this open air market on Sundays. It’s truly a sight to behold. After the market, we will return to the Home Base in Xela for dinner. This evening’s guest will be Jose Castillo, a former official in the Guatemalan army who will share his perspective on the civil war and the prospects for the country’s future. Day 10: We’ll spend the whole day out in a rural community today doing a World Map project with members of the community, coordinated by a volunteer or Returned Peace Corps Volunteer serving in that village. The project will be a way for us to share with local people and leave behind a useful educational tool as well as a lasting reminder of our friendship and solidarity with the community. Around mid-day we’ll break for lunch and eat with local volunteers and members of the community. After a full day in the community, we’ll return to the Home Base for a hearty dinner. 14-Day Program Only: Day 6: We will continue our service work at the village school. We will spend the afternoon visiting Laguna Chicabal, a lake that is sacred to the Mayan people. The lake has formed in the crater of the Chicabal Volcano. Here we’ll learn about Maya cosmology and meet a traditional shaman who will explain to us the meaning behind their ancient religious ceremony. For those who want to delve deeper into Maya cosmology, they can watch a documentary at the Home Base called “Cracking the Maya Code.” Day 7: Today we will wrap up our primary community service project and say farewell to the teachers and students at the school where we’ve been working. In the afternoon, we’ll take a cultural tour of the village of San Andres de Xecul. The tour is part of a community-based tourism project facilitated by a Peace Corps volunteer who is working to preserve the town’s cultural heritage while also generating income in a sustainable and equitable way for the villagers. The town is teeming with examples of religious syncretism – we’ll visit one of the most colorful cathedrals in the hemisphere and also participate in a Maya ceremony just around the corner. We’ll visit a shrine to San Simon where locals come pray with colorful candles and offer cigars and alcohol in return for blessings or safe passage to the United States. Day 8: Today we’ll drive to Lake Atitlan, the sacred lake of the Mayans and one of the ten most beautiful lakes in the world. We will spend the day enjoying activities around the lake. We’ll take a boat ride out to one of the Maya villages on the other side of the lake to go for a hike while surrounded by the incredible scenery. We’ll spend the night in a hotel in Panajachel. Day 9: We’ll leave Lake Atitlan early in the morning to travel to Chichicastenango, the site of the largest Mayan craft market in the hemisphere. Artisans from all over the country come to
Day 11: We’ll return to the village again today to finish up any remaining work and say our farewells. We’ll return to the Home Base for lunch and for an afternoon reception to say farewell to the volunteers, community members, RPCVs, and other friends we’ve made in Xela. We’ll pack our bags in the evening in preparation for our return to Antigua the next day. Day 12: We depart early in the morning for Antigua. Along the way we will have lunch and visit the ancient Mayan ruins of lximche, the old capital of the Mayan Kaq’chiqel kingdom. At the ruins we will have a short presentation on “Maya Culture” and our Mayan guide, who is a local anthropologist, will share stories about this site. We’ll have free time in the early evening for exploring Antigua and shopping in its beautiful stores. Day 13: Tour of Antigua with Elisabeth Bell, a local American historian living in Antigua. We’ll take a leisurely walk around this town that has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The tour focuses on the city’s history, cultural trends and restoration efforts. We visit the City Hall Palace, Palace of the Captain’s General, the Cathedral with its majestic ruins, Antigua’s unique cultural lifestyle, Maya archeology through the spiritual stone of jade, and the best museums in town at Paseo de los Museos. In the afternoon, we’ll visit one of the most innovative organic coffee farms in Guatemala. Our knowledgeable guide will walk us through all the steps in the coffee production process. Once we have learned about how coffee is produced, we’ll be able to sample different types of coffee. In the evening, we’ll have a farewell dinner at one of the delectable restaurants in Antigua. Day 14: After breakfast and goodbyes, we will travel to the airport to begin our journey home. Travelers who opt for the post-trip extension to Tikal will be picked up at the hotel and taken to the airport in Guatemala City to fly to the jungle town of Flores.
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