Fun with the Forehands!

Beth and I were fortunate enough to have our two good friends, Mandi and Aaron Forehand, come visit us two weeks ago. We all became friends while living in Lawrence, and shortly after we moved to Guatemala, they moved to Los Angeles. So it was especially nice to spend a week with them since we won't get to see them very often any more. We had a really fun time and wished we could have had more time together.

They flew in on Tuesday, June 28, in the afternoon. That evening we had a tasty dinner of Guatemalan specialties at the Hacienda Real restaurant in Zona Viva (the nightlife zone of the city). They were exhausted from traveling all day, plus Beth had to go to work the next day, so we called it fairly early that night.

On Wednesday, we slept late and took our time getting around. Mid-morning I took Aaron and Mandi down to Zone 1 to see the National Palace and go shopping in the market. They enjoyed exploring the wares, buying a few souvenirs, and perusing the colorful food market where we bought fresh mango, pineapple, strawberries, and bananas for smoothies later in the day.

After the market, we drove to Beth's school to have lunch with her at the cafe on adjoining University's campus. We all had crepes with various tasty fillings. Afterward we showed them around the expansive, pretty campus.

That night we lived it up by going to our first VIP movie showing! A new mall in the city has a special movie theater that charges double the normal ticket price, but you get to enjoy sitting in large leather recliners, order dinner from a full menu, as well as drinks, and of course candy and popcorn. It was the most comfortable movie viewing any of us had ever seen. And best of all, the tickets only cost $8! Oh, and we saw the new X-Men origens movie, which was entertaining but not as memorable as the experience.



Beth had off from school Thursday and Friday, so we got up early Thursday to head south to the coast where we stayed a night at the Cayman Suites. It was an easy drive, and we got there early enough in the day to enjoy the place all to ourselves until late afternoon. We spent the whole day by the pool and really enjoyed the time together. That night we ordered room service to get away from the bugs and heat as well as to watch Harry Potter 4 (they're big fans like Beth and me).


The next day we got up early and were at the pool from 7 a.m. till nearly 1 p.m. getting in as much sun and water as we could before leaving. Once back in Guatemala City, we took our time cleaning up and repacking our bags for two days in Antigua. That evening in Antigua we did some light shopping and exploring before having dinner at the Mexican restaurant, Fridas.



The following morning we had a wonderful breakfast at Cafe Condessa, one of our favorite places to eat in the town. Afterwards, we explored the local and artisan markets. After noon, Aaron and I tried catching a shuttle to a nearby coffee farm to take a tour, but it never came. So, he and I spent the afternoon snacking on chips and salsa at the Irish pub, reading our books while it rained in the afternoon, and then getting coffee later. All the while, Mandi and Beth were busy shopping and exploring the multitude of shops.



In the evening, the four of us went to Casa Santo Domingo for dinner. The Forehands seemed to really enjoy the food, ambience, and grounds of the amazing hotel.

On Sunday morning, we did a bit more last minute shopping, then drove over to Pacaya Volcano for a hike. We had good views again of flowing lava, and even enjoyed lava-toasted marshmellows! After the tiring hike, we drove up to the Santa Terecita Spas at Amatitlan to relax in the thermal pools. Aaron and Mandi also got massages. Getting home that night took longer than normal due to a carnival taking place in Amatitlan, followed by heavy traffic into the city. Unfortunately, Beth came down suddenly with a bug that evening and ended up going to bed at 8 p.m. and missing the next day of school.

From Spa at Lago Amatitlan

Monday night was our last night together, and since we had nothing planned, we decided to go back and rewatch the Wolvering movie at the VIP theater. It was just as enjoyable as the first time around.

The next day we said our goodbyes, but had already made plans to come visit them this summer in L.A. The adventure wasn't over yet however. Mandi and Aaron arrived at the airport on time, but had somehow missed their flight by a full day! Somewhere along the way, we were all convinced they left on Tuesday, when in fact their ticket was booked for Monday. But thanks to the unbelievable generosity of a Mexican Air employee, they were able to fly back home for free and at the same time as their originally scheduled flight! Pretty amazing.

Thanks for coming to visit us, Mandi and Aaron!

Josh Ritchey: International Man of Festivity!

For James' Golden Birthday in which he turned his age on the same date (28 on March 28th), as a surprise to him, one of his best friends from college in Oklahoma City flew in for a week in March! The surprise was really fun, but the week was even better!

Josh flew in on St. Patty's Day, so we went out to a downtown gringo-laden bar, Rattle 'n' Hum. We found out later the Guatemalans call the place Pan con Frijol (bread and beans) instead because they have a hard time pronouncing Rattle 'n' Hum, and the name has no real translation, anyway. HA!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Then the boys spent a few days at our favorite beach destination, Roca Sunzal, where James surfed on a surfboard for the first time! Congrats, James!

El Salvador

Once back from their relaxing weekday beachdays, we had a fun party at our house with three exciting competitions: a Mojito Making contest, a Guac Off, and we played a bar trivia game that Josh also heads up back in Tulsa where he's attending law school (and running trivia bar games!). It was a blast!

Party Pics

For the mojitos and guacamole entries, each one was judged on taste, creativity of name, and style of presentation. For example, I entered my "Holy Guacamole, that's hot!" but it didn't win. James and Josh entered "Guac and Roll" which was just guacamole on a bun, but they got points for creativity! There were mojitos ranging from mango mojitos to margaritos.

