Michele writes…… Tonight I blog from the hot tub overlooking the lake after an amazing massage.

My favorite thing I saw today: watching the lake wake up (more on this later), my favorite thing I ate today: Desayuno at Cafe Sabor Cruceno (an NGO… check it out https://www.amigosdesantacruz.org/restaurant/.  My favorite thing I did today, was old people yoga on my porch overlooking the volcano. And lastly my favorite thing I heard today….”I’ve learned more Spanish being here two days than I ever did in school.” This is what this trip is about. Being here,  being present,  forcing ourselves outside of our comfort zone, and being able to fully present to experience another culture.  It’s about effort and not perfection.  Though we all aspire to be great, there’s power in acknowledging the difference between finding our own unique greatness and the desire to feel and be perfect.

Watching the lake wake up….. is by far my favorite time of the day on the lake. If anyone knows me you know that I am far from a morning person… but here on the lake I crave the morning.  The lake is silent first thing in the morning in every sense of the word.  There are no waves, as it’s smooth as glass out there,  there’s no boats,  there’s no people,  just the sun breaking its way thru and the sound of birds all around you. It’s honestly surreal.  Then without warning the lake wakes up… and the waves start and the boats start traveling,  and people start walking the path to work,  and….. the lake wakes up. But for just a few moments right at day break… the world is still.  No movement,  no chaos,  nothing to be done,  but to sit in the stillness. This is peace. 

Michele writes ….The title of my blog translates to “sometimes it’s good to be old.” The minute my body felt the first crash from the boat beating down on top of the waves I knew… that my body was gonna feel this trip. 😩 However, it’s not all bad… being old, (that is not the free spinal compression I got from the pounding waves riding on the front of a boat to make Luca happy, and do I could hear him squeal with joy). The minute we arrived in Guatemala, the men quickly assisted Nicole and I with our bags…. down the launcha,  onto the boat, up the dock and stairs, etc. They just felt in their souls that we were the Elders and we needed tended to. I’ve never been so grateful to be the old ones 😆

Yesterday was a travel packed day, including a plane,  a van, and a boat (what can I say we like diversity). Sometimes, despite all the planning in the world, things will still manage to go array…. well, not yesterday. Thankfully, everything went smoothly with not a single hiccup in the plan. We arrived in Guatemala City by plane,  then we drove 2.5 hours to Panajachel and had lunch on Lago De Atitlan. After lunch we took a boat across the lake to our lovely Airbnb where we be till Sunday.  Our casita looks like a page out of a fairy tale. We settled in and spent the evening in the hot tub and having dinner on our porch. 

I got a romper. It has a droopy pouch where the crotch should be. It screams yoga retreat. I love it. I’ve always felt like a hippy and now that I look a bit less circus-tent-like in loose clothing, I’m going to dress like one as I’ve always desired. Yes, I’ll continue to bathe. Yes, I’ll shave. No, I won’t smell like patchouli. Real friends let friends wear drooping-crotch, diaper-like rompers and they don’t say a word. You hear that Michele? They don’t say a WORD 😂

Luca write….We woke up and then we took a Tuk Tuk to breakfast called Sabor Cruceno . After we walked back and got ready for the lake. We walked to the boat that took us to the lake. The weather was nice, we even saw some dogs on the way. I jumped off the 20 ft. Rock. I jumped off 3 times. The water was cold 🥶. We saw this cute dog. We were about to leave but it started raining so we got pretty wet. So we walked back to the boat. The boat ride was so crazy that it almost flew in the air. We got off the boat. We walked back to our house. Then we went in the hot tub. Then we played in the grass for a little bit. Then we played some card games. We also played some of my favorite music. We relaxed for a little and we are going to eat dinner soon and then after that we are going to light a fire in the fire pit. Then we are going to bed after a long fun day. And that’s the blog

Luca writes…

Rolly pollies are my favorite bug in Guatemala. That’s my blog.

Luca writes. First we got to the airport. Then we had to wait for like an hour to board. The plane took off and we got to Guatemala City. Then took a drive for 3 hours to get to Lago De Atitlan. We took a crazy boat ride. Where our butts flew in the air and it was crazy bumpy. Then we got to our house. It was nice and pretty. Me and my mommy went on the hot tub. I said to mommy “what a nice way to end a lot of traveling.” We had dinner and then a 15 minute walk to the different docks. Then w. e went to bed. That’s our blog

