San Pedro

This week-end we went across the lake for a night in San Pedro. Like all towns around here it is very hilly.  We spent the afternoon walking the streets and taking in the sights. There were many Canadians there, mostly young people.

They have a beautiful Catholic church.

catholic church

You could take stairs to the top and have a spectacular view of the lake, but there was a service in progress so we only went part way up.  Contrast this with the photo of the Mayan home below.

Yes, from behind this tin we could hear a family.  For the most part the indigenous people of this area are fairly poor.  This home was one of the worst.  However, most live in substandard and crowded conditions.

The people work very hard.  I was at a boat dock and noticed about ten one hundred pound  bags of cement on the dock.  Three small women came and each loaded a hundred pound bag on her back. They wear a forehead band with cords to hold the weight.  They bend forward and off they go.  They had to carry these bags up a steep hill! One bag would do me in!

A 24 year old woman came into the clinic the other day and wanted a pregnancy test.  She had a ten month old baby on her back and was hoping she was not pregnant again as she already has six children!  The test was positive.

Life is difficult for many in this region.

We've Moved

We have moved to the country.  We are in a small house about a 20 min. walk from Pana.  The rent is the same as our hotel room was, but we have a kitchen and it is so quiet here.
The view of the lake is spectacular!

Our View

Our House

The sign at the top is in the free clinic where I work 5 mornings a week.  It is about a 40 min. walk from home.  It is downhill most of the way to town but, of course, uphill most of the way home!

Internet service is not great here.

American Thanksgiving

On Thursday a group of us went to a village along the lake.  At Santa Cruz we were at a restaurant/hotel that sold tickets for a Thanksgiving dinner and it was delicious. The meal cost about $15 and the room cost $13.  We had to take a boat both there and back.

It has been very windy lately and the lake was pretty choppy.  A cold front has moved in and temps are lower than usual but still pleasant. Here if it falls below 20C we feel chilly.

I see it is cold in Alberta and am thankful I am able to escape that bitter cold. Keep warm and safe.

Incident

Yesterday afternoon while we were visiting friends in the country there was an incident in Pana. We received various reports by phone and today it was in the paper.  Apparently two men in a half ton kidnapped two children. They then sped through the street by the market and hit seven people.  The locals apprehended the men, over turned their truck and lit it on fire.  The police arrived in full gear and got the two men.  The locals pelted the police.  Our landlord said that the locals know these men will be out of jail quickly and do it again, so they prefer to handle these things on their own.  Anyway, the police used tear gas to quell the mobs.

By the time we arrived home it was over with.  In case it was on the news there know that I am fine.  It is very rare for this to happen here.

Free Clinic

Today I began work at the free clinic doing data entry while the doctor examines the patient. The doctor is very patient with me.  It was an interesting morning. Few of the patients are literate and many do not understand instruction for taking meds.  Many children die from pneumonia. The Dr. gives out a lot of donated vitamins and antibiotics.

Panajachel is a beautiful area.

You can see from the photo how lush it is here.  I like the people of Pana.  They always make eye contact when they greet you and return your smile.

The streets get busy at times and one must be careful when crossing the road.  There are a lot of tuc-tucs and motor bikes. The sidewalks change every couple of steps so you need to watch your feet when you walk.  Last year I cut my toe on a sign so this year I am a lot more careful.

I am almost out of Hot Wheels.  I wish I had more.  The children are so excited to get one.

We are invited to a gathering later today so our afternoon will be full.

Flowers

We have been very busy.  The ex-pats take turns having gatherings where there is good food and good visiting.  The only down side is that the bugs love me.  Today I bought B complex as several people suggested that would help.  It is worth a try.  It is strange that Pete has no bites at all and I have LOTS!

Isn't this a strange looking flower?  It looks plastic but it is real.

Not much room for vehicles down our lane!

Weaving and Walking

This week two of my amigas and I walked to Santa Katerina, which is about 5 km from here and a very hilly walk.  We asked this weaver if we could take her photo and she agreed. This area is known for its weaving.

They do very intricate designs and don't seem to use a printed pattern.

Yesterday these same women and I took a chicken bus to Solola to shop.  These are old school buses painted various colors and are not all that safe to travel on, but it was only a 15 min. drive.

