First Loves

I am finally back online after a trip to visit my first love, a true Latin American gem. First loves are a funny thing and after this particular trip, I believe the saying to be true -- that one always holds a special place in one's heart for first loves. Of course, back then things were simple and lacked complexity. Not like now when even seemingly easy tasks like buying a car or household appliances tend to bog down a relationship.

I met my first love in 1993 and over the years, we have spent many many months in each other's company and have had quite a series of adventures together. Being in the company of one's first love after so much time has passed leads to a lot of nostalgia. The memories, the smells (diesel?), the tastes, the familiar music, the sounds, the colours, the tucked away restaurants and courtyards that added to the allure, and the beauty all converge in one's mind.

It's then that one realises that the reason one moved on to new loves wasn't for any inherent breakdown. Rather, paths diverged, new opportunities opened up, and we moved on. Even though I could tell that my first love had changed quite a bit in the intervening years, the magic was still there and I was enchanted. It seemed like hardly a day had passed. But enough of the saudade, without further ado, I introduce you to my first love:

Guatemala!

My first time in Guatemala was in '93 when I volunteered for a Canadian NGO way up in the western higlands of the country. Since then, I was back several times over the course of 95 and 96, and then again in 99, 2004 and now, 2006. This time around, I had the luck of being sent there for work meetings. Hurray!

Taking advantage of the opportunity, I arranged to meet up with a friend -- also heading to the same meetings -- to travel for a few days prior. We met up in Guatemala City and headed out to Rio Dulce, a five hour bus ride from the city heading towards the Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Coast, a third of the way to Tikal. Even having travelled through Guatemala many times before, I had never made it to Rio Dulce or the Atlantic Coast. We stayed at the relaxing Hacienda Tijax, and enjoyed poking around the area by boat and kayak. This picture is from a little island near the lodge which was a haven for herons and cormorants.

Our treks also brought us face to face with a lot of kingfishers, which was also rather neat!

After spending a few days on the edge of the jungle listening to the birds and monkeys, relaxing, and filling our bellies with tasty food, we headed back towards Guatemala City and our final destination of Antigua. The original capital of Guatemala until an earthquake in the late 1700s destroyed it one time too many, Antigua remains a treasure of Spanish colonial architecture and romanticism. Touristy? Incredibly so. Even more so than it was thirteen years ago, and thirteen years ago it was already very movimentado. Guatemala and Antigua have always been touristy destinations, particularly with Antigua's hundreds of high quality Spanish language schools, but this attraction has only continued to grow in the last decade. Although I can totally understand the reasons why -- beauty, charm, accessiblilty, colour, flavour, nature -- it is incredible to see so much change and "progress", not always in favour of all.

Between bouts -- or perhaps thanks to the bouts -- of nostalgia, I spent every spare moment between meetings soaking in the atmosphere, eating in all the best spots [hurray for per diems!] and browsing the myriad of markets [I suspect that some lucky vendor's kid will be heading off to college due to my spending...]. Sadly, as all encounters with the past do, my time in Guatemala came to end and I commenced the long journey back to Recife. Fortunately, this current fling has much to offer, including Olinda, Brazil's answer to Antigua, and I slipped back rather easily into my present arrangement with Recife none the wiser!

Now, if I could just get the car thing sorted out for once and for all ....