El Convento de Santa Catalina

My first stop in Peru was the city of Arequipa. It is not necessarily as well known as some of the other destinations in Peru, but it had beautiful architecture and the best prices on souvenirs in the country. The coolest place in the city was the Santa Catalina convent. It operated completely cut off from the city for hundreds of years and was opened to the public only in the last few decades. It was a really amazing place to wander through for an afternoon.
All of the corridors were lined with red geraniums. This might be odd, but it reminded me of Trigun.
It was full of secret corners ready to be explored.
And of course, there was a pen for the haute cuisine of Peru, the guinea pig. I didn't eat one while I was there; they were too expensive. I had to content myself with alpaca steaks, which are wonderful.

A moment for Coban

Cobán, the city I called home for five months, has been in my thoughts a lot recently.
It is really a wonderful part of the country: an area with lots of biological diversity and the greatest proportion of people that speak native Mayan languages.
This small, out of the way city has recently found itself in national and international headlines because it was declared by the Guatemalan government to be in a state of siege. They are extending police powers and monitoring in an attempt to reclaim the city from the Mexican drug gang the Zetas, who are infamous for their violence.

While the Zetas were certainly present in Cobán during the months I was living there, it is clear that they have stepped up their activity since I left. Cobán is a city close to my heart, and I still have friends and former coworkers living there now. I'm very much hoping that these measures work and Cobán is able to achieve safety and security once more.

Underground in the Salt Cathedral

Before I left Columbia, I traveled with my 'sister' to the capital, Bogota. With the one full day we had there, we took a bus to a small city just outside the urban sprawl. In this city is an old and unique salt mine. The salt has already been extracted from the upper levels, and so these areas have been converted into a very interesting cathedral. All of the walls, decorations, sculptures and sacred items have been carved out of the remaining salt-laden walls. All of this is done on a scale large enough that you barely feel like you are underground, except for the lighting, of course.
Suffice to say it was a really cool place. We got to see an amazing sacred area AND learn about salt mining. I even have a nice chunk I was able to bring home! It was also a really neat place for a chemistry major to hang out as there were lots of wonderfully cool crystallized formations, like this continuously growing wall of salt I am standing by below. You could also see veins of metallic oxides making cool patterns all through the chambers. I think my Columbian sister was amused by my geekiness.

A Family Holiday in Columbia

The title of this post is not to insinuate that my family was with me in Columbia, but rather that I was visiting my 'second family', los Herrera. Their daughter lived with our family for a year during my senior year of high school. It was wonderful to be able to visit with them 5 years on and have a chance to switch roles a bit. They had a list of all the Columbian foods, locations, and traditions that they wanted me to experience. We tackled those we could handle in the week that I was there, but hopefully I'll have a chance to get back and spend some more time with them.
My Columbian sister and me overlooking the 'Valle' region.
Ripening cherries at the coffee themepark, which my hosts agreed was like "Disney on caffeine"
Hot-springs Columbian style. There are actually two waterfalls, one cold and one naturally hot. They create a temperature gradient within the pool, so you can always find the perfect temperature!
The delightful residents of the local park. These two seemed perfectly content to share their tree.

Stopover in Panama

So my first destination after leaving Guatemala was Panama, mostly for reasons of airfare. But like many places I went simply because they had the cheapest airfare for my intended route (Poland, the first time to Guatemala), Panama was a good decision. It did, however, make me feel insecure about my Spanish as I struggled to understand the stream of words that poured out of my taxi driver's mouth once he learned I knew the language.

Panama City was great to walk around during the day. I also got what were probably some of my most interesting souvenirs here. What was strange was paying for these souvenirs with US dollars, the official currency, after having carried none for the past 4 months. You can use US dollars nearly anywhere in Latin America, but only a few countries have decided to take the next step and adopt it as their own. Panamanians also use US coins as well as issue their own.

Being in Panama City was also a chance to see the iconic Panama Canal. I was lucky enough to show up when a series of large container ships were passing through.
The scale is massive: in the photo below you can see a few workers crossing the closed gate. The water level changed something like 40 feet in this one stage of the locks.

I'm back! We'll see how long it lasts

So it has been over a year since I posted on this blog. Ooops. Although I am no longer in Guatemala and back in my native Minnesota, I would still like to share some of the amazing things I saw in Latin America. This first post back is a sampling of Tikal, the famous Mayan site in northern Guatemala. Tikal was an amazing place full of mystical stone temples and friendly critters. My one experience in splurging for a tour guide, which was totally worth it, and necessary due to the jungle surrounding all of the structures. I trust my navigational skills, but that doesn't mean I have to be foolhardy.


A view from Temple IV, where some scenes from Star Wars were shot

A very curious coatimundi, who had just licked up somebody's spilled water on the bench.

A spider monkey uses his tail to hang as he picks fruits out of the trees.

Me in front of the famous 'Jaguar Temple'