Central America

Website consulting in Guatemala City

 in Central America / Deb Fixed It / Deb in Guatemala / Guatemala / Traveling with Technology

I spent this Shabbat in Guatemala City with some friends. It gave me the opportunity to meet several great people. Some invited me to their homes and it is so tempting because i like the people and the places. However, each is in a place I have already been. Great invitations for the next time I come there. But for now I need to keep moving south. It was pretty funny to have left Guatemala and traveled south, then back to Guatemala and back down again. Anyway… One on my many conversations led me to spend some time Saturday night reviewing someone’s business website and teaching them what they need to do to improve their site. It felt great to be back using that familiar expertise. From explaining the flaws of the existing site, to teaching them web site and web page structure, to giving them user interface advice, to […]

Ruth’s Chris El Salvador 1

 in Central America / El Salvador / Food

On my second day in San Salvador, my friend took me to the World Trade Center and Torre Futura to enjoy the breeze, the views, and the ambiance. I noticed the familiar wording, “Ruth’s Chris” on a new looking building and was impressed that the steakhouse I know to be excellent fine dining in Beverly Hills and the West San Fernando Valley, was here in San Salvador. For all of the weeks I have been staying here, I have watched it. Yesterday I noticed people enjoying the patio so I tried the front doors — and staff was there. Starting Monday, August 20, 2012, the folks of San Salvador have a new fine dining option for a perfect steak or, as I am told, great seafood. [Update: as of July 2016 or before now, this location has closed.] Personally, I go there for the USDA, grass fed Prime steak — perfectly flame […]

Sending mail from Honduras

 in Central America / Honduras / Traveling with Technology

A native resident of Honduras, a businessman, and I were discussing postal systems the other day. He told me the mail from Honduras does, indeed, arrive well to the United States. He said, however, that he finds it necessary to to use registered mail for accountability. This is about 50 cents extra. Of course for us travelers, it is only 50 cents. For a Honduran, that’s a fairly steep extra fee. I am unsure of whether there are various levels of accountability choices as we have in the US. But I do know the loss of sending a beloved item home and having them never arrive. Anyway, now you know you can sent stuff from Honduras.

Power outage in San Salvador

 in Central America / Deb in El Salvador / Deb's Travels / El Salvador / Traveling with Technology

Last night’s rain and lightening storm brought more than the usual light storm beauty. Around 10pm it brought an extra loud pop and with it, darkness for some seconds, followed by another pop and some hours of darkness. I unplugged the house Mac, made sure any PCs here were unplugged. The owner opted to leave the wifi routers plugged in. (I also unplugged my TV and AC.) Around midnight the other women here and I went to bed. I wondered if the power would come on in the morning and If the routers would be back to normal. At 3:30am I had my answer when my roommate turned on the light. I am impressed with the electrical infrastructure here that withstands the rainy season so well.

A restaurant to skip in Juayua, El Salvador

 in Central America / El Salvador / Food

A friend of mine who spent a week in Juayua El Salvador, just told me about a very disappointing $10 meal she had at R & R restaurant. It was recommended by Lonely Planet, but Lonely Planet once again missed the mark. Pehaps they are no longer updating their books or didn’t have a direct experience, or perhaps the restaurant has changed a lot. My friend relates this: She was the only person in the restaurant. The $10 for the mushroom chicken was a pretty steep price, a western price. Admittedly, she doesn’t speak Spanish, so that she struggled to order is understandable. She was very disappointed in the meal, but that was because she didn’t expect the very strong taste of an unexpected local herb. But the next day, buying shrimp at the town’s market, it turned out she was buying from R & R’s owner. The woman asked […]

Chinese food in San Salvador

 in Central America / El Salvador / Food

Note October 21, 2020: This place may be out of business. The website is not working. But I’m keeping the link in case it returns or works again. My friends here like two Chinese restaurants in San Salvador, so I have been to both. This is a meal at 168 – Uno Seis Ocho, [now gone, which was] located right across from the World Trade Center, WTC and its plaza’s iconic Tower Futura. Each dish was $8.50. They will give you glasses of filtered bottled water upon request, or if you are into unnecessary plastic poisoning you can buy bottled water. I don’t believe bottled water is necessary in this fine restaurant. Oh! Pollo Frito Con Fresas – Strawberry Chicken! I love Orange Chicken and Lemon Chicken in the states, but this was my first time ever hearing of strawberry chicken. It is good! A new favorite. All of the […]

