The Bianchi Family. My first stop in Guatemala. They are incredible and serve as my Guatemalan family.
First Bed in Guatemala!
Lorena, next to the liquor cabinet. I think she has a problem.
Main Government Office/Palace in Guatemala City
Fountain in the Central Plaza
Lorena and I at a bar. Once again, I think she has a problem.
Rest stop on my way to Xela. Little road-side restaurant that had some great views.
Dia de los Muertos. Day of the Dead. All of events center around each town's cemetary. In most of them, like this one in Zunil, beautiful flower arrangements are everywhere.
Zunil's Cemetary
Beautiful.
Nice stroll through the graveyard.
Anyone up for cotton candy?
A few indigenous women doing what they do best. Carrying stuff on their heads!
More stunning views.
The city of Zunil.
Grave in Xela's cemetary.
Tombstone in Salcaja's cemetary. One of the three cemetaries I visited.
My Spanish School in Xela!
some pics of the school.
My Room in Xela. Not too bad although it was freezing at night! oh and the possible bed bugs.
My house in Xela.
From the rooftop of the school. Some pics of Xela follow.
Volcano Santa Maria that overlooks the city from a distance.
Xela's central park.
Xela from above.
One of my housemates, Beto, holding up a menu in Panajachel. The prices were ridiculous there. Plate of fish and the fixings for less than 3 bucks!
Me with Beto and Fernando. Guess which was is the Gringo, the Mexican, and the Guatemaltecan!
Street food is the best! Just dont let your stomach know you ate it!
One of the volcanoes overlooking Lake Atitlan.
Cute puppy that followed me around for a while.
Views from San Pedro de la Laguna on Lago Atitlan
Washing clothes in the lake.
How many people can fit into the back of a truck?!?!
Views from the Southern side of Volcano Santa Maria.
Santaguito, the active part, of the Santa Maria Volcano. It erupts quite frequently.
Organic Coffee Plantation and its drying area.
Coffee fruit!
Me and my homie. We know how to roll.
Coffee again. Who knew it was so colorful?
Coffee beans.
There are also lots of bananas on the plantation grounds.
No pineapples on the plantation. I picked up this puppy from the street vendors.
Tried to pick a banana off the tree and eat it. It wasn't quite ready. I wouldn't recommend trying this...
A group of students from Pop Wuj, my Spanish school, on a hike out to a hidden lake. Same day as the coffee plantation.
The Hidden Lake, that will remain nameless.
Cows crossing a river...I found it quite interesting and funny.
Hanging bridges in order to cross a gorge.
The Gorge that was created by a past volcanic eruption.
Avi on the bridge. What a stud!
Pretty flowers.
Students of Pop Wuj at one the weekly Thursday night dinners.
Some teachers from the school.
Xelaju on their quest to winning the Guatemalan Futbol Championship. They didnt win it, by the way. But the fans are still crazy!
Dona Leti, the expert at navigating through the street markets, and her daughter.
Some kids fighting at the daycare where I visited a couple times.
At the medical clinic where I helped translate.
This wasn't a posed shot. I promise.
Pharmacy at the clinic.
Rainbow over Xela.
Friends.
More friends.
Laura, the receptionist at Pop Wuj.
Jessina, a good friend of mine, making Thanksgiving Dinner.
My amazing candied carrots.
Everyone is happy that the turkey actually finished cooking. It only took eight hours!
Some more friends/students. Brian was the master of the turkey.
Thanksgiving Dinner!
Damn, I am a good chef.
The chefs of Thanksgiving Dinner
Christmas in Xela. I have a cool video from the Christmas tree lighting ceremony that took place way before Christmas. I will try to post the video somewhere else on the web.
Housemates. I have three more, but for some reason no pictures of us all.
Friends, well most of them.
At the safe stove project. We helped build stoves that would create better living conditions for very poor, rural indigenous families.
My buddy modeling for the camera.
Check out what his shirt says! It is classic! If you cant decipher, it says "No Work for Children." They dont quite follow that here.
Stove building.
Views from the summit of Volcano Santa Maria.
Views of Xela from the hike up to the top of Santa Maria.
The summit crew. My first volcano summit and the highest point I have ever been in my life (not in an airplane). 12,500 feet or something.
That's me.
Yeeeah!
Well deserved hot springs visit. The scenery was stunning, and the hot springs, hot.
Hot Springs Team.
Sexy!
Chili eating contest between my roommates Beto and Alejandro. Guess who won. Mexicans can hold their shit down!
At a meeting with students receiving scholarships for their studies in the nearby village of San Juan.
A scholarship student.
Another one.
They like their corn here.
During a ceremonial opening of a schoolhouse at an indigenous village.
The village elders....well they look old.
There was dancing.
And people.
And photos. The white guy in the back donated all the money to help the school be built.
Peeps.
Same peeps on the beach of Champerrico.
My turtle sandcastle. I like making these on the beach.
My menorah. The picture looks pretty cool.
Mexican dance troupe performing at the theatre in Xela.
Working on another coffee plantation.
I am huge.
The family with whom I picked coffee. They were pretty cool and way better at it than me.
Volcano Pacaya. It is very active still.
Pictures from the top of Pacaya of Volcanoes Agua and Fuego.
Fires on the volcano. Just stick a plastic bottle into the rock and watch it explode.
My victory pose.
More fire under the rock.
Yes, this is an actual flowing river of lava on Pacaya. You could never see this anywhere outside of Guatemala....at least not this close.
Yeah this close. I was literally within five feet of the river of lava. It was quite hot!
The amazing house I stayed at on Rio Dulce during the Christmas season. I never posted a blog about this week, but I will soon. It was just ridiculous. Oh the house is owned by friend's family.
Views from the veranda of the house.
The grounds of the house.
Breakfast table.
My friend Ana and her papa.
Chilling on Rio Dulce.
Drinking Micheladas (vegetable juice and beer, dont knock it til you try it) and watching the moonrise.
Rio Dulce pics.
Los Siete Altares. Seven waterfalls in Livingston on the Caribbean side of Guatemala.
Jumping off one of the taller waterfalls.
On a yacht, traveling down the Rio Dulce on the way to Livingston.
Livingston, Guatemala. Home to Guatemala's only black population, the Garifuna.
Lillies on the Rio Dulce.
On my kayak trip in the middle of the jungle. It was just me and the camara.
I chilled on this dock in the middle of Rio Dulce for a while. Check out my rowboat in the back. haha.
That is my jungle hostel behind those trees. I loved it there.
One of my three Christmas presents. This one is a Santa that lays on a hammock and sings "It's 5oclock somewhere". How amazing is that!
Fireworks over Guatemala City. A whole novel could be written about this as words cannot describe thousands of fireworks going off around midnight on Christmas Day at the same time. The views were unbelievable.
