City of Eternal Spring – Guatemala City
Why Guatemala? We asked ourselves that question when planning to come to this country. We chose it because we have an acquaintance who is doing mission work in Guatemala. We didn’t know much about the country, but that Guatemala was in Central America, and it seemed like a little backwater country. Little did we realize the time we would spend here would be a jewel of a surprise!
We loved our time in Guatemala City. We arrived at the beginning of December and spent Christmas here.
Rick turned 60 in this city, which was another highlight for us. We had a small celebration at a yummy Indian restaurant with our new friends – more on them later.
We discovered an SDA church nearby that we could easily walk to, which we found vibrant & friendly. Armed with our trusty phones for translation assistance, we engaged in conversations with the congregation. It was here that we first met the Castaneda family, (Hugo, Sheerly, Rodrigo, and Anna) who quickly became dear friends.
We began a nice routine that included daily gym visits. We enjoyed our “living mode” after our Belize “vacation mode.” We had time to relax and get some travel equipment maintenance done.
Guatemala City is the capital and largest city of Guatemala. It also happens to be the largest city in Central America.
Guatemala City earned the moniker “City of Eternal Spring” due to its pleasant climate, which remains relatively consistent throughout the year.
This mild temperate climate is attributed to Guatemala City’s high elevation of around 4,900 feet above sea level and its location in a valley surrounded by mountains.
We found the mid 70’s temperature to be just perfect for us!
While not typically the main tourist destination in Guatemala, Guatemala City, serves as a gateway to explore other parts of Guatemala that are tourist areas. Some of these are Antigua , the oldest capital of the country, Lake Atitlán, and Tikal National Park. We were able to visit 2 of these places and may return another time to visit the lake.
A brief overview of Guatemala’s history
Guatemala was home to several indigenous civilizations, including the Maya, who built impressive cities and left behind a legacy of art, architecture, and knowledge. The Museum of Popol Vuh has a lot of information and relics from this era. Notable Maya sites in Guatemala include Tikal, El Mirador, and Quiriguá. We visited Tikal and saw firsthand the past greatness of that city.
In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors, led by Pedro de Alvarado, arrived in Guatemala, encountering various Maya kingdoms, and established Spanish rule. Guatemala became part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain, with Antigua, Guatemala as its capital, where Spanish culture blended with indigenous traditions. In 1821, Guatemala declared independence from Spain, briefly joining the Mexican Empire before becoming an independent republic in 1838.
From 1960 to 1996, Guatemala endured a brutal civil war between the government and leftist guerrilla groups. The conflict resulted in widespread human rights abuses, including massacres, forced disappearances, and displacement of civilians. The war ended with the signing of peace accords in 1996.
Within the first week, we walked to the Museum of Popol Vuh. We found it very interesting and spent a whole afternoon wandering around the museum reading the plaques and looking at all the old relics that have been unearthed here in Guatemala. The museum primarily showcased the Maya civilization.
This museum displayed artifacts including ceramics, sculptures, textiles, and jade jewelry, The beautiful jade reminded me of the jewelry I see in stores today. We find this era very interesting and have visited many different sites from this culture besides reading many books on this culture.
“Popol Vuh,” refers to the sacred Mayan text that recounts the creation myth and the epic tales of the Maya people. Like most myths, the story is quite unique and strange to our Christian viewpoint of how life originated on our earth. Here is the creation story if you are interested in reading it.
As Christmas approached, the city buzzed with festive energy. From our ninth-floor apartment, we had a front-row seat to captivating parades and dazzling light displays. We were astonished at the nightly spectacle from our window view.
Our cozy apartment was conveniently situated near a plethora of enticing restaurants. Exploring the neighborhood on foot became a fun pastime as we pondered over which culinary delights to sample next. The vibrant food scene reminded me of the diversity we enjoyed back in San Diego—a welcome familiarity.
With a myriad of cuisines to choose from, ranging from local Guat delights to international flavors we indulged in many of our favorite dishes – the absence of Ethiopian cuisine was a minor disappointment. We even stumbled upon a charming vegan eatery that exceeded our expectations with its broad offerings. What made eating out even better was the fact that all these great little eateries were conveniently located within walking distance from our doorstep.
Our initial Sabbath at the church left a lasting impression, thanks to Hugo’s impassioned sermon centered around mission work. This happens to be our favorite topic!
After church, his son, Rodrigo, talked/interpreted for us with the family. They invited us over for lunch where we met more of the extended family.
We learned that the kids honed their English skills in Tennessee, where they studied mission work there as collegiates. We conversed with our broken Spanish/English, used phones & laughed a lot!
This Castaneda family was vibrant and fun and had a great enthusiasm for the Lord.
We also were privileged to be in the audience when Anna sang special music for church. She has a lovely soprano voice.
Every Sabbath they would eat at the church, as their farm was 4 hours away and their home was also a fairly long drive. We would join them in this potluck lunch routine. As our friendship blossomed, we were invited to visit their family farm in Quezaltepeque, nestled in the picturesque mountains four hours east of the city.
The whole family worked and or schooled in the city, so they stayed in the city during the week.
We soon began hanging out with them and appreciated that they took time to spend with us in their busy lives.
We enjoyed Rick’s birthday dinner with them at an Indian restaurant where we introduced to them Indian cuisine. There was quite a bit of laughter as I tried to describe the (important to me) difference between Indian samosa and empanadas – okay, it’s all in the spices!
The weekend we went with them to their coffee farm we passed through Chiquimula, where Sheerly’s mother lives, staying the night there. She graciously put us up and we had a nice Sabbath lunch after church. On our way to the family farm we had wonderful views of the mountains and the valleys, and also learned we were near the frontera of Honduras and El Salvador. This made my heart do a little thump as I thought about how close I was to my place of birth.
At the farm they showed us their coffee plants, and other fruit and exotic plants. The sugar cane seemed to be just growing wild.
Sheerly picked some pacaya fruit and took the stalks home to cook up later. It was an interesting preparation for us. They were quite delicious! The pacaya palm tastes a lot like artichoke hearts. In our opinion, that is the best part of the artichoke!
We learned a lot about Guatemala from our new friends. They explained to us how the Civil War had impacted their life. They described how they had to be careful as they grew up to not get involved in the civil dispute that was wrecking their country.
Their farm was so beautiful and full of exotic fruits and plants besides the coffee. It was such an honor for them to share it with us.
We know that we may not always see our new friends again on our travel adventures, but it is so heartening to know that we will meet up in heaven. How fun that will be to fill in the blanks between our associations and heaven!
We left Guatemala City to see the famed Tikal ruins. If you have been following our blog, you know that we love ruins! This one did not disapoint! We then headed across country to do some mission work at La Senda . We spent a week there and were inspired by Dan & Shalou Mae and their mission work. Afterward, we traveled to Antigua, where I relaxed and hung out with my BFF, and Rick had a physical challenge…climbing a volcano!
Finally our last chapter in Guatemala came to an end after roughly 3 months in this wonderful country. The experiences here were diverse, and fun. We were sad when it came to an end. However, we look forward to our next adventure – we visit the US & see family we haven’t seen in over a year. Rick hangs out with his brother Dave, to assist him as Dave organizes the Wild West Rally.
Loving your adventures.