Photo Journal

Participating in a workshop on marketing and photography at the park. I wanted to put this first so it would be clear that I do work as well, because all the photos that follow are of my random adventures...

My friend Marie from Miami took the trip down to see me and I of course had to take her the lake where we kayaked (or moreso I kayaked and let her enjoy the ride :)

Going out for an afternoon boat ride on Lake Peten Itza.

Climbing temple after temple at Tikal.

Tikal was just as beautiful as they all say.

Overlooking the ruins...gives you an incredible feeling!

The temple of the Jaguar. Even more impressive in person.

Eddy's 14th birthday party. Probably the most exciting one yet with traditional dances, merengue, duranguense, marimba and then we joined in with some line dancing, the cupid shuffle and even the dance from Slumdog Millionaire (thanks to Jess and Erika)!

My family had never heard of smores before so of course I had to fix that. We didn't have Hershey's and graham crackers, but Chiky's work just fine. Here's my host brother Chico using the stove to make his.

One of my good friends here Molly celebrated her birthday by inviting my family and I to her family's humble abode in the mountains overlooking Totonicapan...quite the party :) Molly and I pulled off a descent Guatemalan lunch and she treated us to a pumpkin-like pie.

Tiff came to visit and we definitely took advantage of her time by traveling around my area, including the ruins at Iximche.

On our way to the Nature Reserve in Panajachel (cute trail with lots of monkeys, butterflies and a waterfall).

Traveling with the two of them is quite the adventure. I have to say we make quite a group- the American, the Frenchwoman (Chloee) and the Indigenous Guatemalan woman (dona Filomena)- I love it!

We look like quite the cave explorers, don't we?

When my friends Jess and Erika came to visit I dragged them on quite the tour, one of our stops being the zip-line at the park Chuiraxamolo.

Semuc Champey. What can I say- it's one of the most beautiful sites I've been to so far in Guatemala. Limestone pools with caves, an underground river and surrounded by lush jungle.

We spent a day white-water rafting with the association of a fellow Peace Corps volunteer (www.guaterafting.com). It was quite exciting as it was my first time and we conquered a few class 5 rapids...

My "second family" here invited me to the wedding of their son (second from right). Chloee and I of course arrived in style with traje from Santiago Atitlan :)

Chloee and I decided one Saturday to hike up the nose of Rostro Maya (Indian face). It's the tallest point in the photo below. The trail was a bit challenging but worth it to walk through the coffee fields, corn, forest and so forth. We began in San Juan La Laguna and ended up in Santa Clara La Laguna.

It feels so amazing to be on top of the water in kayak...with an incomparable view. Sigh.