This young fella we saw as we walked down our lane.

Market

This week we went to the big market where they sell produce and many other things. I am invited to a baby shower this afternoon so I needed to buy a gift for the baby.  My landlady invited me.  They are Guatemalans so it will be interesting.

Last evening we went to an ex-pat gathering.  The food was delicious, the company was great and there was live music and dancing.  There were also fireworks.

Market

Gathering

Painted Lines

I had a request from my friend in Waxahachie Texas to see a picture of my friend Pete. Pete is from Florida, but we met in Pana last winter. I am sending his photo so that if you see his picture on a wanted poster you can let me know.

Yesterday I saw a man painting a yellow line on the road.  He was using a paint brush!  Ouch....a recipe for a sore back.  Today I came across two men breaking up a piece of road.  They were using a sledge hammer and a shovel.  People work hard here....both the men and the women.

I can't complain about the weather here.  Every day is perfect.

Boys and Hot Wheels

I have been giving little cars to the shoe shine boys.  The older boys are full of smiles and some of the younger boys just look confused.  Why is this strange lady giving me a car? I take their photo so I can remember them.

The internet is poor here so until it improves my posts will be short.

Another beautiful day in Pana.

Here Again

Here I am again in beautiful Panajachel. As many of you know I have a travelling companion this winter,....Pete.  we met in Guatemala City and took a cab to Pana.  Pete suggested  a short cut.  We were re-routed in one town because of a celebration and drove around lost for a bit.  We found the hwy. to Pana and came to a spot with no bridge and drove across the river bed.  Fortunately there was little water.  We passed some cyclists who were waving at us.  We thought they were just being friendly but we discovered they were warning us that there had been a mudslide and the hwy. was blocked.  Of course there were no signs warning us of that.  We just turned around and found another way.

Pana is small.  We met friends from last year and the children had grown as they tend to do.  I had breakfast with friends this morning and we are invited to Château Tony on Saturday  to meet other ex-pats.  The owner is from Ontario but has been here for over 30 yrs.

The weather is hot and gorgeous.

River bed

Mudslide

Lake Atitlan

For those of you who are wondering......

Yes, I did make it home safely.  As I have said before, I hate the flying part.  I left Dublin at 2 p.m. on Tuesday the 22nd of April and headed for Toronto, Ontario.  I had a 6 hour wait in Toronto and then boarded for Calgary, Alberta.  It was 1 a.m. Tuesday, April 22nd that I landed in Calgary.  No wonder it takes a couple of days to feel grounded! 

I took a day to rest and then on to Red Deer to visit kids and grand-kids.  It was great to see my family again.  I am still fighting that flu or something I caught on the plane.  I could hardly swallow for a couple of days, but I seem to be on the mend.  They were predicting snow for today, but it turned out to be a beautiful, warm, sunny day. 

It seems like a long time ago that I was in Panajachel.   I loved Panajachel.  I loved the weather, the Mayan people and the ease of friendships. I will go back.  Sicily was a totally different experience.  The difficult thing in Sicily was my lack of ability to speak Italian.  In Guatemala I could use what Spanish I have and I could usually understand and be understood.  In Sicily I was totally lost.  Three months is a long time to be in a country where you cannot converse.  Fortunately, my sister was there to visit with and to translate. Unfortunately, she grew weary of translating and often I missed the whole conversation.  Sicily is a beautiful country with a rich history.  I became quite attached to my sister's family.....they are a special bunch of people.  It was sad to leave.  Ireland was green and lovely.  The Irish are warm people who seem happy to lend a hand and give directions.   It was good be in an English speaking country again.

I was in for a shock when I returned as far as prices go.  Gasoline has gone up at least 10 cents/litre and I paid $1.28 a litre yesterday.  Ouch!  Food has gone up tremendously.  For 461 grams or 16 oz. of spinach I paid $3.27.  For the chicken drumsticks I paid $5 for last summer, I paid $7 for yesterday.  Almost every item I bought was more expensive than last year.

