MAYA-HO! _{Guatemala, Easter 2003}

We're a tad older than the usual student at the Xela language schools and hope that our experience will encourage other "senior citizens" to give both Guatemala and language school a try. We're in our late sixties and in fairly good health although I have arthritis problems and my husband has some respiratory problems.

First, let me answer some of the fears that many people seem to have if I'm reading the chat section of Xela Pages correctly. You DON'T need to be afraid of taking the chicken buses! In fact, you really aren't having a great experience unless you do.

Furthermore, they're a lot easier on the budget, run a lot oftener and can get you almost anyplace you might want to go. We had some concerns before we arrived in Guatemala and intended to take a first class Galgos bus to Xela but inadvertently got on a chicken bus instead.

After spending the first 50 miles worrying about whether our packs would be stolen from the top of the bus, we realized that the bus driver's assistant keeps very good track of everything up there and somehow is able to match every piece of baggage with the proper person. So we settled down and proceeded to enjoy the scenery and the rest of the passengers.

After that, we rode chicken buses wherever we went. sometimes sitting three to a two-person seat and sometimes standing but always enjoying the colorful costumes, the children and the occasional interesting conversation. We were usually the only "gringos" on the bus.

We are on a pretty tight budget but wanted to include some sightseeing along with our two weeks in school so armed with a Lonely Planet guidebook, we headed to Panajachel four days before we needed to report to school. We had no reservations but had no problem finding a clean pleasant room within our budget at Mario's in Pana. We took a boat to Santiago and blew a lot of our souvenir budget there and then went on to San Pedro by boat to spend the afternoon and night. Quiet and beautiful little village that we wished we could stay in for another night but we needed to get back to Pana so we could leave for Xela the next day.

We attended the CBA school and found it to be very good but we realized too late that we should have added another two weeks of school at least to be able to get the most out of it. I came away able to understand spanish speakers much better than before and improved somewhat on my previous "pigeon spanish" speaking ability.

My husband was pretty much starting from scratch and he was just getting the hang of it when we had to leave. The teachers were university students and lots of fun as well as being dedicated. We were pleased to receive e-mails from them recently. The other students seemed to accept us very well even though we are so much older and we're also getting correspondence from them. There were some outside activities with the school which included a wonderful day at the Georgina Fuentes pools and also a fun visit to the San Francisco Alto market that just the two of us and our maestros went on. We stayed with a pleasant family - single mom with two young daughters - and the room and food were fine. Our only complaint was that it was cold and that wasn't anybody's fault. That's just Xela with no heat in the houses.

We went on our own to ChiChi on the weekend - chicken buses again - and were able to get a reasonable hotel room with no problem. The market is a must and we would certainly recommend being there on Sunday morning to experience the activity around the church.

We splurged on a tour of Tikal and Ceibal after school ended which we arranged through Vision Travel on Tom's recommendation. It was pretty reasonable in cost and we had excellent guides and accommodations. We stayed one night in Flores and would like to go back there and spend more time. All in all, Guatemala is a place we have on our agenda to return to as there's lots we haven't seen.

We had no problems with safety anywhere we went but we did take reasonable precautions such as carrying our money in concealed money belts, cameras in waist packs in front of us and not letting our backpacks out of our sight (except on the top of the chicken buses).

We carried all our clothes and incidentals in backpacks and feel that's the best way to travel, especially when you're going to be doing a lot of walking and when you don't have a hotel reservation. One tip we would pass on in terms of security - baby diaper pins through a zipper pull and into the fabric of a pack or waist pack work very well. They're hard to open quickly and so slow down anyone who tries to unzip your pack in a crowd.

We'd be happy to elaborate on our experiences if anyone has any questions.

It seems common that when folks pass the fifty year mark they become a bit more security conscious and cross off of their lists many travel destinations that they would have considered a few years earlier. I hope that I can dispel any fears concerning travel in Guatemala for older folks. My wife and I are passed fifty and we traveled recently with another couple passed sixty to both the low lands as well as the high lands of Guatemala with nothing but wonderful experiences. Guatemala is, at this point in time, in a position to offer the richest opportunities for cultural interaction (with assured safety) of any place I have traveled.

