Tikal!!

Waking up at 3 in the morning is never fun, however, I am so glad I did it! We were supposed to see sunrise in Tikal National Park but the clouds were not participating. What I did see was a few howler monkeys and heard many scary jungle sounds. I would've been scared to death had we not been in a huge tour group with 2 security guards. The sound from the howler monkey was like that of a ferocious dog gobbling up its prey. I can not even describe to the extent of how scary this was!! But I'm safe aside from the incident of the monkey chasing me and causing me to fall. I now have a sprained ankle but unfortunately, it was not from a monkey chasing me. Just my own unsure footing walking down steep steps of the pyramids we climbed. What a fantastic experience though! I imagine it would have been even more spiritual with less people. The other great thing about the timing was we avoided the brunt of the heat. This is weather like the rainforest, very hot and humid, which the parts of Guatemala I've traveled to thus far have not been as they've been pretty high up in elevation. There were some super tall pyramids I climbed via a staircase and so tall I was afraid to look down but I didn't let my fear of heights nor my ankle hold me back..... The pictures turned out well, I can't wait to share.....

So....I'm taking the plunge and am about to spend 7 days 6 nights on a catamaran to the Belizean cayes! We leave in an hour and will spend this afternoon on Rio Dulce and Lago de Izabal. If you're interested in checking out my trip, the website is www.sailing-diving-guatemala.com
I feel sort of guilty as this is a trip I'd love to take with Ryan. I am definitely living this one up. I'm making up for it though in the hotels and hostels I've been staying at. Definitely going for the cheapest but safest options. Let me just say, I'm glad I never saw the movie Hostel!!

What is cool about this trip is I keep running into former housemates and other travelers I've met along the way. I'm loving communicating in another language even in my limited vocabulary I'm able to get my point across and then some. I love to hear about others' stories and there's a definite theme in that everyone hates their job and most are traveling for far longer than I am. I have come to a number of realizations on this trip which I'll get into at a later time but suffice it to say traveling is a wonderful way to get to know yourself better. I appreciate what I have so much more and I can not wait to eventually not worry about what I'm eating or be able to brush my teeth without bottled purified water!!

Well, I'm off... Muchos abrazos

Guatemalan Jungle

I survived 2 nights in the jungle, can you believe it. For this bug-phobic girl, this is a true accomplishment. The sounds at night are scary even with my saving grace: earplugs. Our adventure started with a 6 hour bus ride from Antigua to Rio Dulce, a cool, Caribbean town. From there, we took an hour boat ride to this quaint little place called El Hotelito Perdito, lost hotel, and they weren´t kidding. It is absolutely out in the middle of nowhere. We stayed in a romantic little bungalow with a private bathroom, a complete luxury in these parts. I was so happy to have mosquito netting and I am still really bit up!! The worst were the bugs, a cockroach was in our bathroom the last night and all kinds of exotic bugs around especially at night. The worst though might have been the beetle that fell from the ceiling and landed on my friend Becky. She was in the hammock and flew from it so quickly. Not a problem, though, as the dog (clean and well taken care of, a rarity) ate it with a resounding crunch. This is why we left that little place and are now in Livingston, a Caribbean town with Garifuna culture and different types of food. Coconut bread and tapado stew, yum!!

Even with this bug issue, this has been my favorite area of Guatemala so far. It has truly stunning natural beauty. We kayaked through a manatee reserve and did not see any manatees, though the birds and flora were so nice and tranquil to be around. I only screamed a few times when Becky almost tipped the kayak! I am most certainly not the most comfortable person around water! It was so relaxing and much needed after the hustle and bustle of life in Antigua.

Not sure what our plans are for the near future. We are definitely headed the ruins of Tikal. But a trip on a catamaran through the Belizean cayes might be in the foreseeable future. If this is the case, I won´t have internet for a week or so!

