Reflections on My Guatemala Trip

I spent two and a half months in Guatemala earlier this year. It was supposed to be three months, but for various reasons, including the fact that I wasn't enamored with the country, I came home early. Of the twenty-four countries I've visited thus far, Guatemala ranks near the very bottom. Here's what I enjoyed and didn't enjoy about my time in Guatemala.

What I Enjoyed About My Time in Guatemala

A Little Earthquake Excitement

Located on the Ring of Fire, Guatemala is prone to earthquakes. During the first week of class, we had an earthquake that hit 6.6 on the richer scale. I was impressed to see how quickly and safely the locals responded. At the same time, it was an eye-opener for me to realize just how vulnerable I would have been, as a traveler, had the earthquake been more significant. From then on, I expanded my supply of extra food and water.

Immediately after the earthquake,
my teacher's Facebook feed was bombarded with quake-related posts.

In my remaining time in Guatemala, I was hyper-sensitive to anything that resembled a quake. I awoke on March 8th at 2:50am in the morning, thinking we might be experiencing another tremor. As I lay in bed, eyes wide awake, I tried to muster up the energy to head out to the safe zone in the courtyard. Just as I sat up and swung my feet onto the floor, I heard what sounded like heavy breathing. This was no earthquake -- the "tremors" were from my neighbors upstairs enjoying a little mid-night love makin'. Geez, Louise!

Keeping the Tummy Happy While Traveling

This is my tummy. And these are my hands makin' a heart 'round my belly. I love my tummy, and I love when my tummy is happy -- especially when I'm traveling.

I love when my tummy is happy -- especially when I'm traveling.

A couple of folks have asked how my stomach is holding up here in Guatemala; my last trip to a developing country didn't fare so well for my tummy.

Gettin' Into My Guatemalan Groove

I spent the first few days in Guatemala slowly getting acquainted with the rhythm of things. Now that nearly two weeks have passed, I've gotten into my Guatemalan groove.

A wandering jew grows in the courtyard where I am staying.

I'm spending three months this winter in Quetzaltenango. Also known by the Maya name Xela (pronounced "shell-ah"), the city is located 7,640 feet above sea level and is surrounded by a dramatic panorama of volcanoes. With a quarter of a million people, a majority of them indigenous, the city is the second largest in Guatemala. Xela is quite possibly the ideal Guatemalan city. As Goldilocks would say, the city is not too big and not too small; it's just right.

Happy 6th Re-Birthday to Me!

Happy 6th Re-Birthday to Me!

Six years ago today, I held my breath, crossed my fingers, and mixed together the ingredients of the early retirement elixir -- a dash of hope, a dash of crazy, and a whole lot of courage. Voila! All of the sudden, I found myself free of a job, free of the tedium of normalcy, and free of the confines of time.

My Meeting with the Dalai Lama

Dharamsala, in the northern Indian Himalayas, is the home of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Word has it that if you stick around Dharamsala long enough, you're bound to see the Dalai Lama. Sure enough, within 48 hours of arriving in Dharamsala, I saw the Dalai Lama.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
(Photo: Screenshot from Interaction with Foreigners in Dharamsala video.)

I don't recall when I first learned of the Dalai Lama. Nor do I recall the origin of my fascination with the Tibetan people. I do know that the first thing I did when I moved to Washington in 2006 was attend the Tibetan Festival at the Seattle Center. And I do know that the first sketch I drew in My New Drawing Book in 2014 was of a Tibetan woman holding a photograph of the Dalai Lama.

Visiting Catalonian Cities & Dalí: A Photo Journal

During the week I spent Cycling Through Catalonia, I explored beautiful Catalonian cities and toured Salvador Dalí's museum and home. This is a photo journal of my visits. 

Girona

I had just a few hours to explore Girona before darkness set in.
In those few hours, I ran all over the city -- up and down staircases and along narrow streets --
capturing the gorgeous city on the permanent retina of my camera.
If I had the opportunity for a re-do, I'd spend a whole day (or even two!) in Girona.

A Stormy Situation in Barcelona

It's stormy here in Barcelona. Though the skies are perfectly clear, the political situation is not.

A few days before leaving for Spain, I heard something on NPR about a vote for independence in Catalonia. My ears perked up. In just a few days, I would be traveling to Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia.

If you don't have any interest in Catalonia's political situation, I'll give you the 30-second elevator version and you can call it quits for this blog post: The vote for Catalonian independence, which was held four days before I would arrive in Spain, was deemed illegal. Temporary hell broke loose, and more than 800 people were injured. 

Posters I have seen displayed around Barcelona.
"Democracy! If you do not go, they win."
(Note: This poster is in Catalan -- not Spanish.)

For a slightly longer version of the story, read on.

Here I Come, Barcelona!

When I crawled out of bed on the morning of June 13th, earlier this year, I had no plans to travel overseas. Things were different when I crawled back into bed that night; I was going to Barcelona.

Barcelona, here I come!

