Casa Dona Mercedes Quetzaltenango

Things were going well for me in Guatemala. You know, besides the multiple robberies and all that...

There I was, laboring away happy on the farm, and then one day, I trip off a ledge and fall a mere one foot down to the ground below. Hitting the side of my foot along the way. It hurt...but I kept walking on it because I thought it was just bruised. Came back to Xela for the weekend to do some things and the pain and swelling became worse and worse everyday ...

... Thermales, which are essentially a bunch of
hot tubs on the lake´s shore that you pay to sit in for as much time as
you want. Farrah and I somehow managed to organize a hot tub session
with our group and it ...

... a teenager!

We went to Spanish school for 5 days. 8 til 12 with a lady called Sheny who just talked and talked and 2 til 4 with Julia, who was lovely...we discussed everything in Spanish, from international politics, the royal family, the hypocrisy of religion and gay rights! It was an invaluable experience and one that we both loved. So now i can speak the basics, but it is difficult as everyone speaks English, whether traveller or local. I really think ...

... myself into anything local besides the salsa verde. I even ate some fries at Micky D's this afternoon because they smelled so good from the sidewalk. At least I am here though and Xela is like nowhere else I have ever seen. And of course Antigua is always awesome. If you end up in Guatemala for whatever reason, pass through Antigua...it's worth it!

Buying pastries here was a very disappointing experience this ...

... food from all around the world. Lago de Atitlan is definitely very touristy compared to Xela, the whole of the lake thrives on tourism, particularly the lakeside villages which are all windy streets and secret chai tea huts and vegan food stands, and yoga classes at 9 in the morning, so they are very in tune with the type of things your average ´traveller´ maybe looking for. We have met some pretty amazing people, our current group ...

... 2 of only 6 d&b DJ's in the country to come down for a few days and play so we had a nice little rinse out in a club called Freedom. There are a few political issues here at the mo and the old bill tried to stop the music about 5 times during the night but they managed to carry on. Its not big over here at all but it went down pretty well. I went drinking with the guys the next night so was good to get to know about the scene here and make a few contacts so ...

Follow us as we part ways to encounter individual adventures in South America!

Grant is headed to Patagonia to work for Global Vision International. You can follow the Expedition Blog of his work at: http://gvipatagonia.blogspot.com/ and the expedition website:
San Pedro La Laguna, Western Highlands, Guatemala gnsjourney

... traditional clothes whereas her teacher was left sat alone in the corner in her jeans and t-shirt (obviously not fitting the image she wanted to send home).

Last week there was a couple with three kids under five. I´m not the most child friendly at the best of times but I definitely didn´t appreciate all the disruption they caused to everyone´s lessons. All very commendable that they were traveling with their kids and learning Spanish but ...

... a small local village. At the base of the Santa Maria (the other mountain adjacent to the Volcan Santiaguito), a small group of local villagers was meeting to pray their daily prayer to the mountain before beginning their days work. We passed by as we started to climb.

For the first two hours or so, the trail was somewhat difficult, but doable. Kinda like climbing up a 14er in Colorado -- possible, but it definately took a bit of effort. At this ...