Guatemala Memories

Just heard on the news that a volcano was erupting in Guatemala.  In 1988 I sat in a local restaurant called Dona Louisa in Antigua, Guatemala and saw one of the volcanoes letting off white wisps of smoke. It made me wonder if the volcano spewing smoke and ash on my television screen was the same one my daughter had hiked when she was in the Peace Corps.

A sleeping volcano in Guatemala
 

Two of the active volcanoes in the area are the Volcan del Fuego and Volcan de Agua.  It seems that it is the Volcan del Fuego spewing ash, has lava coming down its side and over 10,000 persons were evacuated.



Guatemala City

Playing cards in colorful dress.

Memories of my stay in Guatemala began to form, one memory stacked on top of another. A small box carrying eyes to be transplanted placed in the plane seat across from me, casual Aveteca  attendants discussing personal lives instead of taking care of the passengers, spotting a beautiful sparkling lake surrounded by what looked like a lush jungle, seeing indigenous people at the airport in their colorful clothing, and my luggage being lost for two days! I recalled staying at Suizo Chalet  (a primitive hostel), a green, red and yellow parrot tied to a string, electricity going off for an hour, a contradiction of cultures with modern glass structures competing with older, decorative buildings.  At the bus stop there were people waiting and some would have looked right in place in any city in the United States while others were in native dress carrying a bucket or basket on their head. I learned that the native dress and colors depends on the area where the indigenous live.

Common sight in Guatemala

 

The highlight of the trip was spending time with my daughter and observing first hand what her life in Guatemala was like. I learned to be "culturally sensitive," by not pulling out my camera every time I saw something of interest. She lived in the mountains in Huehuetenango and I met her Peace Corps friends as well as her new Guatemalan friends.

My daughter and I tour parts of Guatemala
 

Met my future son-in-law

My daughter in her class room.
 

Our hangout became Pizza Hogarena where we enjoyed good food, mostly pizza, and the company of the friendly and fun waiters!  I had an egg filled with confetti broken on my head (some tradition celebrating a feast day), rode on dilapidated buses that seemed as if they were held together with wire, visited ruins, met a man who literally lived in a hole in the wall, saw a beautiful lake, quaint towns, picked lemons from a tree in the back yard, visited out door markets, and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with my daughter.


 I visited the school where my daughter taught, watched a few volley ball games, attended a play and practiced my Spanish!  Even with warnings about not being rude and taking photographs, I was able to get a few shots to remind me of the wonderful time I spent in Guatemala.  The volcano eruption brought a lot of memories to me and I hope everyone in its path is safe and able to return to a normal routine soon.


To take this photo I had
to get my daughter to stand as
if I was going to take her
picture but then I focused on
this young girl.