Hola de Quetzaltenango

Hi from beautiful Quetzaltenango (known here in Guatemala as Xela). We are up at about 7000 feet and ringed by impressive volcanoes. Sleeping here is always a challenge in terms of the cold, so we are happy to leave soon for the village where AFOPADI is based in the mountain villages near Huehuetenango.
As always, the Guatemalans are so incredibly warm and fun and we instantly feel at home. This year I am traveling with another SSG board member who speaks Spanish and has traveled the world, so I look forward to seeing newly through her eyes.
Always changes here in this country, and not necessarily for the better. Since a year ago there are fancy new houses nearby and I leave it to your imagination to wonder how they are financed. Also, it is more dangerous and we heard about that for the first time from several employees in Antigua. Both robberies and murders. So, if visit this country I love, you must be streetwise. But we are in good hands and soon away from tourists, so there is less to rob.

(En route from Xela to the village west of Huehuetenango...)