Category: CentralAmerica
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For those who we haven’t stumbled into…
We’re back in the States on route to Pittsburgh via JFK, Austin, Boston, and Troy. Congratulations to R & C on a beautiful wedding. We mostly missed the pillows and the showers.
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Big Rocks
There are three ways to sleep at Tikal, a national park almost as well known for its wildlife as its grand Mayan ruins: in a hotel room, in a tent, or in a hammock. We felt a hammock would be the most ‘authentic’ and we were right. We saw many pictures at Tikal’s museums of…
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Chicken Bus
Supposedly the old retired American school buses that they use for public transportation are known as ‘chicken buses’ because of the large amount of live poultry that are carried by its passengers (not very common anymore). We posit that it has more to do with the way they pass other vehicles though. The source of…
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Xela
Every day in Xela we wake up a little later and drank a little more coffee. We were just going with the flow. Xela is like quicksand and people tend to stay there for months. We claim we were stuck there for a week because the buses shut down for most of Semana Santa. It…
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Semana Santa
We let Fat Tuesday come and go without realizing it had passed. The day after Adam was wondering why everyone had dirty foreheads and Cara drew upon her vast array of Catholic knowledge to conclude it was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Subsequent Fridays were marked by slow somber nighttime processions carrying a…
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Market Days
Even the sleepiest town in Guatemala explodes with life on market day. Busloads of Mayans bring their wares and shopping bags to haggle, eat, and socialize. Descending from the stuffed bus there is a parade of baskets leading to the heart of the market. The markets all begin calmly enough at the outskirts with…
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Cliques
During 2 1/2 months of low-budget travelling in Central America, we rarely get the opportunity to mingle with the one-week vacationers we used to be. Antigua has plenty of opportunity. We signed ourselves up for a bona fide tour to climb an active volcano and watch lava flow for a rock-bottom price. At 6am, a…
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Pase Adelante
Our first impressions of Guatemala were the dry volcanic landscape and the snail passing our bus uphill. Almost immediately we were confronted by the bright colorful dress of Mayan women. Unlike El Salvador who decimated their indigenous population, the Maya constitute over 50% of the Guatemalan people. However, they don’t live in the many…
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The Weekenders
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, making most destinations a short hop from the capital. While travelling through small towns, we can’t help but be reminded of quaint New England towns that spring to life with New Yorkers and Bostonites on the weekends. Because there are fewer ¨natural wonders¨ here than…
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Art and Music
Throughout Suchitoto posters hang for a gallery opening on Sunday. Adam joked they might have wine so we should go, continuing our favorite Pittsburgh habit. I laughed. But lo and behold, before the mid-day sun was beating its hardest, we were sipping iced sangria while perusing paintings of the female body by a popular Salvadoran…