Shucos & Mj

If hot dogs are American than shucos is what Guatemala has to offer....and if the two were to battle I might have to say that shucos would win. Yesterday I tried my first shuco in Guatemala City. You just drive to the city block full of shucos in Zone 4 and these dudes race to be the first one to your car to offer you their shuco. The shuco can be with hot dog meat, or sausage and then it comes with guacamole, mayo, sour crout and a bun, all for about Q5 (roughly 50 cents).

While you are waiting for the shucos to arrive locals vendors will approach the car and try to sell you just about anything. We were lucky enough to score a full Micheal Jackson dvd of videos and performances, along with a giant size Kung Fu Panda sticker...as if the shucos weren't enough.

Lake Atilan in all it's Glory

Lake Atilan, located west of Guatemala City, is a surrounded by Mountains, Volcanoes and little towns. Our journey started out in San Pedro La Laguna...far left in the map below. San Pedro is one of the larger cities around the lake and is well set up for tourists with cafés spanish language schools and bars. On our first day there we rented kayaks and took them across the bay to San Marcos .

San Marcos has a great cliff jumping/ swim spot where we spent some time before checking out the town. The town of San Marcos mainly consists of a shore area with lots of pathways dividing lodging and restaurants from massage and language schools. After a stroll in San Marcos we paid the dudes watching out kayaks and headed back across the lake...only by afternoon time the

wind picks up a bit. After battling the waves and currents for about 45 min we finally paddled our way into Sam Pedro.

The next adventure was hiking El Nariz de Indio (Nose of the Indian). We got an early start on the day and headed up the shoreline mountain for a great view. The hike took us about two hours to summit and strangely there was music being broadcast very loudly for most of the walk up. The view from the top was incredible and well worth the cardio struggles.

Guatemala is currently in their rainy season, which means you can plan on a bit of a downpour everyday between 1pm and 3pm. This particular day the rainstorm was very powerful and we lost power, which didn't seem to bother anyone in San Pedro. We had some beer and tacos at a dark, Mexican place and then called it a night. The next day there was still no sign of power...or water, so after a refreshing, shower-like dip in the lake we packed up and took a water taxi to Panajachel on the opposite side of the lake.

Strolling through town isn't as enjoyable with huge packs to tote around so we found a good place to camp out called The Deli, where we plugged everything in, used their bathroom and left our packs all day- really wonderfully kind people working there, as well as delicious food. The heavy afternoon rain should not have been a surprise but it was, as we were planning to take another water taxi that afternoon. Somehow we managed to get a water taxi with the not to fabulous weather and we arrived at our friends house just near Cerro de Oro, small mountain on that map.

Arriving at a house was a great feeling, yet we still seemed to be lacking power and hot water. We hauled in all of our food and luggage and settled in for some quality card games. The rainy days were followed by two full days of sunshine, swimming, cooking, and more games.

After spending a week at Lake Atilan I am quite sure that it would not be a bad place to spend a year.

Earth Lodge Guatemala

I recently had the chance to explore Earth Lodge, Guatemala; a collection of cabins and treehouses just outside Antigua, and I only wish I had stayed longer. To arrive at the Earth Lodge one must walk down a steep dirt trail of about 30m. The mini-trek wasn't challenging, but it definitely deters guests from excessive, or rolling luggage. The whole lodge site was very quite, especially because the owners told us they we at full capacity of 20 guests that night. After checking out the main dinning/ drinking area and view of city lights below, we headed to our cabin. The cabin was a small A-frame tree house that looked directly out, over the spectacular view, well equipt with clean sheets and tons of blankets.

The next day we headed out on a little hike around the area, with a map of landmarks provided by Earth Lodge. We hiked about an hour through jungle and coffee farms, although somewhere between the flower garden and the log crossing we lost orientation and ended up retracing our steps back. The hike wasn't overly difficult but just perfect to break a sweat and take in the views of Antigua below.

Overall, the Earth Lodge gets five starts in my book, it would be the perfect place to spend a week with a companion and a great book.

Emma's Wine Club

So if I had a wine club, these would be my three recommendations of the month.

1. Cayao; Chilean mix of strong read wines, a bit pricey, but delicious
2. Altos Las Hormigas, Malbec; A yummy Argentinian Malbec
3. Cortijo III; A great value, smooth and light, red wine

Quick & Easy; Get Your Quiche On

You'll Need;

• 1 Pie Crust
• 2 eggs
• 1 can of Cream of... soup (mushroom, celery, etc...)
• cheese of choice
• veggies/ insides of choice 

Good Options

- Rice-Broccoli-Onion-Tomatoes-Mozzarella-

- Cooked ground turkey- Sun dried tomatoes- Spinach- Feta

- Or any combo of veggies, meat and cheese of your liking

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Get insides of choice ready. AKA, cook meat and veggies
3. Mix together can of cream soup  and eggs in a bowl
4. Put insides (minus cheese) into the pie crust and then pour in soup/egg mix
5. Top the pie with cheese of choice 
6. Bake for 1 hour

YUM enjoy!

Rodrigo Rosenberg Scandal

I can not comment on the prestige of Guatemala's elected government before Rodrigo Rosenberg's videos were released, but now President Colom and his crew have themselves in quite a pickle.

About a week ago, after his murder and funeral, Rodrigo Rosenberg's self-recorded videos were released. These videos very directly explain that the victim was murdered on behalf of President Colom, his wife and a few other important officials. Rodrigo reveals the dirty business of money laundering that the government is participating in and also that his knowledge of this is directly why he has been murdered. The video's can be found here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxZptUp9a44

The video is not vague at all, as Rodrigo reveals facts, names and dates. Guatemala is NOT ignoring his message. A few smaller protests last week led up to last Sunday's protest of 30,000. The groups were distinguished by those wearing white shirts, against the Colom regime and a group in support of the current government. The two groups were separate and non-violent. 

The group in support of the government was mainly comprised of lower income level citizens. It is more than speculative that these supporters are being bused into the city, provided signs and incentives, by the government itself . The government appears to be using the easily won support of the poor and dividing the country further by class. 

Guatemala outside of the capital continues daily life with an increased awareness of news, hope that something will take place and the ppropriate persons will be held accountable.

Antigua, Guatemala