Batman movie at Gran Villa

 in Central America / Deb in El Salvador / El Salvador / Sight-seeing / Sight-Seeing in El Salvador

I was invited by my local friend Frida to join her and a family seeing the new Batman movie at the Gran Villa, the nicest of the malls in San Salvador. In Los Angeles I would not have gone to see this film, but here there was no question of not going as I have not yet been to a movie in El Salvador. I loved this film. It started out with so much action that I was lost, and I was trying very hard to catch it all and remember it to tell Adrain as he was joining us. But after that first scene it got easier, and soon Adrian arrived. Good story, great mix of emotion and action and humor, great use of action. The theater was beautiful as well. It was very much like the one at The Grove in Los Angeles in every way. The only […]

American Independence Day

 in Central America / Deb's Travels / El Salvador / Sight-seeing

I spent July 4th, the celebratory day marking my country’s independence, traveling from Guatemala City to San Salvador. I tweeted that it was odd to be in a place where the 4th of July was just another day. I also rejoiced a bit on that day, happy to be lucky enough to have been born into a country where I have the freedom to travel so easily. I knew that there had likely been a July 4th celebration in San Salvador, for Americans who are stationed or working here. However, I would miss it as the 4th was my travel day. But I didn’t miss all of the celebrations! The following Saturday, thanks to Malcolm, the owner of Hostal Cumbre de Volcan, a fabulous hostel in San Salvador… I was surrounded by American flags, eating a hamburger, enjoying Club Salvadoreño Corinto on Ilopango Lake, socializing with the American Ambassador, Mari […]

Tica Bus from Guatemala City

 in Central America / Deb's Travels / El Salvador / Guatemala / Transportation

Leaving my great friends in the Guatemala City area was hard. They were amazing. But it was time to move on. A new friend awaited in San Salvador. Pedro and Tere dropped me off at the Tica Bus station on their way to work. I spent several hours in that bus terminal before my bus. However, Tica maintains its own terminals (each with its own hostel next door) so it is safe and comfortable. It was fun to see the people come and go, most on a great adventure or to see family. I felt comfortable and safe on this trip. The staff in Guatemala City was impressive. (Added note: I wasn’t impressed with my next Tica trip starting anew in Salvador and had problems due to lack of information that passengers starting in Guatemala City were given.) The Tica bus terminal in Guatemala City: My lunch in the Tica […]

Salsa at Pelicano’s restaurant in Guatemala City!

 in Central America / Deb in Guatemala / Deb's Travels / Food / Food in Guatemala / Guatemala / Sight-seeing / Sight-Seeing in Guatemala

I am dressed in my nice new skinny jeans for the first time on this trip. Blue jeans, white shirt, makeup, the necklace my sister-in-law gave me for the trip, a bracelet I bought in San Marcos de Laguna, and as always, the bracelets my good friend Andrew gave me to wear and think of him. On my feet are the flat black bit-of-sparkle-on-the-strap Aerosoles that I bought in NYC for this trip. It is fun to be dressing up for a night out. I came to Guatemala City to meet Jewish Guatemala – and Motzie Shabbas found myself at Pelicano’s tropical style rooftop seafood restaurant having Margarita on the owner while my friends were the band to which everyone danced. On another weekend visit I actually danced. Salsa, me. Life never ceases to amaze me when I give myself the liberty to say “sure” or “I’d love to” or […]

A Guatemalan home

 in Central America / Deb in Guatemala / Deb's Travels / Guatemala

I was privileged to visit some new Guatemalan friends in their Lake Atitlán home. This family is not from the lake but moved here a few years ago. They rent this home from the landlord who lives next door. This home is off a paved street that is rather wide, has a proper car area and a sidewalk (albeit narrow) that is more of a height that someone in the US is used to as opposed to the very high (you need steps) sidewalks I have experienced in Honupduras and Mexico. Stepping out of the tuk-tuk we stepped up onto the sidewalk, then through the gate onto this property, then down a step inside the gate. Directly ahead was one home, the landlord’s. This home is beside the landlord’s closer to the road, so we walk along a short dirt path toward the right that followed the sidewalk’s line, just […]

