Gifts

It's weird to write about gifts I'm going to receive, right?

These are the things to take into account about gifts:

1. Your presence is the most important gift. It is by no means necessary to give a gift.
2. If you would like to give a gift that you would rather not take to Guatemala, please send it to my parents' house and they will give it to Patty and me when we move to the U.S. in the future. Their address is:

77 Glen Summer Rd.

Pasadena, CA 91105

3. If you would like to bring something to Guatemala, you are welcome to bring it and present it at the wedding reception.
4. We are not registered in any store.
5. If you would rather contribute to a Guatemalan charity, that's great. Talk to me and I'll make a recommendation for something probably local from Esquipulas Palo Gordo or anything else you're interested in.

   Still more questions? Send me an e-mail.

Transportation and Antigua Guatemala - our new transportation hub

Antigua - Guatemala's #1 tourist destination. It wasn't contemplated in our original plans, but for some of you we think that it could be a fortunate coincidence and result of logistical issues.

Everyone has a different flight time both in and out, but we don't want people travelling alone or trying to find their own way from the airport to La Casa Colibrí. So we have tentatively bunched people up on private shuttles with particular schedules. We will cover the cost of these private shuttles. Some of you whose flights don't line up perfectly with the shuttle schedule will have a morning or a night to spare. We don't recommend that you spend that time in Guatemala City (see the Security in Guatemala Post), and we DO recommend that you spend it in Antigua Guatemala. Antigua, as it is known, is located about 45 minutes to one hour from the Guatemala City airport, and while it is not exactly on the way to the lake, it is in its general direction. On the map below, you can see Antigua Guatemala about 40 km west of Guatemala City, and Lake Atitlan about 100 km west of the city.

Antigua is a stop for almost all tourists to Guatemala for its colonial architecture and ruins, near-perfect climate and picturesque surroundings and its cosmopolitan culture. It is a World Cultural Heritage Site. It was the colonial capital of Guatemala and at points of Central America. Severely damaged in an earthquake around the time of the American Revolution, it was abandoned for today's Guatemala City. This spelled short-term doom for the city but long-term benefits, as the lack of development preserved the colonial architecture for centuries. Today this architecture, "charm," "feel," makes Antigua an excellent place to stay. I am very wistful of my Peace Corps days when I had an excuse to go to Antigua every couple months for Peace Corps meetings there.

What should you do with a few hours there? These are just some quick personal highlights and ideas (Q. 7.8 = $1.00):

Convento de las Capuchinas. A beautiful 17th-century convent on 2 Calle, 2 Avenida still in excellent condition. Hire a tour guide for Q. 50 and he or she will tell you about every detail of daily convent life and the structures built to facilitate them. Q. 40 for foreigners.

Central Park. Just hang out for a while and people watch in the beautiful central park. But do expect to be offered things to buy by indigenous women. Free.

Walk to Cerro La Cruz. This is about a 30-40 minute hike from the central park to the city's viewpoint. 1 Avenida Norte. Free.

Watch Volcan de Fuego in the morning. True to its name, most mornings Volcán de Fuego is angrily steaming southwest of the city.

Iglesia La Merced. One of the biggest and most beautiful churches in Antigua. End of Calle del Arco. Q. 5.

Iglesia San Francisco. Church with extensive grounds with ruins and a museum to Hermano Pedro, Guatemala's only official saint. 7 Calle, 1 Avenida. Q. 10.

Catedral. It's interesting to look at both the current cathedral, which is lit up beautifully at night, and the cathedral ruins behind it. Off the Central Park. Q. 3.

La Azotea Coffee Plantation. A bus will pick you up in the central park and drive you to one of the many coffee plantations around Antigua, but this one separates itself by having English-language tours, an informative coffee museum and an annex Mayan music museum. Jocotenango. Q. 50.

Valhalla Macadamia Nut Farm. This is a little further away and requires a taxi ride or chicken bus trip, but it's interesting. Learn about organic agriculture, macadamia nuts and business as social enterprise. Free; food to buy; taxi might cost Q. 40 each way, chicken bus Q. 3 per person each way. Ciudad Vieja camino a San Miguel Dueñas.

Chocolate-Making. I haven't done this, but apparently it is very popular nowadays.

And to eat:

Doña Luisa Xicotenatl. Very good place to go for breakfast or brunch. Breakfasts, sandwiches, pastries. Great ambience, can be crowded. 4 Calle Oriente. Q. 40 pp.

Sabe Rico. Also in the sandwich / pastries area, but more innovative and completely natural ingredients. 6 Avenida Norte. Q. 60 pp.

