We were met at the airport by Lindsey and her boyfriend Ricardo and his father Edvin. Edvin drove us to Antigua where the four of us began our visit in Guatemala. We stayed at Casa Rustica which was a nice place to rest our heads after an all nighter of flying. We were too anxious to rest yet so we settled in a bit on the balcony and then hit the city streets. Here is a picture of our balcony outside the sliding glass door of our room at Casa Rustica.
We toured around Antigua checking out the sites and the market and the good food. Here is a picture of a historical building that I have no idea of what history. It was just cool looking and I took it when we were tour guideless, so we didn't get the low down on it.
We shopped in the market in Antigua. The colors were amazing, from just the items and walls all around to the beautiful flowers in the booths.
The streets of Antigua. Every where we turned it seemed like a photo opportunity, the buildings and colors made for creative images.
From Antigua we took a bus to the Livingston area where Rio Dulce is located. The ride was split up into two, three (or so) hour legs. We took a "first class" bus ride there which was a fairly comfortable ride. We went over the longest bridge in Central America just prior to arriving in Rio Dulce. Here is a picture of the bridge from the water.
Here is a picture from the bridge looking out over the town along the river. The Back Packers hotel is located right below the bridge. The Back Packers Hotel is owned by the owners of Casa Guatemala, the orphanage where Lindsey volunteered for her project with Evergreen State College. We went to the Back Packers on Saturday night for some Latin dancing. It was fun to watch the energy in the room. The dancing was good too! On Sunday, Leslie, Lindsey and Ricardo went to the Casa Guatemala for their project with the kids. I was not feeling well so I did not get to join them at the Casa. Their project went well and the kids loved it!!
This picture if from the boat ride to the hotel we were staying at along the river in Rio Dulce.
Here is a picture of the common area of the hotel. The stairs lead to the dorm where a lot of backpackers stay. We encountered people from all over the world backpacking through Central America. All of their stories were so different and exciting and their ages ranged from early twenties to late 40's. I'm sure there were older folks out there enjoying the beauty of Central America via backpacking, we just did not cross their paths. Everyone was so friendly too, it was really nice to chat it up with them.
Here is a picture of our cabin. There are four rooms to this building, two on each side. We stayed in the back left side and Lindsey and Ricardo had the front left side. You walked towards the back of the building along the boardwalk to the bathroom and shower cabin directly behind our building. Just being on the water and in the jungle was so relaxing. The food was good here and the service was outstanding!!!
The arrival to the Yoga house in Xela.......
From Rio Dulce we headed out to Quetzaltenango, known as Xela (pronounced Shea-la) to the locals. We started out at 8:30am from the dock at our hotel in the jungle. We took the boat ride along the river to the town and went to the bus station where we were told the next bus wouldn't be until 11:00 am. Lindsey and Ricardo struck up conversation with some other bus driver who told us we could take a mini van shuttle to another town about an hour away and get on the bus there, which we decided to do. We got on the shuttle and jammed ourselves and anyone else they could pick up along the way into the van. We were then dropped off at the bus station in the town an hour away and grabbed a quick bite to eat. We then got on a bus to Guatemala City, with a stop at the same location we stopped on our way there, a little rest area type place with bathrooms, food and ice cream. When we got to Guatemala City we found the bus station to Xela. Now here is where the fun begins. Our bus ride to Xela was long, long long...... did I say long. The roads were under construction and there were no breaks along the way on this leg of the trip. It was a lot to endure in one day, but we did it and made it to Xela to be picked up by Edvin. We landed at the Yoga house where Lindsey lives at about 9:00pm. We were hungry so we went out to get a beer and a bite to eat.
Here is a picture of Eric, a friend Leslie made on one of the legs of the trip. I don't remember if it was on the trip to or from Rio Dulce. He was darling. Leslie would draw a picture for him to copy, which kept him very entertained. Leslie got his address to send him the pictures we took of him and her.
The arrival to the Yoga house in Xela.......The Yoga house is set up in a community type living situation where they share a kitchen and some facilities. They have their own rooms and some rooms have their own baths. There are a couple of balconies to hang out on with hammocks. It is centraly located, so it was easy to get around the "downtown" area. Central Park was only a few blocks away and good coffee was even closer.
Here is what I called the glacier of houses from the moutainside. I took this shot from Central Park.
We took a trip to the hot springs that were about an hour away. We drove up a windy road where the hill sides were littered with farming land. The garden patches were very well tended to and no land was wasted.
We went to one of the villages where Lindsey works to promote resources for the women of the village. This village was wiped out by a hurricane three years ago and was rebulit by USAid. That is why all the buildings look the same.
