrating Shalom's love of chocolate ice cream. She makes her mama proud!

At the intersection of Avenida Reforma and Avenida de las Americas (close to airport, hotels, and the American Embassy) is the famous Gallo (guy-o) tree. Gallo, which I have no doubt already mentioned, is the national beer of Guatemala, carrying a Budweiser type patriotic loyalty. Though it is difficult to make out, their emblem tops the city's Christmas tree. Isn't that special!!???

Though we will miss everyone over the holidays, we are looking forward to our big Central American road trip. Check out our new ride. On Sunday, December 9, we leave Guatemala heading for Costa Rica. We will pass through El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Don't worry, Shalom is only allowed to drive in Honduras. We will spend over a week in Costa Rica, including Christmas day camping on the beach. Wish us luck and love on our adventure. We will certainly post pics upon return.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to all!

Lago de Izabal & Copan Ruinas

We had a four-day week-end for November 1st & 2nd for"Todos Santos." We drove for about three hours and then took a boat for about 20 minutes to get to Denny's Beach, a couple of cottages with a very swimmable little beach and a restaurant. Another family of four and we were the only guests there. We enjoyed the little lake and took a nice hike in the area, where we interestingly found the longest sidewalk we have seen so far in Guatemala--cutting through the middle of the jungle.

It got a bit rainy at the lake, so after two nights at the lake we headed to the ruins in Copan. Copan Ruinas is a very cute little town about 10 kilometers beyond the Guatemalan border in Honduras. Our border crossing in the Jeep with Guatemalan plates went well: they just waved us through. Copan bears the longest known Mayan text, hundreds of hieroglyphs reading up a stairway of 72 steps (not the same steps in the picture here). Shalom's favorite part of visiting the ruins was a group of "guacamayas" (toucans) hanging around the entrance. Copan was crawling with tourists, so due to the short notice we ended up staying in a musty & cold room that cost less than the jacket we ended up buying for Shalom to keep her dry...and the jacket was about $10. We were all very glad to return home to our own beds after that!