The Kennys Counquer Antigua

Picturesque of Volcan Agua under the arch

We had a great time seeing Antigua through our parents' eyes! Antigua was wonderful with Mom and Dad Kenny because 1) we visited some places we have never gone before 2) it was the week of Semana Santa, and we had the fortune of seeing 2 processionals and multiple alfombras being made 3) It is the dry season and the weather was perfect for their visit.

Mom Kenny and Beth under the Antigua arch

Arriving into the city was much easier than it was a few weeks ago when James and I went. In fact, there was no traffic at all, and we were able to find our hotel and a parking spot with no hold up at all.
We left Dad to a nap while the three of us wandered over to the main cathedral in the Parque Central and visited ruins of an old monastery that had been partially destroyed by an earthquake, and subsequently abandoned to build onto the new cathedral that stands today. We had a great time, and all of us were amazed at the beauty of it. They were also making some processionals on the grounds, and one that we saw was going to weigh over 4,000 pounds! WOW!

Old Monastery ruins destroyed in a 1773 earthquake

The San Francisco church was holding a vigil. Partly regal, partly celebratory

Once we picked Dad up after his beauty rest, we walked over to the San Francisco church to see a vigil taking place. Inside the church were alfombras, huertas (shrines with flowers, food, pictures, alfombras, and candles), and large religious displays. Outside the church was more of a subdued carnival atmosphere with vendors selling Guate goodies and families milling about.

An Alfombra preserved from one of last year's stencil designs

We then went to the Cafe Sky to see an alfombra art exhibit (some artists had figured out a way to preserve the alfombras), and catch an awesome glimpse of Volcan Fuego ("Fire Volcano") billowing with smoke on the horizon. Pretty cool! We think Mom and Dad were impressed with the beauty of the skyline -- surrounded by volcanos and steep hillsides.

Afterward, we went to Hotel Casa Santo Domingo for dinner. Santo Domingo is a hundreds of years old monestary-now renovated hotel. The grounds were spectacularly beautiful, candlelit, and serene.

A candlelit alfombra on the entrance to Casa Santo Domingo (above)

The dinner could not have been better tasting or better presented! We all enjoyed our meals immensely, and Mom and Dad claim it was one of the nicest places they've eaten.

After dinner we walked home in a bit of a daze after such a wonderful dinner and first day in Guate.

The Kennys Conquer Guatemala

For Spring Break (March 18-24), Mom and Dad Kenny visited us from their hometown, Neosho, Missouri. We had been beyond excited to have their company, as they are our parents, our first visitors, and relatives with BIRTHDAY PRESENTS! :)

We picked them up with all their luggage from the airport, and went home for a typical Guatemalan lunch (corn tortillas, guacamole, refried beans, and dorito-like chips) and opened presents. It was so nice to get some new clothing! Clothes that are not available in size / length here. Not only that, but James and I both gave up chocolate for Lent this year, and our parents brought us plenty to eat once the fasting is over. It was a major sacrifice this year!

After lunch and a bit of repacking, we headed off for a visit to my school, and then drove to Antigua for the next two days.

Beautiful flowering plant and tree from my school, CAG.
It's only March!

Beth's Birthday and Our 5-Year Anniversary

Back to the Beach

Before my parents' visit the upcoming week, James and I decided at the last minute to zip over to El Salvador for a Beach Birthday!

Enjoying a nice breakfast buffet at Roca "Reservations Not Honored" Sunzal

March 16: My 26th birthday, James' and my 5-year dating anniversary (a heads-up: May 28 is our 3-year wedding anniversary! :)

We spent the weekend at our new favorite travel-to location, Playa Sunzal. We stayed at Casa Miramar and Roca Sunzal. Miramar was definitely a winner. It had a quiet front deck/lounging area, several hammocks, a cold pool, and cheap yet tasty meals.

While the Roca does have cheap lodgings ($17/night), when we arrived to check in (with a reservation), we were told that our reservation was no longer valid even though we could see our name written down in the reservations book! Why? The guy who was in the room before us decided to stay another night. So yes, they said, "Okay, sure," and bumped us out of our room!