Behind the walls

 in Central America / Guatemala / Sleeping Accommodations

A recent reflection… Being from the suburbs of the USA, I am used to homes where people put their best foot forward, so to speak. The inside of a home might be a mess, might be in disrepair, or might be void of furniture due to lack of money, but the outside that the world sees tends to look good or look its best. In some of the countries I visited long ago, it was the opposite. The public saw a simple wall. Only when you walked through the oft-closed gate, did you discover that inside laid an open yard and perhaps a marvelous home. I am now in Latin America, specifically Central America so far, and again I am seeing some of this. Often, to drive down a road is to see nothing but walls. Most of these have been stone walls or walls of corrugated metal or flat […]

My alarm fly

 in Central America / Deb in Guatemala / Guatemala / Traveling with Technology

I have a personalized Guatemalan alarm that ensures I get out of bed by 7. It’s my alarm fly. At 6:45 it starts buzzing around my head, then lands on various parts of my body. It simply won’t stop. By 7 I have had enough of the twitching to get it off so I get out of bed. (Maybe it isn’t a single alarm fly, but an alarm fly team. I haven’t asked.) I am not retiring my iPhone though as I don’t expect that flies re so well trained every place I will be visiting.

Ron Botran Guatemalan rum, friends, lightning, and my radio show

 in Central America / Deb in Guatemala / Deb's Travels / Guatemala

I am sitting outside in perfect air, talking and hanging out with some traveling friends. They are enjoying Ron Botran – 12 year old Guatemalan rum, 80 proof, loving how smooth it is. 1/2 of a 5th cost 50q here, about $7. One friend here, Kevin, just recorded my Computer Talk Radio segment with me, talking about his Nook. Wi-Fi is slow here so instead of Skype we recorded on Voxer on my iPhone. My iPhone battery was fully dead so my Scosche battery ran the phone. (I have lost count of how many times that Scosche battery has kept me going.) We are also enjoying a lightning show in the distance. I am so happy that I heard from my great Los Angeles friend Andrew tonight.

5th Grade in Jaibalito, Lake Atitlán

 in Central America / Deb in Guatemala / Deb's Travels / Guatemala

I am a guest sitting in the last chair in the middle of three rows in a 5th Grade schoolroom in the Jaibalito public school. (This was at the invitation of 11-year-old Sirena, a California girl who is attending school here for a month and spoke to her teacher to have me join them.) The students here all live within walking distance and are Maya. Jaibalito is a small village of approximately 1,000 people, mostly children. There are no cars, no vehicles. You arrive to this village by launcha (boat) or by foot. I have my iPad with me but don’t take it put as it would be a distraction. I write on a sheet of paper torn from a child’s notebook with my single non-electronic writing tool, the 3 or 4 inch stub of a child’s pencil. The morning started with cleaning, sweeping of the floor. A wall chart […]

FABULOUS place to stay during travel on Lake Atitlán

 in Central America / Deb in Guatemala / Deb's Travels / Guatemala / Sight-seeing / Sleeping Accommodations

This is what I walk out to in the morning. It is the view from the dormitory of Posada Jaibalito. (You can have a similar view from a private room, too.) Morning is 6 a.m. for me here — and I love it! The smell of smoke from the homes of surrounding Mayan families greets my nose. The air is full of chipping and other animal sounds that are better than music. The sun comes up behind a volcano mountain so it doesn’t get bright and warm until close to 8. Before that it is a bit of a romantic hazy light and its own warm color. I love it all! Morning is laundry time. My clothes dry in the fresh air. I love the view from the roof — these rooftops and the hazy smoky sky being one. I don’t recall what time of day I took each of these […]

Quest for chocolate

 in Central America / Deb in Guatemala / Deb's Travels / Food / Food in Guatemala / Guatemala

I have heard over and over that the best cocoa beans are in Guatemala. Staying here among the lush vegetation in this volcanic region in the rainy season I can understand why. But I was not finding the people behind the chocolate and am not into taking a paid tour. Today I met the former neighbor of “Chocolate Bob,” the man behind ixcacao — so now maybe I will have to change my plans to go see him.

The Hostel in Copan Ruinas that I would next stay at

 in Central America / Honduras / Sleeping Accommodations / Stay in Honduras

I didn’t get to stay at Don Moises Guest House in Copan Ruines because I didn’t know about it, and I did like my hotel, but from what I saw and heard I recommend it. I actually discovered it because I bought my ticket for my micro-bus to Antigua from the very nice owner and his son. The next day I met some guests. I was impressed enough to take a few photos, which I will post when I have bandwidth. (If you are traveling in the area, you definitely want to see these ruins — with the best guide, 75 year old Antonio.)