Guatemala: it's a ...

So, we've made it back to the States for the holidays, after an at-times hellish, but overall rewarding trip through the Peten region of Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Flew home yesterday from Cancun after one afternoon relaxing on the beach in Playa del Carmen, which was much needed after a 3 day trip that included a whole lot of chinga and approximately 30 hours in bus or shuttle van, not including wait time.

Oh yeah, time to let loose...

It's great to be back with family for the holidays - I had the pleasure (none of my usual sarcasm intended) to go straight from customs and immigration to my cousin Ben's bar mitzvah. Over the past few years, I haven't been around too much, and have missed a lot while my cousins have been growing up (and growing taller than me). It was great to see everyone first thing, and to catch a bit with that side of the fam...

It's also great to be back in the States with all of its comforts. I've brushed my teeth with tap water 3 times so far, and it's f'ing fantastic.

But, it's also a bit bittersweet. Stacy and I have spent a lot of time together over the past few months - at times too much, and at times in too-close quarters - and it's strange to be apart, particularly around the holidays...anyway, enough sappyness.

Back to the title. Stacy and I have a saying that pretty frequently comes up in our lives, forgive the crassness: "Guatemala, it's a b_tch." We're not talking about a batch of cookies, either. Saying it is a bit of a reminder to calm down when life gets frustrating, and this trip was at times a barrage of frustration.

Guatemala's an amazing country. Its landscape, flora and fauna are mind-blowing, its culture and traditional artwork are beautiful and rich, and its people can be incredibly warm and inviting when you get to know them on a personal level. But it's also a hellishly difficult place, and at times that difficulty supersedes the beauty.

I think we've gone over the dirt, the spiders, and the lack of amenities, but those are small frustrations. What truly wears is the almost-ever-present chinga, which is a very unpolite way of saying "getting screwed over," with additional, but at this time unintended, screwing-related definitions.

I think we get the rough end of the stick, since we're gringos and a bit of an easy target, but it's not just extranjeros who get screwed in Guatemala. It seems like Guatemalans are constantly trying to screw everyone over. Running a business in the country, from chicken buses to stores to inter-family lending, seems like a license to try to swindle any client out of an additional quetzal or several at every opportunity.

I know that cheating happens in the U.S., too, and that there are certainly some profound anthropological reasons for this culture of crooked business stemming from U.S.-owned corporations screwing the hell out of Guatemalans. But at least here in the states there's a veil of honesty I can cling to.

On the chicken bus: shuffling one of my bills to the bottom of the pile and saying we owed another 20 quetzales. Got out of that one by just refusing to pay more.

Travel agency in San Pedro: assured us that the second leg of our journey to Flores would be on a top-of-the-line Linea Dorada bus. Nope, beat to hell old Greyhound from the eighties, which wouldn't have been too bad, if that's what we paid for.

Streetside shop: Told eggs were 5Q for 6, but after I had picked out a half dozen, the price was 6Q because I had picked out nice eggs. Put the eggs back, thanked the woman for letting me keep my 5Q.

Travel agency in Flores, bringing us to Tikal: Told there was no 10:00 shuttle to the ruins, so we had to take the 9:00 (we arrived at around 7 am after an overnight bus ride, and woke up from a nap at around 8:50). Rushed to get ready in 10 minutes, then after picking up the other passengers, waited in the shuttle for 45 minutes, literally doing nothing. Finally left at about 10:30.

Shuttle to Mexico: Told we can't stop for bathroom breaks, and rushed to get back on at the Belizean border, because there isn't enough time. But when the driver's stomach starts acting up, we stop 3 times in about 15 minutes.

None of these things are the end of the world, but they add up to create a lot of stress, particularly on a long journey that, even without chinga, would be stressful. By the time we got to Playa del Carmen, Stacy and I were burned out, and I was a cantankerous bastard on Thursday night.

And the trip was great when we weren't in transport, or fuming about getting ripped off. Tikal, an ancient Mayan city and one of the biggest sites in Central America, was one of the most spectacular places I've visited, both for the awe-inspiring pyramids and for the rainforest of 400 hundred year-old trees teeming with tropical birds and spider monkeys. Pics below.

Tikal's Templo V

I guess the basic point of this entry is that after 3 months in Guatemala, I know that I've had a deeply enriching and life-changing experience. But at times it's been clouded by a frustrating culture of Guatemalans treating everyone without respect. And more than my self-centered frustrations, I think that this rip-off culture has, and will continue to hold the country back, a depressing ankleweight on a place that, at its core, is rich.

