Oh Yeah, We Moved to Antigua, Guatemala

Raco-Life-Antigua-Guatemala-Rache-&-Iza

Finding a place to call home has never been an easy task for either of us since the world is our oyster, but we feel we are narrowing in with our search through the process of elimination. Antigua, Guatemala seems to be where we are really putting down roots. It is about 2.5 hours away from Lake Atitlan and about 45 minutes from Guatemala City. It is flanked by 3 volcanos, 1 of them still very active…. and there is a large Gringo population. We found a Montessori School for Iza and an organic farm close by. All the things that we were desperately missing at the Lake.

We have just come off a whirlwind tour of the United States in April & May, then we had an immediate 10 day stay in Mexico all to seek out what we thought might be ‘home.’

Coming back from the States we were in the hurried frame of mind that comes with the culture of America. Everyone has a very busy, task-oriented schedule with little time to play, exist or just be. Kids have the craziest schedules too with little time for invention and free play schedules. We were so exhausted by the end of it, but recognized the importance of some of the features; Whole Foods, the convenience of having a car, all of our stuff in arms reach, etc.

With our trip to Mexico, we had intended to find an immediate solution, but instead, we gained a lot of perspective on our gorgeous life in Guatemala and realized we wanted to stay. We have support here in Guatemala and that is worth the world to us in both energy and time while we are building our careers.

So here we are, new life to be in Antigua, Guatemala. Another change, another house, another chapter for The Brand Fam. It is a great place for us to be for now and we hope that now can turn into a real future. Wish us luck!

Some highlights: 

Our friends from Embark.org came last year and did a fantastic hike up Volcán Pacaya where they were able to see the shooting lava from Volcán Agua. Very cool and worth looking at!

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Volcan Fuego Explodes in Antigua, Guatemala

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]About 45km as the bird flies, or 75km driving from our house you can land at the base of Volcan Fuego; a still very active volcano nearest to Antigua, Guatemala. On Saturday, February 7th the day that my parents left to head home to the States, Volcan Fuego erupted so much that it clouded the sky in Antigua and Guatemala City closing the airport and leaving a dust of black ash behind. My parents were luckily able to get out in time, with their flight leaving at 3:45pm before the airport was closed.

In the morning hours it has been so foggy and rainy here, which has been a nice surprise and perhaps unrelated to the eruption. Fuego from what we understand has subsided, but it has been extremely active in the past few months, so only time will tell.[/vc_column_text][vcex_spacing size=”30px”][vc_text_separator title=”Related Articles” title_align=”separator_align_center” style=”five” element_type=”div” font_size=”16px”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_blank” alignment=”none” image=”3676″ link=”https://www.facebook.com/conredgt?pnref=story”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”3679″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_blank” alignment=”none” link=”http://au.ibtimes.com/guatemala-airport-closes-due-fire-volcano-eruption-1419190″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”3677″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_blank” alignment=”none” link=”http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-09/guatemalan-fuego-volcano-erupts-australian-hikers-flee/6080606″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”3678″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_blank” alignment=”none” link=”http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-31231744″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_empty_space height=”32px”][vc_text_separator title=”Shots of the Volcano” title_align=”separator_align_center” style=”five” element_type=”div” font_size=”16px”][vcex_image_galleryslider thumbnail_link=”none” custom_links_target=”_self” img_width=”9999″ img_height=”400″ img_thumb_width=”200″ img_thumb_height=”200″ caption=”true” animation=”slide” slideshow=”true” randomize=”false” smooth_height=”true” slideshow_speed=”7000″ animation_speed=”600″ image_ids=”3684,3685,3686,3687,3688,3689,3690″][vc_column_text]Photos collected from Conrad and Christian Santizo.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_empty_space height=”32px”][vc_text_separator title=”Video of the Volcano” title_align=”separator_align_center” style=”five” element_type=”div” font_size=”16px”][vc_video link=”http://youtu.be/Ms6JOBlX-Zw”][/vc_column][/vc_row]