I am very grateful to Spirit Airlines for their baggage rules. We are allowed to carry on one item at no extra charge, that is a maximum of 12" x 14" x 16". They have a box of that dimension at the airport, and your carry on must fit in that box with no overhang; no exceptions. If you want to bring something larger than that, you can for a nominal feel of $100. The reason I am grateful is that I like to travel light. It simplifies everything.
Of course my wife, who is legendary for her ability to force the round peg in the square hole, thinks that a backpack that is 12 x 14 x 19 (and rigid) will probably be okay, because she is pretty sure she could stuff it in their box.
I am 6' tall and my wife is 5' tall, so her clothes are smaller than mine and take up less space. Ergo, her bag should have less in it than mine. This is not the case. I'll have to make this a contest. She is very competitive, and if the person with the smaller bag wins, she will lighten up her load for sure.
Of course, if she finds out that my motive is to manipulate her we'll probably end up paying $100 for her extra large suitcase.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
¿Por Qué Vamos a Guatemala?
A few people have asked why we chose to visit Guatemala. We hope to learn about another culture, learn a little Spanish, relax at a beautiful mountain lake, walk among ancient ruins, and to beg for the good will of Maximom.
The attractions include the beautiful colonial city of Antigua. This city is surrounded by volcanos (We hope to climb one and roast marshmallows, as all tourists do), and hosts a chocolate museum (At which we hope to make chocolate from raw cocoa beans).
Guatemala is also home to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. These are famous because George Lucas built them about 2,000 years ago so he could use them as a set location for the very first Star Wars movie. I think Tikal is also famous among academics too. I'm not sure why; perhaps because of the big spiders or the spider monkeys. I'll have to ask our friend Nancy Davis; she would know.
Here is the clip from Star Wars that makes this place so important.
We will be spending the majority of our time in the village of San Pedro La Laguna. It is situated on Lake Atitlan, which looks like this...
San Pedro is known as a backpacker hangout near the water, and more authentically Mayan 'up the hill.' These are a different sort of backpacker from what you might think. These are folks who may have finished college and are spending a gap year wandering the world. More of a hobo than a John Muir type. We will spend two weeks in San Pedro, taking Spanish language lessons for four hours each day. While there, we will be staying with a Mayan family. The main reason for going to language school is to immerse ourselves just a bit more than the typical tourist. If our experience in France is any gauge, spending two weeks with your teacher allows you to get to know real people from another country rather than just rush from tourist magnet to tourist magnet.
While on the lake we will make a pilgrimage to Santiago Atitlan to pay our respects to Maximom. I know very little about Maximom, but hope to learn more. I've heard he is part Catholic saint, part Mayan deity. Some describe him as a bully that you don't want to anger. People ask him for favors, but some say he is just as likely to cause you grief. What I do know is that the Maximom you pay respect to is a wooden statue who is usually smoking a cigarette. You pay your respects by offering him more cigarettes; preferably wrapped in Quetzels (Guatemalan money). People also bring candles, rum, grain alcohol. Here he is...
I know what you're thinking. This is just a big scam so these Mayan guys can score free smokes, booze and cash. I assure you it's much more than that. I read all about it on the internet.
Another attraction to Guatemala is the cost. Here are our major expenses.
Airfare: $480 from Plattsburgh
Language school (1:1 instruction): $110 /person /week
Room and board at our home stay: $75 /person /WEEK
There are some other expenses, but the entire 2 1/2 week trip for our family of four will be under $5,000. We can feel even more good about this spending considering where the money will go. A typical rural Guatemalan family has an income of $4.50 per day. All of our homestay money goes to the host family. ¿Muy Bueno, no?
The attractions include the beautiful colonial city of Antigua. This city is surrounded by volcanos (We hope to climb one and roast marshmallows, as all tourists do), and hosts a chocolate museum (At which we hope to make chocolate from raw cocoa beans).
Guatemala is also home to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. These are famous because George Lucas built them about 2,000 years ago so he could use them as a set location for the very first Star Wars movie. I think Tikal is also famous among academics too. I'm not sure why; perhaps because of the big spiders or the spider monkeys. I'll have to ask our friend Nancy Davis; she would know.
Here is the clip from Star Wars that makes this place so important.
We will be spending the majority of our time in the village of San Pedro La Laguna. It is situated on Lake Atitlan, which looks like this...
San Pedro is known as a backpacker hangout near the water, and more authentically Mayan 'up the hill.' These are a different sort of backpacker from what you might think. These are folks who may have finished college and are spending a gap year wandering the world. More of a hobo than a John Muir type. We will spend two weeks in San Pedro, taking Spanish language lessons for four hours each day. While there, we will be staying with a Mayan family. The main reason for going to language school is to immerse ourselves just a bit more than the typical tourist. If our experience in France is any gauge, spending two weeks with your teacher allows you to get to know real people from another country rather than just rush from tourist magnet to tourist magnet.
While on the lake we will make a pilgrimage to Santiago Atitlan to pay our respects to Maximom. I know very little about Maximom, but hope to learn more. I've heard he is part Catholic saint, part Mayan deity. Some describe him as a bully that you don't want to anger. People ask him for favors, but some say he is just as likely to cause you grief. What I do know is that the Maximom you pay respect to is a wooden statue who is usually smoking a cigarette. You pay your respects by offering him more cigarettes; preferably wrapped in Quetzels (Guatemalan money). People also bring candles, rum, grain alcohol. Here he is...
I know what you're thinking. This is just a big scam so these Mayan guys can score free smokes, booze and cash. I assure you it's much more than that. I read all about it on the internet.
Another attraction to Guatemala is the cost. Here are our major expenses.
Airfare: $480 from Plattsburgh
Language school (1:1 instruction): $110 /person /week
Room and board at our home stay: $75 /person /WEEK
There are some other expenses, but the entire 2 1/2 week trip for our family of four will be under $5,000. We can feel even more good about this spending considering where the money will go. A typical rural Guatemalan family has an income of $4.50 per day. All of our homestay money goes to the host family. ¿Muy Bueno, no?
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Spirit Airlines
Guatemala is a very poor country, where the gulf between the wealthy minority and rest of the population is reported to be as wide as any place in the world. In other words, the Koch brothers' utopian society.
To put ourselves in the mindset of the every day Guatemalan, we chose to travel from the United States to Guatemala like they do. Here is a picture of a bus in Guatemala. Looks just like coach class on an airplane, doesn't it?
The main difference between this photo and our flight with Spirit Airlines will be the plane's lack of carry on luggage, since that costs more. I joked with some friends that the price of a Spirit Airline ticket is cheap if you want to fly naked, but just as costly as any other airline if you want to bring any clothes.
I thought myself pretty clever until I discovered that this was indeed their motto.
To put ourselves in the mindset of the every day Guatemalan, we chose to travel from the United States to Guatemala like they do. Here is a picture of a bus in Guatemala. Looks just like coach class on an airplane, doesn't it?
The main difference between this photo and our flight with Spirit Airlines will be the plane's lack of carry on luggage, since that costs more. I joked with some friends that the price of a Spirit Airline ticket is cheap if you want to fly naked, but just as costly as any other airline if you want to bring any clothes.
I thought myself pretty clever until I discovered that this was indeed their motto.
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