Tag Archives: guatemala
March 3, 2008

Building Pics in Guatemala

Courtesy of Melanie Rubin:

March 2, 2008

Pacaya / Diego’s Wedding


Today, we are heading back home to D.C. All in all, I’m looking forward to getting home. I will be facing a tough job market but I’m ready. This morning, Colleen and I had a 1 hour massage session together, which was very relaxing.

Yesterday, we mountain biked all over the city for 4 hours. I bought 2 shirts and 2 Mayan masks. Colleen bought a beautiful jade pendant. Later, we went to Manny’s (my pledge brother from Sigma Chi at Purdue) friend Diego’s wedding. It was very similar to what a US wedding would look like with language being the only major differentiating factor. However, it was held in a beautiful setting, in an outside coutyard with well manicured lawns and fountains. A band played virtually the entire time except during lunch and guests from all age groups danced the day away.

The day before yesterday, Colleen and I climbed Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano closer to Guatemala City. The climb lasted about 2 hours, maybe slightly longer for us because Colleen had trouble climbing the the mounds of solidified lava at the top which was very brittle and unstable and had dangerous jagged edges. However, getting within meters of flowing lava and roasting a marshmallow on glowing magma was very cool. I nearly burned my eyebrows off doing it though! That night we had a fantastic dinner at Cafe Flor. We were seated at an intimate candle-lit table for two by the window and enjoyed some first class Thai food while listening to the piano being played 3 tables away. We were the last people to leave the restaurant that night and had a couple of songs played just for us. The piano player/singer then came to our table and we chatted for a bit while I paid the bill. Just a perfect dinner!