Guatemala~ Day of the Dead~ November 1

Halloween does not hold a candle to the celebrations here for the ‘Día de los Muertos’. It’s a national holiday where the entire country starts the day in the cemetery to clean, whitewash, light candles and decorate the family graves. Enterprising venders sell candy, plastic flowers, ladders for rent or whatever one might need for grave enhancement.

Later in the afternoon we followed the festivities to Santiago Sacatepéquez a small town with a big name a few miles outside of Antigua. This is where the annual festival of kites is held. Think Big Kites! These kites have been in the making for months and the competition for the biggest and best is awe inspiring. Belief has it that the prayers for the dead are carried by the kites directly to heaven. Therefore it seems logical that the festival must take place in the cemetery. Remember all that careful tending to the graves earlier in the morning? Dust, all gone to dust by the afternoon as everyone tramples and tears across the graves to fly there huge kites. The height of sacrilege? Maybe to us but not to anyone here, they were all having a great time.

Guatemala~ Beginnings

We’re warm again! After a brief interlude in Chicago and the land of hats, jackets, long underwear and much laughter with good friends we got smarter and headed south. Each stop, Savanna, Miami and Fort Lauderdale required less clothing to stay warm but not less laughter or great conversation with friends. Tuesday we arrived in Antigua Guatemala and started our Latin American adventure. After recovering not from jet lag but from too much good food and wine with friends, we set out to find a language school and a place to live.

Walking the narrow cobblestone streets lined with high walls we never knew what to expect behind the enormous doors we entered. Most of the schools and family accommodations we encountered did not really match our fantasy of living and studying here. After many miles of walking on the cobblestone, getting totally lost but enjoying every exhausting minute we finally found a fantastic school. It’s located on a family owned coffee estate turned language school where the students live on the property and take classes in private gazebos surrounded by manicured gardens. Each student is assigned their own private teacher who is matched to their level of Spanish, in our case beginners. We now are happily ensconced in a fully furnished one bedroom casita on this beautifully landscaped property (tennis anyone?) and we will be here for the next five weeks....studying hard! Today was our first day of Spanish class and tomorrow is a national holiday, so already we get a day off to play and practice our new words. Not a bad way to begin!

Maui~Away We Go!!!

How does one pack for a year long journey in one carry-on suitcase? Plan ahead and then plan on lots of editing. Away we go.

Ok, so the video is a little rough but we'll get better.....