I don't want to come off sounding too bitter though. It's been a great journey so far, and making the decision to live in Guatemala with Stacy was one of the best leaps of faith I've ever made. And while I'm bracing for the stress and the chinga, part of me is already looking forward to being back for a few more months.

Happy holidays to all, and Mazel Tov to Ben. Now check them pictures.

Templo I and the Gran Plaza.

Sitting on some ancient steps. btw, skirts are not made for climbing pyramids.

White nosed coati in the Tikal Gran Plaza.

Making some drinks at FEDEPMA's anniversary party. Check the awesome coffee rag. Next year's time to get the espresso machine out in the open, running on a regular basis.

Not my best work, but I'll take it after not making drinks since August.

Pork tacos in Playa del Carmen. Stacy's trying really hard to be a vegetarian.

Hasta luego...

misc fotos...

long time, no blog. busy wrapping up here. just some photos to keep you occupied... can´t wait to see everyone for christmas!

Las mujeres de Ingird (they all have different last names). ingrid, lucía, marina y paola.

almorzando afuera

this table is full of crass women. and kevin. ha.

Kevin and I cooked lunch for Ingrid´s mother on her birthday.

courtyard of the Catholic church on the día de la vírgen, Dec. 8

the Italian Christmas bread: panettone! made fresh for us by an retired Italian professional soccer player who has lived in San Pedro for 24 years. eccentric guy, amazing bread!

my first panettone. heaviest loaf of bread ever. and so tasty!

on the top of volcán San Pedro! more photos of this to come...

Quickie (with pictures NOW!!)

So, we´re getting ready to head back to the states to spend some holiday time with family and friends, and we´re starting to wrap up the first stage of the Guatemala experience.

Besides giving the cabaña it´s first true top-to-bottom, behind the rafters cleaning (gross), one of the must-do activities on our list that we took care of this week was hiking Volcan San Pedro. No pictures right now, I´ll upload after-the-fact. We live at the base of the volcano, so it´s kinda sad that it took us until Dec. 3 to finally do it.

It was tough, but amazing and well worth the $12 park entry fee and well-before dawn wakeup (not a morning person). Unlike Volcan Santa Maria, which was a longer hike and taller volcano, the trail up San Pedro was pretty much straight up - very few switchbacks. It was tough going on the way up, and worse on the way down. Still - kudos to the park and the municipalidad. It was one of the best-maintained trails I´ve ever been on, with perfect stairs everywhere where the going got steep (which was pretty much everywhere).

View of Santiago Atitlan and Volcán Toliman from the summit.

Guy from the municipalidad, my new hero.

Despite Stacy doubting herself before the hike, and despite both of us being absurdly tired by the time we got to the bottom (I fell on my ass once from just losing my attention span, which is actually pretty typical, and towards the bottom Stacy almost fell over from laughter - the I´m-so-tired-I-don´t-know-why-this-is-funny type of laughter), it was one of the best experiences I´ve had in Guatemala. And it may have even sold Stacy on hiking...maybe even backpacking when we get back stateside?

Se rie de cansado.

The mountain was incredible, shifting from coffee fields to lush, high altitude forest with 400-year-old trees, and the views from the top were amazing. The lake is even more awesome (both in a rad, dude, and awe-inspiring sense) from that height, and even though the town of Santiago was across a bay, it felt like we were looking down directly on top of the buildings and streets below. If you make it San Pedro, and you´re able, hike the volcano. If you make it to Guatemala, but not San Pedro, hike a volcano.

Anywho, we´re both looking forward to being home for the holidays. Cant wait to see family and friends, and looking forward to break from third-world living. Thanksgiving here with a few friends was great, but seemed like just a tease in some ways. A week from Tuesday we start the trip northwards to Cancún (spring break!!!! and cheaper flights), and on the way we´ll get a chance to kick the bucket list again with a visit to Tikal...until next time, and happy holidays to everyone, even though there might be another entry between now and then.



