Hotel Casa Manen Quetzaltenango

... I do not want to stay in Xela really. It is more expensive than other places and also, quite hard to get around with crutches because of the crazy cobblestones streets and lack of tuktuks. So I want to get out of here. Options.
1. going to guatemala city as soon as I can to get my visa newed and getting that over with. I would only want to do that this week if I can find a ride, i have a friend that is going next weekend and i can go with him if I want.

2 ...

... like Mekong, let me tell you! Man Iīm craving
that right now.... I had the Tom Kha and Spring Rolls...where is Madam Mam when you need her??? Iīm missing me some Madam Mams.

The next day we planned a day trip ...

My first site while rolling into Xela was two women with baskets on top of their heads. Now that is a normal site all throughout this region but theirs were special. Both were packed full of chickens and roosters going to the market to meet their demise. It's amazing that something bobbing on top of a traditionally dressed woman's head will be McChicken in a few hours.

The weather up here is awesome for lounging but ...

... my head lolling about like a bladder on a stick , this proved to be a wise choice!

We were actually looking forward to the calm ambience and tranquil serenity of being in the city and spending the first night with our Guatemalan family, who are absoloutely lovely. We began our Spanish courses on Monday and have been studying from morning til night basically since then. Really enjoying it though and wish ...

... traditional mayan dress each day). Sadly it turned out she only had a few months to live as she had bowel cancer.


Adella
The other main character we got to know whilst we stayed with Dalila was a girl called Adella. She was 28 years old and responsible for all the cooking in the house as well as working during the day in one of Dalila's businesses. She was a loud, full of life character with a tendancy to be a complete drama queen. She also had ...

... in the day to celebrate. It seems like the Guatemalans always have something to celebrate, as a lot of them always say 'todos los dias esta un fiesta'. There has been a month long celebration of the virgin in the main central square, which has meant there are always markets, songs blasting from the main churches, it seems like a pretty special time to be here.

Have met some pretty interesting people since we got here, especially since Xela is relatively ...

... a chaotic parking lot)
and hopped a bus to Chimaltenango, where we would catch a bus to
Panajachel, like our LP said. Or so we thought. Teddy sat by the window
and Susan sat beside him. As in many other countries, Guatemalans have
a very different concept of personal space. AKA they have no concept of
it. So weīve noticed on the buses that they often sit three to a seat.
Remember, these buses are the exact same ones you rode on in elementary
school ...

... re patently speaking gobbledygook.

There is then a young teenage lad who appears and disappears, usually coinciding with when the above girlīs hot mates are visiting or not. Finally there is another younger girl who is much quieter and spends most of her time giving us (quite rightly) bemused looks.

Dalila, the mother, unfortunately has bowel cancer which we think we understood correctly means she doesnīt have too long left. She is a ...

... co-operatively run local spanish schools in the area) and get involved with some grass roots volunteers work with local communities. It feels amazing to stop travelling and have a base for a month or so in a community we can really get involved with! It would be interesting to go along with our host to some of the indigineous villages as well, see what life is really like for them. We have two Guatemalan guys staying with is ...

... a climb up the Volcan Santiaguito.

Now, during the week, we had stopped by to get information about this tour, as it sounded quite interesting to us. They assured us that, although the hike as a whole was difficult, it was primarily because it was just plain long. The hike itself, they said, was relatively easy, but it was 8 hours of hiking for each of two consecutive days, and many people just canīt handle that many hours. The attraction of ...