La Fonda de la Calle Real. Quality Guatemalan dishes from different parts of the country. Calle del Arco. Q. 80 pp.

Frida's. Mexican food and innovative margaritas. Calle del Arco. Q. 80 pp.

Sobremesa. Innovative dishes and an enjoyably eccentric American owner. 3 Calle Poniente. Q. 120 pp.

There are plenty of nightlife options too, drinking and Latin dancing, depending on what day of the week you are there. Ask me for more specific info.

Here are some websites to look at:

AntiguaGuatemala.info

Vaccines

Some questions have come up recently about vaccinations - are they necessary to visit Guatemala?

This is a good question, and I will give you the short answer right up front - No.

I, who have now lived here for two and a half years, have been vaccinated against various illnesses. However, I don't think that you as a short-term tourist need to worry about this. Some of the most serious illnesses (malaria, dengue fever) only occur in low-lying hot jungles. Keep in mind that Lake Atitlán is not really tropical - it is at 5,000 feet elevation. When my parents came to visit, my dad did not get any vaccines and my mother got one or two, but she did so because we travelled to the Petén jungle on the trip.

Of course, if you are behind on your normal vaccinations, this would be a good opportunity to get yourself up to date; if you want to know anything more about the vaccinations I have received I'm happy to share that information.

Security in Guatemala

This is an important topic to breach considering Guatemala is, unfortunately, in the headlines quite a bit for insecurity issues. About two weeks ago the country elected a former general who has been suspected of war crimes in the '80s as President. This when 15 years ago the country was fed up with the military and drastically reduced its size. But today, the biggest problem the country faces is the crime that results from the fight over controlling the market for the U.S.' continuing appetite for illegal drugs from Colombia and other countries, and so the former general was elected.

Luckily for us,security risks are mitigable. As a Peace Corps Volunteer and now an officer of a U.N.-related agency, I have received security messages and trainings ad nauseum. And the lessons are simple for you all to follow:

1. Stay out of Guatemala City. Most of Guatemala is very calm; for example, where I live most people leave their doors unlocked all day. Lake Atitlan, thank God, is also safe. But the capital is another story. I've been the victim of two robberies on public transportation in the capital. I have to work in the capital quite often, but good news for you, there's no reason at all for you to be in Guatemala City as a short-term visitor except as a transit hub. We will take people directly from the airport in Guatemala City to Lake Atitlan, and as an alternative use Antigua (which is SO much nicer, with cheaper accomodations!) as a central hub. If you are planning to spend time in Guatemala City on your trip, please talk to me about it before reserving anything. Unless you think that you are going to get a huge craving for Quizno's or KFC while in-country, you can probably do without the visit.

2. Remember that in developing countries, not everybody has an iPhone or BlackBerry. I recently got a BlackBerry and just learned how handy they are, but in rural areas of developing countries, they stand out a lot. In Guatemala, few people have cell phone plans, so everybody buys the cell phone at its actual cost. An iPhone goes for $750 (the minimum monthly white-collar salary is $250 per month...) Don't go walking down busy streets with your head buried in the latest story from the New York Times.

3. We'll choose our public transportation use carefully. I am all about public transportation, as you all know, but here you do have to choose carefully. I'm sure many of you will want to take the famous "chicken buses" which I became very familiar with over 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Do it, but don't take a lot of valuables with you, and please don't go all the way to the capital. If you want to take a taxi, that's completely acceptable - they're way way way cheaper than in the States.

4. Don't go overboard on the alcohol, and don't be out alone late. Should be pretty self-explanatory. Peace Corps records show that a high percentage of security incidents involving Volunteers occurred when people were drinking, and at midnight or later.

Everything near the wedding site will be very safe and you won't have to worry at all. 99% of Guatemalans are the NICEST people you will ever meet, including my future in-laws, and you can predict where the 1% will be. Using common sense we will all have a very nice visit without any incidents. Any questions, feel free to ask me.

Weather at Lake Atitlan

I just received a great question - what will the weather be like at the lake in January? Guatemala is at a tropical latitude, aproximately 14 degrees North. But at the same time Lake Atitlan is at about one mile high, so it is not the sweltering tropical climate you may be envisioning. It should be temperate - I would expect high temperatures from the high 60s to high 70s and lows around 50F. January is the dry season, so there should not be any rain, but it's always possible. Don't forget to bring sunscreen as the sun pierces through the thin atmosphere and reflects off the lake.

