This is an installment in an ongoing post series detailing a typical day in one of our destinations. Not everything in this schedule might happen on any given day, but it should give you a good idea of our usual activities. 5:00 AM - Thought we won’t see it for another hour, the sun’s first rays crawl … Read more
A Day in the Life: Lago de Atitlán, Guatemala
May 18th, 2013 | Posted by in A Day in the Life | Guatemala | The Places We've Been - (0 Comments)Panajachel and San Pedro la Laguna
May 16th, 2013 | Posted by in Guatemala | The Places We've Been - (3 Comments)Thus far we have managed a grand total of two trips away from our corner of Lago de Atitlán, one to Panajachel and one to San Pedro la Laguna (check out the map for reference – our place is just east of San Marcos la Laguna). That’s not entirely true; it’s actually been three, but … Read more
Lago de Atitlán: An Introduction
May 12th, 2013 | Posted by in Guatemala | The Places We've Been - (7 Comments)“Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes.” – Aldous Huxley Lago de Atitlán, in the Guatemalan highlands, is the deepest lake in Central America, surpassing one thousand feet in places, and is considered by many to be one … Read more
Day of the Proletariat: A Slam Poem
May 11th, 2013 | Posted by in Mexico | The Places We've Been - (0 Comments)May 1st 2013 Rural Chiapas highway Guatemala-bound The cars are all stopped What’s going on? Thirty minutes Walk to the front Road blocked with stones Circle of peasants, organizing What’s going on? Walk back to the car People seem annoyed But not alarmed Is this normal? Peanut vendors emerge Mango vendors too Thirty more minutes … Read more
The Church at Chamula: Unlike Any Other
May 6th, 2013 | Posted by in Mexico | Oh | The Places We've Been - (1 Comments)The smell of firs was subtle, nearly overrun by the fragrant smoke dancing wildly away from large, incense-filled chalices. Windows near the vaulted wood roof shed a faint light on thousands and thousands of tiny flames, each sitting atop a thin candle that had been balanced carefully into a grid with hundreds of other wax … Read more
San Cristobal de las Casas Casa
May 3rd, 2013 | Posted by in Lodging | Mexico | The Places We've Been - (5 Comments)A cabin in a quiet secluded garden with secured parking, a fireplace, a hammock, space for the dogs to roam, and a reliable web connection, all within a fifteen minute walk of the Centro? Sounds good to me! Here are some pictures to do the talking for me…
Everyday Essentials: San Cristobal de las Casas
May 1st, 2013 | Posted by in Everyday Essentials | Mexico | The Places We've Been - (0 Comments)This is a series detailing some of what appear at first to be more mundane details of a place, but will hopefully be illuminating as insights into the grind behind the “glamour.” Groceries Our host has a large, beautiful, organic garden full of colorful blooms and a wide variety of edible greens that she welcomed … Read more
A Day in the Life: San Cristobal De Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
April 29th, 2013 | Posted by in A Day in the Life | Mexico | The Places We've Been - (3 Comments)This is an installment in an ongoing post series detailing a typical day in one of our destinations. Not everything in this schedule might happen on any given day, but it should give you a good idea of our usual activities. 6:15 AM – The very first hints of daylight creep up over the mountains … Read more
The Parking Lot Mafia: Or, Small Business and Entrepreneurship in Mexico
April 26th, 2013 | Posted by in Mexico | Oh | The Places We've Been - (0 Comments)One very notable aspect of day-to-day life in Mexico is the absence of big business. This isn’t to say that big businesses don’t run Mexico just like elsewhere; their banking industry seems fairly consolidated, their entire petroleum industry is state-operated, Coca-Cola could easily be the national beverage of choice, and their Gini coefficient is nearly … Read more