Our trophies, presented to the winners at the end of the night

For the team trivia game, we were on small teams, and there were 4-5 categories in which we had to answer as a team. For example, one category was Dead or Alive, and Josh put up a pictures of someone famous, and as a team, we had to name the celebrity (1 point) and say whether or not that person was dead or alive (1 point). It was harder than you'd think! It was honestly difficult to recall whether or not the actor was from Spartacus or Ben Hur, and then their current Living Status....?

We used a projector for the trivia

After such a celebratory night, it was hard to imagine having any more fun to top the evening, but we managed to! We spent the next day in Antigua bumming around, and then our friend Jean Ah met up with us to go hike Pacaya.

At Cafe Sky, a rooftop bar in Antigua

Listening to a Peruvian Flute Band at Sol Latino

It was a pretty intense climb, but once we got to the smoking volcano, it was worth it to watch the lava spilling down the side! Scary! One guy gunning for a Darwin Award was trying to roast a marshmellow on the end of a stick while standing on recently hardened lava, and we could see it glowing bright red below him! We tried to warn him, but he wouldn't listen. Luckily, nothing happened while we were around to see it.

Note the flowing red lava behind us

The climb is steep
Volcano Pacaya smoking away

For Josh's final evening in the city, we went to Jean Ah's for an impromptu Sushi Making (and sushi rolling) lesson and sunset dinner on her deck. It was VERY fun, and we didn't know how easy it could be to make sushi! Well, we call it sushi, but Jean Ah taught us that it's called kimbap in Korean.

Mama Jean Ah cooking up the ingredients for kimbap!

James was trying his luck at making a monster roll that was hard to even eat it was so big!

All in all, it was a successful and entertaining week that went way to fast! Thanks again to Josh Ritchey for visiting and helping to make James' birthday so special!

... And Feliz Cumpleaños to James, of course!

LAVA!

Here are a couple quick clips we took of some flowing lava from our recent hike up Volcan Pacaya. (Sorry for the low quality; we forgot to change to a higher setting on our camera!)





There are a number of really great videos of Pacaya posted by other people on Youtube, so if you're interested, check 'em out!

Also, you can check out Jean Ah's pictures from our hike that day here.

Pacaya Porter: Success!

I just sampled the first Pacaya Porter with my good friend Matt, and I can happily say the beer turned out successfully! It's even a little early to be sampling it (I should have waited at minimum till next Wednesday), but it's already tasting good. It came out the right color with a tan head, has a pleasant dark, fruity smell, the body is nice with a subtle carbonation (hoping this will improve a little more over the coming weeks) and the flavor is surprisingly good. I really had low expectations for my first beer and this one far exceeded them. I'm very happy right now.

Santa Teresita Termal Baths

This weekend my friends Amy, Kari and I went to "Santa Teresita Balnearios Termales" which translates to a thermal bath spa! You can visit the webpage for more pictures and information. This was exciting on multiple accounts, including the excitement of my first time driving our car for any extended period of time...


We left early in the morning on Sunday, which was good because traffic is at low tide Sundays, particularly early on before church lets out. The spa was about 45 minutes outside of the city right on Lake Amatitlan, and next to Volcan Pacaya, as seen in this picture from the spa. According to a random website,

"Lake Amatitlan is located 17 miles south of Guatemala City. Along the northwestern shore is Amatitlan from where a road with a panoramic view stretches out to the southeast along the lake and close to the sides of Volcano Pacaya. The human history of the lake is one of the most ancient in the world. Archaeological remains that date back to 2000 B.C. have been found around the lake, and jade, bone, and clay artifacts have been retrieved from its depth. High population density, over-exploitation of natural resources, and the shortage of water have caused the degradation of Lake Amatitlan and its watershed."

Kari also added that the lake is incredibly polluted, and as recent as 5 years ago people were advised even not to put their feet in the water! Yikes! But I digress. Because the spa is close to both a lake and a volcano (yep, the same one we climbed, Volcán Pacaya!), the water is naturally heated and sulfuric, hence the beautiful spa.

When we arrived, we each bought "Uno de todo" which in choppy Spanish is One of Everything, please! This included use of all of the pools and facilities, an hour massage (best massage of my life! A combination of shiatsu, relaxation, and deep muscle massage! Terrific.), a 30 minute "Reflexologia" (foot massage) and a clay facial. It was SUCH a clean and nice facility, with professional workers...I left my watch in the massage room and they actually KEPT it for me (as in, it did not "disappear" into a worker's purse).


As the website indicates, there are 16 thermal pools and 32 hot steam baths. We didn't do the hot steam baths because the weather outside was so inviting, we didn't want to stay indoors any longer than we had to! We also did not get in any of the hot/warm pools because we were already so warm from lying out and reading it didn't sound fun. It is wonderful to live in a country where the weather holds at a stead 75 degrees! Now that the rainy season is winding down, each day stays relatively clear and perfect.

Of course, lunch there was fantastic as well. We each ordered a "Smoothie Mora" (Blackberry!) and received dark purple smoothies that weighed as much as a Chipotle burrito. We were pretty sure they were made with blackberries and frozen yogurt. No one complained. While we worked on balancing tastiness and cold headaches, we ordered ceviche, which is sort of like a shrimp salsa: fresh tomatoes, onions, shrimp, and cilantro, topped with sliced avocado and doused in freshly squeezed lime juice. It was a perfect end to a perfect morning!

I cannot stress enough what a beautiful country we live in. Every single morning I get excited when I step out onto our balcony because it feels so wonderful. I keep waiting for it to get cold, and it just stays springtime. One day I will get around to posting pictures of the multitude of flowers that our campus has on it. It certainly doesn't feel like November is closing in.