Neyla's Guatemalan Life...

Me and Mommy in Antigua

We’ve been in Guatemala now for about 3 months and we are really starting to settle in and enjoy the new experience.   We are making new and great friends and we’re discovering our new city and country.  I love our new country; however, I am going to attempt to write this blog from another person’s perspective: Neyla’s.  Unfortunately she is not quite old enough to blog, so I’m going to blog for her.  Here’s your chance to see Guate through Neyla’s eyes:

A few weeks before we left, mommy and daddy started telling me about what sounded like a new magical place that we were moving to: Guatemala!  It sounded so fun and I love just saying it, Wa-te-ma-da.  At least, that’s how I pronounce it.  Mommy and daddy keep taking me on planes all over and so far most of those places have been fun, so I was excited for a new adventure.  

Me and the Guatemalan boy playing
in the fountain in Antigua.  

Daddy left a few days early because mommy said he had to do something called work.  The day mommy and I left I said goodbye to grandma, grandpa and all my cousins and we headed to the airport.  It was not a very fun trip.  Mommy was trying to carry so many bags and me; and on top of that our flight got in 3 hours late to Watemada.  I was so sleepy when daddy met us at the airport and took us to our new home.  I fell asleep immediately and when I awoke I was in our new home with mommy.  

Our new home is so cool.  Mommy has made me not one, but two play rooms.  The first is my art room with all my paint and markers and fun paper.  The other room has a big box house, a play kitchen and my own personal penguin rug!  I love it!  Then upstairs is my bedroom which has a cool pink furry rug and butterfly and flower bedspread and fun flower wall stickers which Mommy let me put on myself.  The best though is all the books mommy gets me from the library.  We read together several times a day and I love it!  

The inside of the house is cool, but the best part is outside, where we have an awesome playground with swings and slides and a soccer field where mommy and I play futbol.  Most days we walk up the hill (I ride in the stroller) and go eat lunch with Daddy at work.  When we get there all of these scary teenagers approach me and make strange noises, I think they think I’m some sort of toy.  But it’s fun.  Each day we walk to the university where mommy and daddy buy me a quesadilla or a grilled cheese and I share a smoothie with mommy.  I love the smoothies!  They’re my favorite.  

Me in the sandbox at
Earthlodge!

Me at Earthlodge with Volcano Agua 
in the background.  

The day to day of my life is pretty packed with fun and exciting things.  First, each day mommy and I wake up and snuggle.  This usually takes anywhere from 5 - 30 minutes depending on how hungry I am.  Next, we’ll eat breakfast, nothing too fancy, usually just cereal and mommy drinks this black stuff called coffee, but she won’t let me have any.  Then if it is not raining, we’ll go to the park and swing, play soccer, do monkey bars or play in the little Neyla sized house.  Mommy is so much fun.  Then, usually the favorite part of my day, visiting daddy at school!  Each day mommy will put me in the stroller and chug up the hill to daddy’s school and we sneak up on him through the back door of his classroom.  We usually walk to buy some lunch and eat a family lunch together.  Then daddy plays catch with me and lets me make drawings for his classroom wall.  

Me, daddy, Papu and Grandma 
in Antigua...
Isn't that volcano in the back cool?

We have even travelled a bit!  On our first trip outside of the city we went to Antigua and mommy and daddy bought me a little Watematan horsey!  He’s so cute.  I slept with him for weeks afterwards.  We walked around the town a bit, actually daddy mostly carried me and I got to play in the water fountain at the center of town with another Watematan boy.  We had so much fun splashing about.  On the way home, I fell asleep in the car.  It’s hard for me to stay awake after such a fun day.

Daddy and I on the airplane
at IRTRA

Another weekend, we went with some friends up to Lake Atitlan.  I enjoyed the park at the restaurant we stopped at, but the boat ride to our hotel was a bit scary.  I’m used to riding large boats in Majuro, but this was a tiny boat with too many people.  I had to sit on Daddy’s lap and I could barely see Mommy.  We got a little wet, but when we got to our hotel, there was a fun doggy and some cool chairs made of tree trunks that I really enjoyed.  Our room was super cool, the beds had white tents over them and I love playing in them.  Sadly, mommy got sick that night and the next day Daddy and I went searching through the small town of San Marcos to find her some Ginger Ale.  After a difficult walk for daddy (not me I was on his shoulders) we finally found some and went back to see if mommy was feeling better.  She wasn’t, so daddy and I went hiking.  It was fun!  We saw birds and flowers and walked a long the lake.  I love hiking with daddy!  

Grandma and I napping...

A few weeks after that we went to a cool place called Earth Lodge.  Daddy went to play some golf, so that left me and mommy during the day to have tons of fun.  We hiked, read books, played on the park and I got to play with a few other kiddos.  It was a fun weekend.  We spent so much time just playing and relaxing, so it was basically like every other day for me, but with a great view.  

Mommy, daddy and I at the
Kite Festival 

Then mommy said that daddy had a long weekend and we were going to do something really really fun. I didn't know what that meant, but I was excited! They took me on Sunday morning to a place called IRTRA. It was a magical land of clown, and rides and shows and all around kid fun! It was awesome. I went on a train, a magic bus, I drove a truck and even went on a ferris wheel. The best was the airplane that daddy took me on, at first I was a little scared, but eventually I grew to love it! It was such a fun day with mommy and daddy!

