July 27th – August 7th, 2016

Good things happen when you sign up for a trauma conference in Fresno and also end up signing up to go on a cultural trip to Guatemala!! Wanderlust is definitely in my blood (and now on my left ankle…sorry mom).

Casa de Espanol is a Spanish language school in Sacramento that also does cultural immersion trips for their students.  Luckily, they take outsiders so after perusing their itinerary, I said “why the F* not”, the timing was perfect (end of my first stint in Auburn).  Like Drew Carey says, the price was right, so off I went.

This trip was well organized and led by some great tour leaders. Chelsea Glass is not only a well-traveled Sacramento/Antigua native but also fluent in Spanish, which comes in handy when all you can say is “cerveza por favor” and “abra la boca para la temperatura”.

This was my first trip without the usual suspects, my partners in crime, so I was slightly anxious, but I landed like a boss in Guatemala City.  Eager and excited for this adventure.  We hopped into our two shuttle vans and headed straight to Antigua. A 1 hour drive through traffic ridden streets passing a McDonald’s, KFC and Taco Bell, I thought hmmm…cultural tour??  But I was totally wrong.  Antigua is definitely a sight to see.  It’s beauty is immediately evident even before you hit the cobblestone roads.

The cobblestone roads make sneaking into the city impossible, coup contre-coup more like it and bring good shoes!!  A Unesco world heritage site, Antigua is a well maintained beautiful city.  Easy to maneuver and explore on your own.  The city in encased by three beautiful volcanoes, Volcán de Agua,  Volcán de Fuego (daily steaming/eruptions), and Volcán de Acatenango.  Whether your interests lie in learning about jade (Guatemala is privey to being one of the few jade mining countries), chocolate factories, coffee farms, macadamia nut farms, hipster coffee joints, cute little bistros and easy day excursions to go hiking up volcanoes or white water rafting; there is something to do for everyone.

Our boutique hotel la Meson de Vallé was like most places in Antigua.  What looks like a drab boring windowless building – you walk into a beautiful courtyard with greenery and splendor.  It was always a “don’t judge a book by its cover” moment, every time you walked into any building in Antigua.  You left absolutely mesmerized from the splendor of the courtyards.

Santo Domingo Monastery

I won’t bore you with the play by play, but I’ll give you the highlights.

Little did we know, but this trip would be full of Guatemalan experiences including earthquakes, erupting volcanoes and city protests causing 2 hour long traffic delays.  The beauty of Guatemala is it’s people, despite all of the obstacles and difficulties they encounter they remain friendly and accommodating to all walks of life.  This was made evident during this bumper to bumper traffic when a local offered us a watermelon off the back of his truck.  These protests must also be a common occurrence as one truck driver decided it was a good time for a nap and whipped out his trusty hammock and had a snooze under his 18 wheeler.

 

Local cuisine

Definitely one of my favorite activities while on vacation….Eating.  Especially trying the local dishes as well the local drinks.  Some amazing Guatemalan fare was enjoyed throughout this trip, even a delicious home cooked meal by Chelsea’s family.   One of my favorite meals was at a restaurant called El Rincon Tipico. I knew immediately it was going to be good when we walked up and there was a lady making handmade tortillas out of green corn and the cozy spot was melting hot due to the large rotisserie loaded with chicken (sorry my vegan friends, but this meal was delicious).

Handmade green corn tortillas

Chicken dish from El Rinco Tipico

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Cerro de la Cruz – stair climb up to stunning views of the city.  A must do.  The view is worth the sweat.

Rio Dulce & Livingston 

Boat cruise – to Livingston – BEACH DAY…including some Gallo and fresh coconuts with A LOT of rum.  The caribbean influenced side of Guatemala including some tasty food, staple dish of Tapado.  If you squint hard enough you can see Belize.

Tikal

The Mayan ruins of Tikal were a sight to see.  The view at the top of temple IV was breathtaking.  Impossible to fathom that these enormous ruins were built by human hands.  Of course, I wanted to do all of the stair climbing.  Work hard, play harder.

Lake Atitlan

Gorgeous resort with beautiful authentic decor and views.  Despite the cloud cover and rain, it couldn’t dissipate the beauty of the lake and the surroundings.

San Juan La Laguna

Another highlight of the trip was our visit to San Juan La Laguna to the women’s co-op Casa Flor Ixcaco.  The demonstration of the work that goes into picking the cotton, spinning it into thread and then weaving into beautiful textiles was moving.  When we learned that most of the proceeds from the sale of these items went to the women who made them it just about brought me to tears.  We also learned about making chocolate straight from the caocao bean.  Delicious chocolates with flavors of coconut and cardamon were devoured.  We attended another women’s co-op close by that taught us about the medicinal and herbal remedies that were developed from natural plants grown in the garden.  It was inspirational and moving to learn how these women were providing for their families and community through self sustaining practices and entrepreneurship.

The friendly Guatemalan locals, vast amount of hipster coffee shops, historical landmarks and sheer beauty of Guatemala will always hold a place in my own personal travel journey.

 

So shameless plug, (but I don’t care) for a great travel guide and lovely person.  If you are interested in taking your own cultural trip to Guatemala or any of the other Latin American destinations.  Please check out: Chelsea Glass and her travel site www.theheartoftravel.org  and/or check Casa de Espanol for their speech language classes and cultural trips.