My Oyster

Getting off the Gringo Trail...

What a day we had today.

The best travel experience for me is when there are pleasant surprises that you discover along the way.  We had that today - thanks to Bryan and Tito.

Bryan is a nieghbor in Adams in Morgan in DC (running for ward 1 city council) who has lots of experience here in Guatemala.  Tito is a local.  

Tito picked us up at the hotel this morning and drove us up, down, and around the mountains to some very cool and non-touristy experiences.

We started at a traditional highland market in Momostenango.  I think I was the only gringo there - seriously.  I was at least a foot taller and several shades paler than the many hundreds of people crowding the market.  I stuck out.  Jean blended in a bit better. 

After the market, Tito took us to visit a Maya family of weavers on the side of a mountain.  Weaving is one of the oldest Mayan crafts - practiced for centuries before the Spanish arrived.  Today we learned about weaving, tried out the spinning wheel, and enjoyed a snack of cheese tortillas like we were part of the family.

Here are my Five Favorite Fotos from a very memorable day...

Nature...

This part of Guatemala is all mountains and hills and trees - and volcanoes.  it is stunning. 

Beauty...

Not me.  The jacket.  Dona Thelma beside me and her family spun and dyed the wool and weaved the fabric to make the jacket.  I love it. 

Fun...

Luis is patiently helping me spin the wool.  He kept telling me "suave, suave"  Smoothly.  

Spirit...

At the market, the mother's expression and the glimpse of her baby's hand on her back got me. 

Just liked it...

Dona Thelma and some of her family standing above the house they built 25 years ago on the side of the mountain.  It was a real privilige to be welcomed into their home.

And more photos here at my Flickr account.

 

Making our way to Quetzaltenango...

We made it to Guatemala.  It is the first trip for either of us to here – so we are pretty excited.  The pic above is us having a late night dessert on the Parque Centro America here in Quetzaltenango.  Here is the view of the Parque from the cafe...

Getting here was easy – not uneventful – but easy.  We caught our very early morning flight from BWI and barely escaped the “winter storm” in DC.  Unfortunately, our flight was delayed taking off and our connection in Houston was already tight (just 25 minutes) so we literally did an OJ Simpson scramble through George Bush (ugh) International Airport.   We made the flight.  Our bags did not.

Here we are waiting for our bags to arrive.  Notice the hot messenger bags made by my friend Joanne.  She is awesome.  She took the two Colombian Molas and created these matching bags for Jean and I.  We love them...

Once we got all our stuff, Byron, picked us up in Guatemala City and drove us on the 4 hour trip to Quetzaltenango.  The drive was through the mountains on a series of winding switchbacks.  Slow going but beautiful.

We stopped along the way at this comidas for dinner.  And  we locked the keys in the car.  Oopsie.  No AAA out here to help out, so we improvised.  I tapped into my misspent youth and remembered how to get to the lock with a bent wire.   Here we are.  Notice the armed guard.  But he was reading the whole time, so I figure it couldn’t have been too unsafe...

We finally rolled into Quetzaltenango and checked into our hotel – which is beautiful.  An old colonial manor or something – complete with fireplace in the room.  Romantic and cozy...

We are spending just a day and a half here in Quetzaltenango so we are eager to get out and see the sights tomorrow!

A little bit of a...

hiatus, originally uploaded by tingling_pixels.

Hiatus. Just taking a break and thinking about what I want to do next with my blog.

Of course, you can always find me on Facebook (friend me if you haven't already).

In the meantime I will be back here posting for trips. Next up - Guatemala. Can't wait!