-Kevin

Thanks, to everything I miss

In light of Thanksgiving, here are a few of the things I miss:

1. Friends and family: number 1 for a reason, but really, this entry, like American society, is about appreciating materialistic things. I wrote that last sentence when I first started writing this entry, and had to come back…definitely miss a lot of material things, but also a lot of experiences unique to the states.
2. Thanksgiving in CT. For the friends and family, definitely, but also for the Manchester Road Race every Thanksgiving morning, and of course, for the food and the resulting food coma.
3. Refrigeration. We don’t have a refrigerator, and hence anything that needs to be kept cold, we need to use right away. Often we just don’t buy it. A huge portion of this entry is going to be devoted to foods and beverages that I would normally keep in a fridge.
4. Fresh Milk. Ultra-High Temperature Pasteurized milk just isn’t the same, and the real stuff isn’t even available.
5. Bicycle culture: I miss being able to ride everywhere, geek out about Shimano 7900 and Sram XX, talk about how carbon fiber isn’t really all that rad, and make fun of people for trying to coordinate a colorway.
6. Trail maps: For lack of having anyone to mountain bike with, the lack of maps makes mountain biking even more frustrating. The same goes for hiking. Dear god, I hate paying for guides, and I will never take U.S. outdoor recreational infrastructure for granted again.
7. Cold cuts. Cured meats are hard to come by here, and I don’t have a fridge, again. I could buy bologna at some of the tiendas, but I don’t really like bologna, and even if I did, the stuff here looks like garbage. Taylor Gourmet, Neon Deli and Noonie’s, you spoiled me rotten.
8. Cheese. See refrigeration. But even when we do buy cheese to eat the same night, the cheddar tastes almost the same as the mozzarella, and there’s no feta to be had. The queso fresco’s pretty damn good though.
9. Draught beer: really only exists in Guatemala City and Xela.
10. Microbrewed beer, and a variety of choices in general: Here we have a single dark beer option, Moza, then Gallo and a few other equally boring and watery pilseners/light-colored lagers. A hoppy IPA, please.
11. Snow. If global warming ruins my trip back home for Christmas, I’m gonna be pissed.
12. Great coffee. Guatemalan coffee’s great, as far as the beans are concerned, but the attention to preparation is lacking, with a few exceptions. Definitely a luxury in DC to have at least a half dozen great options for an excellent cup of coffee.
13. Hipsters. I’m kinda serious, we only have hippies here, and there’s a huge difference.
14. Music. I miss hearing new music at work and in coffee shops, online, and passed down by friends. And going to shows. Guatemala needs a Black Cat, and some bands that aren’t playing reggaeton or some hippy bullshit. One night we walked by a bar with a guy playing “Reggae-Flamenco Fusion.” Awful, and to make matters worse, his stage name had something to do with elves.
15. New England Macintosh apples in fall.
16. The internet at home, without having to go to an internet café. I think we’re working on this for our return in January.
17. Ben Tabor. Just kidding.
18. Grapefruit juice. Fresh would be grand, but I’m really talking from a carton, with pulp, when I wake up in the morning.
19. Twizzlers. This is really Stacy’s thing. So far my mom and Jennifer Holder have sent them. Mad props, yo.
20. Comfortable furniture. The bed’s perfectly fine, and we have some wooden chairs and a bench constructed by yours truly, nbd, but there’s something to be said for couches and heavily-upholstered armchairs. Such a spoiled brat.
21. Tap water that I can drink and use to rinse my mouth when brushing my teeth.
22. Being able to flush the toilet paper.

All that being said, I’m thankful that I’m here with Stacy, and that I’m lucky enough to take a few months to slow down from the normal pace of life in Guatemala, learn about coffee from the ground up, eat some great (if often questionably sanitary) ethnic food, and travel and experience life in another country with an incredibly rich culture. I’m just looking forward to being back stateside next Thanksgiving.

cositas y gracias

Rise and shine, it’s cherry-pickin’ time! School here has been out of session for a little over a month now. But for many Pedrano families, this three-month vacation falls in line with the coffee harvest. Years ago, all the children were sent to the family campo to pick coffee cherries. I’ve spoken to locals (in reality, most parents here are more or less my age) about their childhood days in the coffee fields. Picking the plump red fruit from the tree was a job for the whole family. With a plastic basket or bag strapped around their waist, the workers scan each tree for the brightest red, the ripest berry and pluck it into the basket. (Hopefully Kevin and I will get to visit a campo and pick some coffee berries soon.)

Today, there are less children doing this work, but many families in San Pedro still have small plots of coffee trees to tend to this season. There is an old, abandoned coffee finca at the end of our road, hence the road is called Calle Finca. Kevin and I walked out there yesterday and passed through some small huts still occupied by a few families. The finca facilities seem to be in good shape, but are not in use anymore. At the very end of the road, there is a footpath that leads down to the lake- Playa Finca. There were a few families enjoying a Sunday picnic (as well as bathing and washing their clothes- the lake is so useful, ha), so we decided not to swim here. But there was a newly constructed dock and a little visible sand/dirt; which is hard to come by in town because the lake has risen so much and is continuing to wash away the earth.

