Lizzy in Sumpango and a trip to the Pacific!

Greetings from the Pacific Ocean. Lizzy came out for her first weekend in Sumpango and we went on a family trip to the coastal town of Sipacate. Of course here a family trip consists of a rented school bus packed with over 30 of our closest relatives here in Guatemala. We woke up at 3:30 to leave and along the way picked up family waiting on the side of the road. As the sun came up we enjoyed views of the local volcanos bathed in pink morning light. It was amazing.

Shortly after starting our trip at such an early hour, the driver began blasting some awesome fiesta music which were able to hear very well since our seats were located at the back of the bus...right next to the speakers. It was just the thing for 5 a.m.

When we arrived at the beach we walked on the black sand beach which was scorching hot at 9 am. We wanted to get in the water but the waves were anywhere from 6-10 ft high and we may have been the only people in our group who could actually swim. Luckily a breeze picked up later in the day that blew away the heat as well as some of the bugs.

(This was one of the less comfortable lounge chairs, but you can't beat the view.)
( Pictured are Donaldo, Christian and Valentina. They are my host family)

For Lunch we had some amazing seafood that had been caught locally at 5 a.m. that morning while we were on our way down. My bowl had an entire fish in it with tail hanging off one side, a full crab in the middle, 3 shrimp with their heads and legs still attached, mussels and sea snails. I kind of felt bad eating an entire underwater neighborhood, but you really can't turn down food here...actually, I really enjoyed it.
Here is our awesome set up. I think going to the ocean was more of an excuse for the family to cook seafood. Within an hour of arriving the cooking began and 4 hours later everything was ready.




Grilled Crab and Tortillas. The kiddie table with the ocean in the background and Donaldo dishing up his famous ceviche, which was basically the freshest salsa I've ever had with extra lime juice and shrimp and some other seafood. It was amazing.
Here Liz is helping out cooking while I play water volleyball in the pool. I don't think anyone had ever seen someone with my particular shade of skin. I frightened many of the children. If you look in the gigantic pot you can see some fish tails floating and a few of the crab.

Here is our party bus and some of the family across the street from the beach.

Here are some pictures of our first day in Sumpango. Lizzy and I hung out in the park across from the Church and witnessed a wedding procession, if you look closely you can see everyone going into the church. Later we met up with Peter, who is one of the other volunteers here and we went up to the soccer fields to strike up a game. Unfortunately it was raining heavily and soon everyone called it a day. The views from the field aren't bad though. You can see only one volcano in this picture. On November 1st the celebrate day of the dead here and they are famous for their gigantic kites that they fly in order to convey messages to their ancestors. Its amazing how big these kites are and how ornate as well. Beginning as early as July people begin working on them and some measure as much as 40 feet across.

The trip was amazing and everyone in the family was very welcoming to Lizzy telling her that she was family and that their door's were open to her should she ever need anything. We got back late at night, exhausted but happy. It was another great week in Guatemala.