Category: Guatemala
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Masa Critica takes to the streets in Guatemala City
GUATEMALA CITY – Between the black smoke-belching chicken buses and the mass of cars that congest the streets of Central America’s largest capital, it’s hard to imagine a bicycle, much less a mass of them. With one of the highest crime rates in Latin America, it’s not a place I was planning to explore on…
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A day of cultura in Guatemala City
GUATEMALA CITY – My first day in the city, my couchsurfing host Cristina whisked me off to a day of culture, beginning with the beautiful Popol Vuh and Ixchel museums on the beautiful and modern Francisco Marroquin University and ending with a night of dance at the National Theater and lively conversation in an all-night…
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Surfing the couches in Guatemala City
GUATEMALA CITY – The city sparkled below me like a carpet of diamonds, flung carelessly over the valley and clinging to the surrounding mountains. This is probably as beautiful as Guatemala’s capital city gets, I thought, then scolded myself for the unwelcome thought. I only know the city from reading about it, and from a…
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From Guatemala to Missouri: Swallowing the sadness
GUATEMALA CITY – I greeted the sunrise at the Livingston boat dock with a heavy heart, clambered aboard the lightweight skiff that passes as a ferry and braced myself for the sea-spray-slamming commute to Puerto Barrios, where I would catch the bus to the capital, spend the night in a hostel and grab the first…
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Holy Week Garífuna style: Where Jesus is Black
LIVINGSTON, Guatemala – I knew I had finally found the place when I heard the music. Completely unlike the punta drums and reggae blaring from the bars and restaurants a few blocks away, a dramatic instrumental selection drifted through the dusty streets. A crowd had begun to gather around the place they call The Minerva…
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Loving Livingston, Guatemala
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our minds. –Redemption Song, Bob Marley LIVINGSTON, Guatemala — I arrived by boat five days ago to this half Garifuna, half Maya fishing village on the Caribbean. The only way to arrive, in fact, is by boat. The 45-minute trip from Punta Gorda was a…
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Boats, buses and banana plantations
It’s hard to believe it was just two days ago I awoke at 2:30 a.m., had one last coffee with my new friend Homero (host of a highly recommended casa particular, more info below), and headed for the Havana airport. The trip to Belize would be a long and grueling one – there are no…