We went to the oldest town on the lake last Saturday, Santiago Atitlan. It was a very interesting place, very traditional and quite spread out. We forgot to bring a guide book (or even look one over before we left, so we probably missed something) but the trip was fairly productive. Kevin got his hair cut for Q10 ($1.25!!!!) and I got to talk to a yoga instructor about a teacher certification program and his experience living on a sustainable farm at the base of the volcano.

Last week, I had some terrible allergies (first time in months!) and today I’m feeling much better. The wind has finally died down, and the weather is beautiful! The sun is strong and warm, but under the shade of a tree the air is refreshing and cool. What disparity from the autumn chill at home, eh?

Kevin and I have been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving this week. We are really going to miss our holiday family time, and we’ve enjoyed sharing our Thanksgiving traditions with each other. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that we’ll be creating any of our own here, as we have no access to the typical Thanksgiving staples. In fact, we don’t really have anything planned for Thursday, although Kevin is determined to make mashed potatoes (yessss!). We’ll have to get pretty creative :) and we’ll try to document the experience, of course.

Then on Friday, we’re heading off to Copan, Honduras. I must renew my passport before November 30, and rather than go to the city and pay for another stamp, we’re going to take a short vacation so I can be outside the country for 24 hours. We’re looking forward to seeing the Mayan ruins of Copan, but not too excited for the actual trip. Getting here and there in this country is never easy. It will likely be a ten-hour drive, and we have to stop in Antigua and switch shuttle companies. Then once we get to the border, we will probably have to pay exit and entrance fees (although there is a Central American Four agreement, which implies that tourists pass FREELY between Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and El Salvador) because all the government officers are corrupt and bored. Thus is life here.

Please enjoy some turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and vino for us on Thursday! Finally, some things I’m thankful for:

-health! The fresh food I’m eating and daily yoga and meditation I’m doing here have given me a new perspective on feeling healthy.

-friends and family! Always you are in my thoughts and I’m sending health and happiness to you this week

-Guatemalan generosity! For the wonderful people and the abundant land and nature here, I am thankful to be a part of it.

-opportunity! I have been so fortunate this year; being in the right place at the right time and meeting the right people. I am so grateful for the opportunities that have been presented to me and hope that I can keep the positive karma flowing.

-Kevin: I am thankful and so lucky to be here with you- te amo.

ps: feliz cumpleaños nana! wishing you a wonderful day! besos y abrazos!

Coffee Fest and Guate the city

Reggaeton performance at CoffeeFest. Too much of it everywhere.

So, Guatemala City. Not exactly my cup of tea. But I was there for CoffeeFest. Get it?

I’m tired, so the only jokes that come might be really terrible.

Seriously though, I’ve lived in Lima, and I expected all of the noise, dirtiness, and chaos that I actually sort-of came to like in Peru. Guate has that, for sure, plus Lima’s love for reggaeton, which I could not and cannot come to appreciate, and then bastardizes it with some strange perversion of the American dream centered around two of my least favorite aspects of Amuhrica: malls and chain fast-food restaurants with supersized parking lots. With reggaeton. From walking through Zona 10 (the Zona Viva in Guate), I gathered it’s the collective Guatemala city dream to own a store in a mall, take your girlfriend on a date in a different mall that’s 4 blocks away, then dance to reggaeton on Calle 15, Zona 10. If David Byrne ever decided to make a sequel to True Stories, and felt like replacing all the awesome Talking Heads songs with Daddy Yankee, this must be the place.

Obviously I’m going to complain a lot in this entry (I couldn’t even avoid being gringo-ripped off for cab fares in Guate, which pissed me off to no end, since I take a bit of pride in bargaining skillz), so I’ll say that all in all, going to Guate for FEDEPMA was an overall positive and at times interesting, if often frustrating, experience.

After getting into the city on the chicken bus and making my way to a hostel near the airport (it’s pretty tough to find dirt cheap and safe options in Guate – many thanks to Stacy for helping me find the first night’s room over the phone since her guide book is way better than mine), I made it to CoffeeFest, albeit a bit later than I had hoped.