People often ask me how I can afford to travel.  It is cheaper to fly to a warm country for the winter than it is to stay here.  My friend told me that being a cold winter this year, his light and heating bill one month was $500.  I could live in Pana for $300/month if I was really careful.  I limited myself to an average of $500/month.  That is less than one month's utilities in Alberta.  And there was the intangible of being warm.  Will I go away again this winter?  Of course! 

But it is good to be home.  Thank you all for following my blog.  I have had over 12,000 people read my blog.....from Japan, Malaysia, India, Poland, Ireland, Germany, Macau, etc.  I hope you all found it enjoyable. 

Until next time..........

Guinness Storehouse

Today I toured the Guinness Storehouse.  The place was packed.  The buildings themselves take up a couple of blocks.  There is a museum plus restaurants and gift shops. Your  entrance fee included a free pint of Guinness ale.  I had the "small pint" and gave the other away to a young man.  A nice man took my photo in the Guinness Poster. My colours were perfect!

On the top floor there was a bar surrounded with glass so I took a photo.  If you look carefully in approximately the centre of the photo you will see a tall needle.  They call in the Spire.  That is where I walked from.  It didn't seem that far when I was walking.  You see so much when you walk. Yesterday my seat mate on the  tour bus was a woman from Arizona. She cabs and buses everywhere. She hadn't seen half the things I had.

Today I passed several churches I hadn't come across before.  It is
always difficult to get the whole building in the photo.  This church
was a city block deep.

There are so many attractive store fronts.

Isaac's Hostel

This is the hostel I stayed at.  It had everything one needed including a nice fully equipped kitchen and a quiet room where one could plug in their computer or read.  I was in a room on the 3rd floor.

It will be sad to say goodbye to beautiful Ireland.  Tonight I may take in the Celtic Dance down the street as a farewell to The Emerald Isle.

Tomorrow I fly to Toronto and then on to Calgary where my daughter will pick me up.

Cliffs of Moher

Yesterday I did a bus tour.  We left Dublin at 7 am and arrived back at 9:30 pm so it was a long day. My phone was out of power so did not get as many photos as I would have liked.

Our first stop was Galway where we did a walking tour.  Galway was a beautiful town with a rich history.  There were quaint little shops and buskers on every corner.  We visited the little stone church that Jane Eyre attended.  Yes, there was a real Jane Eyre who was well known for her acts of kindness and there is a plaque dedicated to her on the interior church wall.  There was a statue of D.H. Lawrence in the shopping area.  I would have enjoyed a stay of a couple of days in Galway, but there isn't time.

Church  of Jane Eyre

D.H. Lawrence 

We continued on to Doolin for lunch at O'Connells.  This restaurant had many rooms and was packed when we arrived.  Several busloads of tourists had stopped for lunch.  You were to find a table, then go to the counter to order and give the counter girl your table number.  Since I was alone I sat at the bar and ordered the salmon dish.  It was brought to me piping hot in about 5 min. and was the best prepared salmon I have ever had in my life!

We continued on our journey passing several castles.  Our tour guide was great and pointed out various sights and explained the history of each.  Ireland is rightly called The Emerald Isle as all is green.  We passed the largest limestone hills in Europe.  On these hills were miles of stone fences that served no purpose.  During the infamous potato famine the government supplied food to those who worked.  Since there were no jobs to be had the gov't had people build useless fences to earn their rations as they did not believe in giving something for nothing.

We passed through villages with thatched roof cottages and stone enclosed fields of sheep or cows.  We drove up the coast line to the Cliffs of Moher and were given 2 hours to hike the trails and take photos.  It was a gorgeous sunny day.  The cliffs are a sight to behold.

Castle at the Cliffs

As you can see I took photos of the castle from different directions.  I bet it was cold in that castle when the winds were blowing!

I was fortunate to be able to get a few photos as my phone was powered way down.  For some reason it has begun to act strangely.  I had plugged in before retiring for the night and it was fully charged when I went to bed.  By morning I only had 50% left and only 23% left when I arrived at the tour bus stop.  No apps were running and I have lots of memory so I figure it must be a battery problem. It is a good thing I will be home soon and can have it checked out.

