Chichicastenango

On market day, people selling flowers gather
on the steps of the church.

This is Jeremiah and one of his friends.
He makes stuffed animals.
He's my favorite Guatemalan kid.

Traditional Guatemalan band playing
the mirimba - that huge xylophony thing.

Ladies in my group
listening to mirimba music and making faces.

Market Town

We visited a town called Chichicastenango with a massive Sunday
market place. On the left, you'll see the front steps of the church.
Straight ahead, you'll see the town.

Hand made candles for religious ceremonies.

There are murals on the wall commemorating the civil war.
This one says "yesterday and today".

"weavers of peace"
(Textiles are a huge market in this town).

"the critical eye"

This is a Guatemalan Glass Factory

In the Guatemalan countryside, we visited a glass factory!
This is the oven they use to cool the glass off in after pieces are finished.
The glass starts off at about 1700 Celsius, and takes at least 24 hours to cool off
in this oven so it doesn't shatter from temperature shock.

Members of the cooperative at work.

Yup. Workin it.

Oh, and me. . . also workin it!!!
You probably can't tell, but I'm sweating
like an unrealistic cartoon character in this picture.
Cute, right?

This is the glass they use at the factory, before it's used.
It's all recycled from bottles and stuff - they sort it
into different color piles before they melt it down.
This place is freaking cool.

Life in Cantel

This is my host mom in the country side.
Her name is Manuela and she makes embroidered belts for work.

This is my host mom again!! With me this time!!

These are two of the belts she made!

This is the wood stove in Manuela's kitchen;
the wood goes in that hole in the side and they burn it to generate heat to cook with.
Sweet!

This is my host sister-in-law, Sara, making tortillas. She's lovaly.

What Else is Good in Guatemala?

The countryside. That's what's good.

Our bags stacked ceiling high in the car on the way to the middle of nowhere. . .
I think I just accidentally referenced a Hanson song. Oh jeez.

Traditional Mayan worship ceremony on the top of a hill in the indigenous community of Cantel. He's only speaking Quiche, the local language. Also, he is a bamf.

A cow and a goat having a fight on the farm across the street from our school in the countryside.
Our school was actually an evangelical church.

Our school's mascot, the local stray dog living under the stairs. Her puppy is. . . hungry.
And waddly.

Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco

The entrance to our language school, our humble home for our month in Guatemala.

What a cool place.

The courtyard of my homestay house, across the street from the school.

Our Spanish professors, party style. Mine is the one on the left in pink.
Her name is Shesnarda.
She is amazing.

Our professors, ACTUALLY party style during our graduation ceremony from the school.
The one on the right with the water bottle is the director of our school.
His name is Carlos.
We want to keep him.

This one speaks for itself.

Life in Quetzaltenango (Fondly Known of as Xela)

Here in Central America, the drink of choice is called Limonada con Soda. That's romance language for. . . Lemonade with Soda. I ordered a large, so they brought me a fishbowl.

Our first day of school at the Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco/Hermandad de Educacion.

The REAL Hermandad de Educacion. And by that I mean, Brotherhood of LOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEE. The one with the hair's from Israel, Brett from Flight of the Conchords is from Paris, and young Chow Yun Fat is from Santa Cruz. We travelled with them through three different cities simply by fate. Gosh, life is cool.

The deep and prophetic wisdom of the Kings and Queens' Tavern of Quetzaltenango.

The children in my host family in Xela (Quetzaltenango). Alejandra's on the left and Ernesto is on the right. . . If I had to pick a love of my life, I think they'd have to fight it out between the two of them.