CoffeeFests are held in the US, and presumably in other parts of the world, and in Guate, it was held at the office of AnaCafé, the national coffee association. The fest, in addition to a strange exhibition area that really had very little to do with coffee, consisted of the national barista competition, a cooking competition utilizing coffee as an Iron Chef-like central ingredient, and the national cupping competition.

Cupping is a formalized way of tasting and comparing different coffees, and this competition was essentially a way for coffee geeks to battle it out to see who had the most refined palate and most highfalutin vocabulary for describing the variety of berry their coffee most closely resembles. I love coffee, and I do appreciate that cupping is important in the world of gourmet coffee, but I really don’t get the point of competing for the title of ultimate cupper. If you’re going to overcompensate, I figure there are way more interesting and more masculine ways than wearing a medal around your neck that essentially says “I have great taste buds, I´m so awesome.”

Anyways, I had the chance to not pay attention to the cupping and instead watch some baristas, including our friends Gersón and Nery from Fat Cat Coffee in Antigua, compete for the chance to go to Colombia for World Barista Championships. Also somewhat geeky, but whatever. The baristas had to prepare 4 espressos, 4 cappuccinos, and a signature drink in 15 minutes…don’t feel like explaining this anymore. Nery and Gersón unfortunately didn’t do as well as they would have hoped, so they didn’t make it to the finals.

Gersón pouring for the judges.

It was a good chance to hand out some samples of our coffee and talk with some of Guatemala’s best baristas and the judges, who will hopefully provide a bit of feedback on the beans, even if they’re not interested in buying any. The Belgian judge was as unwelcoming as a hard cobblestone on a low-spoke count wheel, but other than that they were good people who seemed genuinely interested in FEDEPMA, or at least acted like it. Gersón and Nery and their friend Frosty (he’s pretty pale by Guatemalan standards, and apparently used to be chubby) were great as always, and it was awesome to talk to Percy Ramírez and Charles Babinski from Intelligentsia. Doubtful our product quite reaches Intelli standards, and they already have direct trade agreements with at least 2 fincas in the country, but good contacts nonetheless.

And really, Guatemala City isn’t all that bad. Saturday happened to be the lighting of a huge fake Christmas tree sponsored by Gallo, the national cerveza. It was basically a giant street fair, and it probably was a good thing I wasn’t with Stacy, since I took full advantage of the opportunity to indulge in some highly questionable street food. Plus, before the Christmas tunes and Guatemalan Rockettes started (cue me leaving), there was a live performance by Malacates, the first semi-decent Guatemalan pop group I’ve heard since getting here. Emphasis on the semi, but definitely listenable, so a small victory I guess. For that night I switched to a hotel in Zona 1, which although a bit more dangerous than Zona 13, is also in the heart of the city rather than right near the airport, so I felt a bit less imprisoned by isolation, and had a good starting point for early market breakfast and shopping for a few necessities on Sunday morning.

And Frosty gave me a few pointers for places to check out. For one, he works at Bajo Fondo Funk, a great bar in the Zona Viva with a vibe somewhere between Black Cat Red Room and the Red Derby, owned by a musician in a funk band called Entre Todos. And Café Injerto, the café of Finca Injerto, an organic coffee farm in Huehuetenango that has won both Guatemalan and world Cup of Excellence awards. If you’re a coffee geek, their café in the city has 5 different ways of doing black coffee, including siphon. Pretty awesome.

Anyways, made it back to San Pedro on Sunday. There wasn’t a direct chicken bus, so I had to take a chicken bus part way, then two different microbuses (think minivans crammed with about 15 people, or if you’ve been to Lima, the combi. Not the least stressful trip home, but here it never is…hasta luego.

sola este fin de semana

Kevin packed up and headed to the city this morning, where he’ll spend the weekend at Guatemalteco Coffee Fest. I have to admit I’m enjoying the space a bit: slept until 9:30! (this is a record here), washed only the dishes I needed and got to eat all the pancakes :)

In spite of that, I’m already wondering what he’s doing. I’m fairly envious of his experiencing the capital city without me, and also getting to be around lots of coffee buzz. I’m so proud of him for taking the initiative for FEDEPMA. In the end, they decided they didn’t have enough money to go. Obviously Kevin was pissed, and spoke with some other folks about the necessity of their presence at this event. Finally, he persuaded them and they agreed to pay his expenses. He’s worked the past few days on typing up the organizational info and packaging sample coffee to distribute to people at the convention. I hope they appreciate all the work he’s doing because he believes in them, and I hope he finds fulfillment in improving their marketing situation.