It is very busy with tourists as this is the Easter break so there are many youth visiting here from Spain, France and Germany.  The hostel is full and the main area gets quite loud in the evenings but my room is quiet at night.  There are 14 beds in my room and I am one of the first abed, but I never hear the others come in.  There is a quiet lounge in the basement for those who want to read or blog or whatever.  This is my first hostel experience and so far it has been very pleasant.

Dublin

What a beautiful time of year to be in Dublin.  The grass is green, the cherry trees are in blossom, and tulips are everywhere. Today I walked for 4 hours and now I am tired. Dubliners are very helpful and have offered help a couple of times while I was looking at my map.  There are signs every few blocks that point the way to attractions.

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  Molly Malone

Here is Molly Malone wheeling her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow .

James Joyce

James Joyce was looking especially dapper today. Ireland is very proud of her writers.

















I came to a Memorial Park that had tile pictures in the pool.

Designs in Pool

I reversed direction and walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral. It is massive!  I would encourage you to Google it and go to images.  Mass was about to begin so I sat on one of the very small chairs for parishioners .  It was very uncomfortable.... obviously made for smaller people.

St. Patrick's Cathedral 

Interior

I walked from there to both St. Stephens Green and Merrion Square. It was a beautiful day for strolling through the parks.

There were beds of tulips and various other flowers.  The cherry trees were in full bloom.

Tomorrow I am going on a bus tour.  "After leaving Dublin we will arrive in Galway and begin your trip to the Cliffs of Moher via Dun Guaire Castle and Kinvara, then on to Ballyvaughan and the 2000 year old magical Fairy Fort of Bally Alban.  Next we'll visit Poulnabrone Dolmen, one of the most ancient religious sites in Ireland at 5800 years old, before stopping at Kilfenora for an exclusive visit of the Celtic High Crosses".  We will lunch in the fishing village of Doolin and return via the Coast Road with spectacular views of Calway Bay and the Aran Islands.

Now doesn't that make you jealous?

IRELAND

My sister and I both had the flu the day of my departure from Catania.  It was only a 3 hr. plane ride, but I slept most of the way.  Thankfully no one shared my row of seats.  I awoke with a fever and was glad to reach Isaac's  Hostel at about 1 am.  As I look around the lobby it is obvious that I am the oldest patron here.

I feel much better today and being that I am in the City Centre I went for a long walk.

First stop was Trinity College.

Trinity College 

There were many old buildings on the property.

Geology Building 

I took this photo inside the geology building.  Trinity was build in 1532.  It is absolutely breathtaking!

Next stop was Christchurch Cathedral.  It is so BIG!

Christchurch Cathedral 

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Most places I went to today had a fee to enter.  To see the library at Trinity was 10€ which is $15 so I didn't go in.  The church also had an entrance fee.

City Hall was free so I did go in there.

City Hall

It was beautiful building.

City Hall

Dublin is a very picturesque city.  All signs are in Gaelic and English and the steering wheels are on the right side of vehicles. That changes the whole flow of traffic.  At some intersections there is printing on the pavement that says, "Look Left" or "Look Right".  That is helpful as traffic seems to come from odd directions.  I was going to rent a bicycle, but was afraid I would get hit, so walked instead.

The weather is a bit cool, around 12C.  It is like AB in that I saw people in shorts and without jackets.

Dublin Castle

Pea Pickin'

Olive tree

Yesterday we went to pick peas.  The farmer took what he wanted and then allowed others to pick what they wanted.  Yes, the pea season is over here. It will now be too hot to grow some vegetables.

Here is Tony and Roma filling their pails.  The yellow flowers are Margaritas. After picking I walked down the road to take photos.

The yellow flowers you see below are on a Mimosa tree.

Mimosa

There is a variety of Mimosa.  There is one kind that has the same flower as this one but a broader leaf.  When you touch the leaf the leaf folds.  The water in the leaf moves from one side of the leaf to the other.  Engineers are studying this phenomena as they think this concept may be used to enable man to fly like a bird flapping its wings.

I love the Bird of Paradise.  I had one in my house at one time and it did bloom. This particular one was just covered in blossoms.  It is so lush here.

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We are surrounded by olive trees.  The tree in the photo is old and gnarly.

My blog today has a mind of its own and photos are positioning themselves wherever they want! Some days my tablet is cursed.