Guatemala: Nuestro Día Primera en Antigua

We were about 25 minutes from landing in Guatemala City when the pilot came on the speaker to inform us that because of the thunderstorm covering the airport, and also due to the terrain around Guatemala City, the approach to land would be too dangerous. We don't have enough fuel to continue circling the airport for an indeterminate amount of time, so we're going to fly to San Salvador instead and refuel there (perhaps? I'm not actually quite sure...the pilot didn't say).

I was unfortunate in having an aisle seat for this flight. I say unfortunate because the thunderstorms have created a pillow-like landscape of cloud cover, behind which the sun is currently setting on the other side of the plane. The peeks I'm catching out the window are quite breath-taking and I'm jealous of the other passengers!

Here are two incredible pictures Jason snapped out his window:


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We have landed in San Salvador and are sitting at the gate, waiting for the American Airlines staff to drive in from their homes, which are 45 minutes away (they had already gone home for the day).

In the past 10 minutes I have:

1) Moved seats to sit with Kristina and Tim.

2) Opened the lavatory door because it said "vacant" to find a 30-something woman shocked and embarrassed as she was sitting on the toilet.

3) Unintentionally started a feast, as I asked the stewards if there were any snacks available for purchase. "Well...at this point, we'll just give them to you." Cue passenger movement en masse to the back of the plane for free food.

We've clearly got nobody for whom to look good at our row 22, free food picnic...is it obvious we don't really want to be on this plane anymore?

We're still not sure in which country we'll be sleeping tonight...more info soon.

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I'm glad to say that we arrived safely in Guatemala City last night!

A group of us just got back from a visit to Antigua, a very famous colonial town about 45 minutes outside of Guatemala City, during our first day off here in Guatemala.

It's pretty much impossible to capture the awesomeness of Antigua in words, so here are some pictures of the unbelievable things we saw during our tour this afternoon.

The fountain in the center of Parque Central.

Landmarks from L to R: Catedral de San José, Volcán de Agua (inactive), and Parque Central.

Inside the Catedral de San José ruins. Earthquakes have ravaged the town of Antigua for centuries. These are behind the front portion of the cathedral which has since been rebuilt (visible in the previous picture).

Looking through the collapsed ceiling.

The walls are filled with bodies/tombs. You can see some lettering faintly written underneath the portion of exposed brick in this picture, indicating the placement of some now-anonymous parishioner.

A video from the center of the ruins.

This woman of 100% Mayan descent (and her family) still makes purses, bags, table clothes, place mats, and other woven goods in the traditional Mayan way.

A ruined convent.

Flowers hanging in Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, a 5 star hotel built in the ruins of the Santo Domingo Monastery. Many parts of the ruins have also been converted into small museum showrooms (e.g. crypts, a room behind the altar with religious artwork, etc.).

Part of the garden in the courtyard of the hotel.

Taking the parrots away for the night.



A video inside the courtyard.

The monastery, which has been converted into an outdoor performance space/wedding chapel.

Charlie, Ted, myself, Kiana, and Annette in the hotel courtyard.

Today was pretty much the most incredible day off we've had in an unbelievably long time. Multiple times this afternoon I found myself thinking, "This is really weird. I can't believe I'm actually standing in Mayan ruins in the middle of Guatemala..."

I can't wait to experience more of this unbelievably fascinating and beautiful country over the next few days! Off to Lake Atitlán early tomorrow morning!

Friends, Family, the Philharmonic, and the Final Frontier

In recognition of Barrage's performance for the Opening Ceremonies at the 26th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs tomorrow evening, I'm giving myself a mission: to write about the past two weeks' happenings...in one galactically-large, space-themed post.

Why? Why not.

T minus 5...

After performing in Colorado just a little over a week ago, we went down to New Mexico to perform in Albuquerque. Instead of spending the day off after our performance in Albuquerque, however, I decided to fly home for 24 hours to surprise my parents. So I re-routed my Barrage plane ticket for L.A. to go to Phoenix instead, and bumped it up a day earlier. Then, fortunately, I had a free flight on Southwest, so I used that to meet up with the band in L.A. the following day.

I even pulled off an elaborate rouse with my friend Jere, who had planned to grab lunch with my mom. She called me the night before and was so excited to get lunch with him--little did she know that I'd be in attendance, as well!

It was great being home, even if it was just for 24 hours. I took my parents to a great Korean restaurant in Gilbert called Chodang, and because they had never really had Korean before, it was neat getting to introduce them to a cuisine I've come to thoroughly enjoy while traveling with the band.

T minus 4...

The following afternoon, I caught a plane to L.A. and met up with the band. As soon as they picked me up from the airport, we headed into downtown L.A. for the night. Most of the band went to a Vancouver Canucks hockey game, but Annette and I decided to head over to the Walt Disney Concert Hall (designed by Frank Gehry) to hear the L.A. Philharmonic play Mahler's 5th Symphony. After eating an incredible meal at Bottega Louie (pretty sure it's the best pizza I've had in the States), I stopped by Macy's to pick up a tie (I felt guilty wearing jeans to hear the L.A. Phil, so I figured I needed to class up my outfit as much as possible....), and we walked up the street to the WDCH as the sun was setting. It was an idyllic evening, to say the least. The WDCH is definitely one of my favorite concert halls--if you're ever in the L.A. area, I'd strongly recommend going to a concert!

T minus 3...

Before we left for St. George, Utah, I got to see even more family, as my Aunt & Uncle came to one of our performances outside L.A. I'm really glad that this job allows me to visit with my relatives who don't live in Arizona!


T minus 2...

After two performances in the beautiful, picturesque town of St. George, we drove to Vegas for a performance and two days of rehearsal for the upcoming China tour in May.

Vegas turned out to be a special visit, as well, because my awesome friends Jere & Allyson drove up from Mesa for a mini-vacation in Vegas to see me and also to celebrate their 8th Anniversary! And, quite fortuitously, our great friends Kaitlynn & Jordan (both originally from Mesa), now happen to live just outside Vegas!


I had an unbelievable amount of fun hanging out with them after the show, and also the following evening, during which we took Jere & Allyson to visit the Bellagio, as they had never been before. Visiting a hotel might sound lame, but visiting the Bellagio is a full-on experience: watching the fountains out front, indulging in the smells of the conservatory, and eating crepes while people watching provides quite the evening of entertainment.

T minus 1...

Then, we headed back to L.A. for one more show last night. I got to visit with my friend Nick, who was also a quartet coach of mine while he was doing his doctorate in cello at ASU. It was especially exciting having Nick come to the show because he had absolutely no idea what Barrage was--he just knew I was in it. That being said, performing last night was especially refreshing and exciting because I began to re-experience the excitement of the show vicariously through Nick's presence!


...liftoff.

Mission: accomplished...in an extraordinarily nerdy manner.

Departure for Guatemala for our Central America tour: T-42 hours.