More Adventures in Antigua

I'm starting to feel that mournful our-vacation's-almost-over feeling creep over me. Tomorrow's our final full day in Guatemala. Unbeknownst to us, Antigua is the craziest place to be in all of Guatemala for New Year's Eve. There's a big street party of 5th Avenida, complete with some sort of parade and tons of fireworks, so it sounds like we've come to the right place to ring in 2010. There's not an open hotel room in the entire city and it sounds like everyone from Guatemala City will begin descending on the city sometime tomorrow day. There's no way we'll see the big 2010 numbers light up over the arch, since keeping a four-year-old up until midnight and then putting him on a plane nine hours later pretty much seems like a recipe for disaster, but it'll be fun to catch some of the pre-partying. Ah, parenthood!

As for today, we had a couple of fun little adventures. We started out the day with brunch at this fancy five-star hotel, the Case de Santa Domingo. It was a complete splurge in comparison to other places we could have eaten, but in reality, brunch still only cost us a little less than $12 a person and Gabriel was free! Mom and I have memories of a few brunches at Santa Domingo during our stays four years ago but there was always this fussy baby that detracted a tad from the ambience!


Gabriel's in LOVE with the parrots at Santa Domingo. They're everywhere. They live in these little parrot haciendas that are scattered all over the patios and pool area. Early yesterday evening, we walked into the hotel to check out the hours for brunch, and Gabriel got to watch the parrot keeper take all the parrots in for the night. It was all we could do not to keep him from camping out over night, waiting for them to wake up and come back out to the patio. Seriously, if you ever feel like spending a few days in the lap of luxury, check out the Casa de Santa Domingo. It's a magical place.


Since we needed to work off a ton of fried plantains and other brunch goodness, we decided it was time to hike to the cross up on the hill, overlooking Antigua. It's not a bad walk and it's a gorgeous view of the whole city and the surrounding volcanos.


The view didn't disappoint.


In the afternoon, we caught our second chicken bus to the nearby Cuidad Vieja, or "Old City." Guatemala's original colonial capital city was located 7 km closer to the volcano Agua. It erupted in the 1500s (I think) and everyone sort of decided that the capital might just be a tad too close to an active volcano for anyone's good! So Antigua became Guatemala's second capital.


Today, Ciudad Vieja is just a small Guatemalan town perched on the base of a volcano. We were the only tourists we saw the entire time we were there, which is saying something considering that Antigua is just a few miles away and overflowing with them.


As we walked along the steep streets, children, mothers, and old women came to their doors to take a peek at us. We were definitely a novelty. Gabriel bought an ice cream for one quetzel (about 13 cents) and ate it walking alongside a few other children who'd done the same.


Back in Antigua, we checked out the ruins of San Jeronimo School, constructed in the mid-1700s.


But by that time, someone was tired.


So we retired to the top floor of Cafe Sky, where you can witness a pretty lovely sunset over a frosty beverage or two (Gabriel enjoyed a milkshake).


And happiness was restored.

Our son conquers the volcano

I'm not sure exactly how many photos I'll post before I fall asleep leaning on my elbows! Yes, that means that Gabriel made it ALL THE WAY up the volcano, Pacaya! As in, he saw lava with his own eyes. I didn't think we'd make it but Kevin and Gabriel get all the props. Kevin held Gabriel's hand (sometimes both hands) and essentially towed an extra 40 pounds from 1600 meters to 2400 meters altitude. Gabriel kept putting one foot in front of the other and, as he's apt to do, put all his four-year-old faith in his Daddy.


Did I mention that it was also windy as all get-out once we cleared the tree line? At one point, Kevin said he wasn't sure whether we were really cool parents or really horrible ones. There were points today where I'm fairly sure Gabriel would have confirmed the latter! Actually, G was insanely wonderful through the whole thing. He's not much a hand-holder, but boy, he didn't let go of our hands once during the three hour hike. It didn't take long to realize Daddy's hand was the best game in town!

In this shot, we've just said good-bye to the trees and it's time to start getting serious. Kevin and I are also beginning to question our sanity.


Hello lava rocks.


A well-deserved break.


Nearing the top. By this point, Gabriel REALLY wants to know when he's going to see some lava!


At the summit, some of the grown-ups (with more foresight than his parents) donated some of their lava-roasted marshmallows to Gabriel.


He was a happy boy, which makes me think that perhaps we didn't do irreparable damage to him after all.


And we did see some pretty cool lava.


So all's well that ends well. (Check out the hair... I told you it was windy up there!)


We arrived back in Antigua around one o'clock in the afternoon, so we had plenty of time to make the most of the rest of the day. But I'll have to save all of that for another day. I've got to go pull G away from a Spanish-language version of The Incredibles and throw him in bed.

A day in which we stay close to home

We didn't venture far from Antigua today. The day was gray, which meant that the colors on 5th Avenida looked especially gorgeous.


