We know everyone in the States is suffering with the weather being so cold for the past week and yet here in Antigua there is very little variation in temperatures. It gets to the low 70s midday and rapidly cools off each evening to the upper 50s by morning. So it is so funny everyday to see the entire resident population dressed up in puffy coats and sweaters.

Last Wednesday we were invited to dinner at a friend of a friend’s home here in Antigua. While we were having a fantastic time getting acquainted, we discovered that our Guatemalan hostess is the god daughter of our long time friend Gilda from Loudoun County Virginia, who also lives here now. It felt like only 3 degrees of separation–what are the chances?

We were at Gilda’s beautiful home the next night and surprised her with the previous night’s coincidence. She in turn had us discover a variety of Guatemalan specialities including a delicious potato based tamale (only sold on Thursday’s) and a sweet plantain dough stuffed with chocolate and black beans. The healthiest dessert I have ever had. Delicious. Her home is full of amazing art, including works of hers and of many artists and friends from Loudoun County where we lived for 26 years.

Antigua is a small walkable city of quaint residences, hotels and shops built among ruins of a grand cathedral, several churches and colonial buildings destroyed by extensive earthquakes in the 1700s. The people here are some of the most friendly and open of any Spanish speaking country we have traveled to. So we sightsee ruins, museums, markets and wander the streets of Antigua in the afternoons after Bob is finished with his morning Spanish class.

Extended walking everyday on cobblestones is a new experience for us. I have muscles in my calves and ankles that I never knew were there. I know because each one of them has been sore.

In the Guatemalan press, it is broadly reported that the cataclysmic political changes occurring in the US are terrorizing all the Central American countries and their inhabitants here. Some 60% of their economy relies upon remittances sent home from their loved ones working in the States. Their lives are now suddenly filled with worry and uncertainty and the perspective is haunting.

We are surrounded by volcanos: Agua, Fuego and Acatenango – which makes for dramatic vistas but can be a bit intimidating with our history of seismic activity! We have seen Fuego erupting in the distance when we are out walking around and are looking forward to a long weekend coming up close to the volcano and then on to Lake Atitlàn.

Stay warm!!