I am bursting at the seams with housesitting requests. While I'm glad to be in such high demand, housesitting is something I do in my downtime. And while I appreciate my downtime, it's really the uptime that I look forward to -- when I'm out-and-about traveling and exploring. I've been more careful in the last year or so about not filling my schedule with housesits. I've deliberately guarded large blocks of unscheduled time in my calendar where I can allow for whims and serendipity. The month of October was one of those unscheduled blocks of time.

Cleavage, Gators, Moronic Laws, & Other Florida Musings

I just finished my three-week housesit in Florida. I'm at the Orlando airport, waiting to board a plane that will take me to my next adventure. As I look back at my time in Florida, I find myself musing on a number of topics. Be forewarned, some of these topics are more random than others.

Cleavage

I'll begin with my most profound musing: cleavage.

I am a sports bra girl. I wear them all the time -- sometimes even for days-straight when I'm on a bike trip. Fulfilling their definition, sports bras make it appear as though I have a single, compact boob. I own a regular bra, which I only wear with the one dress I own. Both the bra and the dress hardly ever see the light of day (or the dark of night, for that matter). Yes, for me, it's always a sports bra.

The heat here in Florida is sweltering. A few days into my housesit, I broke down and bought a tank top. The top happens to have a built-in bra -- one that actually separates and lifts my boobs rather than combines and compresses them. Heavens to Betsy! For the first time in years, I have cleavage!

Ladies and gentleman, I have cleavage.

It's been an interesting experience looking at myself in the mirror. I can't help but to stare -- wow, those boobies are mine!

The First 800 Miles with My Brompton

If you're here to learn more about Bromptons, read the review I wrote about my Brompton for the Adventure Cyclist magazine. Otherwise, read on...

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A little over a month ago, I introduced My New Set of Wheels -- my folding Brompton bike. Many of you asked how I liked my new bicycle, which I affectionately named "Bromleigh." At the time, I hadn't put enough miles on Bromleigh to form an opinion. But now, with more than 800 miles on my new rig, I'm ready to share my thoughts.

Me, just about to set out on my first tour with Bromleigh. (Photo: Pat Goede)

In the past, I've toured with Shirley, my trusty Long Haul Trucker. Commonly referred to as the "gold-standard" in affordable touring bikes, I've been nothing but satisfied with Shirley's performance. However, on my recent bicycle travels to South America, I learned that traveling with a full-sized bicycle can be cumbersome and expensive. And so it was that Bromleigh was born into my repertoire of bicycles.

Reflections on My Patagonia Trip

My trip to Patagonia ended seven weeks ago. As with all my travels, I have spent time reflecting on the trip.

In Reflections on My Turkey Trip: What I Learned About Myself, I compared life experiences to the tiles in a mosaic. Just as tiles are combined to create a unique picture or pattern, our experiences combine to create a mosaic of our unique selves. And just as a mosaic becomes clearer with a greater density of tiles, our true selves become more apparent as we acquire more life experiences.

The individual tiles in this mosaic are photos from the Patagonia trip.
You may wish to enlarge the image to fully appreciate the mosaic.

The Patagonia trip added more and more tiles to the mosaic of my life. Though some of these experiences confirmed what I already knew, others revealed new insights about Patagonia, Chile, and myself.

Flying with a Bike

When traveling with a bicycle, one must always consider how best to transport said bicycle. When traveling within the United States, transporting a bike via an airplane is often far more expensive than shipping a bike. If you fly, airlines often charge $150 each way to transport the bike. Shipping a bike, such as with Amtrak Express or BikeFlights, often costs half that amount.

When traveling internationally, however, shipping costs are prohibitively expensive. As such, Shirley, my Surly Long Haul Trucker, flew in an airplane on our recent trip to and from South America. On the way down to Ushuaia, Shirley was enveloped in a frumpy cardboard bicycle box ("The Cardboard Method"). But on the way home, she was dressed to the nines in a revealing, form-fitting plastic gown ("The Plastic Method").

On the left, Shirley is in her cardboard box on her way to South America.
On the right, Shirley is wrapped in plastic on her way home from South America.

More Patagonia Photos

We've been back from Chile for a few weeks now. I've been silent on the blog front because I've been crazy-busy tackling a seemingly endless list of to-dos. Not only have I been catching up on being away from "home" for the last four months, but I've also been busy preparing to be away from home again for the next five months. I only have a small window of time to do all of this catching up and preparation. One thing on my to-do list has been to get a copy of Brian's photos from his camera. I now have Brian's photos, and I've chosen my favorites to share with you.

All of the photos I've posted on my blog thus far from our Patagonia trip have been from my camera. Aside from a few exceptions when I handed my camera to someone else and requested that they take a photo of me, most all of my photos have been of El Mecánico or of scenery. As I am in many of Brian's photos, this post proves that I, too, was in Patagonia.

Take this one, for example:

Me, strumming some tunes.

