Hasta la próxima, Antigua!

 

 

 

 Until next time, Antigua....

Antigua - January 2011

Resting on the terrace at Casa Luna

The Famous Arch--always a classic!

Sunset

 Fountain meets Christmas!

Licuado de banano con yogur (Banana smoothie made with yogurt)

 

Huevos guatemaltecos (scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions, served with a side of black beans, toast, and fresh fruit)

 

 Lunch/Dinner at Café Condesa--always a good plan!

Beautiful, sunny day in front of Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Merced (aka "La Merced")

 

 

Back at my old room at Casa Luna, a hostel I would highly recommend to anyone needing a place to stay in Antigua.

 
I am back in Guatemala for a week and a half to volunteer for Wuqu' Kawoq, a non-profit organization that is "committed to facilitating excellence and linguistic competence in medical care delivery in the indigenous highlands of Guatemala" (Mission Statement). To learn more about what we do, please visit: http://www.wuqukawoq.org

Specifically, I will be training to be a medical interpreter/translator in Kaqchikel, one of the 22 Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala. We will be conducting clinics in various towns across the country in the next week or so. It is going to be a very busy and rewarding time, so I took advantage of the down time just before everything gets started to spend a few nights in Antigua.

Namely, I have an obsession with books, so I came to peruse the book stores in town to see what I could find! These are some of the pictures I took along the way....

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Early this week it snowed in Lawrence (along with the greater portion of the rest of the country). With the actual temperatures below freezing, it was safest to follow the cats' example: stay inside, where it is warm and dry, and check it all out through the window. All in all, there were 10 inches total at our house!

Topeka Zoo - January 8, 2011

Flamingos

Parrot

Macaw

Sleeping Bat

Tropical Rainforest Area with Lots of Birds

Poison Dart Frogs

Lizard

Tortoises

Orangutan

We both took our turn at kissing the monkeys!

Tiger

Porcupine

Giraffes

Hippopotamuses

Goat

Ducks

Bald Eagle

Grizzly Bear

Snow Fox

Mountain Lion

As part of a musical project Brian has been working on, we spent last Saturday at the Topeka Zoo. Located in Gage Park, it features a number of different species, far more than I was expecting from a regional zoo. Suffice it to say, we were surprised to come across so many lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! Not to mention, the birds in the Tropical Rainforest area, one of which took a liking to my sweater and started pecking at its balls.

North Carolina - January 2011

Spending the New Year with family, both human and furry....

North Carolina - White Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 - Lawrence, KS

 

 

 

 

This year, we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Lawrence, KS with our two kitty gatos, Smokey and Sadie (the Goat). While we missed seeing the family, it was fun to watch the cats go crazy with the tree and excessive amounts of cat nip!