Charlie, Katherine, and I recently returned from a vacation trip to Guatemala. Charlie and I are seasoned travelers, and we knew going into this international trip it would be like no other we had done before: we had a kid with us for the first time. When I got pregnant I cannot tell you how many people told me "Oh, now that you're pregnant you can kiss your traveling days goodbye." Experiencing different cultures is in my blood - it is part of me as a being and just because I have a kid now does not mean I have to stop being who I am. Sure, there are some adjustments to be made, but I still have wanderlust. Have kid? Will travel!
And so it was with great anticipation we embarked on Guatemala. The plan was to rent a nice house on Lake Atitlan for a week and then spend a couple nights in Antigua before heading back to Houston. We would chill out at the house, taking in some Mayan villages, and enjoy a different country at a more leisurely pace than usual.
We arrived to Guatemala City a little later than expected due to a flight delay. I went to an ATM machine at the airport and got out Q2000, which is essentially about $240. Well, I should say I wantedto get Q2000 out. I heard the machine churning away, counting out what I thought would be my stash of cash to get us started. Out popped a Q100 note. One. Measly. Note.......$12 out of the $240 I thought I was getting. Of course there was no one around to complain about this and no receipt was given. OK - we can handle this. We'll just have Geovanni the driver take us to a different ATM on the way.
Unfortunately we did not get a good look at Lake Atitlan on the way in as it was dark by the time we got there. We hopped into a little boat (sits about 20 people on bench seats) and Katherine got her first taste of adventure: wind ripping through her already dusty hair. She wasn't too thrilled. Nothing a little milk couldn't cure. The house we rented looked SO welcoming pulling up to the dock: lights lining the garden and a warm glow of fairy lights around the outside porch. It was just as we had imagined.
What we had not imagined was a broken water heater. "Tooth Fairy", the property manger, assured us that this would be fixed the next day. We're seasoned travelers, right? We can handle anything for a day. We awoke the next morning to a stunning view of the San Pedro volcano - every window looked out on it and it was obvious why the owner had bought the place. It was almost surreal seeing fishermen with their fishing "poles" of twine and a tin can methodically, almost trance like, winding and casting, winding and casting, in the shadow of the volcano. Perfect.
The hot water didn't get fixed until Monday afternoon. In the meantime, we set out exploring part of the lake. We first hit Panajachel for food (no grocery stores in our village). We had lugged the jogging stroller with us to Guatemala with the thought that it would be great on the cobblestone streets. Katherine hated it. And by hate, I mean every time we'd start moving with her in it she would scream. The rest of the trip we ended up carrying her around in a baby carrier, which was a lot easier moving around than the stroller to say the least. Lesson #1 for traveling with a baby: bring the carrier, not the stroller.
Once the hot water was fixed, our celebration was short-lived. Charlie inadvertently drank the (unbottled) water and proceeded to have some serious gut cramp issues. Several days into this I went to one of the tiendas in the village and explained to the guy there what the problem was. He gave me some pills which ended up being for giardia. We found out when we got back that was the problem. Amoebas in my honey!
We enjoyed a really lovely tour of some of the villages around the lake with a Houstonian guy who lives there named Lee Beal (http://www.kayakguatemala.com/). It was great traveling around with Kat because EVERYONE wanted to stop and say hello. Charlie probably didn't think this was wonderful, but I thought it was awesome because you see how welcoming the culture there is, especially related to families. Plus, who can resist those curls and big, blue eyes :-) One of the places we visited in San Juan was a women's co-op where they hand make textiles. They showed us how the yarn is made, colored, and woven. It was incredible to see the artistry in such every-day things that most of the Guatemalans wouldn't think twice about as art. And here was one place I was thrilled to know Spanish - the entire explanation was in Spanish and I understood it all. It was incredible to hear stories about their lives as weavers and the history of their village and its traditions.This was the Guatemala I was after.
The following morning the power went out in the house, but we were told it would be back on "this afternoon or this evening". We walked to the village for dinner as we still had no power, and come to find out that unlike what we had thought earlier, the village had power! The reason we did not have electricity was because Tooth Fairy hadn't paid the electric bill in 3 months! When we found this out, Charlie and I let out a collective groan. This wasn't the relaxing, chill-out house experience we had hoped for. It was a really, really expensive camping trip. Tick, tock...Thursday comes and goes....tick, tock...Friday arrives and we are leaving the lake for Antigua and still no electricity.
Antigua was very charming - the World Heritage site had all the elements of fun and culture packed into a little town. I had my shopping fix tamed at several textile and ceramics stores, and enjoyed experiencing an actual town versus the lake village. Locals from Guatemala City come to Antigua to party on the weekends, so we got to see a little flavor of that.
So the trip was a manic roller coaster: down one minute, up the next. Reading about everything that happened to us you might think that I had an awful time. But I didn't. I remembered why I love traveling, and I remembered it's not just about experiencing other cultures, but also getting to know yourself a little better. I have a better understanding of what's a necessity in this world vs. a want. I also cherish my Spanish language skills, however dismal they may be, because they allowed me to dive more deeply into the Guatemalan culture than if I did not speak it. I was humbled by locals and foreigners alike working so hard to make a difference for health, sanitation, and women's rights in the lake area. And, maybe most importantly, I started my daughter on a path of discovery that will hopefully spark that passion - almost an obligation - to understand the world outside of America. I hope she will be a better citizen of mankind for it.
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