After being in Guatemala nearly 10 months without climbing a volcano, I am just on a roll.  Julio and I hiked up Vólcan Pacaya, between Guatemala City and Antigua, Saturday morning.  This is the volcano that erupted last May causing much damage and was, especially by comparison to Tajumulco, very easy.  One hour up a clearly marked path, the trail was dusty, and towards the top was a massive field of lava rocks.  There were holes emitting heat strong enough set branches on fire and roast marshmallows.  We entered one cave that was a natural sauna, so hot you could not bear being long inside. 

Today is el Día de Cariño, or Valentine’s Day, as known in the U.S.  There were no classes today, but activities in celebration of the day instead.  There were several dance performances and lots of dinámicas.  These included students having to pass a piece of paper, that grew increasingly smaller, from mouth to mouth (a little inappropriate); blindfolded pairs seated facing each other having to feed each other yogurt (gross, but hilarious); students with strings tied around their waists and a pen dangling behind them having to bend backwards to lower the pen into an empty glass bottle (silly).  There was also a gift exchange in which everyone drew a name and had to go up to the microphone and announce the person whose name they drew; then that person came up and they had to hug (sometimes cute, sometimes very awkward), and then announce the name of the person they had.  It was pretty cute actually and impressively the activities did not go on forever and ever.  They also served good lemon cake.  Valentine’s Day seems to be more about friendship here than romance and everyone got really into it.  It was one of the nicer, more fun and interactive celebrations in my opinion.

Rosmeri made paches for dinner in celebration of the day, as well as warm mangos in sugar and cinnamon.  I made rice crispy treats (chococrispy treats to be more specific, because I have yet to find a box of plain rice crispies in all of Guatemala).  Paches are like tamales, but in my opinion much more delicious.  They can be made of rice, corn, or potatoes – Rosmeri made them out of rice, which I like the best, although potatoes are good too.  They masa (dough) of is made of ground, cooked rice with onion and herbs and seasonings (thyme, bay leaf, salt) cut into very tiny pieces.  Then the dough is stuffed with a little piece of meat (in this case chicken), a red bell pepper tomato sauce, and then wrapped in a large banana leave.  Then they are cooked in a pot with water to cook the masa a second time, as well as the meat inside.  I prefer these to tamales, which are very dry and dense, because paches tend to be softer and saucier.

Since the beginning of the new year, the market has been more fabulous than ever.  Tomatoes are in season (down to as little as Q 1.25 a pound).  Avocados have been abundant, delicious, and cheap, as well, and mangos made a recent come back last month, after a five or six month hiatus.

Here’s a photo from a day trip last month to the Zaculeu Ruins in Huehuetenango (a few hours northwest of me).  I noticed they appeared to be concrete which did not seem very authentic.  Then I read in my guide book that it’s considered the worst restoration job in the whole country because the original archaeologists covered the ruins in concrete, which was not an original construction material.