Ruins and Almost Gone

We are getting ready to leave and have been catching up on all the things we need to do to get out of here. I am so sad, but am already planning the return trip...so much more to do and see...tons to pack!

Here are some of the best pictures of the day. Too bad I didn't take pictures of lunch which was wonderful. Guatemalan sauces usually have ground up nuts in them and mine was splended with pumpkin seed puree. Adios y Buenas Tardes!

Lots of Walking

I have said before that the amount of walking I do here is amamzing and today I wore Michael out proving my point. We toured a bunch of ruins and still could have kept going to more if we hadn't run out of steam.

The Spanish spent about 250 years building elaborate churches in Antigua. They had to abandon the city in the late 1770's after an earthquake demolished everything. There are ruins on practically every corner. It is overwhelming to think about what they had to do to get these churches built...and about the poor Mayans who did all the labor and died tourtureous death if they refused to bow to the Spanish church.

The pictures are from the Hotel Santo Domingo Museum which was really cool to finally see. I haven't mentioned that the modern Guatemalan art I have seen has been just incredible...Museum quality stuff that I would die to purchase if I only had thousands of dollars in discretionary funds. Oh well, 2 days to go before we leave and still so much to do.

Coffee y Mas

Today we took the kid's maestras to lunch to thank them for 5 weeks of teaching. We went to a traditional Guatemalan restaurant and had some great food...I forgot to take pictures of it, but almost every meal here is accompanied by guacamole. It's different from Mexican guacamole in that it is almost always avocado with salt, and that's it.

After lunch, we hopped on a Chicken Bus and drove out to a coffee finca (farm) where we stood in the hot sun and learned all about the different types of coffee and how they farm it. Interesting, and I bought 3 bags to bring home for people who are nice to me.

We are wrapping up the 5 week stay and I go back and forth between being sad to leave and anxious to go...I like the way we live here. No television or phone. I walk everywhere. I like taking a shopping bag to the store and getting only what I can carry home. I have my cofffee in the morning at the same place and the girl who serves us and I catch up on the day's activities...being here means connecting with all different kinds of people, each of us happy to be where we are, eager to learn about other people's lives. I will miss the community and the fact that everyone, and I mean everyone, greets you with a polite, buenos dias, buenos tardes and buenos noches. So buenos tardes from me to you and I look forward to keeping it up when I get back home.

PS - notice Mason's happy attitude!

Sightseeing...and I wiped out

Michael was most upset about my fall in the tienda because he didn't film it. We probably could have won Americas Funniest Video because on my way to the floor, I took about 4 wire racks full of potato chips with me. Who would leave a bench in the middle of an aisle? I iced my knee and am about to have a Cuba Libre so I should be fine by dinner time...it was a spectacular fall.

The kids are in school half day for their final week and tomorrow we will take all their teachers to lunch. I have really enjoyed the school and neither of my kids have complained about going for the last 5 weeks. I know Mason has learned a ton, but Olivia is saying things like, a mi me gusta____fill in the blank.

There was a huge festival in Antigua last weekend and the fountain in the Plaza Mayor was decorated to the hilt. Here's a picture of the kids on their daily walk to school today. Don't you love the hat?

Michael made write that last title...sorry Carole and Mom

Here's some pics of the kids and their dad today by the fountain. It's pouring rain and Michael and Mason are deep into a chess match. I am finishing this book and getting ready to make a Cuba Libre with 23 year old rum...hope you're having a great Sunday too!

Having fun with Michael

All's well. We shopped around and I think I have gotten everything there is to get, so now it's going to be all about sightseeing, coffee and company. We haven't talked much about where we are staying, so here's a video of the dog who I will desperately miss when we leave. Chico and Sandy are the sweetest couple of dogs and Chico talks...tell me what you think he's saying.

The Calvary Has Arrived

Michael is here and all is well. Pouring rain as we speak and we are off to a birthday party at the neighbors. Hopefully pics tomrrow for anyone whose still interested. love jane

I'm Better Now

The kids climbed up the mountain today to see the view of the city. I stayed home and had a nervous breakdown, then did the laundry. Olivia and Mason said it was a great day and we are now preparing for Michael to come tomorrow and rescue the kids from me...or the other way around.

Get ready for a slew of pictures this coming week as we will be going to all the places I've been saving to go to when Michael arrives!

I'm Going to Kill the Kids

Not really, of course...they are driving me mad and it's all I can do to keep from screaming. That's all for today....can you tell I'm ready to come home?

