Colored Pollitos to Bubbling Water

We are jumping back quite a bit, months actually but hey we have to at least try to catch up sometime.  We will be going back and forth on posts so bear with us.  Our blog is for us to remember and to share our experiences and info with you even if it is a few months behind or a half a year in this case.  We are currently updating this post from Jaibalito, Guatemala.  Life here has been full of practicing Spanish, making friends (out of clay mostly, easier that way), hosting people, Teaching Pilates, Guiding Hiking around the Lake and border runs to Mexico. 

The following took place in June of 2012

We must say that Oaxaca so far has been one of our most favorite spots we have been so far.  It could be that we were there for six weeks and were able to meet some great people who we will never forget, you could say it is the Chocolate that permeates through the streets or the availability of fresh produce from all over the country.  

Oaxaca has a lot going on.  For our interests it can be divided into five different sections, the central city, and outside of the city in all four directions of the North, South, West and East.  There is always an event to attend to in the city itself from museums, galleries, magnificent churches, great food and dining, salsa dancing and music from all over every night of the week. In our case, we mostly liked to hang out at the local Mercados :)  

The area to the East of Oaxaca is a popular tourist route that some call the Mitla Tour with several stops that are minutes from the highway.  The best day is on Sunday to catch up with the Tlacolula Tiange (weekly Mercado) which fills the streets with cheap deals from goat soup, Oaxacan pottery, wood work and textiles, the weekly turkey or your colored chick and don't forget all of the Chocolate and Mezcal tasting that is offered on the streets.  

The "Hall of Smoke" can not be missed, here you can buy some fresh cut meat, onions and peppers from the side vendors then turn around and grill them up on the charcoal grills that run the entire length of the hall.

 We opted for a bowl of "Chivo" goat soup which is pulled fresh from the bone. Oaxacans can Cook! They are all about tasty food.

Aneta's favorite man, the Cacoa bean grinder man who makes her most sought after concoctions.

A quick stop at the Yagul Archaeological site was our first in Mexico which was a quick stop at that and a lunch stop.

After a quick lunch at the ruins we stumbled upon the Valle Oaxaca Distillery.  It  puts out some quality Mezcal and one of the most fun and best tours of any distillery we have ever been on.  We were honored with a private tour of this very classy and authentic distillery. 

The fly by pic.

Harder than it looks

Standing next to a pile of Pina's from the Agave

The piña or center of the Agave/Maguey plant is roasted in large pits with hearty oak, surrounded with large rocks for a few days.  This is where it receives it's distinct smoky flavor and differs from Tequila which are both made from the Agave plant.  Some people do not take a liking to Mezcal however just like any product there are horrible Mezcals and there are super smooth ones that stand up to the finest Tequilas.

Aneta receiving the full explanation on the Mezcal fermentation process (in Spanish of course).

We were fortunate enough to have a taste straight from the barrel.

Straight from the barrel! Love his facial expressions.

After some tasting in the back we were treated at this full service Mezcal bar with every flavor of Mezcal.

Our bartender going all out.

Best tour of a distillery yet

After Mezcal tasting, the ruins of Mitla was our next stop down the road. When we pulled into town there was a pushy textile seller that wanted us to come into their store, so we did and took a few pics of the dresses Aneta tried on, (mostly took the pics so she could see what the dresses looked like on her because they did not have a mirror) we left without buying anything and were accosted and they wanted to charge us 10 pesos for the pictures, we told them to get a mirror and we wouldn't have had to take any pics.

Mitla, built by the Zapotecs, is known for it's ornate stepped-fret mosaics in several differnet designs made from small finely cut stone pieces that are fit together without the use of mortar, there is no other site like this in Mexico. It was a very important city in the area functioning as a power center between 950 A.D. and 1521 A.D. until the Spainards came.  The Spainards then put a church (real smart guys) on top of the spot which the Zapotecs believed led to the lord and lady of the underworld to keep the "Devil" from escaping.

