Sylvia Crain – Hoy!

Every trip has it’s specialness and this one is no exception. As expected, we were ill prepared for this trip for a variety of reasons. That has happened to us before so, just go with the flow. We arrived in Guatemala City as expected and my niece Christina and her beau Daniel picked us up and whisked us to Antigua about 45 minutes away where they live. Christina has just permanently moved to Antigua and all her belongings had only arrived a couple of days earlier. They were anticipated a few weeks ago, but things just take longer sometimes with customs. My sister Patty (Christina’s Mom) is also here for a three month visit to help get settled and plans to begin splitting her time between the US and Guatemala. Daniel’s parents Mario and Fide are also part of the live in family. Don’t forget Samba (the Pomeranian), Gatito and Bella the cats, Rayo (the new baby Beagle) and Patty’s pup Nugget – the other Pomeranian. Infuse Jim and I into the mix of trying to set up house and, well…. you have cheaper by the dozen!

We had planned to head out for a few days to the Pacific coast until my other sister Julia arrived for a two week visit – wait, now that would be 13! However, there was so much to do. It turns out the house only has (had) a room for a kitchen, but no cabinets, no sink, nada. It was plumbed for water and sewer and has a gas stub for LP gas (a 3/8” copper line – kind of different than we’d expect). My niece has a beautiful 6-burner gas stove, dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator with ice maker, washer and dryer and a pile of IKEA cabinet and counter top boxes. Refer was up and running, sin ice maker, but otherwise the cocina was pretty traditional; 4-burner table top stove with gas bottle on the back porch near the pila (double concrete sink used for washing dishes and clothes). Plus, they still had the rest of the boxes to unpack and cabinets to build for the bedroom storage. We just could not leave them and go exploring. So, Jim and I built a kitchen while Christina, Daniel and Patty worked on building other storage, organized and unpacked, kept us fed, entertained and kept us in tools. Jim and I are used to having just about every tool at our fingertips and had to punt often. But, it was good for us; appreciating the tools we typically have, improvising, and learning some really cool techniques from Daniels Dad Mario who was a carpenter for many years. The ingenuity is incredible and something from which to learn!

One digression – on the night we arrived, it was La Quema del Diablo – the burning of the devil to take away the bad things from the past year and begin the year anew; same traditions manifest in many similar forms in different cultures. Oh man…. on a relatively small street, big paper mache devil, doused in kerosene and firecrackers between two gas stations. Go figure. Quite a fun, but loud little festival.

Back to the kitchen project. It is done, being used and everyone is a bit more relaxed as food is so important and it is now a bit easier to cook and clean. Julia arrived and we are ready to head out to see some of Guatemala. So, what do we do? We head for the border and go to Honduras to see Copán; one of the nicest Mayan ruins around.

Jim and I have been to Teotihuacan and Pelenque in Mexico, Copán in Honduras and will also hit Tikal in Guatemala before we finish this trip. All very different but make an interesting and growing picture of Myan culture. We are finishing day-2 in Copán Ruinas (the town) and heading out tomorrrow to el oriente – the eastern part of Guatemala near the Gulf of Mexico. Into, as the guide book says, “punishingly hot” terrain. But, the weather apps say is will feel like 87 degrees which does not seem bad. We’ll see. Hoping for a more real bit of birding.