Bought eggs, and that's about it

For anyone wondering how the book is coming along, I guess I can safely say it seems to be pretty well complete, except for a much needed equipment section. Thanks to all my editors out there who have happily let me know when I need to stop writing and trust the kids to figure out what they are doing.

Tomorrow is market day and I'm off to drop the kids at school, shop for veggies and wash and wash and wash until my hands don't work anymore. I thought the kids and I were going to go to an actual bar tonight to meet other bloggers, but I got my days mixed up and missed it. I'm taking my husband when he comes so we can drink as many rum drinks as possible. Pat, my neighbor who is a school teacher from the Bronx will babysit....if she can't knock some manners into these kids of mine, I don't know who can.

I went to the panderia to get eggs, carried them home like babies and washed each one seperatly in it's own little bath, just like Ruth told me to do. Got slightly homesick and Olivia, always the little trooper, had a melt down and demanded to be taken to the airport immediately....she has since recovered and feels somewhat better after letting all those emotions out. Anyway, miss you all and can't wait to share the book with you, but I am going to miss these eggs. They are incredible.

More Scarves!

I found this little store with amazing scarves right after my mom and sister left. Please note the green one, it is my personal favorite, and it's got a fine linen weave to it. It comes in lovely, soft colors....anyway, I want one and the more I buy the better price I get. They are Q60 which equals about $8-$9, but I could probably get them for less. I just love a bargin. Also love the larger weave one and the colors are really pretty. Click on the photo with your mouse and it will let you blow up the picture for better detail.
Let me know and love to all! Jane

I Get the Day Off!

Having my mom and sister here has been so wonderful, I just wish everyone I love could come and share this amazing country with us. Mom left this morning at 8 and my sister, who is walking the kids to school for me!, leaves at 11. I will be sad to see them go, but need to get back to work on the book or I will leave here with my goal not being accomplished.

It is still sunny, no rain in the forcast again. I am going to go meet my new friends Maria and Roberto today and talk to them some more about their lovely hotel, Palacio de Dona Leonor. I encourage everyone to go on line and check out the pictures of this incredible home/hotel that they have spent the last 3 years renovating. It is truely spectuacular and if I am lucky enough to come back here, I will budget so that I can stay there. I will see if I can post a picture of later, but go check it out for yourself if you have time.

More later!

pics of the kids

more pics of the hotel

we ended up having a great time

So today's blog is a bit shorter because we ended up having a great time at the Nature Preserve walking through the rain forest and going on the zip lines. Mom thought her knees wouldn't make the climb (we didn't know we had to WALK UP the mountain to get to the zip lines) but figured after all the mojitos and guacamole, a little excercise wouldn't hurt.

Here's a picture of the lake. It was stunning.

We're Back from the Lake

The whole family, plus my neighbor Pat for the first leg of the trip, went to Panahachel on Saturday. It was great to get out of Antigua for the first time in 4 weeks and we were full of high hopes for a great weekend. The video here shows the lake as we arrived and the views only got better the closer we got. Our problems started when my sister and mother both got a car sick. It was an incredible drive from my front row seat, these amazing green mountains that people actually farm on, but apparently they got out of the car when we arrived at our really beautiful Hotel Atitlan, feeling like crap. The kids swam at the hotel for the first part of the day and then someone in our group, they keep saying it was me, decided to go into town and find a boat that would take us to one of the little villages that surround the lake. The hotel offered to take us in a private boat for $75, but someone in our group, NOT me, said we should go into town and get a cheaper boat. We took 2 tuk tuks and arrived at the docks where a man immediately offered to take us in a private boat for 650 quetzals. We said no and he said, how much? and we said wait. We then walked down to the boats where another man approached us and said we would pay just as much for the public boats and since it was so late in the day we should take a private boat....I could go on because the discussion lasted a while, but we ended up paying the full price, which is almost unheard of here, of 650 quetzals to go to a desitination none of us had really put much thought into. Once we got to San Marcus, a destination picked by my sister because a friend told her to go there to see the organic farms and take a hike along the lake, we realized we had no idea where we were supposed to go or do. We walked up a charming hill to the top and found ourselves in a normal looking Guatemalan village. There we no farms or lake paths to be seen. We ended up walking to a really cute restaurant called the Blind Lemon. Our hopes were high for a little bite to eat, but what happend set the tone for the rest of the day. When I asked the waitress, who took about 15 minutes to get to us, if she could not put the guacamole or sour cream on top of his nachos, she stared at me with eyes full of hate and pretended to not understand what I'd just asked. This went on for about 3 minutes before an American man in the corner told her to put them in different dishes. She spat back at him that they didn't have enough dishes to do that and then continued to take our order with the surliest attitude I have come across since I quit waiting tables. We got our nachos after about 30 minutes and were hoping the rest of our food would arrive soon, but our hopes were dashed when my sister went to go find a fork and order another beer and saw our waitress talking with a friend in the kitchen as she just began rolling out the dough for what turned out to be the world's worst pizza. Needless to say, we started worrying about our return trip since we had spent the entire hour and 30 minutes we had alloted waiting for our food. The American owner, obviously not concerned that we were experiencing the worst service anyone of us had ever seen, seemed oblivious to us, despite the fact that we were the only table in the place. Anyway, the pizza finally came and we had to take it with us and I never got my cauliflower soup. We ran back to the boat hoping our captain was still there, he was, and jumped on looking forward to a little pizza as we motored across the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. The pizza tasted like soap and hate, so we gave it to the captain and then proceeded to laugh about our disaster the whole way back to the hotel. It felt like our visit to the lake was going to suck, and I felt bad for making everyone leave Antigua. We got back to the hotel and everyone went to their rooms and called it a day. It was a pretty sucky end to a pretty sucky day, even though the lake was incredible. More about the trip tomorrow.

