New Years in Guate!

This holiday season was great considering that I was away from home for the first time. Although I was not with my family and friends in the states, I was able to have a wonderful time with new friends and awesome families. Many doors were open wide for me to come in whenever I wanted. Most of my time prior to Christmas was spent between my neighborhood and downtown. In Centro, I mostly hung out with Jenna and the Micah boys.

I was tremendously blessed that my friend Susan and her sister came to visit me in Central America for the New Years' half of the break. If it weren’t for my friends, I would have had a blue Christmas. The day after Christmas, I traveled through El Salvador to Guatemala on a 13 hour bus.

Together we traveled to all the major cities in Guatemala: la ciudad, ChiChi, Lake Atitlan, and Antigua. It was a once in a life time experience with my dearest friends; loads of firsts for all of us. Each of the cities had so much sabor (flavor).

Our first stop was Guatemala City. Not too exciting except we met a really
awesome friend through couchsurfing. I arrived late and met up the girls and our new friend at a small. Then, we went to his house where we started a camp fire and exchanged stories. It was so good to be with someone who was so familiar with me!

Next, we traveled to ChiChi. We used our first chicken bus for the three hour trip. All the seats were filled three to a seat. When we stepped on, all the eyes were on us because we were obviously foreigners. ChiChi is well known for the bi-weekly markets. On Thursday and Sunday the city awakens to the largest market in Central America. The whole city becomes a market; every street is consumed with vendors and tourists. ChiChi was unique because it has a very Mayan influenced culture. The Mayan men and women wear very vibrant colored fabrics and spoke their own dialect. In Guatemala, there are 21 different languages spoken throughout the regions, most of them are Mayan dialects. The next morning, we witnessed a Mayan procession into the Catholic Church. Each group of people that entered the church had a drummer, a piper, about four women, and some men. There were fireworks going off all throughout the previous night and also in the morning; needless to say ChiChi was very lively.

Then we headed to Lago de Atitlan where we stayed in Panajachel, the main tourist town around the lake. The main street, Santender, was overpopulated with vendors who targeted tourists in attempts to make a quetzal or a 100 Q. Everything had a price tag. We stayed at a nice lodge which was a little more isolated and away from all the traffic. The time on the lake was very relaxing and refreshing- except for a few moments when we were frustrated due to travel plans. The second day, we took a boat to Santiago and walked around the more local market. I purchased three live crabs and was able to cook it on a grill in Pana. It was one of the most hilarious moments. While people passed by the grill they would laugh at the gringa who was courageous enough to buy, cook, and eat a live crab.

Our last stop together was Antigua where we spent our time walking the streets getting familiar with the city layout and checking the cathedrals, ruins, and cafes/restaurants. Antigua was very different than the other cities that we visited; it had a more colonial feel. The roads were made out of cobblestones and the buildings were all connected. It reminded me of Spain and also Harry Potter.

The morning of New Years Eve, we woke up really early to climb the Picaya volcano. This was the most amazing adventure that we did together! The hike took more than an hour and a half to get to the top. Once on top, we saw three rivers of red and black lava spewing from the mountain. We were less than a yard away from the lava. We were able to roast marshmallows using sticks; a tasty treat after our hard climb. That night we hung out in the city center to count down 2010! It was very crazy! After midnight, a man dressed in a wired torro danced in the streets with fireworks exploding from the metal figure. I hope you all had a great holiday!