December

For the first two weeks of December, an anthropology professor from the University of Denver who did her dissertation near my town came to do work with girls' and women's groups that she helped create through an NGO that she co-founded. I had worked with her before and so while she and her "team" were here I tagged along with them to all of their activities. I had worked with most of the girls' groups on my own before (with the help of the local women's office to coordinate the meetings), so I knew a good number of the girls that we visited. Since it's summer break for schools here, the timing of the professor's visit was perfect since I wouldn't have had very much to do otherwise.

This girl is from the town where I did the overnight camp.
She is holding  a picture that she drew that depicts a dream
 she has for her future.

She wants to be a bilingual secretary (a common vocation in high
schools here)

I was invited to two weddings while the professor was here. The first was Guatemalan (although the newlyweds will both be going to the States to live permanently)

and the other was "American" (a Peace Corps Volunteer with a Guatemalan, again both are going to the States)

We visited some Mayan ruins that I hadn't been to before.

Me, the professor, and her "team"

And on the way home we stopped to watch an erupting volcano.

A few weeks later, I climbed the non-active volcano from the above picture (the one on the right).

I swear we're on top of a volcano! And no we did not bring this dog with us, I think it maybe lives up here and waits for hikers to take pity on
her and feed her!

For Christmas and New Year's, I went with a Guatemalan friend to visit her family. Since I had friends visiting last year for these holidays, I didn't get to see how Guatemalans traditionally celebrate them. Turns out that on both holidays, you eat lots of these:

These are tamales, which are made out of corn dough, mole (a combination of sesame seeds, hot peppers, and chocolate among many other things), raisins, and a little bite of turkey. They are different from Mexican tamales (aka most tamales that you find in the States) because they are bigger, are cooked in banana leaves instead of corn leaves, and the dough is much softer. I didn't really care for tamales very much when I first got here, but after this holiday season they have grown on me. 

Guatemalans also traditionally make "ponche", a hot fruit punch with pineapple, raisins, plantain, coconut, and cinnamon:

My favorite Guatemalan Christmas/New Year's tradition is that everyone (4-year-olds included) sets off fireworks at midnight on both holidays, resulting in the most spectacular panoramic firework display that the 4th of July can't even compete with. The entire sky is lit up with fireworks, both right overhead and in the distance, while little kids set off roman candles and play with sparklers in the street. It's a little bit terrifying, but also beautiful.

And of course, most Guatemalans go to church on both holidays. My friend's family is Catholic, so I brought in 2012 (literally, at midnight) kneeling for 15 minutes on a tile floor trying to keep up with Hail Marys and Our Fathers, in Spanish no less. It was certainly a glimpse into a different world!