shopping with the girls

we found this amazing shop full of authentic handmade, natural dyed textiles. Amazing, not cheap. Check them out.

We're having a Heat Wave!

That's what they keep telling me anyway. I still feel a cool breeze when I'm out of the sun. This is supposed to be the rainy season and there hasn't been too much rain lately. This desert child would like to see more, and my waitress today said it would come next week. Until then, here are some pretty shots of the garden just outside my window. PS My Mom and Sister come today!!

Flowers, so pretty, so tired

If you care about me at all, you are reading my blog and of course watched the video of the wonderous Galinde Noche flower blooming the other night. Well, last night I couldn't sleep because my mother sent me into a panic worrying about the $7,000 I have to come up with for a new roof when I return from Never-Never land. I think I finally dosed off somewhere around 12. Was SOOO looking forward to sleeping in, but at about 5:57 (I know it was 5:57 because I looked at the clock and thought, "what the ____") Ruth, my 70 something landlord who wakes at 4:30 to do her devotionals, came to my bedroom window and said, "Jane, wake up, get your robe and come see this." Luckily I have a sense of humor and she should be glad my sister, who has no sense of humor when it comes to her sleep, had not arrived yet for her visit.

Anyway, I don't have a robe, but I got out of bed, walked out into the garden and saw a wall full of the flowers that had bloomed overnight. They were beautiful... However, I now find that I am just about over the Galinde Noche flower. Hope that's the last of them.

Here are a few shots of them I took along with a passionfruit flower. Enjoy them because they are the last ones you will ever see, hopefully. yawn, jane

Tortillas y mas

Where I come from, tortillas aren't that big a deal because we can get them fresh and hot, right off the press. But somehow, the tortillas here seem a little more real. I walk the street here everyday and the first week I was here I noticed an extremely old woman carrying a basket. She hobbled along, stopping occasionally to ask someone to buy what she had, but she never stopped to ask me.

Finally this week, she did. She was selling tortillas, and the many towels she had wrapped them in had kept them warm. I bought ten and made Mason quesadillas. For those wondering how is doing food wise, let me tell you if it wasn't for cheese and cereal he'd be dead. Anyway, I didn't have my camera and if you ask to take a picture, many Mayans ask for money. Here is a picture I took at a restaurant over the weekend. They cooked all the food over wood, and all I could think about was the great French chef, who died in his 50's after spending his life cooking over charcol. If I see her again, an I'm sure I will, I will ask to take her picture. There is no retirement for the poor.

more pretty ruins

It is starting to rain and the kids are off touring a jade factory. The cookbook is coming along and I think I've figured out how to piece it together so it has some cohession. Olivia and Mason have finally learned the difference between ser and estar and seem to be enjoying school as much as ever. That is my update for the day. Here is my picture.

Galinde Noche

Right now the apartment is drenched in a beautiful perfume from the Galinde Noche flower. I am posting videos of it blooming. It blooms at night by the morning it's dead. Kinda sad, but it the most wonderful flower I have ever seen and it's sitting on my kitchen table. Seriously, it smells like I just sprayed the house with perfume.

