Guatemala or Bust

My father is from El Salvador so when we went to visit our family for a month in the summer my mother decided to take us to Guatemala for a week. We took a bus there with some of our extended family. Six hours stuck in the same position smelling an acrid aroma was not my definition of a road trip. Nonetheless we made it and looking back I really enjoyed spending time with my family. We had to make a quick stop at a random person's house to use the bathroom because "someone" (this person will remain nameless for obvious reasons) had stomach issues. "Someone" used an outhouse before they realized there was no toilet paper and finally after some digging around in the suitcases we were able to find some. The view however was incredible with mountains and green pastures with grazing animals entertained our eyes for most of the trip.

We finally made it! The first thing we did was take a tour of a factory that was known for gemstones in particular Jade. I bought a beautiful silver necklace with a Jade gemstone on it which I absolutely love. The tour was given in Spanish with a few words in English which was pretty funny when Carlos, our tour guide, kept saying "Pleaz bee sawdy fur mai Ingles". No one had the heart to correct him, my sisters and I just giggled a little each time he said it. And then we finally hit the streets of Antigua which is a beautiful town with cobble streets and delicate, old houses. We were lucky and got to see a colorful parade celebrating "Senorita de Antigua" and an entourage of dancers along with a band.

We then took a boat ride to see the Castle of San Felipe (the tour was a little long and boring but the scenery was amazing). The castle was built around 1604 and consisted basically on a vigilance tower named The Tower of Bustamante. The construction continued so the Castle was completed and named San Felipe in honor to the king Felipe II. After the boat ride we got hungry and decided to go eat (my mom insisted on eating a traditional Guatemalan dish). So we sat at some cafe and ate Jocon. Doesn't sound tasty does it? Well it was DELICIOUS!!! Basically it is chicken simmered in a tasty sauce tinted a beautiful green by tomatillos (tomatoes) and cilantro and thickened with ground sesame and pumpkin seeds and corn tortillas. I highly recommend this dish to experience and take in the countries real essence.