Day 22/23 Maggie and I graduated from language school, packed our bags and I headed out to meet a solo traveler I had met a few days before to take pictures at Ruinas de La Recolección. These were probably my most favorite of the ruins in town, mainly because you can climb on them freely.  Afterwards we wander to my favorite secret bar inside Antigua Brewery. You enter through a phone booth.  The bar is in what was once the kitchen if an old house, you can still see the ashe on the ceiling. This bar is unique in that you tell them what kind of liquor you like and the types of drinks you enjoy and then they create something for you. There’s no menu,  its simply like watching an artist create something magical. My drink was so good I couldn’t change it up,  but I can only imagine what the other drinks they create taste like.  23 Days have flown by.  There’s not a moment in those 23 days that I wished I was home.  120 miles walked, 21 days of language school (105 hours), multiple Ruins, 1 Volcanic lake,  1 active volcano, 1 horse named Caramelo, family time with my brother and my neice,  1 house (mansion like), 1 hostel,  2 massages, 1 futball (soccer) game, multiple cafes, and many memories that can’t be captured by a picture or put into words. I love traveling, but I also love traveling back to a place I know,  feels more like going back to a second home of sorts. Some general take aways and what I will do differently next time; I would bring a pair of night pants (nights r cooler with an open house floor plan), I will do 4 hours of language school instead of 5, I will visit more cafes to do my homework rather than doing it at home,  I will speak more and worry less about looking like a fool,  I may or may not get my same crazy hard teacher,  I will study basic vocabulary before I return rather than wasting time on memorization while I am there,  I will get the nicer hotel in Atitlan, I will buy house slippers for $2 earlier on in the trip,  and lastly I will return to Antigua. I am truly grateful for the time I’ve had in Antigua,  the people I met along the way, and the ability to be able to have 3 weeks away from reality (for the most part). 

Reality has continued to creep in as I spent my nights before bed catching up on the trial back home and reaching out to those I was connected to during that time.  Though it’s been incredibly difficult heartbreaking to watch I felt compelled to. In a weird way it felt disrespectful to all of the families and the people I worked with at MSD to not watch. We (those working with the families of,  and the students from MSD) spent so much time sitting and bearing witness to their pain.  Holding space for them as they navigated uncharted (unfathomable) territory. It felt only right to bear witness once again as the state (in all the horror of our legal system) made them relive the most horrific day and days that followed of their lives.  I know that for the families this trial has been a long time coming.  I pray daily that this trial whatever the outcome may be, will help bring healing to people who deserve it from the pain they continue to endure.  

And we are out.But not before my passport got left with security and thankful recovered quickly,  and a stop in the Ron Zacapa club for breakfast and for free Zacapa 23 drinks thanks to my brother. So much love and thanks for an amazing trip to an amazing country.  All the kind and very patient people of Guatemala who fumbled their way through my spanglish, and even helped with correcting me when I got it wrong. I will miss walking everywhere. I will miss the unbelievable weather that capped at 75 and low of 62 with zero humidity, I will miss the view of Volcan Agua outside my kitchen window and as I walked to school in the morning.  I will miss sitting around the garden every afternoon.  There is to much to miss and so many reasons to find my way back.  Hasta pronto❤️

Last week we stopped in Pastores, a small town just a few miles from Antigua that is known for making cowboy boots by hand.

While cowboy boots aren’t my style I was intrigued by having a pair of boots custom made. So I picked out a style and my new friend Roberto measure me up.

I put down a deposit of and made plans to come back in five days to pick up the results. To put it simply. They’re beautiful. Totally handmade in leather in five days to my exact measurements. And for 350 Quetzales or about $45.

And of course I had to score my traveling companion some new kicks too. Also custom made for $45. I almost like hers more than mine.

Anyone who has been to my home knows that Alexa controls my life.  No like literally she turns on my lights, turns on my air, she changes the environment for the time of day, she tells me my agenda for the day, and most importantly she tells me when my Amazon packages arrive (ps. I am 23 days sober from ordering on Amazon). Oh how I have missed her for the simplest of things but mostly for turning on and off the lights.  Our house is amazing,  literally everything about it is great…. except the lights.  Recessed lighting is not a thing here and if it’s not daylight it’s dark.  There are lamps of plenty but honestly once the sun goes down it’s pretty dark in our house.  Which leads me to missing Alexa. Having to manually turn on and off a million lights spread throughout our very large house is a real task. On more than one occasion I had to stop myself from yelling Alexa turn on the lights.  There’s so much we take for granted that just simply make our lives easier;  washing machines, electronics,  solid paved roads, garbage companies, cars,  and hot water.  Though this time around we had hot water. I clearly remember the frigid showers four years ago for 30 days.  So be grateful for the things that make your life simple. Life in other countries just tend to be so much harder in general. It’s true what they say about if you have the right tools the job is easy.  Here there are far less of the right tools for the job and far more hard working, innovative people.  For example the roads in Antigua are the worst things in the world to walk on but they are also sacred here.  The cobblestone roads,  while dreadful to walk on,  help keep the character and history of Antigua intact. There’s road work happening on our route to school and each day we’ve gotten to watch as men dug up by hand huge stone boulders, cleaned them off, set them to the side to preserve them as they reset the road and then carefully placed the boulders back into place.  No machine could do this.  This task wasn’t for the lazy it looked more like a work of love happening on that street.  Things that are easy don’t always bring the most reward or beauty.  Great reminder that sometimes the things that matter most are the hardest (physically or emotionally) to do.