Ms. Morales

I am a proud Guatemalan! Guatemala the heart of the Mayan world, located in Central America and also known as the country of eternal spring due to our vast rainforests, valleys and beautiful landscape. There are a total of 25 languages spoken In Guatemala!(I know, pretty amazing huh) 22 of those languages are from Mayan, Spanish, Garifuna and Xinca origin. If you would like to visit Guatemala, there is plenty to do. You may want to enjoy a delicious plate of Pepian or perhaps some tamales? These are just a few of our traditional plates in Guatemala. You may also want to do some shopping for some amazing colorful hand made crafts or shop for a traje tipico (traditional dress worn by our indigenous people in Guatemala, these dresses are full of color and patterns) While you are in Guatemala you will definitely hear the Marimba playing in the background, this is a traditional instrument that originated in Guatemala, the marimba is an instrument made out of wooden keys and it is hit with a set of rubber mullets to produce some pretty cool sounds. Guatemala has so many beautiful tourist places you can visit like el Castillo de san Felipe (St. Felipes castle) which is a Spanish colonial fort built to protect the area from the English pirates. But one place you will not want to miss while you are visiting is tikal located in Petén Guatemala, this is an ancient ruin city, it is one of the largest archeological sites in the pre-Columbian Mayan civilization. One of my favorite traditions as a child was flying/raising giant kites up to the sky on Nov. 1st Dia de los Muertos, (day of the dead) we do this because our ancestors believed raising kites high up would help guide the lost souls find their way to up to heaven, I loved it! it was always full of color and funky patterns. These are just a few things beautiful Guatemala has to offer. Oh and on your way back home, don't forget to grab a souvenir or two!