I am in Guatemala! On a travel whim, I flew here a few days ago to meet a girlfriend from Royal Palm Junior High, Emmy Epperly! Jake and I ran into her about a month and a half ago in Costa Rica and she continued to travel around the area. Meeting her here was the best idea ever! We have been having a really great time.
Guatemala has managed to maintain this authentic culture that I have not experienced anywhere else in Central America. The indigenous people, mostly the women, wear extremely authentic Mayan attire. Their clothing consists on long vibrantly colored skirts and blouses with these thick adorned belts and then covered with an apron/skirt. I have tried to capture a couple pictures but it is something they are not open to and if they are, they are quick to charge you roughly 5 Quetzals per photo which is approximately $.75 US. What is the most interesting about their attire though is the baskets and bundles the women carry on their heads! It is incredibly impressive to see just how much they can balance comfortably on the very tops of their heads and then walk all over town in this state. Their necks must be among the strongest in the world!
Emmy and I met up in Xela, which is a town that is really known for its Spanish lessons. The tourism there is a lot lower than the rest of the popular places in the country because most tourists who pass through Xela are doing so in order to improve their Spanish. Guatemala is one of the best places to learn Spanish because the Guatemalans speak much more slowly than the rest of Central Americans, and they also have a really impressive amount of patience. Even in the hostels, the employees encourage you to use your Spanish instead of speaking English which they all know well.
The first day in Xela we explored the two markets that the town offered. The first one was mostly food and common household goods like blenders, suitcases, bathroom utensils, etc. The second one, however, was like the world’s biggest swap mart! It was like Goodwill from the states had sent a shipment and all the Guatemalans had just dumped everything into heaping piles and then the customers go digging through to find their next 3 Quetzal purchase. Emmy bought a Grateful Dead tie-die shirt that is the size of her whole body because it was only $.50. Some things are SO cheap that you feel like you have to do it! I bought a purse that is now broken so there was THAT smart purchase! Other than that I resisted… ok… a back pack too…but I needed that!
We hiked another volcano! This particular volcano was RIDICULOUSLY hard! We woke up at 4AM in order to get to the volcano and complete the hike before the daily rain comes around 2PM. The first couple hours were pitch black and groggy, but when the sun rose it was totally gorgeous. We were really high up and overlooked the entire city of Xela. After another steep and difficult 2 hours we arrived at the top of the volcano and what did we see! – COWS! At the top of the volcano! COWS! SO random! 
Now we have arrived at Lake Atitclan which is a really beautiful place. Last night we stayed in the main town, Panajachal, but today we are going to head to the more hopping one called San Pedro. There are three volcanoes that surround the lake. Yesterday evening when we were taking pictures we had the luck to have some bright blue sky… take a look! Amazing. The shopping here isn’t bad as well! Actually, I kind of love the shopping! AH!
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