Mucho cariño

Famoso Esposo

Ryan has been exposed to the real Guatemala and is not too keen on it. I will say we are back in Antigua for one night and the hotel is divine, I took my first hot shower in over a month. And not the kind I've become so accustomed to where it might start out warm but then all of a sudden goes frigidly cold: it was hot the whole time. I didn't even realize I had missed that. Ok, maybe I'm not a true undeveloped country sort of traveler, then again I've been without for 5 weeks!!

So, I got to show Ryan where I've been living for a month and he got to meet my teacher, Mayra and my friends and roommates I've been hanging out with. Then we took a shuttle through very windy not so good roads for 2-3 hours to Lake Atitlan. The village we stayed at was called San Marcos and was really small but had tons of yoga studios and massage places. There was even a moon and sun course place where you could study astronomy and the like, very new age-y. Our first hotel was right in the center of this village and I couldn't sleep at night with the wild dogs barking at all hours and you could literally hear the conversations next door through the possibly mortar or stucco walls with big gaps. So we moved right outside the village and seemed to have the place to ourselves: a gorgeous lakeside view with a restaurant on the premises. I had my first Thai food here, weird, huh, but it was ok. Glad to be back in Antigua for a day more to enjoy the conveniences a touristy town has to offer.

Also experienced a scorpion in our room, a huge spider, no door on the bathroom and no curtains to the bathroom window. Unfortunately, the place was owned by a foreigner (possibly German) who was really rude and took offense that we told him about no door on the bathroom. Oh well, Guatemala is very similar to Guam in a lot of respects. It can be raw and beautiful at the same time with a lot of poverty mixed in.

So off to my next adventure and Ryan goes back to Seattle. He's certainly seen enough!!

Hasta luego!

Cuaresma and Semana Santa

Lent and holy week, thank goodness they are over!! This past week has been a much different Antigua. Hordes of tourists descended on this tiny town. I have become annoyed with them, which I don’t consider myself, ha, I like to think of myself more as a traveler and observe the culture, which I hope I do most of the time. Seriously, I have met so many obnoxious Americans, the sort that only takes pictures and moves on and somehow manages to be the center of attention, in a bad way. My sanity has been exploring Antigua most mornings when the city feels deserted and I enjoy it so much more. It´s way more relaxing and enjoyable than fighting for space in this tiny town. Antigua is magical without the tourists.

So I escaped Antigua with a friend last weekend to a working coffee farm. It had great views of the surrounding area and a canopy zip line, although I didn´t want to shell out the big bucks for that. I flagged the hummer type vehicle down and managed to get free transportation there and back, a bonus for speaking Spanish, I think! We felt like exploring the grounds after a leisurely brunch and went on a tour by mule!! The workers there asked where we were from and were happy they didn’t have to explain the difference between Democrats and Republicans in the US. So, you know where this is going of course, we rode the Democrats. Out came a white mule named Hillary, so I immediately volunteered for her! Yes, I have thought of every single possible joke imaginable during that ride. She was temperamental, she didn’t like the other girl mules, and absolutely had a mind of her own, the whole nine yards. She kept going off the trail, I was so happy to be finished with the hour ride and grateful we didn’t sign up for longer. I learned the words for stop, right, left, etc. muy rapidamente! So…now my vote goes to Obama….

Sorry to disappoint on the picture end, I have been lazy about finding the time to do it..... And I know I won´t get to it in the next 2 weeks because.....

Ryan gets in to Guatemala tomorrow night then we´re off to Lake Atitlan, an area with volcanic lakes and a bunch of traditional Mayan villages. Can´t wait to just relax!! After Ryan leaves this Sunday, I´m off to explore other parts of Guatemala with a friend I met here from the US (not of the obnoxious type)! We don´t have a set itinerary which I´m excited about. First, we´ll go to Rio Dulce and Livingston to experience the Garifuna culture near the Caribbean then we´ll see the big Mayan site of Tikal. "Tikal is to Guatemala what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris", I must´ve read this a thousand times. It´s true though, it´s on their license plates and on every touristy literature piece. The plan is then to end up in Quetzaltenango for more school. But after my experience with the school in Antigua, I don´t want to reserve a space beforehand, I prefer to check it out for myself before signing up.

I´m so ready for a new place and a new adventure!!