Mitla Ruins

"!Con cuidado Aneta!"

check out that fret work

On our way to Hierve de Agua.  On the way even before we left Milta we noticed three hitch hikers that didn't look too shady.  So we pulled over and they said they were going to Hierve where we were going.  They were from Czech Republic, Spain and Mexico.  Until now we have not been able to give anyone a ride except for short rides on the bumper to locals because in Steamboat we took out our back seats and we do not have room but on this day most of our stuff was back at the apartment.

Our last stop was Hierve el Agua which means the water boiling, however it is just bubbling water really though.  It was very rocky, steep and windy mountain road but we made it and the views were worth it.  The site is known for it's calcified formations that look like waterfalls from a distance that formed over thousands of years.  I believe that there is only one other site like this in the world which is somewhere in Turkey.  More on it here, Hierve el Agua.

Load up!!!

It was late in the evening and cooling off quick but these four (I was a bit sick and didn't want to agitate it any more) decided to take a dip in the pool which is right on the edge of the cliff, it is like an infinity pool in the mountains.

The calcified rock that basically looks like a waterfall

Adios Amigos, till next time....

Happy 14th Baktun!

On Friday, December 21th, 2012 we were awaken at 5am by an incredible wind. Avocados and Oranges were bouncing off our roof left and right. The end of the13th Baktun was here and according to the Mayans we were now entering a new era. Some "loco gringos" thought that this was the end of the world and with the extreme wind and trees falling all around it almost felt like it for a second but we are still here.  At 7:30am I went to make some fresh Jaibalito coffee and breakfast for the three of us: Aaron, Travis and myself only to learn that the electricity was out again... so we ended up going to breakfast at Hans's.

These two were in a heated debate on whether the world was going to end, it was going on for days...

Travis came to visit us in Jaibalito for the night and later that day Aaron and Travis were driving to Guatemala City to meet with Travis's family and friends as they were arriving for Helga and Travis's wedding on Sunday, the 23rd.

Congragulations Helga and Travis!

The wedding was very beautiful; Helga and Travis both looked amazing, happy and so much in love! It was very exciting to see them and meet both of their families. The wedding took place at a beautiful hotel complex of Los Hostales del IRTRA with amazing landscape, several swimming pools, fountains, spectacular restaurants, tennis courts, gym, and spa. When we arrived we were surrounded by very confident and colorful peacocks strutting around the property. A new and very different side of Guatemala for us! The day after the wedding most of us went to the Xocomil Waterpark and had a great time racing each other down the slides until Travis was trapped in one of the rides; fortunately about twenty minutes later and unharmed, he was out. :) On Christmas Day we went to Helga's Cousin's house for a wonderful Christmas lunch with delicious traditional Guatemalan food. Yummy! Congratulations Helga and Travis!

Our past couple of months have been filled with visits from friends and family (Aaron's Dad and his fiance), studying and practicing more Spanish, dinner parties, picking and drying coffee, making new friends and saying "Adios" way too soon, taking tons of pictures and worrying that we lost them all but finding them again later, teaching Pilates, and leading Hiking trips around the lake.  More on all of this later, but for now let's all enjoy the New Year. We are planning to leave Guatemala in early February for El Salvador and the rest of Central America before heading to Colombia.  We are hoping to be in South America by May as long as all goes as planned.

We hope All of You had a wonderful Holiday Season and we wish you could have been here with us as we miss everybody very much during this Holiday Season. We are sending you the best wishes for the New Year 2013: great health, happiness, love, prosperity, and much more.

According to the Mayans, the 14th Baktun offers hope and change for the better. To the new era and the new beginnings! See you next year. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Salud!

