Guatemala ~ Antigua

Greetings! I am behind on my postings...so let my mantra be brief and concise for this one (and next) ~ a challenge because there were so many interesting things...but my real motivator is Cole's birthday party Sat, May 7th (actual birth day May 8th) and I am excited to share that with y'all.

Antigua, Guatemala

We travelled there by double-decker bus (rode up top and in front) on April 7th and came back on April 11th - nice long weekend. Rich had an Upper School Director's conference with other bilingual, independent schools in Central America. Antigua has quite a rich colonial history and architecture, which makes it a real destination for this area of the world. The hotel we stayed at was amazing - Museo y Hotel Casa Santo Domingo was so lovely ~ it is literally built on and around the ruins of a monastery and beautifully restored and preserved. Take a look:
https://www.casasantodomingo.com.gt/en because I didn't get too many pictures of this incredible hotel (with art and archeological museums, ruins, chocolate factory, candle-making and pottery workshops...).

In Antigua, we enjoyed the cobblestone streets and colonial architecture, exploring the various churches and ruins of the town, cool climate, and eating good food. If you were to ask Cole, his favorite part was the warm pool and the friends he made along the way (Leonardo, Sophia, and Isabella). Lastly, we were able to get a taste of the incredible processions and extravaganza that is a part of Antigua during the Semana Santa (holy week) - INCREDIBLE with the alfrombras (rugs) created out of sawdust, petals, flowers, plants, fruits, vegetables... (Cole helped out); the men (dressed in purple robes) and women (dressed in black) carrying large wooden "floats" with the statue of Jesus and then Mary...; the incense that covers the city as these processions go by; and the uniquely distinguishable fragrant flowers from pods that envelope it all.... The streets are closed off while the alfrombas are being made the same day (finished hours or minutes before) the procession walks-over/stomps-on these beautiful alfrombas - that are then cleaned up and it begins again...until Easter Sunday. It was good fortune that we were able to be here during this time. One gringo (or mzungu:KiSwahili) said upon seeing an alfromba with JHS: what does that JHS stand for - Jesuit High School? Hmmm...what could that JHS stand for in a Christian holy week?

Volcanos and Whale Watching

On Wednesday, March 16th we took advantage of the Obama vacation at the school and headed out towards Santa Ana to climb the Ilamatepec (Santa Ana) Volcano - it is the highest volcano (not highest point) in El Salvador at approximately 7800 feet. Near by is Cerro Verde (an older volcano that looks, well, like a green hill as per the Spanish name) and Izalco, which is a barren and steep volcano (you climb straight up and ski down - see middle pic) from more recent lava flows. The first picture is the beautiful and nearby (crater) Lake Coatapeque. Ilamatepec (see last pic above) is somewhere in between in its development (vegetated, not as steep as Izalco); it had a small eruption in 2005 (previous one being in 1904) and was closed off for 3 years - there is a lake in the crater with steam coming up from spots. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=5907

Cole loves nature, science, and rocks, so volcanos fit right in there. He also has a book on volcanos. SO for this 5 year old boy, the chance to actually climb a volcano was pretty cool. These volcanos are part of a national parque and they have guards who accompany groups as there have been robberies in the past and it is good tourism to keep folks safe! Verdad? We got there just in time (a bit before) at 11am when the trips leave (as we got caught up in the First Lady's traffic as she and the girls headed to a nearby archeological site) and ascended the volcano with a group of about 20 or so folks from various places - Germany, U.S., Canada, El Salvador... One couple were there with their two kids - who wanted to go somewhere different than the average American traveler and it sounds like they were having great fun and adventures (and have been around the world). Cole did great hiking up and down with very few breaks; it took us about 1 1/2 hours to get up and of course shorter going down.

On Saturday March 26th a neighbor/colleague organized a group to meet up at Los Cobanos to go whale watching ~ it is the time of the year (Nov-April) when whales come to birth and feed before heading back up North. We met up at 7:30am and headed out in search of whales and came upon a mama and her baby. (My pictures of the whale experience does not capture the moment - but a teacher/RPCV in the other boat will pass along a few good pics that I will add later). Along the way we saw a tortuga floating with a bird on its back and a dolphin that swam along with the boat. Cole also enjoyed being a boat captain (a non-operational part of the boat). And towards the end many of us jumped into the water and floated to cool off - Rich and Cole led the way with the jump in!

