Potpourri

Al left his reliable G11 Canon camera in his suitcase in Burnsville, MN, when we went on this trip to Guatemala.  So Al had to rely on his iTouch for photos.  It did pretty well but it was a nuisance to upload the photos to the laptop.  So there is not the usual number of photos available for use. 

This then is a potpourri of images and thoughts that we had during the trip.

Food

These are plantains.  Different from bananas in that they require cooking to become edible.  We went with a team to San Salvador in 2010 and most team members did not like the fried plantains on their plates at restaurants.  We were instructed in Guatemala that one must allow the plantain to ripen at room temperature until the skin is almost totally black.  This process develops the internal sugars and makes them delicious.  An alternative method is to chunk the plantain and boil for a few minutes in hot water flavored with cinnamon and a little sugar.  

From left we have a delicious soup, meatless tamale cooked in a banana leaf and a drink made of rice.  

This is paella, a food of Spain.  Our hostess went to a nearby store with this bowl and came back with this delicious meal of rice, sausage, mollusks, chicken and giant prawns or shrimp.  Really quite remarkable.

TRAFFIC

The roads are congested everywhere in Guatemala City.  Our hosts sometimes were delayed by up to an hour by unexpected traffic as they made their way through the city.  

In additions to cars and trucks, there are buses, pickups and small motorcycles weaving through the traffic.  The motorcyclists are required to wear a vest with the license number of the cycle attached to the back of the vest and helmet in 2 inch high letters.  In the past, assassinations of government officials were carried out by persons on motor cycles who then just disappeared into the traffic.  Now there is some means of identification.

There must be a Bluebird bus manufacturing company in Guatemala or nearby.  Most of these red buses are of that make and are privately owned.  There are some green buses with wi-fi and such amenities that are municipally owned.  However, they are rare indeed.  

Our host has grown up here and drives as all the locals do; weaving from lane to lane searching for the best route.  Approaching a blind intersection, a quick beep lets all know they are coming.  Finally, after seeing such havoc and yet no fender-benders, we came to think of it as a dance.  Each knew his or her role and they have worked it out

A new re-visitation of colonial Guatemala. 

We visited this area which is brand new and combines architecture of the colonial era with condominiums and up-scale shops to create an experience of what the old streets might have looked like.  

 

A sample of the new neighborhood.

A cathedral anchors one end of the project.

People

This Mayan woman vendor allowed us to photograph her in the central plaza.  We gave her a tip for the privilege.  They are short people and Sue, also vertically challenged, found many her size.

Nery and Al at a 3D map of Guatemala.  The mountain are more "spiky" than their normal look as a result of the scale used in the map.

A view of a mountain with levels of 3000 meters [9800 feet] plus a bit more above sea level.

This monument honors a colonial engineer doing survey work to lay out cities.

My visit to Guatemala as a sailor in the US Navy.  We were invited to the retreat center created by the United Fruit Company, a major exporter of bananas to the the US at that time.  I saw the name "Banadera" on the train station from Puerto Barrios where the ship was tied up.  It turns out that that was the local name for the United Fruit Company. [Sorry about the misspelling of Guatemala captioning the photo.]

All in all, a great trip and we may make it back there sometime.