I had a pretty good turnout this week for my afternoon yoga classes. This was the first week of testing out a class at 4pm, which is a little risky because we’re technically still in the rainy season. However, I had students every day, and best of all, they were vocally grateful. It’s been a pretty good week all around.

I’m going to close this post with some shout-outs. Every once in a while, I realize how quickly things are happening at home, and I don’t want anyone to think we’ve forgotten…

1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite KNITNEY! fphk

2. Congratulations to Rachel and Brett (wish I could meet you, Brett)! Sorry I won’t make it to the wedding, but I’m wishing you all the best! Abrazos!

3. Vibes of good health and serenity go to Dr. Nuria Novella in Murfreesboro- be strong!

4. I´d like to send a big, fat "f*ck you!" to AT&T. Thanks for NOT canceling my account when you said you did. Great job.

5. Anyone who has read the “Celestine Prophecy” – please contact me! I want to talk about this book! So good!

6. To my brilliant and beautiful sister- good luck on the GRE on Sunday! Leave your worries at the door, focus hard and do your best. And Sunday night, I’ll be celebrating with you in spirit!

7. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to make granola without an oven??? There will be a prize for the innovative helpers…

8. Friends and family enjoying the changing of the seasons: if you have any photos of autumn, please share them. Guatemalan green foliage is lovely, but I’m beginning to forget what the weather is like this time of year…

9. Is anyone interested in teaching yoga here in San Pedro? Anyone with a passion for it that would like to come visit is welcome to the job- and trust me, you’ll fall in love.

10. I would love to see YOU over the holidays! I’ll be in TN Dec. 18-Jan. 10. Email me and we’ll make plans!

puzzle pictures...

so. i´m so infuriated with blogger that i don´t even know what to type. these are not all the pictures i wanted to share with you, and they are not in correct order. if you have time and patience, feel free to try to piece them together with my previous text post. if not, no worries. thanks for even visiting!

art in cultural center...

fiambre...

casa de yoga in Xela

daises for our dead people
(how neat that the brand of yogurt is "glad")

inside the cemetery in Xela

overlooking the city on our trek down from Los Vahos

self explanatory...

over looking the countryside of Xela on our way up to Los Vahos

another beautiful view of Xela from the flower fields

Xela with the clouds overhead

Double feature due to technical difficulties

So we both have been trying to post for a couple days now, with no luck due to sub-par internet cafe experiences. Today is no different. Check back for Stacy´s photos, and maybe for some captions on mine. These entries were supposed to be separate, and were written 6 and 4 days ago...

Epiphany

Kevin and I went to Quetzaltenango (Xela) last weekend to experience Dia de los Santos and Dia de los Muertos in a big city. For multiple reasons, namely having moved here from DC, we instantly felt more at home in the hustle and bustle. It was so refreshing to see a different side of Guatemalan culture. Xela has a (albeit completely disorganized and downright odd) natural history museum, as well as a modern art and cultural center.

After the long bus ride, we hiked up a beautiful path high above the city to a natural sauna. Although the space was quite dirty, the steamy heat scented with eucalyptus was a marvelous end to the hike. A nice guy named Juan carelessly showed us into a shower room and served us a beer each (which momentarily pacified my concern about the conditions of shower).

With that reprieve, the hike back down was slow and loose, but we felt wonderful. Then we had a fabulous dinner at an Indian restaurant. Since it was Halloween, there were a lot of bars and clubs hosting big parties- which is not really our thing. So we headed over the parque central to catch the end of the promenade of costume-clad families clinging to each other in the cold. Right- by the way, Xela is freezing. Although the city is nestled in a shallow valley, it is in the heart of the western highlands of Guatemala, and also at a high altitude. Luckily, we had been warned.

The next day we visited cemetery, which was incredible; so many uniquely intricate tombstones, so many flowers, so many kites, so many families, so much laughing and happiness and so unlike a typical visit to a U.S. cemetery.

In an attempt to assimilate, we bought some flowers for our dead people. Daisies are one of my favorite flowers, especially in bunches, because they are so cheerful [insert mockery from “You’ve Got Mail”]. The Spanish word for daisies is inmortales, thus they are very popular on Dia de los Muertos. Obviously, our dead people are not in Xela, so we brought the flowers back to our hostel and kept them alive in a plastic yogurt container we found in the shared kitchen. The hostel staff was moved that I left the flowers on the kitchen table when we left, and they thanked me graciously. How easy it is to share happiness sometimes… I’ll start here with evidence that karma is alive and well.

