Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, is usually known as a Mexican holiday. Yes, its celebration in Mexico is supposed to be particularly raucous, but the holiday is also observed here in Guatemala.
Day of the Dead, celebrated here in Xela on the 1st and 2nd of November, is the day that [...]
In the summer, Xela is a zoo. There are hundreds and hundreds of language students studying Spanish at one of the city’s many language schools. (Last time I tried to count, I could think of at least 22 schools.) In the summer, the bars are packed with extranjeros, business is good and there’s always new [...]
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Posted 25 October 2009
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1. The Choco-banano lady. I think I have already mentioned this woman several times, and for good reason. From morning to evening, you can knock on this unmarked door and her smiling face (or the smiling face of her indigenous maid) will appear through the window and greet you. Sure, her chocolate-covered fruit, homemade [...]
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Posted 16 October 2009
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As I mentioned earlier, I am currently the volunteer and business coordinator of a fair trade women’s weaving cooperative called Trama Textiles. Well, I was only really supposed to be the volunteer coordinator, but since I spend a lot of my time doing all the export orders for Trama, I’ve decided to temporarily give myself [...]
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Posted 10 October 2009
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Xela is a place where it’s easy to get lazy, even though there’s so much to do in the surrounding area. So many of my Saturdays and Sundays are spent lounging around the house, eating, drinking, chatting and playing cards with my roommates. Or meandering around town, catching the morning sun.
But it’s good to [...]
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Posted 05 October 2009
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If you think North American kids eat a lot of sugar, think again.
Guatemala, at least around downtown Xela where most people have a relatively decent amount of money, is sugar-coated.
Literally.
Go to the cereal aisle at the Despensa Familiar and you’ll see it’s a seven-year-old’s dream. That’s right: none of that “ew, healthy” [...]
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Posted 30 September 2009
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Today: breakfast buffet at Sarita, the enormous barbeque at our house.
No wonder most foreigners here gain the “Guatemala 15.”
I don’t think I have it in my heart to blog every day. Or every other day. I think in order to love writing I have to just write when I am excited about something.
So: [...]
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Posted 26 September 2009
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I was away at Lake Atitlan for a few days. Didn’t bring my laptop, and didn’t go on the internet. So sorry, so sorry.
Back in Xela, which feels more and more like home.
On extranjera I know in Guatemala was telling me that she’s been feeling negative about the country lately. It must be a [...]
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Posted 22 September 2009
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I have been back in Quetzaltenango (Xela) for about two and a half weeks now, and already it feels like a lifetime.
Xela, or at least the downtown area around Central Park, feels kind of like a college town. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everyone’s business. Really.
I was showing a new Trama volunteer [...]
Do I have writer’s block? It’s quite possible. In addition to not finding the motivation to finish my third and last round of revisions on my final Masters project (due in ten days) I haven’t felt like writing, neither on here or on other projects.
Have I become complacent and lazy? I keep telling myself [...]
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Posted 15 September 2009
† Caitlin
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