Happy New Year Guatemalan Style - Redux

Feliz ano nuevo all! While it may have been a snoozer for some, others enjoyed the tranquil celebration of New year's in Antigua. Gone were the Pepsi sponsor ships from last year. Gone were the bad Guatemalan rap groups on a main stage. And the mayor made a point to hand out fliers stating that drinking on the street and throwing fireworks at others would not be tolerated this year. Other than the drinking part, I was a happy camper, as was Max, in the family atmosphere of the celebration this year. Much better than last year.

This year we celebrated with our Norwegian neighbors who happen to be travelling the world for a year. We tried to recommend a year in Guatemala instead, but they were not having any of it. Off to Tonga and Samoa soon enough. I got to knock back a few aquavit's with dinner since he brought a bottle from Norway. It made me feel again like the Dane that I am. Of course, the beer, wine and champagne on top of the aquavit made me feel a little more like a college kid again this morning. Take 2 advil and introduce a "movie day" tradition in the house so that you don't have to do anything active. You will see in one picture that Max was very excited about watching our Guatemalan bootleg copy of Valkyrie, but was ultimately disappointed with Tom Cruise's poor acting ability. What's the deal with releasing a Nazi movie on Christmas anyway? Oh, and enjoy the video of max torturing me while I am trying to watch my Nittany Lions get killed in the Rose Bowl.

So, another new year in Guatemala, and another year where none of us had our arms blown off by the millions of fireworks that go off all night long. It's shaping up to be a good year already.

See you soon.

Mark, Jen and El Jefe MAX - xooooooox