My second visit to Guatemala included my wife and another couple, recently retired. We arrived on a late flight to Guatemala City. Our bags were there and in ten minutes we were outside the airport waiting for transport to a nearby hotel. Mario, a driver for Vision Travel had a placard with my name on it and away we went. From getting off the airplane to arriving in the hotel took forty minutes - I've never done that in the states!

I should take a moment and tell you about Vision Travel. After deciding to go to Guatemala, I passed my itinerary by Tom (Xelapages) whom I'd met the year before while at a language school in Xela. He reviewed it and suggested I email it to Nancy Hoffman, a friend of his (and partner in Vision Travel.) I emailed Nancy in Antigua and almost immediately got a reply with suggested itinerary changes. We went back and forth for a few weeks with ideas culminating in my having her do all the in-country flights and lodging. What a great decision that turned out to be. Nancy, whom we met on the trip, is committed to providing hassle free travel while in "her" Guatemala. I would recommend using Vision, with their fleet of vans, for a flawless vacation.

Our first full day in Guatemala included an early flight to Flores in the Peten region. We hired a little motor boat and driver to show us Lake Peten. What a blast, visiting villages around the lake - even saw a jaguar in a small zoo. We were at the zoo with a group of school kids from a nearby village. They enjoyed letting the gringos practice their Spanish with them. Their school was a one room affair, about thirty kids, ranging in age from about five to thirteen, with one teacher.

The next two days were spent at nearby Tikal. I won't go into a great narrative about Tikal, except to say that it exceeded my expectations. The jungle noises are something one has to experience to appreciate so a night or two at one of the few hotels in the park is a must. We hired a guide to take us through the jungle very early on the second day so we could climb Temple IV in time for the sunrise. Once at the top of Temple IV you are above the jungle canopy, looking down on a gray mist at that time of the morning. A few other temples are visible as gray ghosts in the distance. It is very quiet prior to sunrise. As the sky lightens a little animal chatter can be heard, then more. Finally, as the sun becomes visible from the roof comb of the temple a crescendo of voices, howler monkeys and friends, punctuates the moving shafts of light. It is really quite moving.

We flew back to GUA, then a Vision van to Antigua. Two things separate Antigua from other Guatemala cities. The first is the colonial architecture with many evidences of earthquake damage and repair. Very beautiful! The second is three large volcanoes which allow for easy reference while in Antigua. One morning we stood on our roof and watched one of the volcanoes puff varied clouds into the blue sky. We took a walking tour (Elizabeth Bell tour) which lasted the morning. Her emphasis is Antigua's art and architecture. This is a great indoctrination to this city. There are a couple of jade factories in Antigua which are interesting to visit. The jade that is mined is presumed to be the same quarries as used by ancient Mayans and found in tombs. Very high quality - high in nephrite.

We left Antigua for Panajachel, several hours north. Here we spent a few days near Lake Atitlan. One morning we hired a young fellow who owned a boat to take us around the lake. We got off a mile or so around the lake on a shaky wooden dock. There was a nice trail going from the dock to the village so off we went. Not far down the trail we ran into a couple of young boys playing marbles. They shot their marbles at a coin they stood on end in the dirt. They were having a great time laughing and clapping. We asked if we could try, which gave them something else to laugh at. I don't think we ever hit the coins (I'll have to practice at home). We made some gringo noises (English) which caused some heads to look out from the doors and windows. Just prior to leaving we pulled out a bag of Skittles, probably more valuable than gold to these kids, and gave them each a few. I think we're friends for life.

Another stop around the lake was at San Pedro. When we got off of the boat a pair of five year old boys asked my wife if we would like for them to show us around. She said OK and off we went. One of the boys noticed a Guatemalan postcard of a painting in my wife's pocket. He asked her if she wanted to meet the painter, so off we went through the streets and allys. Stopping at a nondescript residence, the boy rang the bell and a fellow came out to greet us. Sure enough he was the artist that painted the picture on the postcard. He spent a half hour showing us his work as well as his apprentices. What a find! It turned out he had shown his work in Portland, Oregon a month earlier - small world.

