This has been the year of goodbyes for me. Goodbye to Davis, goodbye to Ventura, goodbye to Europe, goodbye to Ventura again, and now goodbye to Xela. Five and a half months has gone faster that I ever thought possible, but here I am saying goodbye again. Tomorrow Kane and I will get on our… Read More Another Goodbye in Another City
Brilliantly blue waters and lush jungles abound in Semuc Champey, one of the most beautiful places in Guatemala. Semuc Champey is a park located just outside the town Lanquin, which is conveniently located close to nothing. The journey itself is long on the normal tourist path, 8 hours in a bus from Antigua, but it… Read More Semuc Champey: Heaven in the Middle of Nowhere
Living in Xela has been a wonderful learning experience, but sometimes a girl just needs a nice restaurant and some over priced wine so she heads to Antigua. Antigua is a lovely city filled with wide, clean streets that won’t actually break your ankle if you try to run on them and the best food… Read More A Weekend Away in Antigua
When I was in Mexico I really didn’t want to go back to Xela. I was in love with the wonderful food, the safety, and the wide streets that made running so much easier than in Xela. I was dreading returning to my sad cell block of a room and the carb hunger diet. I… Read More Rediscovering Guatemala
I was talking on the phone with my parents last night and they asked me if I felt safe in Xela. I thought for a bit and realized I couldn’t honestly answer yes to that question, no matter how much I wanted to. It certainly didn’t put my parents’ minds at ease when I said… Read More Women in Guatemala: An Extranjera’s Experience
I recently came across an article online titled “Need to lose a few extra pounds? Visit a developing country and try the poverty diet”. The premise of the article was an American woman staying in a Guatemalan homestay for a couple weeks and losing 7 pounds. The title was offensive and struck me as rather… Read More Food Insecurity and Malnutrition in Guatemala
Yet again this post is about a week late. Life in Xela just doesn’t leave a lot of time for writing, which is a good thing I guess. My life consists of morning workouts, classes, conferences, studying at cafés, and the occasional, or sometimes more than occasional, night out. Anyway the last big thing to… Read More Coffee at Lake Atitlan
Okay so I apologize for being a bit AWOL, there’s been a lot going on these past two weeks. Last I wrote I was in the second week and life was great. Life is still pretty good, it’s just starting to feel more like life and less like summer camp. I’m recognizing people in the… Read More Water and Warfare: Las Fuentes Georginas with a side of history
The scene is our Guatemalan homestay dinner table. The time is 7pm three days ago. The main characters are the four tortilla chips masquerading as dinner on our plates. Lien walks in and sees the sadness that is currently ensuing, I frown at her, she understands.