Day 21

     No real agenda today other than enjoying the view of Lago Attitlan.  We missed the 4th of July cookouts, but we did have a lightning storm that substituted quite nicely for the fireworks.

Hotel - $6, Food - $18, Trans - $0, Tours - $0, Random (postcards & stamps $7, internet $7) - $14
Total - $38

Day 22

     We visited some of the other lake towns today.  The must culturally interesting was Santiago which we reached by a slow boat.  Santiago is best know for the headdresses of the native women.  Xocopes are made of about 30 feet of bright red cloth that is wound around the head like a halo (or a ring of Saturn).  It appears to be a dying tradidtion as only the older women were still wearing them. 
     We found the other clothing to be exceptionally ornate.  Mens pants are calf length and vertically striped with colorful embroidery at the knees.  Our favorite was a pair with lots of beatiful birds.  Women all wear skirts of a navy hand-woven material that is wound around the body, then belted with a bright sash at the waist.  They also wear shirts of bright colors (frequently purple in Santiago) with individual designs around the collar.
     Many women still carry goods on their heads.  Usually it is a basket full of bananas, beans, fish, tomatoes, tortillias, etc.  When carrying even heavier things (like firewood)  the goods are bound with string, then strapped against  mens foreheads with a strap to support the weight on their backs.

Hotel - $7, Food - $18, Trans - $5, Tours - $0, Random - $0
Total - $0

Day 23

     One constant in all of Guatemala has been fireworks.  Sometimes for fiestas but more often they occur every morning before 6am.  We think they just like to wake up the gringoes.  Without any exaggeration, they sound a lot like dynamite.
     We travelled to Quetzeltenango or more commonly knows know by its Mayan name Xela (Shay-la).  On the bus, we met Stefan, a 30 year old teacher from Vancouver.  He gave us the total hook-up about Xela - where to stay (Casa Argentina), what to do, where to eat, and where to study Spanish (Celas-Maya).  WE did everything together for the next few days and he proved to be a real friend.
     Two highlights - Matt drank a pure cup of hot chocolate.  It was too sweet for him, but Lady loved it.  We also attended a benefit dinner for a local school where we met lots of like-minded travellers from around the world.
     WHile Xela is the second largest city in Guatemala, it still feels like a small town as the people are very nice.  It is also at about 8000 feet and can get quite cold when it rains and always at night.  We really like it here. 

Hotel - $7, Food $20, Trans - $8
Total - $35

Day 24 -

     One of Stef'ans secrets was a local bakery run by Mennonites.  Only open on Tuesday and Friday, there was already a line 15 minutes before it opened this morning.  We stocked up on fresh yogurt, cookies, banana bread, milk, and donuts.
     We went exploring in the afternoon and took a bus to a small town outside of Xela called San Francisco.  We thought we were going to a big market, but somehow we missed it.  Instead, we enjoyed the bus ride into the country side.
     After dinner at an Italian restaurant, we went to a marimba concert that was suppsed to start at 7:30.  Somehow, we had actually bought tickets for a beauty pageant, Miss Ecologia 2000, that did not start until 9:00.  You simply would not believe the openinng.  The first contestant walked out with a 4 foot plastic cactus on her head.  (Sorry no pictures.)  The next was a watermelon.  The next was dressed head to toe as a Rose.  Our favorite was the woman with a paper mache quetzel head piece.  ( The quetzel is a beautiful green bird.)  This bird had a wing span od 10 feet and a tail streaming 10 feet as well.  It was funny when the tail slapped a man in the crowd as the contestant made a turn, but it got even funnier when the 14 contestants left the stage and Miss Quetzel got stuck on Miss Globe head.
     The pageant included two formal wear competitions, and a bathing suit as well.  In the latter they awarded prizes for the best face, best legs, best figure.  Like in the US, we had intermission entertainment, too, which included dancers, a Julio Iglesias wannabe singer and a piano player obviously in his first few weeks of lessons.  Incredibly, the pageant did not end until 1am and the crowd was rambunctious throughout.

Hotel - $7, Food- $25, Trans - $2, Random (Miss Ecologia $7, Laundry $1)
Total - $42

Day 25

     With less than 3 hours sleep matt and Stefan left to climb Volcan Santa Maria.  The hike was difficult as the path was direct and slippery (it was slightly more treacherous on the way down).  Our group was made up of 3 really funny Swedes, 1 Brit, 1 Canadian, and 4 Americans.  This made for some interesting political discussions.  Lets just say that the world outnumbered us and did not always have the highest opinion of the USA.
     Back in Xela, Lady received some very bad news that her grandmother, Big Momma, had passed away.  Once I got back from the climb we took a late bus to Guatemala City so she could fly home to be with her family.

Hotel - $35, Food - $2, Trans - $12, Tour - $13, Random (Internet $3)
Total - $67

Day 26

     After seeing Lady off, I explored downtown Guatemala City including going to church.  After a short while it was east to see why most tourist bypass Guatemala City. 
     I took a slow bus back to Xela and settled in with my family for the week.  (I guess I forgot to mention that Lady and I had decided to take a week of Spanish lessons.  The school provides a family to live with for the week.)  My new family includes Martha, a seperated mom, Mario, her 10-year-old son, and three local 16-17 year-old girls who are going to high school in Xela.  One of the girls is names ROsie and she still wears her typical Mayan dress.
     Anyway, we had brown beans, tortillas, and coffee for dinner.  Sparse but good.  The girls and Mario told jokes all during dinner.  I understood the words but not eh jokes.  The only one I got was that they call Sheyns boyfriend Yogi because he is fat (like Yogi the bear).
     It rained like cats and dogs all afternoon and night.

Hotel - $0, Food - $3, Trans - $3, Random (School & homestay - $18)
Total - $24