The last stop on the lake was Santiago. Here the men are as colorful as the women with their red stripped pantaloons, complete with embroidery. Last year I visited Santiago and brought home a pen with my wife's name woven on it. I told her a little girl had done it in a few minutes. She, being a teacher, had the brainstorm of having a pen woven for each of the children in her class. I looked for the girl who had done the pen last year but was striking out. I remembered that I had a picture of her from last year in my backpack. I showed it to a guide who was hanging around the boat dock and he said he knew her. Up the hill to town and into a fabric store we went - there was Barbarrita, the same girl. She was twelve years old now. She remembered me because last year we were in the middle of hurricane Mitch and she was glad to get out of the rain to try and sell me something. I asked her if she wanted to weave twenty five pens. Her eyes lit up! I told her she could go with us to a restaurant and I'd buy lunch for all of us while she worked on the pens. She agreed, if we would take her six year old sister. It was obvious they weren't used to eating at a restaurant when Barbarrita's sister packed all the food she couldn't eat (including the rice) into a napkin to take home. We stayed much longer than we had planned in Santiago - with no regrets.

Next stop was Chichicastenango. We got there again with a Vision van. I asked the driver to stop many times for photos and he graciously complied - try that on a chicken bus! Chichi is famous for the Sunday market. At this market one may practice much needed bargaining skills. For me fabric is the attraction here, but you can truly buy just about anything imaginable. A good vantage point to take in the market is from the steps of Santo Thomas Church. From that spot, the shops are a maze of brilliant colors - kinetic art to be sure. If fabric isn't your thing the vegetable market is very exciting. We went to the market Saturday night as they were setting up. Many of the venders were the growers of the crops and had carried fifty pounds of carrots, or eggs, or grain, or beans, or whatever on their heads down out of the Ciche mountains all during the day.

Sunday afternoon we headed west to my favorite city, Quetzaltenango, or Xela as the locals call it. I stayed with a family in Xela for a month last year and was looking forward to meeting them with my wife. Last year the reason for my stay in Xela was to go to a Spanish language school. After a lot of research I decided on Casa de Xelaju. Their program, while offering great flexibility, started with a morning of five hours of one-on-one with a very professional instructor. Casa de Xelaju also provided an afternoon cultural experience every day. Also, if you are so inclined, there are several service projects available in the afternoon or weekends. These projects are a great way to get to know some of the indigenous and create lifelong memories. One comment for anyone contemplating such an experience is that they might consider that in Xela there are very few people speaking English. It is critical for the immersion experience to be most effective that speaking English is avoided. This gets you thinking in Spanish in a very few days. I believe that it would be difficult to have a similar experience in Antigua, for example, because so many people speak English there. The cost for a month at Casa de Xelaju, including home stay, was $600 last year. If you have the opportunity, try it.

A nearby town to Xela is Zunil. Zunil is one one of the most beautiful valleys anywhere. The soil is fertile with a stream flowing through it. We took a day trip to Zunil because it was their fiesta week. Upon first look one is impressed by the colorful patchwork of crops growing on the flat ground. Farmers tend their patch, which may be perhaps thirty feet square, irrigating by literally shoveling water onto the ground from a deep spot in a small canal. On the valley sides grow corn. Corn is very important to the indigenous, both as food staple as well as a religious significance. The corn grows in patches clear up to the tops of the mountain. I would have a hard time walking on the slopes that they have tilled, let alone planting and harvesting. They are some tough people.

Above Zunil is a hot spring bath that is very therapeutic for old gringos that have climbed the temples of Tikal. We jumped in and allowed the cares or the world to flow out of our bodies. This exercise set us up for the tamale fiesta the Alba family (last years host family) had planned for us back in Xela. Tamales, cooked properly, take a long time to prepare and are very good. We ate as many as we could.

We left Xela for Antigua, then Guatemala City for our return home. It is really hard to leave Guatemala, the land of colors and smiles.

I have a deep affection for Guatemala and the people I have met from that country. I would encourage anyone who hasn't had the experience to try it. One needs to consider security about on the level that you would in downtown LA or NY. Enjoy -

Special thanks to Tom Lingenfelter (Xelapages) and Nancy Hoffman (of Vision Travel) for helping make this trip wonderful!