The past few days have been a whirlwind, to say the least. Until recently, I’m not sure that I had experienced any sort of epiphany or marvel about anything in my life, although I have always loved listening to stories of miraculous encounters, coincidental findings and serendipity in general. Thus, I will contend with anyone that the universe is sending us signs all the time, and it is usually worth your while to be observant of them.

While in Xela, I took some yoga classes at a community house. After the first evening Hatha class, I spoke with the instructor about his passion. I had a sense that he practiced Ashtanga Vinyasa, and I was right. This is a school of yoga that I have been craving to learn more about, and so I was delighted to meet this guy (who’s name happened to be [believe it] Kevin). We talked a little about teaching in Guatemala and what he loves about Vinyasa. He didn’t charge me for the class, and lent me his Iyengar book so I could engross myself in yoga during my visit. The next day I went to his Vinyasa class where he and I practiced the primary and the second series of Ashtanga. Since I lack any background of this practice and its command of strength and stamina, most of the two hours were very difficult. But he was a fantastic teacher; challenging and encouraging, patient and fluid. I learned so much about my own abilities, and also of different aspects to carry into my teaching.

Kevin had been hiking a volcano during this time, and after our individual workouts we set out in search for a fiambre: the traditional meal of Dia de los Muertos. Like a lot of things I’ve experienced here, the fiambre was interesting in a weird way… fine enough for a holiday, but not very satisfying.

Later that day, we wandered into a bookshop and guess who was there: Kevin the yogi.

So he also works at a used bookshop- how neat! And in the bookshop I found “The Celestine Prophecy,” which was recently suggested to me by my yogi neighbor Natasha. Then when we were checking out, I asked Kevin what he was reading and if there was anything in particular that he could recommend. From under a shelf behind his desk he pulled out “Siddhartha.” [are you kidding me?] I’ve always been told that “Siddhartha” is one of those books that will find you at the right time; that will come to you when you’re ready to read it. And here it was- being handed to me by this man who had already rejuvenated my passion for yoga and allowed me to indulge in his property to learn more about it. I still don’t even know where this Kevin is from, but I am certain that he was there to help show me something:

I am in the right place at the right time.

I am here to learn and teach yoga. I have always wanted to do this; to have the time and courage. I could not do this anywhere else. Although my motives for moving to Guatemala were fairly different, I wanted to become more independent, to learn something and to help people. Through yoga, I can do those things here. [Getting to live with my Kevin, improve my Spanish, meet fascinating people and cook and eat wonderful food are superb bonuses that I’m thankful for every day.]

Upon coming to this realization, I have decided to stay in San Pedro. We will be coming home for Christmas for some much-needed family time, but will return to Guatemala in January. I have a wonderful opportunity here with a yoga studio that is growing healthily and that is receptive to my ideas and concerns, and I’m eager to see what we can do for each other.

That being said, please reconsider coming to visit us next year! And don’t ignore coincidental signs- they could save your life J

Below- you’ll find two pictures from the museum. I’m looking for reactions such as: “Why do some birds get to wear bow ties?” and “Why hang a stuffed pelican from the ceiling on display when it has a broken neck? Shouldn’t someone fix it professionally, rather than taping it together with packaging tape?” Questions of this nature are accepted, although, I have no answers.

Next, some really fantastic art in the cultural center. These are a few of my favorite things….

Lastly, some beautiful views of Quetzaltenango.

Kevin from Nov. 6, with a few bitter changes

So, as Stacy said at the end of her last entry, we did finally decide that we’re coming back to Guatemala after heading stateside for Christmas, belated Channukah, and New Years. The idea of trying to cram everything into one month and wrap up the San Pedro experience before the holidays had been an unspoken source of stress for us, and coming back will hopefully let us enjoy our time here a bit more, and allow us to leave with less unfinished business.

Personally, I don’t feel like I’ve seen enough of Guatemala, particularly hiking and on mountain bike (the biking had been seriously hampered up until Wednesday by an exploded left shoe, but more on that in a bit), so the extra time will let me explore a bit more.

But perhaps more importantly, if I left for good in December, I’d feel like I was shortchanging both myself and FEDEPMA. I’ve been roasting and sorting beans, which has been great at times, but there’s only so much to learn from the way FEDEPMA roasts, and we’re just about to get into the thick of the harvest and coffee processing season, which should last to late February/late March. And, where FEDEPMA really needs help is in selling their products. They do a pretty damn good job in their own right with the production.

