Hotel Modelo Quetzaltenango

... 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 ...

... I think they at least should have paid for or arranged alternative child care rather than having them running around screaming, knocking equivalent of an hour off my lesson, which I worked hard to save to pay for. Soap box moment over.


Mi pelo es rizo

My teacher doesn´t speak much English but finds my accent hilarious and can entertain herself for hours comparing how an english word is said in an English accent compared to an American ...

... I live in a really secure guest house, there are only four rooms and the front door is always double locked, so you have to have a key to go in and out. My house is also connected to a language school and one of the people that worked there forgot something in the school, went to the owners to get the key, came in through our house, and snatched my bag from right outside my door on thier way through. Super random.

The thing is, that all this crime ...

... covered hills. It was a little strange as we were almost certainly some of the only tourists there, and it was the first hostel which was really basic, literally two beds in one room and that was it. Got up earlier than expected this morning (Guatemala is one hour behind Mexico) and got out first chicked bus to Xela- it was literally packed out with locals, children, families and everyone sitting on 3 or 4 to a seat. it ...

... we reached a location known as El Mirador. From here, we had our first fabulous view of the volcano, and the path we would take from this point forward. We waited here for another 15-20 minutes, and were able to witness the volcano errupting. This was an amazing sight -- the volcano that, minutes ago, had looked perfectly tranquil began emitting smoke. And more smoke. Although we were still perhaps two miles away (as the crow flies), the erruption was ...

... back from another long day at the market. I watched the water running down the mountains and the smoke from indoor cooking fires billow out of roofs, knowing that almost all the child deaths in Guatemala are due to water born illness, respiratory conditions and malnutrition. I literally had poverty shoved up beside me on the bus, a boy with black hands who should have been out playing soccer instead of shining shoes, and the reality of the ...

... a break, then classes again from 2 to 4. As with breakfast, the timing for lunch is a little off -- we start lunch, in theory, at 1:30. After class, we have some free time for whatever, then dinner at 7:30. With the number of people coming and going, dinner seems to be about a two hour affair, leaving just enough time to finish homework before going to sleep and starting it all over again.

So far, our main free-time activity seems to ...

... won with our silly gringo waterbottles and our long gringo legs!

When we crested what seemed to be the top, the road took us back down, down, down to the Lake's entrance, and we had to pay 15x as much money to get in as the locals have to pay because we're INTERNATIONAL people. Gotta love racism... oh well, I suppose we're contributing to the cleaning up of the litter the Guatemalans leave behind.

So, we paid. And then we had to hike up some more! We were getting to ...

... alleyway to four little houses, all very ramshackle. Ours was one of them (another one was inhabited by Simon, the Scottish owner of The Alegre, his Guatemalan wife and their little girl Melody).








You walk in the front door and you are standing in a big foyer area. To the right is our makeshift kitchen and the loungeroom. Directly in front is our room on the right and Sophia’s room ...

Hola and welcome to my travel blog. I'm writing to you from Xela, Guatemala, on Christmas Eve.

Sitting in one of the few sunny spots left on the balcony of my hostel.

Increasingly grateful that the worst of my hangover is behind me.

On vacation. Off the schedule.

I arrived in Guatemala Thursday morning and headed straight to Antigua, a touristy colonial town near the capital. I spent ...