Would you Like One?

I bought this pretty wooden jar with lid for $4 and the scarf for $13. Who wants one?

video of convent gardens

Here's just a peak of the ruins. It was huge and there is so much more I could show, but now you'll just have to see for yourselves.

Ruins of the Convent

Today we got out and went to the the Convento de las Capuchinas, who were an order 28 nuns who lived a very cloistered life. I will post some video of it too. The kids go a little stir crazy on the weekend and Paul came by this morning with a pair of roller skates circa 1972 for Olivia to try. It took her about an hour to put them on and she is now gamely making her way through the gardens outside.

Mason got a hacky sack and won't stop asking me to play it with him. Need a hippy here now!

zip line video

oops, here's more

THE BEST DAY EVER

We couldn't have had better weather, that's for sure. I don't know what the temperature is like where you are, but we could have used a little sweater for most of the day. The zip line was sooooooooo much fun and our guides could not have been nicer or more professional. Best of all, Olivia and Mason both jumped right in like they'd been zip lining their whole life. Our only problem was that the camera ran out of batteries so the amazing huge zip line run didn't get filmed, but we have all said we're going back again, so we'll try to film it then.

After the zip line we took a tour of the Filadefia Coffee Plantation (that's not a spelling error) by horseback. The story of how they harvest the coffee is a story in itself and it is one the prettiest plants I have ever seen. It would be perfect in my garden if it would only grow there. Here's a little clip of the kids and some pictures of Saturday market as well as the horseback ride. God, this place is amazing!

a nice meal

So for the most part we are really budgeting and eat at home most days, but yesterday I had to go to the hotel and celebrate the fact that we'd made it through another week by having the best mojito ever. I also had a little tostada with seared tuna, papaya and black beans. Plus, so pretty. Come have a mojito with me!

It's Friday!

Today there was a huge festival down at the market. It was a celebration for all the vendors and in honor of them, there was a parade of high school beauty queens. 10 cars with pretty girls sitting on them drove up and down the Alameda, each car followed with a truck jam packed with boys shouting the name of his queen. A chicken bus followed up the rear.

The public buses are called Chicken Buses because the drivers are so crazy, they play chicken with other drivers...and usually the chicken bus wins. Driving to and from Guatemala City last week we saw the wreckage of 2 chicken buses and 6 or 7 burnt out cars. Apparently, no one won that day.

I will try to take more pictures of them, but please note the pride that has gone into this bus. Also note the American flag on the front fender. Each bus has a name and are painted with brilliant corners and decked out with horns...that they use OFTEN! Is anyone reading this or am I just doing this for my own fun?

Here's Market, and it really doesn't do it justice.

Market Day and Snakes!

I went with Ruth and Daisy to the Thursday market and tried to control myself, but I still managed to buy too much chicken. There was much discussion between Daisy and the girl selling the chicken over the price and I still don't know what I paid. We walked away twice, but came back because Daisy wasn't too wounded when she couldn't get the price down. I will try to post a video of the market, but was told you go to market to buy OR take pictures. Never attempt to do both at once. I got a stern look from Ruth and had to put the camera away.

The kids spent the morning studying ser and estar and the afternoon playing with snakes. Olivia is so girly sometimes, but not when it comes to things many girls squeal at. Apparently, they couldn't get the snake out of her hands. Mason took the pictures you'll see so please tell him what a good job he did. I think they took 135, only 14 of which you can actually tell what is happening. There must have been a lot of jumping going on. We are all still well and happy and looking forward to a weekend of fun! We'll show you all later.

salsa

i took salsa lessons today. just about the hardest thing ive ever tried

Salsa, Por Favor

One of the best parts of the kids school, Centro Linguistico, is that they study for the morning and spend the end of each afternoon doing an activity. Yesterday they went to a butterfly sanctuary and today they took salsa lessons. It was pretty funny to see Olivia dancing with a bunch of college age girls who have found their hips. The male instructor is from Guatemala and his partner is a young girl from Denmark who came to study and decided to stay. You meet a lot of people here like that. Mason abstained from today's class but will participate in a private lesson tomorrow. On another note, we took a friend of the kids out to lunch today because he has been so sweet to them. Trey is his name and he goes to Georgia Tech on scholarship. The college is paying HIM to come here and study. He is everything you would want your son to be and I am thrilled he has decided to befriend my kids. After he gets back he is applying to be a Fullbright Scholar in Korea. Those are the kind of people you run into down here. We're going Zip Lining this weekend at a coffee plantation so I hope I can post the video. Check out this salsa and we'll keep you posted on all our goings on.

things I saw today

kids are in school and here's what I saw on my walk back home from lunch.