Adios, mis amigos!!

Live life in the present (tense): Learn Spanish!

Another week in Antigua and if it weren't for Easter and the popularity of Semana Santa (Holy Week), I would move on but I must resist. I will be here for another 2 weeks until just after Easter. Cuaresma (lent) is a huge deal here with people visiting from all over the world to see processions in the street, really parades with people dressed in purple robes carrying crosses, etc. on their backs all to music and incense that completely clouds over the volcanoes. So I've decided to stay on plus Ryan has decided to visit for almost a week just after spending Easter with his family in San Antonio!!

So my Spanish is certainly improving, however, not as quickly as I'd like. I'm sure it doesn't help that I ask my teacher not to give me homework!!! In my defense, I'm always participating in the activities and I've taken up yoga here. One class was only in Spanish, a great way to learn new words such as breathe deep!! The deal is there are so many foreigners in Antigua that it's difficult to not speak English. It gets frustrating when you're only able to communicate in basic sentences. Learning another language is very humbling for me as I'm such a communicator. I can understand quite a lot but speaking it is a whole other matter..... I've moved on to other tenses besides the present which is a huge step for me! Another student wants to sell t-shirts saying:

Live life in the present (tense)
Learn Spanish!

You can certainly tell an amateur speaker (like me) when they only speak in the present tense!!

This past weekend I went out of the country: to Honduras!! A country I never thought I'd ever visit.... Really just the border town to visit the Copan Ruins, my first Mayan site. The town was really small and quaint but super friendly people and less English was spoken! It was beautiful to see the vast changes in the landscape traveling through Guatemala through the desert and lush landscapes with palm trees, etc. The shuttle to Honduras was not fun at all though, it picked myself and a friend up at 4 am!! And we were the last ones on the shuttle so got stuck with jump seats for 6 hours through winding roads and crazy drivers!! Not to mention an unfriendly crowd except for a chico from England and a chica from Japan who we ended up splitting the cost of a tour guide and hanging out for meals together! It's amazing how fast you make friends when traveling. In the US, you'd never just meet someone and then hang out all weekend.....

I promise I'll stop writing so much and post pictures next!!

Que tengas buen dia, mis amigos!!

Food, Drink Y Volcano

The food situation has dramatically improved. The “mother” in my new house is a much better cook. She makes pupusas which are these incredible melted cheese filled corn tortillas served warm with an excellent homemade salsa. There’s also pepian, a spicy chicken stew with cilantro and pumpkin seeds, which sounds weird but is really yummy. Then I had the best chile rellenos of my life at a typical Guatemalan restaurant, different from the Mexican version as there was no cheese. And the best part is every day fresh corn tortillas are delivered to the house so every lunch is filled with the awesome smell of warm tortillas! No beans at this house, you would rather share a room with me here than my last place!! The fruits here are amazing too, many I don’t know the names of. Papayas, mangos, and coconuts are common and Maritza makes fresh juices with them. So no more hot dogs and beans for this girl—yay!!

My Spanish teacher, Mayra, took me to this huge Mercado and told me all the names of the fruits and vegetables but of course, I can’t remember them all. I have so much to learn. I’ve been taking naps each afternoon b/c my head hurts from all the learning!

I can’t believe I forgot to mention the coffee. They are understandably as into their coffee as Seattleites, maybe more so as there’s a lot of pride in their product. There are good coffee shops everywhere! Starbucks would never make it here. Other non-caffeinated beverages I like are horchata, a sweet rice drink with cinnamon and Rosa de Jamaica, which tastes like fruit punch and is made from hibiscus flowers. And for you beer lovers, the Guatemalan brand is Gallo, as in rooster. Sangria, mojitos, and pina coladas do not taste the same as in the US but I’ll continue to give them a try!

