Freshly arrived in Cobán, we headed straight out the next morning, southward, to the picturesque, colonial city Antigua. The short trip to Antigua marked Julien’s first chicken bus (camioneta) ride, our 38-month wedding anniversary, and our first experience staying under the looming presence of a volcano.

Julien’s first chicken bus ride

Looking for a hotel amidst ruins

We realized it was our three-year two-month wedding anniversary and celebratory dinner was had

Volcán de Agua from our hotel rooftop

Santa Catalina Arch framing the volcano

Volcán de Agua from the cobbled streets

Hotel lobby-space

The next day we headed to our new home in Quetzaltenango, though unfortunately not without incident. That Sunday, transferring from chicken bus to chicken bus, Julien’s money-belt was slyly removed from a side-pocket, an occurrence we didn’t realize until the ayudante (the bus-helper who collects one’s bus-fare) of the next bus asked for our Q70 for the ride. The final loss was Julien’s French ID card and two debit cards, cards that were used, we found out later in the week, to make 2000€ worth of purchases in Guatemala City before we had been able to cancel them. It was a bit of a rough introduction to Guatemala what with the blockades, the thievery, and our first Spanish class a trip to the police station to file a report, but we consoled ourselves with the realization that had such a thing have to happen, it did so at the best possible time. We were settled into a home with a lovely family for the following month, giving us a semi-permanent address necessary for receiving the new cards, sending out insurance claims, doing police reports, etc. An expensive lesson, but we came out of it unscathed and more cautious, all positive results.

The two empty-looking graves are actually gutters to drain the cemetery at times of heavy rainfall.

That whole drama aside, we jumped right into our school’s extracurricular activities, and day two we went on a city tour of Quetzaltenango with a teacher and some fellow classmates. We had a fascinating tour around the cemetery and got to enter City Hall and even the mayor’s office! Quetzaltenango is known as Guatemala’s second city, the second most important city economically as well as the second largest of the country with about 225,000 citizens. At about 2,300 meters (7600 feet) above sea level, there was a bit of an altitude adjustment in our new home; and we had the volcano Santa María as an ever-present presence, visible from anywhere in the city, including from our house.

Santa María peeking out through the afternoon clouds

Quetzaltenango’s emblem, in plants, City Hall

A magnificent painting in City Hall depicting indigenous children high above the lights of Quetzaltenango, the girl to the left waving the city’s flag, the girl in the center with the typical fruits of the region, and the boy to the right playing a fantastical marimba, sitting on a ram or “chivo” the nickname of the Quetzaltecos (as well as the name of the city’s soccer team).

We started taking photos of our meals, fascinated with all the new vegetables and food combinations. Here we have potatoes, carrots, güisquil, guicoy, elote (corn), ejote (green beans), and a bit of pork with a rice in broth accompaniment. Dinner that evening was a tamal and soup comprised of all the aforementioned veggies blended together.

Chandelier of Café Barista, a café we frequented during our stay

Our bedroom was small and cozy. We immediately emptied the contents of our two backpacks all across the room and it was a daunting task to get it all back in once it was time to leave.

Breakfast: plátanos, eggs, beans, and coffee. Also a common dinner.

A hearty serving of rice and beans for lunch!

Street of Quetzaltenango and Santa María

A weekend morning we insisted we didn’t need breakfast as we had bought a lot of sweets the previous day that could do the job, plus we didn’t have a precise wake-up time. Nevertheless we got this surprisingly delicious bowl of Cornflakes with…wait for it…cut up bananas underneath, served with warmed milk! It was a lot tastier than I was expecting.

Saturday = market day! Our host mom Christy and her granddaughter Cecilia (Ceci) would spend about two hours each Saturday buying produce for the following week. We were in town just the first weekend and were only helpful in carrying the goods until María, the maid, came by with the push-cart.

Butcher shop

And that was our first week in Quetzaltenango! Our schedule was pretty regular; we had classes everyday, me from 8am to noon, Julien until 1:00, we would enjoy a sizeable lunch prepared for us when we returned home, then we would head out to a café or school activity for the afternoon (sometimes a movie, sometimes soccer), before returning home for dinner at 7:00pm. By the end of the week, Julien was entertaining the family and his teachers alike with his stories, ever-in-the-present tense.

One of the nights that Venus was closest to the moon, as seen in a puddle reflection.