Kickin' it with the Girls

"Sometimes we forget what we got; who we are, who we're not. I think we got a chance, to make it right...Keep it loose, child, gotta keep it tight." --Amos Lee

Okay, truth be told I'm a little behind on my posts. But that is not going to stop me from mentioning one of the best parts about being here: visitors. Guatemala, although not Tuscany, is a pretty cool place to tour around, and a few weeks ago, my friends Liz (bff from college) and Sarah (Fulbrighter in Costa Rica) came to visit for a little taste of Guatemala. Anne, a good friend and Fulbrighter here with me in Guatemala met up with us and we spent a week traveling around to the best parts of the country (Tikal excluded, much to the visitors' chagrin, but that's a sore subject).

Sarah, Liz, Anne...catchin' a break on a rooftop cafe

We started in Antigua, which is, to Sarah's disappointment, landlocked (first thing Sarah shouts as we roll into the little colonial town, "Which way to the beach?!"), but fun nonetheless for shopping, wandering, and generally doing nothing but enjoying company, all of which we did like pros. We also made it a habit to stop in at every pharmacy we crossed paths with (and if you know Antigua, you know that means we were stopping every two blocks) since Liz, who had been leading youth delegations in El Salvador the week before, had contracted a mysterious skin condition.

Sarah photo-documents Liz's mystery disease to email to the states for expert medical opinions.

More Antigua shots...

Mingling with the locals



Kids on scaffolding looking photogenic (photo credit: Sarah Lowe)



Anne for la patria...can you tell this girl's been in Guatemala on and off for five years now?






generally enjoying ourselves (photo credit: Anne Kraemer)




I love this photo...very rare to see men in traditional indigenous dress (photo credit: Sarah Lowe)





Liz and Anne chat it up with the candle vendor




Dolled-up entrance-way of an Antigua hotel (photo credit: Liz Hubley)





Equally dolled-up Antigua bus

Anne and I smile for the camera (photo credit: Liz Hubley)




Sarah kicks back

From Antigua we moved on to my favorite, Lake Atitlan, where we met up with some friends for lunch and explored the market in the first town on the lake, Panajachel. We then boarded a lancha (glorified motorized canoes also called chicken boats by certain tactless foreigners) for the best place on the lake, San Marcos.

Market day in Panajachel...

Beautiful Lake Atitlan

Anne in our incredibly cool bathroom at Aaculaax Hotel in San Marcos

Things missing from the photos that should not go unmentioned: obsessive jade shopping, pila hunting, and priceless nights at the hookah bar. Overall it was seriously one of the most fun weeks I've had here, so I have to thank my girls for the visit. It takes a reminder once in a while to realize how important the down time is amidst all our hard work...after all, as we joked (excessively and only half-kidding): it's the Fulbright Dream...gotta live it up.