October 24, 2012 We walk past Sumpango’s tree-packed central park into the two-story concrete marketplace - our driver César, my husband Dale, and I. Market women wave desultory hands or fans made of sticks and plastic bags over displays of raw meat, homemade soup,...
Oct 24, 2012 When we arrive at the Chapel of San Simón in the town of San Andrés Itzapa, it’s as if we’ve arrived at Guatemala’s own Graceland. The difference is that few tourists come here, only believers. Our guide, César, doesn’t speak English, so I have to...
October 23, 2012 A converted flatbed takes us on a 15-minute drive outside of Antigua to the oldest coffee plantation in Guatemala. Finca Filadelfia (Philadelphia Plantation) is a pretty, well-ordered farm and resort, where sun-warmed green trees and saffron ranch...
October 22, 2012 Right before I wake, I dream that I walk out of our hotel and see an armored truck full of armed men driving down the street. One of the men jumps out and executes a woman, point blank. The shots blow her head back, spraying blood onto the wall of one...
October 21, 2012 Dale and I are not trying to mark the end of an age. When I planned this trip to Guatemala, the Mayan calendar's expiration date of December 21, 2012 wasn’t on my mind. I just hoped for a safer alternative to our favorite budget destination, Mexico,...
Cara Lopez Lee is the author of the novel, Candlelight Bridge, and the memoir, They Only Eat Their Husbands. She’s a winner of The Moth StorySLAM and is featured in many personal storytelling shows. Her writing appears in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Manifest-Station, and Rivet. Cara and her husband love traveling, but their home is coastal Ventura, California, where they enjoy tending their Certified Wildlife Habitat full of birds, bees, and butterflies.