SO - this is our El Salvador - there is lots to do and perhaps we are enticing a few of you to visit! Bienvenidos! Here is a website of various ecoexperiences in El Salvador. http://www.ecoexperienciaselsalvador.com/ NEXT we will be exploring the nearby Central American country of Guatemala. April 8-11th Rich has a principal's conference in Antigua where Cole and I will join him. Then we will be off to Lake Atitlan April 16-20th for the first part of our Semana Santa (Holy week) break.

Un mas diente de leche y deportivo

Cole lost another front tooth - "baby teeth" or "diente de leche" (milk tooth) - which I just learned from Haydee. He lost it last Monday - and again, went to the nurse to have it pulled. Cole is also quite the photographer - so he took a picture of his own gaping smile and other things... Enjoy! I think the pictures pretty much say it all :-)

Last Saturday, we participated in the "Family Cup" Trojan Games for the Lower School kids who participate in sports/deportivo. Cole plays soccer or futbol after school two days a week. It was a game of the kids against the parents! (Rich and I both played at different times). And basically it was controlled chaos - and of course the kiddos won! Cole got his hair spray-painted. He still seems to enjoy the social part of it more than the sport, which is just fine/good. The Booster Club of the school does a great job of providing fun family sporting events.

Here are some pictures from another "family sporting event" day for parents and kids of Pre-Kinder that took place in December of last year. There were obstacle course type things, sack race, three-legged race (after picture of Amy and Cole), shoe-pile with race to put it on the quickest (picture of Rich and Cole), etc...

Adios!

President Obama y CARNAVAL

Obama in El Salvador? Por que? Por que no? The U.S. president is coming to El Salvador today together with his family. This will end the Latin American tour traveling first to Brazil and then to Chile. My understanding is that one of the main reasons the stop in El Salvador is to highlight the drug trafficking and violence that occurs in Central America, which is a source of great debate in the ongoing "war on drugs", which it is safe to say is not working. It is the debate of Supply or Demand. Why doesn't the U.S. just stop their illicit drug problem --- end the demand and the profitable business? (more treatment, legalizing illicit drugs, etc...) Or why don't we stop the illicit drugs from coming into the U.S. --- stop the supply? It is a complex problem. But remember, the usage of illicit drugs in El Salvador is very low - even marijuana use is low... We do have a couple of days off from school - today and tomorrow (Tuesday and Wednesday) due to the closure of roads nearby to the school and the havoc that will cause with traffic. The government in El Savador closed down operations in San Salvador for these two days. U.S. Embassy folks have been busy over the last couple of months preparing for the visit...We will only be seeing him in the news (some past presidents have landed in the field of Escuela Americana, but this one I believe has other priorities). http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/ AND as of about noon today - President Obama and family have arrived and went to the Presidential Palace. So far, I have heard of plans to go visit the tomb of a national hero, Archbishop Romero who spoke/fought for "the people", and it is considered a departure for most presidential visits. As well as a visit to a famous archeological site, Joyan de Ceren. Here is one photo I was able to get in "real time":

On another note, a couple of weeks ago was Carnaval! (Fat Tuesday) Celebrated widely in Brazil and the Carribean - my parents were in Cozumel, MX and had a great time watching the parade there. It is not celebrated here in El Salvador, but the Friday following Fat Tuesday, one of Cole's classmates, Rafael, (Guatemalean family) invited him over to celebrate Carnaval Guatemalaen style. For the kiddos they had fun dressing up and running around in their costumes (Cole wore The Incredibles costume), painting eggs, decorating cupcakes, and the most fun was when they cracked hollowed-out, decorated eggs filled with confetti, over each other's heads! Here, there is no boiling of eggs (or plastic eggs) and then decorating them ---- you peck the top off of an egg, empty it out, clean it, fill it with confetti or candy, and then top it off with a piece of tissue-type paper to cover the nickel-sized hold in the top. Here are the pics - you can see the fun they had! The girls in the picture are the older sister of Rafael - Paulina and friends.