In sum, it's kind of just like L.A., a.k.a. perfect weather. :-)

La Casa Colibrí

La Casa Colibrí (the Hummingbird House) is the site for our wedding on the 14th of January. We are hoping to have as many of you stay there as can fit, but we won't know how we stand until the RSVP cards are in. As I mentioned in a previous blog, there are plenty of other places to stay in the area, and we will try to coordinate those in the most convenient way. Those of you who received special instructions about lodging should stand by them; I will let you know if there are any changes, which I don't foresee.

Here are some photos of the house:

La Casa Colibri Website

Ideas of great things to do

If you are able to come down for the wedding, you'll be able to enjoy not only us (whom of course you will enjoy!) but also Lake Atitlán and its surrounding region.


I will suggest some of my favorite activities here, but at bottom also give you links to sites which describe more about the area from a visitors' perspective. I hope to be able to do some of these with you when you come!

• Admire the lake. As I mentioned in a previous post and as you can see in the photos I posted, the lake is a beautiful work of Creation. You can just look out at it for hours.





• Sample indigenous Mayan culture. Guatemala is approximately half Mayan and half Ladino (or mixed-Spanish) descent, making it one of the most indigenous countries in the western hemisphere. Sololá department, where Lake Atitlán is located, however, is much more indigenous than Ladino. The Lake Atitlán Mayans actually belong to three groups, which are the Tzutuj'il, the Ka'chiquel and the Kíche, each with their own language. Each town and ethnic group has its own special traje típico, or traditional dress, which is used by women and is composed of the huipil, or blouse, corte, or skirt, and faja, or belt. Sometimes this is accompanied by traditional headdress. All of the pieces of clothing are woven by hand with intricate detail and patterns. The Lake Atitlán region is also exceptional in Guatemala because it is one of the few areas in which some men still wear their traditional dress and don't wear Western clothes. Although this is only in a few areas and mostly among older men, you will probably see the men's traje típico as well as the women's while here.



• Hike. I haven't been on a lot of hikes around the lake, but amazing views abound whereever you are. One I can recommend is the walk between Santa Cruz la Laguna and Jaibalito, which later continues on to Tzununá and San Marcos la Laguna. You walk parallel to the lake but a few hundred feet above it, allowing you to enjoy stunning views the entire time if you can get over the vertigo!



• Climb a volcano. I'll admit, I haven't actually climbed any of the three volcanoes that ring the lake, but I have climbed two other volcanoes in Guatemala, one three times, and it's always an exhilarating experience. The volcanoes at the lake are mostly dormant (unlike Volcán Pacaya, near Guatemala City, where you can hike straight to the lava), but are still, I imagine, challenging and rewarding hikes. People generally go up in tour groups from San Pedro la Laguna.



• Visit Santiago Atitlán. This is a town with liberation theology history, thus I love it. Fr. Stanley Rother, a priest from Oklahoma, lived among the poor and did community economic development out of his parish through the creation of cooperatives. But to the harsh military government at the time, he was considered an enemy and killed in 1981. The town also suffered another attack at the hands of the military in 1991 when 13 people were killed in a protest after a drunken soldier attacked some townspeople. But it's not only liberation theology that makes me like the town. It's a relatively large and urban town with plenty to offer, and yet doesn't have a tourist-based economy. It has some of the largest and most unique evangelical churches in Guatemala, like Iglesia Palabra Miel, which started in the town and has spread all throughout the Americas. It is most famous for the worship of Maximón, an "evil saint." I don't go visit him, but I'll leave it up to you if you would like to.



• Shop. You may be bothered by small children or women wanting your business, in which case you just have to ignore them and tell them no. But if you don't try too hard, you can find many interesting, unique things there. Buying an indigenous traje típico is an amazing souvenir (and beautiful clothing), if not cheap. There are also some vendors who mix indigenous with modern styles and make very interesting clothing. If the small children and women vendors get to you, though, head off the main street for a breather.



• Chichicastenango market on Thursdays and Sundays. Here you can really shop and find anything your heart desires, from food to textiles and souvenirs. I bought the only two leather belts I own at this market for about $7.50 each. The town is also famous for religious syncretism between Catholicism and Mayan beliefs, a pattern repeated in many towns but especially so in Chichicastenango. If you're interested in that, you can go at mass time and look inside the church at the many representations of Biblical and Catholic figures.



• Chill out, catch up with friends and enjoy the tranquility of the lake. My favorite thing of all!

Some links:

WikiTravel - Lake Atitlan

Atitlan Sol

Atitlan Nature Reserve

Revue Magazine - Guatemala's English Language Magazine

La Casa Colibri Activities Page