As you may recall from my To the End of the World post, we had a 22-hour layover in Buenos Aires at the beginning of the trip. We spent many of these hours sitting outside the airport entrance, basking in the sun, reading books, and strumming the guitalele (a cross between a guitar and a ukulele). El Mecánico took a photo of me playing his guitalele. Based on the position of my fingers, I was playing Mumford & Son's "After the Storm." (In case you are interested, there is an awesome set of tabs for this song located here.)

Valparaíso: One, Two, & Four-Legged Creatures

While the murals, doors and windows, and produce markets all make Valparaíso a great city, the two, three, and four-legged creatures really add to Valparaíso's charm.

Four-Legged Creatures

There is a long stretch of parkway between the north and southbound lanes of Avenida Argentina in Valpo. On certain days of the week, vendors set up produce booths along the parkway (see Valparaíso: The Markets). Sandwiching these produce vendors are hawkers of all sorts of wares. Old housewares, cellophane-wrapped books, and shoelace-less shoes are all laid out on the ground. Imagine blocks upon blocks of garage-sales-on-picnic-blankets.

One of these vendors sells parakeets. Although parakeets count as charming two-legged creatures, what I found more interesting was the four-legged creature who was intently studying the birds. Surprisingly, the doggie was exhibiting no lip-licking; he was merely observing the caged two-legged creatures' every movement.

This four-legged creature intently studies the two-legged creatures.

Around the block from our rental on Cerro Alegre is a mural of a man watching two dogs shag. I found it funny that a street dog decided to nap on the steps below the mural, as the dog's position made him look as though he was dreaming of doggie fornication.

Valparaíso: The Markets

There is something magical about produce markets -- the colors, the smells, the hubbub. And while the farmer's market in my Seattle neighborhood has received national recognition, let's be honest -- it's so damn expensive! We do nothing in the United States to encourage healthy eating; McBurgers are cheaper than produce! That's why I love shopping at produce markets in other countries.

A vendor at the Valparaíso market on Avenida Argentina. Tomatoes cost 600 pesos per kilo (less than $0.45/lb), five squash cost 1000 pesos ($0.30/ea), and one kilo of avocados costs 2000 pesos (less than $1.50/lb).

On a recent trip to the market in Valparaíso, El Mecánico and I filled both of our backpacks with an array of fresh goodies. While our bodies were weighed down by nearly 30 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, our pockets were lightened by less than $18.

Valparaíso: Doors, Windows & More

I've taken hundreds of photos as I've wandered the streets of Valparaíso. As I've browsed through the photos, I've notice recurring themes -- doors, windows, signs, laundry, skies. Below are a few of my favorite photos from each of these categories.

Doors

Many businesses close for the afternoon siesta. Though siestas can start anytime after one o'clock and last as late as four o'clock in the afternoon, hours of operation vary drastically during this window of time. Accustomed to the 9-to-5 mentality common in the Unites Stated, the siesta hours sure do complicate shopping. I like the casual hours posted on the door of a jewelry workshop in Valpo. The sign reads: "Hours of Attention: From When I Open to When I Close." This is so Chilean -- in so many ways.

This door is surrounded by an elaborate border of capped columns. I like the contrast of the two columns; one is in decent shape, whereas the other is falling apart.

Valparaíso: Murals #2

Valparaíso: Murals #1 shared my favorite wall-sized murals. This post shares my favorite smaller-scale murals.

While I love the comic-style and vivid colors of this man in a boat, what I love even more is how the paint has peeled, leaving him with only one eye.

Likewise, while I love the simplicity and open-armedness of the girl below, I love even more how she has lost her poor little nose.

Valparaíso: Murals #1

Valparaíso is blanketed in murals.

Though there is a dedicated Open Air Museum ("Museo a Cielo Abierto") in Valparaíso, the entire city is truly museum-worthy.

Valparaíso: The Seaport

Valparaíso was founded in the mid-1500s as a port town. Located on the Pacific, its location is vital to both industry and recreation.

A view of Valparaíso, from a lookout above the port.

Historically, its port made Valparaíso one of the most important coastal cities in South America. For ships that rounded Cape Horn, Valparaíso was the first port that ships would encounter on their long voyage around the continent. However, with the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, the importance of Valparaíso as a seaport decreased.

Valparaíso: The City

We wanted to experience our final weeks in Chile as residents rather than as travelers. We wanted to immerse ourselves in the language, the culture, and the day-to-day going-ons of Chileans. After considering a handful of locations in which to pass our final six weeks, we decided on Valparaíso.

Looking out over Valparaíso.

Valparaíso is located two-thirds of the way up the Chilean coast. Nicknamed "The Jewel of the Pacific," Valparaíso is the second largest city in Chile. Though neither Brian nor I would describe ourselves as "city people," Valparaíso sounded appealing. In recognition of the city's significant contribution to Chile's culture, Valparaíso earned the highly coveted status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. It was this recognition that attracted us to Valparaíso.