We were headed overland to South America, but this trip we only got as far as Guatemala.
We love Guatemala and once we were there, we couldn't leave it.

We took a Greyhound down to San Diego, walked across the border in Tijuana
never even thought we needed to get papers to go into "the frontier".
so we hopped onto a bus and made our way to Oaxaca.
I had spent quite abit of time in Oaxaca a decade before,
doing a rather large pot deal in the small village of Mitla
a few miles from Oaxaca city.

Finding an honorable connection to the pot,
we had been brought to a woman's house in Mitla.
I sat on the floor doing embrodiery while she sat with me doing something,
her son was outside with my partner doing the deal.
At one point she asked me to move & she opened the top of the treadle sewing machine
I was sitting in front of.
Turns out to be her sample hiding place!
Lifting the sewing machine she pulled out some baseball bat sized bud stalks
of the best varied kinds of pot I had ever seen! This was the big time.
but that was another trip, i got carried away here with alittle of that story!

Back to this trip...
Jerry and I got off the bus in Oaxaca and realized we needed to get to a federal office
and get some papers or we could go to jail.
We waited for a few hours and in came the comandante in charge.
He interviewed us and gave us the papers without a bribe. we were lucky.

We went up to the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban which are spectacular.



High on a mountain plateau, we spent the day,
walked down the mountain and back to the city.

We took a side trip for a few days over to the coast to Puerto Escondito.
A beautiful fishing village, that has grown popular with the surfer crowd.
We had taken a plane over, but decided to take the bus back to Oaxaca.
Man, what an 8 hour trip that was!
The little girl in back of us & I with our heads out of the bus window throwing up!
Those winding mountain roads do that to you!
especially when there are chickens under your seat pecking at your feet.

At one bus stop along the mountains, a woman was selling homemade tamales.
I told Jerry to get some for the rest of the trip, and he gave them to me through
the window while he stood outside talking to the local men.
I took one bite and didn't like the skin being on the meat.
Thought it was chicken, but when I handed them back to Jerry
the men started laughing.
Not chicken, IGUANA!!!
UNSKINNED IGUANA!
i still can't eat a tamale without thinking of those.

we finally made it back to Oaxaca, rested up and back on the bus headed south.

When I travel I carry a large bag filled with candy and gum.
When I get onto a bus, I give everyone on the bus a piece of candy or gum
and then everyone makes friends with us.
I usually break out the bubbles during the trip to keep the kids entertained too.

We are entering Chiapas, stronghold for the EZLN
Home of Sub Comandante Marcos.

Chiapas is a beautiful place, high in the mountains that borders Guatemala.
We stayed there a few days, freezing our butts off at night and early morning
and drinking arroz con leche everyday.
YUMM......

In Mexico they make it a drink but it's something like a liquid rice pudding.
warm milk and rice.

We finally made it across the border into Guatemala.
I had lived in Guatemala before, and this was like coming home.
Guatemala is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
High volcanic mountains and lakes with tall pine trees that have orchids growing in them.
Each village has their own traditional costume which makes Guatemala very colorful.
It's easy to tell what village each person comes from.
Most people when they visit go to Lake Atitlan.
It is a high, very beautiful & large lake
with reed boats and about 12 villages that wrap around the lake.



We settled down across the small tourist town of Panajachel into a barrio called Juayacan.
You cross the fallen tree over the river,
up the winding path through the coffee plantation



and there we found a nice little place to call home awhile.
The village water pump was outside our place, so we got to know all the locals
when they came to get water daily. especially all the kids.



We had a small refrigerator with a tiny freezer tray for ice.
Everyday I would pour punch into the tray, stick a toothpick into it and freeze it.
The kids would come by daily for their popcicles.
it was bliss. i was smiling so much my cheeks hurt.
We were doing a small import business of textiles and fun things we found at the markets, known as mercado's.
So we used this place as a home base, while traveling throughout Guatemala to go shopping!

Life there was pretty quiet, relaxing & fun.
Making the daily trek into town for fresh bread at the panaderia.



Life in Guatemala is good.

One day the biggest news of the week happened,
when a large tree fell over & blocked the path to the water pump.
So we all got involved removing the tree,
the ice cream man came by and we got to
buy ice cream for everyone.



Another day I was walking up the path & heard ~Senora ~ Senora~
i turned and 2 sisters that i particularly liked stopped me
and handed me a white rose. WOW.



Everyday magic, gratefulness & smiles.
When we were getting to the end of our time, Jerry & I went to Guatemala City
and bought a Pinata to throw the kids a going away party.
It was the event of the year!
Kids came from all over the barrio, we gave each of them a present.
The girls got hair barrettes, the boys got sunglasses and drums,
bubbles & cascarones's were everywhere.
A cascarones is a hollowed out eggshell with confetti inside it.
you sneak up to someone and bop them on the head and cover them with confetti!



FUN! FUN! FUN! At the event, a woman came up to me and handed me a gift.
She thanked me for being so kind to her children & gave me
a red wrap sash belt that had belonged to her.
It was kind of raggedy,
but it was probably the only other sash she had,
and her gift to me made me cry.

We caught the early bus out of Panajachel into Guatemala City
and as we drove across the mountain road
looking down at the setting full moon on this magical Lake,
something in me was sad.
But I was also very grateful to have been able to experience this incredible place.
We saw double red rainbows at Lake Atitlan,
Quetzals flying by at the hot springs Fuentes Georginas,
vultures at the slaughter house each the size of a mini van,
a lot of chickens walking around the streets,
3 legged dogs,
colorful happy people,
16 year old police with machine guns,
orchids, mariachi bands, fat little tortillas,

but most of all, beauty everywhere.