Last weekend was the best!  Grandma and grandpa came to visit us and I had so much fun with them!  We went to Antigua, played in parks, went swimming and snuggled a lot.  Now that they’re gone, I miss them, but it’ll be Christmas soon and I’ll get to see them and Santa!  

Yesterday we went to see the most giant kites ever and it was so much fun!  I made new friends like Dennis!  He’s my new favorite friend.  The kites were huge, I didn’t know that they made kites so big.  There were so many people around cheering and eating and having fun.  Daddy says that this is a Mayan tradition of flying the kites to be closer to one's ancestors who have passed on.  But I loved the bright colors and the excitement.  I hope we go again next year!

I always fall asleep on car rides home.  But that
Apple juice was mmmmmm  good!  

Overall, I love being able to spend so much time with mommy and I love how much the sun shines here!  

Loving Guatemala, Missing Majuro...

My first three weeks in Guatemala have been nothing short of amazing.  The weather is perfect every single day.  The nature is breath-taking.  The people are warm and welcoming.  My colleages are incredibly helpful and warm.  The work climate is positive and focused on the kids.  The kids are fun and engaging.  The ability to travel virtually every weekend to beautiful locations is intriguing.  In short, I love it. 

                

That is not to say that Guatemala City is some heaven on Earth, in fact, far from it.  The traffic is something that cannot be described.  There are no left turn here and every road is one way.  Often, to get to a store a block away you would have to drive two miles around a ravine and following the one way roads.  On campus, the nature is amazing and the air smells like a Florida morning in spring, but the city as a whole is smoggy.  There are seemingly no emission standards for cars, or if there are, nobody bothers to get them checked.  Crime is a major issue here.  It’s not rampant, but you have to be aware of where you are and if it is wise to be walking in that location.  We are very fortunate to live in an area where there are many places that one can walk safely.  The wealth gap here is startling.  There are some extremely wealthy and so many living in squalor. 

                

I am still learning so much about this country and its people, but so far I love it.  Having said that, I also miss my friends, colleagues and students from Majuro last year.  I wish all of them nothing but the best… and just because I am loving Guatemala doesn’t mean I’m not missing Majuro.  

Guatemala City: First Impressions

First 24 hours in Guatemala

            It has now been almost 24 hours since I arrived in Guatemala City to start my new life in Latin America.  Sadly, Janae and Neyla won’t arrive until Monday night, so I am all alone for the time being.  On a positive note, that gives me time to get our house ready for their arrival and to learn the lay of the land a bit.

            Upon landing and driving from the airport to my new house my very first impression was that it was strikingly similar to other Latin American cities that I have visited.  The streets were crowded and crazy with a sort of organized chaos, adverts in Spanish were all around and street vendors were plentiful.  It was however much more vibrant and beautiful than I imagined.  From what the average American hears about Guatemala in the news I was not sure what to expect, but that first hour was pleasantly surprising to me. 

            Next I arrived at our new home in the La Hoya condo complex.  There was a very secure guardhouse out front with armed guards and a steel reinforced gate, but that is to be expected in virtually any Latin American city.  The green row homes had beautifully manicured gardens and a nice park that I’m sure Neyla will enjoy.  The home itself is incredibly spacious, in fact, I’m not sure what we’re going to do with all the space, so many of you need to come visit!  The style of home here is very different than most homes in Chicago mostly due to the almost perfect climate year round in Guatemala City.  There are several outdoor spaces to be enjoyed and a ton of large sliding doors that invite the natural light and air into your home.  I have to say that it is quite a beautiful to live.  I am very excited to spend the next few years of our lives in this house.  However, there is one downside that I am going to have to do something about.  The shower in the master bedroom is made for a person who is about 5’6’… and as many of you know I am a bit taller than that.

            After settling in I was able to Skype with Neyla and Janae in order to tell them my first impressions and to see their beautiful faces.  I did this on the school’s campus that I will be teaching at and to say that the campus is naturally beautiful is an extreme understatement.  It is wooded, surrounded with gardens and smells like a spring morning in Florida with citrus smells.  After a quick look around the campus I headed off with my new boss for a beer and dinner. 

            We stopped at his place for a minute and had a beer on his back patio and rooftop.  It was the absolute best view I have ever seen in my life!  His house is located on top of a hill and from the rooftop you can see all of Guatemala City and the surrounding volcanoes.  As we were up there the sun was beginning to drop behind the mountains to the west and there was a thunderstorm off to the north of the city.  I think he has gotten accustomed to the amazing view, but I was left with my jaw on the ground. 

            From there we went to dinner in La Cayala, a newer part of the city that reminded me of a very clean and well-kept European town.  The neighborhood had a beautiful Church and center that reminded me of the Spanish steps in Rome.  Beautiful shops, cafes, bars and restaurants surrounded the cobblestone streets.  We settled on a sort of modern sports bar and the food was tasty and relatively inexpensive for such a nice establishment.  My boss commented that this was quite expensive for Guate (as the locals call the city), but believe me it was quite reasonable compared to Chicago restaurants.  The bartender served us the local favorite beer and even gave us a few pints on the house after finding out it was my first night in Guate. 

            It was a great first day here.  I can’t wait for Janae and Neyla to join me!