We had breakfast at an ex-Pat place, the Bagel Barn, that I used to take Gabriel to a lot - primarily because, back in 2005, it was one of the few places in Antigua where I could find free Wi-Fi. I used to spend my mornings checking e-mail and, assuming that Gabriel fell asleep in the stroller on the way there, PRAYING that he remained asleep long enough for me to e-mail Kevin, Mom and Dad, and various other family and friends back home. Sometimes he gave me half an hour or more and sometimes he didn't:-)

After breakfast, we caught a taxi in Parque Central and headed to the neighboring town of Jocotenango. Jocotenango is known to tourists for its museum, Centro Cultural La Azotea, which is located on a beautiful piece of land on the outskirts of the little town.


The museum boasts exhibits on coffee, Mayan musical instruments and pre-colonial life in the Antigua valley but we enjoyed their gardens most of all.




We got lost among the coffee plants.


On the walk from the museum to the center of town, we discovered a cemetery that wound up being really wonderful to walk through.


In the town center, we found a fun orange church.


And a haircut for Kevin that cost the equivalent of $1.40. You really can't pass that up... I don't care when your last haircut was!


Kevin and I both agree it's the best haircut he's ever gotten! And they even gelled it Guatemalan-style:-)

After lunch at a local place, we decided it was time to test our travel bravado and take our first chicken bus ride. When we were fostering, I was way too nervous to take Gabriel on one of these. Chicken buses are essentially Guatemala's public transit system. The buses are actually just old American school buses that get painted completely wild colors on the exterior and run every which way. The guidebooks warn you to be careful of pickpockets, etc. while riding, so I was completely wary during our foster trip. But this time, we figured, what the heck? Plus, Gabriel's been dying to ride one.


For about 25 cents each, we rode back into Antigua's central bus depot.


See, I'm not joking. Aren't they crazy looking???


I caught this pic of a little boy who'd caught a free ride on one of the buses coming into the depot.

We spent the rest of the day laying fairly low. We did treat Gabriel to a half hour in Antigua's McDonald's playground. I hesitated because I hate to spend international vacation time at an essentially American institution. But Kevin reminded me that Gabriel would be playing alongside 30 or so Guatemalan children and don't we go out of our way to give him opportunities to do just that when we're at home? It's true! We'll drive all over creation to get together with other families with kids adopted from Guatemala and this afternoon Gabriel played alongside dozens of Guatemalan kids - neither them nor he seemed to notice any language barrier and he had an amazing time:-)

Tomorrow, we'll be up before the sun to catch a ride to Pacaya. Yes, for some God forsaken reason we've decided it's appropriate to hike a volcano with a four-year-old. It's a hike that Kevin and I have both done before but I'm not 100% sure we can really pull this off with the G-man. The outfitter assures us he's good to go, so we'll see!

A day trip to Monterrico

This is Gabriel playing in the Pacific Ocean for the very first time ever. Kevin reminded me that I actually haven't seen the Pacific for 20 years, so we were both looking at it with fresh eyes!


We took a two-hour shuttle ride from Antigua to Monterrico this morning. Monterrico is a Guatemalan beach town with SERIOUS waves. This water was in no way four-year-old friendly! I was completely paranoid that Gabriel would be swept out to sea by a riptide, so we spent much of our afternoon like this:


Before we hit the sand, we ate at a fun little beach bar. Kevin and I sipped Gallos (Guatemala's national beer) while Gabriel rearranged the cushions on this fancy beachy lounge bed thingy.






The town of Monterrico is tiny. Lots of cinderblock structures with thatched roofs and Pepsi and Tigo logos painted on anything that doesn't move. Monterrico is a tourist town and the locals sell snacks and rubber flip flops along the roadside.


It's also a very, very poor town. In Antigua, it's easy to forget that the majority of Guatemalans live in poverty. You don't need to travel more than a few miles outside of Guatemala's tourism gem to get an education in what life is like for many, many Guatemalans. On our drive, the volcanos that surround Antigua eventually flattened out and we saw farms with grazing cattle and lots and lots of streets like these:


Sometimes the homes we passed had four cinderblock walls, more typically only three. Sometimes the walls weren't made from cinderblock at all but rather tarps. As you near the coast, people favor using palm leaves for thatched roofs as opposed to the corrugated metal roofs you see closer to Antigua and Guatemala City. Children play along the road and women flip tortillas at makeshift grills. As you pass the homes, you can smell the open cooking fires - lit inside the homes, often with poor ventilation.


It was hard to disassociate our adoption of Gabriel from the scenes we passed. I have no idea what Gabriel's life would have been like in Guatemala. Whether he would have had his basic needs met. Whether he would have lived to be an old man. We passed dozens of children playing in the dirt along the roadside and in many of the little boys, I searched for Gabriel. But it was nearly impossible to see him in their faces, in their expressions, in their movements. Because he was sitting between his parents, safe and secure in the knowledge that he was on an adventure to the beach.

