Xela Photography Show

As some of you may know, I like to think I'm a bit of a photographer (or at least I take pictures and people seem to like them). So I'm happy to announce officially that now I'm going to be an "Internationally Shown Photographer." Starting the 15th of June, my photograhy will be shown at local Xela café El Cuartito. They have a monthly rotating art exhibit and I will be featured from June 15th until likely the end of July. On the evening on the 24th of June, is the 'official' opening event, with live music, good drinks, and fun times. For all of you who are in the Xela area, I hope to see you there. For those of you in the not Xela area, I wouldn't be upset seeing you there either. Here's a bit of a taste of what will be shown that night:

Back in the States...

Okay, first check out my friend Katie's recent article she wrote for Back Bay Patch, an online magazine. Then check out the pictures (aka I took one. Kind of published in Boston! Woot!). Finally, make her drink. She has yet to let me down drink wise.

Semuc Champey and Other Adventures

A week ago, my friend Katie visited me down here in Guatemala (hence the long, long break in blogging; blame her). As I waited for her to arrive at the airport, I was still torn between taking her to Monterrico, a place I'd already visited, or trying some place new in Semuc Champey. The only problem with Semuc Champey is that it is 12 hours by bus away from Xela. In the end, I decided we could brave it and caught a bus to Lanquin and Semuc Champey. This was a great decision.

Instead of dealing wih a bunch of 'chicken buses' and the uneasiness that comes with my terrible Spanish, we elected to pay a little bit extra for a tour. The tour provided everything - transportation, food, a guide, entrance to all the sites - plus it made for a completely mindless day aka no worrying about when the buses come and go, etc. The first stop on the tour: K'anba Caves.

I have no pictures from these caves and there is a good reason for this - in order to enter these caves, one must swim (actually swim) and about 50% of the tour consists of swimming. And when I say swimming, I mean swimming while holding a candle, your only source of light in these pitch black caves. These caves were absolutely amazing. Throughout the tour I kept thinking 'This is the coolest thing ever!' About 30 minutes into the caves, our guide stops us and tells us "Climb up this rock face. Then jump into that pool 15 feet below that you can't really see." Ok, yeah that sounds safe. Yet, despite my hatred for heights, Katie and I both managed to do it. And we lived! Our blind faith in a Guatemalan tour guide wa rewarded. We left the caves, adrenaline at a all time high ready for the next part of the day.

After a horrific 30 minute hike that neither Katie nor I enjoyed we finally made it Semuc Champey!

These naturally formed limestone pools are crystal clear, deep enough to jump into, warm enough to spend the whole day in, and full of little fish that love to nibble at your legs. As Katie swam off and practiced her synchronized swimming moves, I took the time to just relax and marvel at the beauty that surrounded me. The place was so tranquil and perfect (minus the howler monkeys off in the jungle). I can honestly say that of all the things I’ve seen in Guatemala, this was the one that will least likely be topped. Breath taking.

Our guide pulled us away after a few hours and we headed back to our amazing hostel, Zepher Hostel, in Lanquin. Happy Hour followed and with a little liquid courage, we checked out another group of caves, Las Grutas de Lanquin. These caves are famous for the bat show that it puts on during sunset every night, where thousands of bats leave the cave to go feast. The sun had set and Katie and I were just about ready to call it a batless night when the mouth of las grutas filled up with these little fliers. Insane! We stood at the entrance with a few other gringos and marveled at the bats that swarmed us as the left for the night.

One Guatemalan tour guide claimed that if you eat one hundred bats, you develop the ability to fly. I decided that I’d pass and be earth bound for the rest of my years.

This was one day of Katie’s stay in Guatemala. The rest of the trip, while fantastic, was full of things that I’ve done before – Lake Atitlan, Xela, Antigua – and there is no need to blog about the fun that was had in these places. But I know Katie had fun, as did I. Guatemala never ceases to amaze me with new things and old things alike. I’m so grateful that I got to travel with my friend and take my mind away from work for a while. However, work is back so I prepare myself for the uncomfortable sweatiness that is the Campo.

I Return!

So I'm back after a bit of a sabatical. I will be posting pics later today but let's just say that I went traveling this last week or so and, to put it mildly, some crazy things were seen and done. Look for updates tonight!

Doug Franz - Compiler of Stats, Writer of Blogs

Over at Semilla Nueva's blog, I put together some numbers and reflextions of Guatemala's Economy. It's an interesting read if you have any interest in seeing what kind of situation we deal with down here on a regular basis.

Things I Miss At Home - My Things

I am generally not a materialistic person. I don't buy lots of things or toys or electronics. That was part of what made leaving for Guatemala possible - I wasn't tied down by a whole lot. Occasionally, I've found myself thinking 'Man, things would be so much easier if I had this' or 'Wow, I never thought that would have come in handy.' But for the most part, Xela has everything that someone would need and I don't seem to be missing 'things' much. People, places, and experiences - yes, I miss them. But things, not so much.

Recently I've started feeling the creative bug that sweeps through me every once and a while. The need to express myself in some form, be it photography or guitar playing. While photography has helped fill this void, it can never take the place of music and guitar playing. With this being said, I present the 'thing' - aka materialistic item - that I miss the most:

This is my guitar. I am quite sad without her. I can't wait until the day that we are reunited. There is a decent acoustic down here that I get to use but it is really nothing compared to my baby at home.

Seriously though, I miss live music at home and real guitar playing - not this terrible salsa stuff, where every song sounds the same over and over again for 2 hours straight. Silly salsa.

Rave Green with Envy - The Hardest Day Away

In my entire 6 months of being away from my family, friends, and city, I can easily say that tomorrow will be the hardest day for me to miss. I've dreaded it like a college final that I didn't study for - you know it's coming but it'll happen no matter what you do and you just have to get through the day the best you can.

For most of my friends and family, what I'm talking about is pretty obvious. For the rest who are confused, let me clear it up for you - tomorrow is the first meeting first league meeting for the Seattle Sounders FC and Portland Timbers. It is the biggest rivalry in all of North American soccer, the biggest rivalry either of the cities of Seattle and Portland have, and one of the top 20 soccer rivalries in the world.

As a Sounders season ticket holder, one of the hardest decisions about leaving the States for 6 months was whether I wanted to miss this game. You would think 'Oh Doug, 6 months in Guatemala has got to be a greater experience than one soccer game.' And that's a valid point. However, it's not just a game - it's a full day of excitment, of true community unity over a love for one thing and a hate for another. It's an experience that I almost was willing to pay $800 to fly back and see. But now it's a day I will have to wait another year for. The hype and build up for this game has been unbelievable - every single pre-game converstation my friends and I had last season invloved some form of 'Man, I CANNOT wait 'til we play Portland next season. That's going to be amazing.' But ever since they released the schedule three months ago, I've dreaded tomorrow. Normally I read ever single blog and newspaper piece written about the Sounders - not this week. This week I've avoided the blogs and papers. I just can't handle reading about the hype. It just makes me too sad.

I'm not upset about coming to Guatemala. I'm really glad I came and in the long run, I will get to more Seattle-P*rtland games. In the long run, I will realize that this trip was important in my growth both personally and professionally. Until this realization somewhere down the line, tomorrow will suck. So to everyone at home - enjoy tomorrow. Somewhere far away from the madness, I will be sitting in my apartment - fully decked out in Rave Green, yelling obscenities at the ref, making fun of Portland for playing like a minor league tam still, and being the biggest Sounders fan Guatemala has ever seen.