Aneta and Aaron

Aneta destroying her first CoCoNuT 

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM LAKE ATITLAN

Jaibalito Update

All right guys, we agree it is high time for an update!  Since some of you already managed to track us down we admit to being in Jaibalito, Guatemala for over a month now. Actually it’s been 57 days, 2 hours and 23 minutes to be exact. We arrived to Jaibalito on August 7th to meet up with Aaron’s Mom Barbe and her friend Andy and …never left. They have been our first visitors so far on our trip and we were very excited to see both of them. We had a great time showing them around the lake, shopping, hiking, cooking great food, and soaking in a hot tub.

Jaibalito is where we came for our honeymoon exactly three years ago and fell in love with it. We stayed on the same property where Barbe and Andy stayed when they were here. Our honeymoon was one of a kind because in addition to our private time we also got to spend it with our great friends from Steamboat: Travis (who was in Peace Corp in Guatemala at the time) and Andy (who was travelling through Central America and met up with us here). It was a great time! And now, we are back in Jaibalito and planning to stay here for a few months till Travis’ wedding in Guatemala to a super sweet and smart Guatemalan girl named Helga.

August 2009 with Travis, Andy and Amanda at Hans's

Travis, Helga and Aaron at Fishcreek Falls in Steamboat

We hope that this whole crew can make it down to Guatemala for Travis and Helga's Wedding!

Originally, we arrived to Lake Atitlan on August 2nd and were going to care take for a house on the other side of the lake across from Santiago. We parked our car in Santiago at Posada Santiago, unloaded most of our belongings from the truck and into a boat, and took a boat ride to where the house was. After carrying our stuff up the steep hill, through a beautiful garden with many kinds of orchids, we were able to meet the owner and see her place. We spent a few days at the house, but we decided it was not for us. We decided to live in Jaibalito instead.

Jaibalito

Jabalito is a very unique little village on Lake Atitlan, which is believed to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the world and for good reason. 

The lake is surrounded by three volcanoes and it has an amazing steep coastline very similar to Nā Pali coast on the island of Kaua’i in Hawaii. We don’t want to brag too much, but it truly is spectacular. “Jaibalito es muy tranqilo;” this among other reasons is why we decided to stay. The weather here is like an early summer day in Steamboat, 70’s or 80’s during the day, rain in the afternoon for an hour or two and chilly at night, dipping down into the 50’s at time. The village has no roads leading to it and it is the only village on the lake that is only accessible by boat or foot. If you want to hike to it you better have great hiking boots, endurance of a horse, plenty of water and time as it is not the easiest hike. If you choose the boat ride instead, it is fun and almost always tightly packed! There are no cars, tuk-tuks, bikes, goats or horses here in Jaibalito. The village has about 600 local habitants, 8 gringos (including us), 200 chickens and 300 dogs. The dog population is slowly decreasing thanks to “the dog lady,” who started an animal friendly program to neuter the dogs in the village.

On the crossroads of Jaibalito

There are a few hotels and restaurants here in Jaibalito as well as a few small local “tiendas” (stores), “tortillerias,” and of course six of the most loudest churches on the planet. The hang out place, I mean Posada Jaibalito is definitely the most fun and affordable. For about 75Q ($10) you can stay in a dorm for a night, have a generous plate of the best in Guatemala German Goulash and Spätzle, and enjoy a liter of cold Guatemalan beer. Can’t beat it! Hans is the owner of Posada Jaibalito and he is the nicest German man with a very long reddish beard and quiet demeanor. Before we left Steamboat we knew we would be returning back to Jaibalito to see Hans again and for a plate of Goulash. 

Hans on Tripple Tigo Minute night

Whether we need to buy fresh baked German bread, stock up on good cheese, yogurt, fresh chicken or duck eggs from Hans’s fowl, Guatemalan rum, use the Internet or a printer, buy a cell phone or a portable Internet stick, do laundry, pick up a bag of fresh roasted local coffee (roasted right there in the house by Hans himself and grown in the valley), or a jar of homemade sauerkraut made by Mayan women, read the latest Gringo magazine or simply just hang out and socialize with the other gringos in town on a rainy night in Jaibalito, Hans’s place is where we go.  The list of services he provides is endless; if you need it, Hans has it.