TUT TUT

My herniated disks have healed but if I do too much traveling in a tuk tuk, so called because of the sound it makes as it pauses, I'm sure I will have more damage by the end of our trip. Here's a sample of our bone jarring ride home from school. If you end up coming to Antigua, make sure you ask how much a ride is going to cost before you start. Most rides are Q15 which is about $1.75.

amazing adventures

While the kids are in school all day I am supposed to be working on my cookbook. I have been doing a few things, but nailing down the recipes is hard. Tomorrow I will try to get a few written and can only thank the kids from my cooking camp for giving me a real insight as to how kids cook.

Olivia and Mason went to a macadamia nut plantation today with their instructors for a a little tour. I haven't gone with them for any of the activities because I have been writing, but today when I picked them up, I wished I had gone. They said they went to this plantation and the guy from Indiana Jones was there leading them on a tour. I said, "Harrison Ford took you on a tour?" and they said, "Yes! He looked just like him!"

So I know Charro lives in Guatemala City, but does Harrison Ford live on a Macadamia Nut plantation on the outskirts of Antigua?

the street I live on and more door knockers

walk up and down this street at least 6 times a day.

I love artists

Check out these cool little grasshoppers we found. This man makes them in 2 minutes out of palm fronds. I would rather buy this than the jewlery that is sold on every street corner. This cool little bug cost us 20 cents. Who wants one?

we, sob, found McDonalds

At least I found it. Because Antigua is a World Heritage Site, there are no large signs allowed here. In fact, most buildings barely have a posting of what they are. Anyway, we walked all the way past a very tasteful McDonalds building and the kids didn't even know it was there. I will remain mum until they figure it out.

On the cooking front, the chickens here taste like they are from another species of chicken all together. Moist, plump, flavorful...whatever they are doing to them, and I think it's not farming them whatsoever, makes for the best tasting chicken I have ever had. I have roasted them 2 times now, after a simple short marinade with garlic and thyme. Perfectly cooked all the way through and delicious.

We had a long day yesterday which started with me going to church in Guatemala City. It was the first time I'd been to church in years and it reminded me that I don't need to go again for a while. There was a Sunday school class about superstition and fortune telling. This is very bad for us and just reading your horiscope can let the devil in to your life. Although I didn't agree with sermon, the pastor and all the people at the church were exceptionally nice and I actually enjoyed the experience, just not the lessons.

I didn't take many pictures yesterday, but here is one from our walk to the arch and cathedral. Pretty impressive!

Old Friends Gone, New Friends Arrive

I forgot what it was like to travel to a third world country. You meet people, especially if you are traveling alone...like I kind of am. My neighbors from Tennessee left this morning, and I hope they made it to the airport on time after their cab was late. Hey Paula, Olga and Linda! It was sunny all day today, and we got hot.
Also, there is a picture of the famous arch here in Antigua. The nuns used to pass over the top of it so no one would see them on the streets. Anyway, our new neighbor Pat is from the Bronx. She has taught school there forever and speaks like a true New Yorker. We had dinner tonight with her and her friend, also named Pat. They are both lovely ladies and are coming over for dinner tomorrow!

Spanish School in Antigua, Guatemala

My mother keeps asking about the kids and how are they doing in Spanish school. Today is Friday, and we are all a little relieved that the weekend is here, but it's only because we can sit around in the morning and I don't have to walk across town. The school is called Centro Linguistico and they each have their own instructor, all of whom have been very good. It seems like our morning teachers have a bit more patience with Mason, and they all have commented on how tranquila Olivia is. That means she's calm, compared to Mason, I guess.

Anyway, they are learning verbs which I will reinforce this weekend. There is a lot of game playing, after which they write down vocabulary words for the day. They do a lot of conversing, just talking and usually in the afternoons, the school offers an activity. Yesterday, they went to a Mayan village and made tortillas, saw how the women weave and then got drenched by the rain. Today they will take salsa lessons. It seems like Mason has decided he is going to speak Spanish, even though he fought it all year at Mesita (he is in a dual language school for those of you who don't know). Here is a picture of them all playing loteria, my favorite game of all time. If you have any questions, let me know!