The organization that Lindsey works for promotes projects for the women. They learn a skill to manufacture a product to sell to benifit their family and village. The women that show interest in learning the skill are afforded the opportunity to get a stove built for them. Most of the women cook on an open fire in their home with no ventilation.
Here is what I called the glacier of houses from the moutainside. I took this shot from Central Park.
We took a trip to the hot springs that were about an hour away. We drove up a windy road where the hill sides were littered with farming land. The garden patches were very well tended to and no land was wasted.
Here is Trama Textiles. Their story is as follows from their pamphlet in their words:
For us, the Spanish word trama, "the weft" or "binding thread" is interchangeable with the word comida, "food". Our weavings clothe us, warm our families through highland winters, carry our babies on our backs, and sustain us as much as any food.
Our patterns change from village to village. Each design tells a different story, yet the weavings bind us together with the legacy of our land, our ancestors, and our traditions.
In 1988, Trama Textiles, the Association of Women for Artisan Development in Backstrap Loom Weaving, formed to support our families after some of the most devestating years of Guatemala's Civil War. During that time we realized the strengths of collaboration. From this the Trama Association was born.
Today, we work directly with 17 Mayan weaving cooperatives, representing 400 women and men from five regions of the Western Highlands: Solola', Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango, Sacatepe'quez, and Quiche'.
When we began, Trama trained and qualified various groups to help create innovative textiles in the ancient Mayan tradition. We continue to buy their products for fair prices the groups themselves determine, and sell them in our retail store, Trama Textiles, in Quetzaltenanago.
Their Practices:
Trama Textiles is a worker-owned women's weaving association that focuses on paying fair wages to our workers, 98% of whom are women. Each of our groups chooses two women who read, write, and speak Spanish to represent them in the Trama Association. These representatives in turn serve as administrators who facilitate annual meetings in which cooperative decisions are made, and elections are held for positions of president, vice-president and secretary. The shop is directly managed by these elected members who serve as volunteers and teachers at the weaving school.
Their Mission:
Our mission is to offer training, support, and work for fair wages tot he women of Guatemala, to honorably uphold our families and our communities, and to continue to maintain and develope our art, stories, designs, and culture behind our textile traditions.
We went to one of the villages where Lindsey works to promote resources for the women of the village. This village was wiped out by a hurricane three years ago and was rebulit by USAid. That is why all the buildings look the same.
The organization that Lindsey works for promotes projects for the women. They learn a skill to manufacture a product to sell to benifit their family and village. The women that show interest in learning the skill are afforded the opportunity to get a stove built for them. Most of the women cook on an open fire in their home with no ventilation. This project in the photograph is being led by a gal from Virginia, where the organization that Lindsey works for is based out of. She is instructing them on how to make earings and a necklace.
While Lindsey was helping Katie show the women how to make the jewelry, Hilda took us to another village about 20 minutes away. She needed to check in on two of the weavers, a husband and wife team. Here the wife is sitting by her back strap loom going through quality control of the scarfs she made. Hilda showed her what details she needed to pay attention to for the final product.
The husband working on his loom, which took up half of the front room. In his left hand is a spool of yarn that he is getting ready to feed through the loom. He's very quick with the spools, feeding one after the other, compressing the rows and then doing it over again from the opposite side. The rows of wood to the rear of the loom are controlled by the man, which changes the pattern he is creating. The red pieces of wood on the left side of the loom are spools of different colors of yarn.
On our shuttle ride to Lake Atitlan from Xela we met some med students from North Carolina who had set up clinics in the villages. They were there for 5 weeks as part of their college agenda. During the ride to lake Atitlan we had to stop along the highway (and I use that term loosley) for construction. Here is a picture of a common way of transportation for the locals. All the traffic safety enforcement and education I've conducted went out the window down there in Guatemala. We even saw families, yes a whole family, on motorcycles with no helmets. The only thing missing was the family dog, and who knows what they carried in their baskets. The driving was crazy, made DC and Jersey look like easy places to drive through.........The chicken buses were the craziest. I thought for sure we would see an overturned bus at some point of the trip, they load them down so much with passengers and stuff tied to the roof. Just crazy. And the warning markers along the roadway were just white painted rocks. There would be a hairpin turn, no gaurdrail, just a white painted rock. And then there would be people, standing or walking in the middle of no where along the hghway. Or a cow tied to the side of the road in the middle of no where out to graze. And I cannot forget to mention the trash. There was trash everywhere along the road and river beds. We could not believe it. But for as much filth there were absolutely gorgeouse places, like Lake Atitlan.