Hans helped us find a house for rent where we now live. After Aaron’s mom and Andy left we moved to our “hike to house” in the back of town located right on the river. In fact, we have to cross the river to get to our house, which can sometimes be an interesting experience after a big rainfall. Besides the river serves as our “noise blocker;” it blocks the loud music from the churches, “maiz” (corn) machine in the mornings, kids, boats, and of course, dogs and the ever prevalent early birds called Roosters. Our house is probably the funkiest looking house in Jaibalito; it belonged to an American guy from Texas who unfortunately passed away last year. 

It costs us 600Q (about $75) per month to stay here and we have two big bedrooms, full kitchen, and a bathroom with the hottest shower in Guatemala! We also share the house with quite a few roommates.

I have only been bitten once so far.  Don't worry they are not deadly.

By our house we have a garden with many beautiful flowers including roses and there are four avocado trees, four orange trees, ten banana trees, a passion fruit vine and coffee scattered around the property. Aaron picks eight or so avocados a couple of times a week and we are able to enjoy fresh guacamole almost every day. Aaron also started a veggie garden so that soon we can enjoy our own fresh produce.

We have been having a lot of fun on the lake settling into our new little house, visiting the other villages surrounding the lake, studying Spanish, hiking, making new friends, practicing Pilates together, working on the garden, cooking and baking, reading, and meditating. It took us a few weeks to get organized here as life here happens pretty slowly. Our plan is to be able to lead at least a simple conversation with Helga’s family and friends at the wedding so that means we still have a lot of work to do in the next few months and improve our Spanish. We have been practicing our Spanish every day… with the people of Jaibalito who can only speak Kaqchikel (one of the 22 indigenous Mayan languages spoken around the lake). 

The one and only fat rabbit in Jaibalito, fiesta dinner for the whole family in the future

We are also going to travel around Guatemala as there is so much to see here, volunteer, and find some odd jobs. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Aaron walks over to Santa Cruz where he is currently volunteering at C.E.C.A.P. (Centro de Capacitacion) in Santa Cruz. He is helping with a carpentry workshop for adolescent boys and also gives tips in the kitchen during lunch. 

Guatemalan boys at C.E.C.A.P. making picture frames for an exposition

After a group of Israelis stumbled upon us at our house one evening looking for one of Jaibalito’s many beautiful waterfalls, we saw a need for a trekking service. Aaron is planning to lead hiking trips around Jaibalito to visitors and I am going to instruct Pilates mat classes in a few hotels in Jaibalito and Santa Cruz. It is the rainy season until the end of October so we plan on travelling to the Pacific coast this week before we are busy with trekking and Pilates.

So that is what we have been up to lately; we miss our family and friends very much, but at the same time we have been appreciating our time away from stress of daily work and the typical American way of life. Between here and Oaxaca we traveled around the Yucatan peninsula, Belize, and Northern Guatemala and a lot has happened since then. Since we have been on the road and camping most of that time with no consistent access to the Internet we realize that we have some catching up to do. We are planning to relive our memories and write some posts about that time in between; thank you all for your patience and understanding. As always, the invitation is open for visitors to come and see us; until the middle of December we have an extra bed at our place. Come January we are back on the road!

Till next time! Hasta luego.

Santa Cruz

Dehulling and roasting coffee at Hans's

Jaibalito below

"One day with practice I will have that kind of balance, one day!"

not sure who had a worse day

Learning how to spin cotton in San Juan

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Enjoying Aaron's Birthday at Ven Aca, the high end restaurant in Jaibalito

"Quit taking pictures of me gringo" says the horse

Busy Mercado day, this is where we buy our veggies in Panajachel

Gateau de Riz Aux Figues (Rice Pudding Cake with Figs)

El Jardin de Aaron