On Thursday, the director finally found time to sit down and talk about helping FEDEPMA market their coffee and honey. Basically, FEDEPMA has been hoping that business comes to them, not actively seeking it out. There’s a huge market of tourists and businesses catering to them in town, and FEDEPMA currently only sees their money if these tourists magically appear at the FEDEPMA production facility and store, which happens to be 2 miles from town, down a dirt road.

So I’m going to be talking to business owners in the touristy section of town about selling our coffee (you can call me Mr. Ambassador to the White Man), bringing a bit of coffee with me when traveling, and trying to get some samples into the hands of good baristas. I have some other ideas up my sleeves, (editing change from Monday in italics) but first up is CoffeeFest next weekend in Guatemala. I’m going with a couple other reps from FEDEPMA. Let’s be honest, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to only send a gringo to the national coffee festival, particularly when the name of your organization is the Federation of Mayan Communities. I grow a way better beard than any person of Mayan descent that I’ve met so far; that’s what makes me stick out like a sore thumb. So it turns out there wasn´t enough money to go to CoffeeFest. Or for some reason Izaias thought we were going to get in for free, but when that didn´t pan out, we backed out, which I found out today, Monday. Great, the frustration continues. I might just go myself and try to sneak in a few coffee samples myself, since it seems like if I´m going to make anything out of volunteering for FEDEPMA, I´m going to have to do it myself, despite their own unwillingness to do anything good for themselves.

Next goal is to explain the basic concept of wholesale pricing, because currently FEDEPMA thinks it makes sense to mark down only 5 percent from retail. How do you say “keystoning” en español? Dear god this is going to be frustrating…

Relatively quickly, other reasons this week has been good:

1. We went to Xela. Xela, or Quetzaltenango, is Guatemala’s second biggest city, and it’s great to see a thriving, continually developing, modern culture that isn’t solely catered to tourists. Xela had artists who actually create art, not just imitations for souvenir shops. And we saw live music that didn’t include a Guatemalan version of “My Heart Will Go On.” Then again, one of our friends in San Pedro lent us, and insisted we watch, the movie Valentine’s Day. So Celine Dion cover or not, I still almost felt like puking.

2. Dia de los Santos/Dia de los Muertos. Words don’t do it justice, but we went to the (huge) cemetary in Xela, and it’s amazing to see thousands of families visiting their relatives’ graves and celebrating, not just mourning, their ancestors. Flying kites, eating, dancing to marimba music, laying out flowers…

On Dia de los Muertos we went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant for fiambre, the traditional meal of pickled beats, vegatables, and assorted meats that families leave out for the dead on November 2. It very well could have just been this restaurant’s version, but if I were dead, I’d seriously consider fasting, staying in the grave for the night, or just going to Pollo Campero.

3. Went hiking, fo’ real. On Day 1 in Xela Stacy and I hiked up to los Bahos, a set of volcanic-heated saunas up a mountain from town. More on that in her entry…

And on Tuesday, I finally bucked up and paid for a guide to hike Volcan Santa Maria. I really prefer to pay for maps, but those don’t really exist in this country, so when in Xela, I’d recommend Icaro Tours. I hiked with a 22 year old guide named Ángel (my angel references are not appreciated, jerks), who is guiding while studying business at the Universidad San Marcos. Pretty cool guy, with a lot of conocimiento about Xela and the mountains and wildlife in Guatemala. For better or worse, the other hikers from Israel got travelers’ diarrhea the night before, so I took a solo hike for the price of a group trip. Score.

The Volcan was amazing. At the 3770 meter summit, there were 360 degree views of the active Volcan Santiaguito below, Xela, Volcan Tajamulco – the highest point in Central America – and an unfortunately clowd-obscured Lake Atitlan. It feels great to get outside and get dirty, and experience the mountains from the summit, not just looking up from the road – despite being in the middle of the outdoors, I haven’t been getting enough of that in this country.

4. Got a package! Thanks Mom and Dad. About 3 weeks ago I destroyed my well-loved left cycling shoe on a ride to Jaibalito. While my bunnyhopping-without-clipless skills have drastically improved over the last few weeks, I haven’t been inspired to climb any big mountains with platform pedals. My parents were kind enough to send me a new pair of shoes, and a whole bunch of great food. The shoes are too shiny though, so it’s time to stop writing and go ride

That’s it for now. Off to market some coffee and ride a bike. Any good Halloween stories? Please email the shenanigans.

-Kevin