Farsighted Fly Girl

In the highlands of the Lake Atitlan region of Guatemala, there are communities of  Mayan women who carve out a living from traditional ways of life. Many of these villages are filled with mostly women because Guatemala's Civil War claimed the lives of so many men. I didn't sense much sadness however, only a gentle determination to provide for their families. The cooperatives of women weavers are quite famous but there are also women who showcase and earn money from other Mayan traditions, including food, art and music. I met this woman in the back of a village, where her shop displaying medicinal herbs and herbal beauty products overlooks a river. I was impressed with her herbal knowledge and the innovation she used to display her potions and plants in recycled water bottles. But looking at this photo, snapped on the fly as I was leaving, I'm more taken with the strength and beauty reflected in her face.

They greeted us as soon as we stepped out of our van. Eager little boys brandishing impish grins and hand-carved walking sticks pushed them into our faces.  "Amiga,only 25 quetzales!" They all yelled but Herman was fast. He opened the door and grabbed my hand. I knew that I would need a walking stick to help with the craggy terrain of Guatemala's Pacaya Volcano . This active volcano attracts so many tourists that locals make good livings selling walking sticks and offering horseback rides for hikers that can't handle the twisty hour and a half  journey. I knew I'd need a stick and I knew I'd buy it from Herman the minute he opened the door.  If eyes are the windows to the soul, children are the window to a culture. Consistently happy little faces reflect a place that values children and those are places I love to be. Herman told me his name and never stopped smiling as I considered his sticks. I decided on a mid-sized one. I didn't realize then what a ...

Within hours of arriving in Guatemala City, I was excited to witness a  street performance by Garifuna musicians and dancers. The Garifuna are an African and Indigenous people sometimes called Black Caribs.They are a distinct cultural group that are rarely seen beyond the coastal areas of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Belize. So I watched this performance of music and dancing as long as possible, absorbing the rhythms and intricate moves. The Garifuna dancer had pulled the girl into the circle to dance with him and she shyly obliged. The percussion was purely West African and the crowd loved the energy of the performers. Most African decedents tend to be marginalized in Latin America and the Garifuna have battled to maintain their heritage. Historically,the Garifuna are traced to the Caribbean island of St. Vincent where a boat of enslaved Nigerians were shipwrecked in 1675. They formed families and communities with the local Kalinago or Carib population and develope...

Deep in the Panamanian rain forest, on the shores of the Chagres River, an Embera Indian Village welcomes visitors interested in learning about their centuries-old traditions. We had traveled in a hand-carved canoe,  and scaled makeshift bridges to reach the village. Before I entered into the village's circle of thatched roof huts and glimpsed the laughing children and heard the flute trills of their instruments, I knew that I wanted to connect with the Embera. After a demonstration of cooking, plant medicine and weaving techniques, I requested a traditional tattoo. A village's elder was enlisted to do the honor for me. The Embera paint their bodies with the juice of the jagua  plant. The black etchings are semi-permanent tattoos that last up to 3 weeks. The elder wiped the sunscreen off my arm and pressed sharply into my skin with the tip of a bamboo stick. He slowly created my design, scrawling the lines carefully. Each symbol has a specific meaning and I...

I'm so sorry that's it's been so long since my last post but I was hunkered down writing my book, which was due yesterday. Now that it's at the publisher's, I can get back to my routine, which includes traveling and writing about it. I'll write a post about my book closer to the publication date but I really wanted to look back at all the wonderful places I visited in 2013 before I start my 2014 travels. My travel schedule was really busy last year but these are the places that I loved. Oaxaca, Mexico was one of them, that's Santa Cruz Bay pictured above. The nine bays of Huatulco, Mexico are breathtaking, it was a dicey experience for me to see all of them, since I was in a boat for hours and suffered from seasickness but it was totally worth it. This is the last bay, St. Augustine. I sampled fresh guacamole (they literally went to pick the avocados) in a beach cafe and climbed the top of the hill that overlooks the bay, to the local church. I promi...

I confess, I'm not usually excited about visiting huge tourist attractions but the Panama Canal proved the exception for me. Everybody heads to the site whenever they touch down in Panama and now I understand why. Viewing one of the most difficult engineering feats ever established is an awesome sight up close. The experience begins with a stop by the Miraflores Visitors Center, which supplies four floors of extensive history and interactive displays about the Panama Canal. Miraflores Locks is the tallest of the three sets of Panama Canal Locks, measuring over a mile long.The Panama Canal unfolds for 48 miles between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans so you can only view a portion of it at Miraflores Locks but it's still a jaw-dropping sight. Looking down from the observation deck, I witnessed a ship enter the waterway. '  Gatun Lake forms part of the Panama Canal, carrying ships across the Isthmus of Panama. I watched as the canal gates gradually opened and c...

 I travel through North and South America a lot but never at once. This feat can only happen in Panama, where the Bridge of the Americas, pictured above, connects both continents as it spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.  I'll be exploring Panama on a media trip where I'll visit legendary structures like the Panama Canal, Bridge of the Americas and Casco Viejo (Old Panama), which dates back to the 1600s, when pirates controlled much of the region. I'm most excited about visiting an Embera Indian village tucked into the Panamanian rain forest, where I'll learn about native plants and rituals. Look out for posts on Panamanian culture, food and fun next week.