Mar Del Plata, Argentina

(t) While we waited for our flight to Ushuaia, we decided to get out of the city for a few days. We took a bus south to Mar Del Plata.

The bus was so nice. It was like flying first class but not on a plane and the bus station in Buenos Aires was bigger than the San Jose Airport.

The road to Mar Del Plata. It looked like this for five hours.

The main beach in Mar Del Plata. We got there as the people were leaving for the day. It was kind of gross. Apparently, it is so packed during the day that people sit shoulder to shoulder. Fortunately for us, we found some better beaches further from the heart of town.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

(t) Don´t Cry for Me Argentina...

Plazo de Mayo and the Casa Rosada (Pink House). We didn´t do much research prior to arriving in Buenos Aires. All of my prior knowledge was based on the musical Evita. The first day we headed to the Casa Rosada where the baloncy scenes for the movie were filmed. In real life the building serves as the presidential office and the square is still the sight of ralleys and protests. Although, it was pretty quiet the day we visited.

Mike crossing Avenida 9 de Julio. The Obelisco de Buenos Aires is in the distance.
Trin playing tour guide at the Plaza de los Dos Congresos. While reading the description of plaza a pigeon crapped on my head. I guess he didn´t like the tour.

Obelisco de Buenos Aires

The following day we visited three neighborhood. We used a walking tour book that we picked up at the i. It worked out great and we saw a majority of the city on foot.

La Boca is the colorfully painted neighborhood. The buildings were originally painted bright colors because the inhabitants used the leftover paint from the ships in the adjacent harbor.

San Telmo was another neighborhood we visited. This is an example of a typical street.

Puerto Madera is the newest neighborhood in Buenos Aires. There was alot of big construction in progress. It had a manufactured feeling. We passed a Friday´s and Hooters on the same block. Not what comes to mind when you think of Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires has a very different schedule. We could not figure out when the people sleep. The restaurants fill up around 10pm. People typically start a night out at 12am or later.

Mike in the Jardin Japones. The city parks were extensive and popular.

The Recoleta Cemetery was impressive. It did remind me of the acid scene in Easy Rider. (I never really got that movie.)

Some of the mausoleums were so elaborate.

Eva Peron's final resting place.

Tango Show.

Farewell dinner in Palermo. We ate red meat and enjoyed a bottle of Malblec. Yum...

Antigua, Guatemala

(see map) (wikipedia info) mike: Antigua is known as one of the best preserved Spanish colonial towns in Central America and is also the former capitol of Guatemala (until 1776). It was moved due to Guatemala City due to the constant threat of earthquakes here. The Volcan de Agua towers above the skyline which you can see below. There is also the Pacaya Volcano nearby where you can take tour to and roast marsh mellows on hot lava though we didn´t have time for this one. In addition, it is the number one destination for Spanish schools in Guatemala followed by Xela. We spent our one day here soaking up the colonial sites on foot.

Our hotel room had white stucco walls with high cellings of unfinished wood and a great little courtyard shown above.

Trin under the columns of City Hall at Parque Central.

Parque Central with the Cathedral of San Jose in the background which at one time was the most grand in Central America.

I was impressed with the intricate stonework.
Trin washing my dirty laundry.

Trin trying to buy up all of the illegal Shrek and Madagasgar DVDs at the local outdoor market.

Volcan Agua in the background. There is a rule here, to preserve the colonial feel, that you can´t have any signs hanging from outside your building, they can only be flush against the front of your storefront. The streets are all cobblestone and lined with alternating color homes and business.

The following day, we booked the one hour shuttle from Antigua to Guatemala City to catch 3pm flight to BA. To our dismay no bus arrived. The hotel owner called to find out we weren´t even on the list (though they had our money) and this company didn´t have any more shuttles until 4pm, uh oh. After running all over town, we luckily found another shuttle for 1pm and made it to Guatemala City with one hour to spare to find our flight was delayed anyway!

The delayed flight meant we would miss our connection in Miami to BA. After arriving in Miami, Trin sweet talked American Airlines into a free hotel, transportation, and meal vouchers, nicely done I must say, she wouldn´t take no for answer! We were back on American soil for the night well ahead of when we expected to be and craving some sushi and a nice hot, long, shower. The following day we headed to the local mall to stock up on some missing necessities before catching our flight to Buenos Aires.

Goodbye Xela

(m) The picture below was taken our on our last night in Xela. I gave the family a small speech to thank them for the kindness and hospitality. The dad clapped, perhaps out of sympathy for my Spanish, but I´ll take it as a compliment. You will note that Veronica doesn´t look particularly happy in the below photo but I really think she liked us. We were able to get to know on another a bit better in the last week as our Spanish improved. Leaving Xela is bitter sweet, we enjoyed our time in Xela (minus the cold weather) and hope to have more true local experiences during our travel to other places.

Lago de Atitlan

(m) Our Spanish is progressing, albeit slowly. With just two days (of 13) to go we are beginning to realize our ability to converse will still be limited without ongoing study. Besides class we took a trip to what were were told is the oldest church in Central America followed by a tour of a guy's dress making room. He sells them $30-$60. They include 16 different colored threads which cost him about $15 per dress. It takes him a day to make one dress. I also thought the door locking strategy here is interesting. Most doors have two or more locks, assuming that is so the other guy's store/office looks easier to break into.

Last weekend we went to Lago de Atitlan for a little R&R. It is a picturesque lake surrounded by four volcanoes and at lower elevation and therefore much warmer than Xela. There are several towns spread across the lake's shore all of which are reachable by water taxis. We spent two days in San Pedro and one in Santiago del Atitlan. In the past, the towns all relied heavily on the lake for food which was comprised of small bait fish and crabs until 1955 when it was decided to introduce large mouth bass to increase tourism. Unfortunately, the fishing here never took off and furthermore the bass destroyed the bait fish population forcing locals to look elsewhere for food. Most of the towns rely on tourism followed by coffee as their main revenue sources. All of the towns, particularly San Pedro, are known to have fantastically affordable lodging. A spotless room with lake views and private bath can be as little as $10 per night and a bed in a hostel for $2.



Besides the standard exploring and relaxing we spent one day hiking up a volcano called San Pedro(same name as town) with a peak around 9000 feet. I found the six hour hike (3 up, 3 down) to be quite grueling. The trails I've hiked in California usually have switchbacks to overcome steep grade. This trail had zero switchbacks, just straight up, and steep. Going up ended up being ok but the constant downward motion on the way down left my knees aching for two days. We also walked past what we are assuming is at least a part of the town's trash dump just off the main road.

Today Trin and I went with the rest of our classmates to a local high school to speak English with the local students. We each had three groups, 20 minutes each, of one-three students and discussed various topics depending on the student's skill. It was a nice change to not be in the hot seat! In conversation we learned that there is a morning group of students, 8am-1pm, and an afternoon group, 1pm-6pm, in order for the school to accommodate more students. School is "free" however no books or supplies of any kind are provided. The students can select tracks starting at age 15 ranging from architecture, electronics, and teaching. They graduate around 18 and can then take an entrance exam to the San Carlos University of which about half will be accepted.