Relearning Antigua

We've been in Guatemala for a little more than 24 hours and we're starting to find our sea legs. In fact, we've done so much walking today, our legs are in SERIOUS pain! When I think back over the course of the day, I can't believe Gabriel kept up. He's really an incredible kid. He's tired but, overall, he's been amazing today. We couldn't have asked him to be a better traveler.

We spent the entirety of today bumming around Antigua and refamiliarizing ourselves with all the places we loved visiting while we were fostering Gabriel. The strange part is that we have completely different favorite places because we fostered separately. For those of you who don't know how our fostering experience worked, Kevin and I both flew down and met Gabriel initially. I was able to spend a week helping get Kevin settled in Antigua (and, of course, getting to know Gabriel). Then I flew back to the States to work and Kevin stayed behind with the G-man. His friend Trey came down and kept him company for a while, his mother, father and sister visited, and then my mother and sister relieved him for a month while he flew home to work. At that point, I was able to start using my maternity leave, so I flew down and finished up the last five weeks or so. We even had to move apartments just before Kevin flew home, so we actually had TOTALLY different experiences. The house he stayed in was close to certain restaurants and shops that he got to know well and the apartment Mom and Eve and then I stayed in was across town, so I got to know other spots better. Today, we've been taking turns reliving each other's memories of our stays.

After Kevin went for a jog, we started our day with a beautiful walk


That ended at Parque Central,


which now has Wi-Fi. THAT would have come in handy four and a half years ago!


We had breakfast at Cafe Condessa. Every travel guide tells you it's a must-visit and there's a good reason why. The food's delicious and the atmosphere's great. Cafe Condessa also happens to be the very first place we landed four years ago, after we took the hour-long taxi ride from Guatemala City to Antigua with a two-month-old baby we'd met less than 24 hours before. Mom, recognize the mug?!?


After breakfast, we walked to the market. After I insisted that all his hideous soccer jerseys remain in the U.S. for our trip, I immediately replaced them with two equally hideous Guatemalan soccer jerseys. He was a happy, happy boy. Then I made the mistake of telling him that he could only wear them at the apartment where we're staying (in other words: not in public:-). That resulted in two hours' worth of, "Mom, I'm tired. Can we go back to the apartment now?" Eventually, I reached my breaking point and he's now back to wearing soccer jerseys in public. Let all the Guatemalan mammas judge away, I guess!


Illustration A. Quesadillas went a long way with Gabriel at lunch.


I'd fill you in on the rest of the day but we're exhausted and we've got an early morning tomorrow, so we're all off to bed. I'm going to leave you with the one and only picture of the three of us that we had taken today. It was taken on the rooftop of Cafe Sky, one of Kevin's favorite Antigua memories, which is around the block from the house he and Gabriel stayed in during his visit.


We're off to the black beaches of Monterrico tomorrow. Adios!

We're here!

We arrived in Antigua at dusk. Kevin and I keep telling ourselves that we won't believe we're really back until we can see everything in the daylight. But it's true... we're back.


We had dinner at the very same table my friend Sarah and I sat at four and a half years ago, taking turns entertaining Gabriel so we could get a bite to eat!


Tonight, we spent the dinner hour playing the alphabet game - a VERY competitive game in which one parent acts as referee and scorekeeper and the other one "competes" against Gabriel to try to guess the correct letters that correspond with particular sounds. I swear, he thinks it really is a game and it's gone clear over his head that there's an educational component to it! It's sort of funny because we play the game all the time at home but at Gramma's, we didn't do it once. Our kid is a creature of habit and I think the trip to Antigua made his world feel just a tad tilted. As soon as we sat down to dinner, he demanded the alphabet game... it's like he was BEGGING for a little routine!!!

What does it feel like to see our son in Guatemala? Overwhelming. My stomach was doing flips as our plane touched down in Guatemala City. The last time Gabriel was in the Guatemala City Airport, I was letting out a long slow sigh of relief that he was REALLY coming "home." Today, when we got the front of the immigration line and the woman said a friendly "Hola" to him before stamping his passport, I practically started crying.

We're about to turn in for the night. Kevin and Gabriel are up watching Spanish cartoons. Gabriel's completely intrigued. I'm already feeling HUGE mother guilt that he speaks no Spanish. In the taxi ride from Guatemala City to Antigua, he tried his best to add to the conversation (the driver only spoke Spanish and Kevin and I were practicing our pathetic Spanish, trying to chat with him). Gabriel said loudly, "How about Gracias?" We've only been out and about a couple of hours and we've already gotten a few looks that I think you might describe as something like, "Check out this Guatemalan kid jabbering away in English." So I've already got my New Year's Resolution nailed down... figure out a way to get the G-man listening to (and speaking) more Spanish.

Luckily, the Internet in our apartment is working swimmingly. So I think we'll be able to post more updates throughout the trip. Stay tuned!

We're packed!

We're ready to head out the door. And it worked... We're going 100
percent carry-on!