While Lindsey was helping Katie show the women how to make the jewelry, Hilda took us to another village about 20 minutes away. She needed to check in on two of the weavers, a husband and wife team. Here the wife is sitting by her back strap loom going through quality control of the scarfs she made. Hilda showed her what details she needed to pay attention to for the final product.
The husband working on his loom, which took up half of the front room. In his left hand is a spool of yarn that he is getting ready to feed through the loom. He's very quick with the spools, feeding one after the other, compressing the rows and then doing it over again from the opposite side. The rows of wood to the rear of the loom are controlled by the man, which changes the pattern he is creating. The red pieces of wood on the left side of the loom are spools of different colors of yarn.
On our shuttle ride to Lake Atitlan from Xela we met some med students from North Carolina who had set up clinics in the villages. They were there for 5 weeks as part of their college agenda. During the ride to lake Atitlan we had to stop along the highway (and I use that term loosley) for construction. Here is a picture of a common way of transportation for the locals. All the traffic safety enforcement and education I've conducted went out the window down there in Guatemala. We even saw families, yes a whole family, on motorcycles with no helmets. The only thing missing was the family dog, and who knows what they carried in their baskets. The driving was crazy, made DC and Jersey look like easy places to drive through.........The chicken buses were the craziest. I thought for sure we would see an overturned bus at some point of the trip, they load them down so much with passengers and stuff tied to the roof. Just crazy. And the warning markers along the roadway were just white painted rocks. There would be a hairpin turn, no gaurdrail, just a white painted rock. And then there would be people, standing or walking in the middle of no where along the hghway. Or a cow tied to the side of the road in the middle of no where out to graze. And I cannot forget to mention the trash. There was trash everywhere along the road and river beds. We could not believe it. But for as much filth there were absolutely gorgeouse places, like Lake Atitlan.
Our lovely hotel cabin at Isla Verde in Santa Cruz at Lake Atitlan. We had to climb over 75 steps to get to our cabin, which afforded us a lovely view of the lake and volcanoes. The grounds were well taken care of with lush tropical plants. The food here was also wonderful!! You could smell the aroma all day of the fresh organic herbs they were using to prepare our meals with. It reminded me of Italy, having the aroma floating through the air all day long touching the senses and getting those taste buds juicin'. Hmmmmmmmmm.....
A view of the lake from the grounds of Isla Verde. To the left is Panajachel, where we arrived at in the shuttle. From there we took a boat, along with many other tourists and locals, to the dock at Santa Cruz, to Isla Verde.
In Panajachel, there is a big market. We walked around, did a little shopping and explored the different goods that were offered by the locals. From fabrics to nuts. There were booths set up like these and there were people walking around hustling their goods. A lot of children were out there trying to sell you their goods too. No labor laws here..............
In Panajachel, there is a big market. We walked around, did a little shopping and explored the different goods that were offered by the locals. From fabrics to nuts. There were booths set up like these and there were people walking around hustling their goods. A lot of children were out there trying to sell you their goods too. No labor laws here..............
On Sunday we took a walk over to the main village of Santa Cruz. It was a hike uphill to this town with a soccer game off in the distance. Here is a picture up one of the roads from within the village. In the bottom right is a store set up selling bread and what looks like the pink panther......
Lake atitlan was the last leg of our touring part of the trip. We went back to Antigua on Monday morning in a mini van shuttle. We spent the afternoon walking around Antigua, gathering a few last minute details. We ended it with a movie at a bar a few doors down from Casa Rustica, where we stayed for our final night in Guatemala. We left at 4:30 am for the airport in a private shuttle. Our flights were uneventful and we made it home by 8:30 pm. Our animals were over excited to see us and we were glad to be back at our Casa for a hot shower and soft, cozy bed.
Lake atitlan was the last leg of our touring part of the trip. We went back to Antigua on Monday morning in a mini van shuttle. We spent the afternoon walking around Antigua, gathering a few last minute details. We ended it with a movie at a bar a few doors down from Casa Rustica, where we stayed for our final night in Guatemala. We left at 4:30 am for the airport in a private shuttle. Our flights were uneventful and we made it home by 8:30 pm. Our animals were over excited to see us and we were glad to be back at our Casa for a hot shower and soft, cozy bed. Here is a picture of a couple of the volcanoes from the plane departing Guatemala.
The trip was wonderful and we had a great tour guide. Thanks Lindsey!
The trip was wonderful and we had a great tour guide. Thanks Lindsey! 