Naturally, we were irate (Beth especially) because they tried to say that they "don't run a small little nothing of a hotel" and they "try to please the customer," but how can this be so if you don't hold the reservations?! They offered to give us a different, more expensive room instead. We told them they were missing the point. We wanted the cheapest room, not a room with a bathroom. They weren't doing us a favor by charging us more money for their crappy customer service.

So, we asked why they didn't just charge the other guy the extra money they were about to stick to us? No good answer. We got them to say they would "try" to get the money, but obviously this wasn't going to happen. After scouting out some other places to stay, nothing at all was available (Semana Santa week and all of Central America is on vacation), so we had to take it. We got one free breakfast the next morning. Gee, thanks.

This reminded us of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry has a problem getting a car he had reserved. I'll type it verbatim-- for our conversation with Roca, inserting "hotel room" where Jerry says "car."

Lady: "I'm sorry, we have no [hotel room] available at the moment."

Jerry: "I don't understand. I made a reservation. Do you have my reservation?"

Lady: "Yes, we do. Unfortunately, we ran out of [hotel rooms]."

Jerry: "But the reservation keeps the [hotel room] here. That's why you have the reservation."

Lady: "I know why we have reservations."

Jerry: "I don't think you do....if you did, I'd have a [hotel room]. See, you know how to take the reservation. You just don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation. The HOLDING. Anybody can just take 'em....."



So, consider this an addendum post to our earlier accolades Roca Sunzal. Beware of them actually holding your reservation! You may want to call and confirm--and double confirm--your "reservation" with them. I mean, we could SEE our name in the book and they still didn't have it!

But the weekend was still a blast!! We got to see a boogie boarding and suring competition, get plenty of sun and water play, read, play Scrabble, and relax before the big visit from Mom and Dad Kenny. Also, our friends the Carver Family and Borgit & Michael (and baby Oleen) family were there, too!

The alley pupusaria where we got my birthday dinner

We ate pupusas for our birthday/anniversary dinner, and 4 pupusas and 2 beers ran us about $4. Pupusas are thick, hand-made tortillas stuffed with whatever ingredients are around. In our case, we had different pupusas with combinations of cheese, refried beans, guacamole sauce, and meat in James' case.

KU UNC Final Four Showdown

This is what a Final Four logo looks like

WHEW!

In Guatemala, nothing was thought about or talked about yesterday afternoon except for one thing: NCAA Basketball and KU's chance at the Championship. After having the fortune (thank you CBS) of watching KU pummel its opponents up and through the Sweet Sixteen match against Villanova, we thought there would be no problem with small, unheard of, Cinderella story #10-seeded Davidson.

KU's coach Bill Self (James calls him "Bill Self-Conscious" when he's checking his hairdo status) will finally go to the Final Four, only to match up against KU's old coach, Roy Williams (pictured below)

Boy we were wrong. Davidson put up an incredible match, thanks mainly to their star, Stephen Curry, who is this year's NCAA 3-point leader. The boy was incredible, and KU looked crippled against their shooting and defense, not to mention the fact that Brandon Rush couldn't make a shot to save his life. But in the end, Sasha Kahn and a few other key KU players were consistently decent enough to pull out a heart-stopping 59-57 victory and we are headed to the Final Four!

Even if we can play like we have been all year (excluding the Davidson game), UNC will be quite a formidable opponent. They have ex-KU coach Roy Williams, Tyler Hansbrough (from Poplar Bluff, Missouri no less!), and a machine of a team overall.

KU will have to be on their toes, but we are expecting an excellent game no matter what--and a WIN, of course!

Go KU!

See you at the Championship Game!

Tikal Panormaic

We just wrapped up a full and fun spring break (semana santa/holy week) with Beth's parents, and we'll have a good recap later this week. But for now, you can enjoy looking at this amazing panoramic photo we took while in Tikal. Enjoy!