National Lampoon’s Guatemalan Vacation

The following is a guest entry by my kick-ass friend who used two weeks of her vacation to visit me. I'm sorry we didn't get lost anywhere this time.

By Carolyn Smalkowski, PCV Nicaragua

Guatemala has enough things going for it that my visit there almost made me feel like I was visiting home. Between the heavy tourism and plethora of American comfort food, I was finally able to have what I felt was a real vacation from my Peace Corps service in Nicaragua. But I wasn’t just there to see the beautiful mountains and freeze my ass off (yes, contrary to popular belief, Guatemala is COLD), I was there to spend time with my wonderful and close friend, Barbara Veres.

Upon arriving in Comitancillo, San Marcos, after a windy and very uncomfortable eight-hour bus ride from Antigua, I felt like I was entering into a fairy tale. The clouds enveloped the bus as we scaled the mountain filled with a serene forest of pine trees. Entering into Barb’s primarily indigenous community up on a hillside reminded me of what I always thought typical Peace Corps service would be like before I came to Nicaragua. A toilet, hot water, and wireless internet, on the other hand, were not. ;) [Editor’s note: the toilet only flushes when there is water, there is only hot water when there is electricity, and the wireless internet… well, it’s totally affordable on my PC stipend, so why deny myself something that is within my means? You’re just jealous, Carolyn ;-) ].

I appreciated having the opportunity to meet Barb’s famous counterpart, Isa, as well as many of her other well-liked, and not-so-well-liked, coworkers. We sat with the artisans of one community as each of them, with their quiet babies strapped to their backs, crocheted yamacas, 250 of which Barbara would later schlep half-way across the country. I learned about the different types of weaving techniques and all of the hard work that goes into each and every product. It was an experience that later persuaded me into buying two bags, two scarves, and a bed cover from her group and in the towns along Lake Atitlan (or maybe the fact that I was “on vacation” had a little to do with my happy-go-lucky spending).

Overall, the experience of being in Barbara’s town gave me a better sense of her day-to-day life and the stresses and successes of her work in Guatemala. Much of it is relatable as I also live and work in Latin America, but the additional challenges of language barriers and a generally conservative indigenous culture make adjusting and integrating into her community that much harder.

After visiting Comitancillo, the real Guatemalan vacation, for the both of us, finally began. We spent days in Antigua and Xela gorging ourselves on typical Guatemalan cuisine such as bagels, falafel, curry, and an all-expenses-paid candlelit dinner (with wine) financed by Mr. Ron Veres for Barbara’s 25^th birthday (thanks, Barb’s dad!). The locally-grown coffee, too, was excellent, and we treated ourselves to some Guatemalan music at a cute gringo café [Editor’s note: El Cuartito in Xela, also with live Guatemalan music- not too shabby if you just want to kick it for the night]. Yeah…ex-pats have it real hard.

The highlight of our trip, though, was by far Semuc Champey. Translated as, “the river that hides under the Earth”, this hidden gem, which took two full days of roundtrip travel, was more beautiful than we had imagined. Barb and I started off our day (after a not so great sleep at a slightly more rustic hostel than we had expected) on a cave tour, illuminated only by the candles with which we held on for dear life in the palms of our hands as we swam through the murky depths. At one point on the tour, we got what we thought would be an exhilarating opportunity to climb up a tall rock and jump down. After all, Carlos, our guide, had been working there for months and had never had any accidents, so what was the danger in that? Well, Carlos had apparently never met Barbara. Being the accident-prone person that she is, [Editor’s note: fair enough, that’s totally true] Barb slipped off the rock, pulling a ligament in her index finger and falling on top of me [Editor’s note: I had nowhere else to fall- she was right behind me!], leaving a hideous (but pretty bad-ass) bruise on my shin. Looking back now, it was actually pretty damn funny.

The rest of the day Barb and I spent taking pictures of every twig and bush from all possible angles. We swam in the turquoise, crystal-clear ponds, and hiked up the mountain to get a sweet view of the waterfall and ponds below, fully prepared and decked out in our official hiking gear of flip flops with string tied around the ankles (left over from the caves…maybe that’s why we’re so accident prone?). Although light-years away, Semuc Champey was well worth the trip.

Overall, what can I say? Guatemala’s a pretty freakin’ cool place, and Barbara, as always, was a wonderful guide. If you haven’t yet gotten the chance to visit her, go (and stop by Nicaragua while you’re at it)! I’m looking forward to future travels around Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, and other off-the-beaten-path locals with the now crunchier-than-you’ve-ever-seen Posh Corps Volunteer, Barbara Veres.