adventures with Julianne! :)

my awesome friend and roommate from Costa Rica Julianne and i had originally talked about going to Guatemala together after our time at UPEACE...  it turned out she wasn't able to go, but, having gotten excited for it, i set off to go on my own anyhow. but..... i was there for maybe a week or two when suddenly one evening... Julianne showed up at my door!! :D

we' d had lots of adventures together in Costa Rica - it was awesome to have her company again in Guatemala and we had a blast! :)

together with Mama Maria! there was room for us both to stay together.

here we are, just like always in Costa Rica - La Blancita y La Chinita (the white girl and the chinese girl!)

Julianne's teacher, Josefa.

Julianne & Josefa in their study hut :)

we ended up doing a lot of stuff together all four of us (me, Julianne, Flory, Josefa) in our class time.. like robbing fruits from the school garden!! (okay, just picking... but keeping an eye on when they got ripe and then getting 'em!)  i can't remember what these were called now...

what are these?? they were pretty crazy looking. looked a lot like dragon fruits on the outside... green and pink and spikey flaps on the outside, but bright magenta purple on the inside! :)

not bad though! :)

our  first tuc-tuc ride to go visit San Juan, the town-next-door!

not sure these were really built for 5, but okay!

watching women hand-weave these beauuutiful naturally-dyed fabrics

2-quetzal ice-cream -in-a-bag, perfect for a hot day!

pick-up-truck ride to come home to San Pedro!

pick-up-truck dismount

studying together in the evenings...

we took some painting classes together too with a local artist named Jose - i LOVED it. ill post some pics of my paintings after

boat trips over to towns across the lake - Panachjel and Santiago (San Pedro was still by far my favourite though!)

but we DID make an amazing choco-mango discovery in Panajchel!

San Pedro, looking back from on the lake

adios, Julianne! until our next adventure!

in and around San Pedro

a little glimpse of day-to-day in San Pedro.. 

the morning market was probably my favourite part of town. i loved milling around the busy market with all the women with their straw baskets... people watching, chatting with vendors, buying mangos to snack on (and making a mess of myself in the street... )...

 

 

 weighing out apples to buy

 

chocolate covered strawberries for 1 Quetzal ! (ie, 10 cents)

fabrics for sale... i loved how colourful this town is! women wear these wrapped around like a skirt

lunchtime in town! my mom Maria usually cooked for me but one day we went up to the marketplace together for a big town lunch!

 
lots of people out for lunch!

 some kind of chicken, veggie & rice soup - served with boiled/steamed (not sure!) corn dough wrapped in some kind of palm leaf. mmmm! :)

a talented lady bringing her veggies to the market

the main road in San Pedro (there's my school on the left - Cooperativa!)

tuc tuc's - the 3 wheeled-way to get around town. i didn't use these much since everywhere i went was walking distance, but we did take one to a neighbouring town once, and that was pretty fun! :)

kids walking home from school

horses also making their way through the streets with bundles of wood (for real-fire stoves for making tortillas)

another spanish school in the town... my namesake school (rainbow = arco iris)!

hopscotch and visits from kids in the street

there was nowhere in town without a stunningly beautiful view...

home sweet home

i don't always LOVE everywhere i travel/live but i was thrilled to call this "home" for a few weeks! :)

this was my house... my room's the one with the little giant window

my room

it was just 5 minutes or so from my school, a turn off the main road

into a "callejon"... a little maze of backroads. i quite liked it. a little off the beaten path of tourist hostels and hotels to homes where people really live :)

the view from my door

and the view from the little window above my bed!

i'd always wake up in the morning and pop up to my knees in bed to take a peek out the window. how can you NOT have a fabulous day when it starts like this! (click to see the picture bigger)

 

the view was spectacular. BUT, more importantly, so was my family! :) i stayed with a home-stay, figuring that was the best way to get to know people, the culture and practice more Spanish. and i was right :)

this was my "Mama Maria" - a very sweet lady and the mom of 3 fabulous kids

Adamary and Anderson, my little host sister and brother who drew me pictures while i was at school! :)

these two were a hoot. here's them singing Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas) one day while washing dishes and discovering the fun of soap-foam beards

(well, i can't seem to get the video up, but i'll add it later!)

my host dad Manuel works at a local radio station

roasting some chicken for dinner :)

chocolate mudmasks that i'd brought with me. adamary was curious and i got my mom to try it too :)

adamary, being adamary :)