This past Friday, I climbed an active volcano called Volcan Pacaya. I went with 3 other students from the school and others from Australia and Chile driving in a shuttle to the volcano, a fun group. The drive took about 1 ½ hours from Antigua up and down windy roads into the “real” Guatemala. I realized how wealthy Antigua really is upon leaving, where it’s not uncommon to see Hummers and BMWs. As soon as we arrived at the entrance to the national park, there were young kids, maybe 4 or 5 years old, begging us to buy walking sticks. I bought one and was glad I did, the terrain was rocky and jagged. I was also hoping to mess with the hot molten lava (is this what it’s called, or magma?) with the stick but was too chicken to get that close. Other young kids were trying to get us to take a “taxi” up the trail—a horse!!! They kept saying “taxi, taxi, you need taxi.” And on the way down, they all said “light for me, light for me”-they wanted us to donate our flashlights so they could sell them to the next bunch of gringos. Sad to see such young kids basically begging. Anyway, the trip was up the trail to see the sunset and volcano and was dark and dangerous by the time we climbed down! We had a guide, although he wasn’t too helpful. But what a beautiful view of the surrounding valleys and up close of the volcano. It was amazing the heat it gave off! I tore up my shoes a bit but at least they didn’t melt, as other students’ shoes did. It was a surreal place, kept feeling like I was in a Lord of the Rings movie.

Mas to come....

Una semana en Antigua

So it’s been a week that I’ve been living on my own in Guatemala. And, although I still haven’t been able to fully process it, I’ve found I really like the routine and have met more people in 1 week here than in the 6 months I’ve lived in Seattle. This is why…..

My typical day consists of breakfast with the mother of my family, perhaps some other family members and 2 other students who speak English. Then I walk 5 or 10 minutes to my school where classes begin at 8. We work on grammar for 2 hours then take a break for 30 minutes in which I talk to other students, regrettably mostly in English, then go back to conversation with my teacher for another 1 ½ hours. By this time, my mind is completely full of Spanish words and rules that I am grateful the day’s lesson is over. And actually this process is more fun than it sounds, there’s a lot of laughter and misunderstanding which is quite amusing. Then I meander back to my family’s house for lunch at 1 and Spanish is typically spoken at least half of the time. Well, mostly I just listen as my house mother speaks so fast I only understand a few words here and there. My sentences are so basic, choppy and fragmented. Meals thus far have been beans, beans, and more beans. My poor stomach is not cooperating all that well and I’ve been fairly careful. No fresh fruits and vegetables unless it has a very hard skin such as bananas. Salads are pretty much out of the question.

Besides homework each day, I spend my afternoon participating in the school’s free activities. These are awesome because I meet the other students and, of course, see more of Antigua. I toured the local rococo style church and its’ ruins, and took a bicycle tour around Antigua—quite the feat as the streets are made of cobblestone. Typically, I “study” with the students after the activities in a café. The activities have served to distract me from my studies, which I’m not taking super seriously. I feel better by telling myself that my brain can only take so much each day! I’m realizing I care more about immersing myself in the culture and connecting with people (who think like me, are from all over the world and all have really interesting life stories) than spending my time solely studying Spanish. Antigua is a great city to study Spanish in with its’ gorgeous scenery with the volcano in the distance, hills on all sides, and colonial architecture. Not to mention the availability of coffee shops, shopping, and many restaurants. Antigua is a great mix of Spanish, indigenous Mayan people and expats from all over the world plus the tourists and foreigners studying Spanish in the many schools.

What I’ve not enjoyed entirely is the living situation. At first, it wasn’t that bad but as more time passed I realized it was so noisy because it’s on the crazy chicken bus route and the house itself is really more like a boarding house with so many students and family members living there. However, the deal tipper to move is that the house is full of animals. The first few days I lived with my family, I thought how nice that they always greet me with an Hola! It was not until two days later that I noticed it was a parrot greeting me!! You would think I would have noticed that the hola! was immediately following the door closing and not when I entered the inner courtyard of the house. There are also 4 dogs (which I’m allergic to) and a handful of other birds. What was almost worse were the noises and smells from next door. The roosters crowing at all hours of the day and night did not seem bad when compared to the smell from the leather factory next door. Ugghhhh. Thus, I’ve moved to another family’s house. The house was off the tourist path and I did not feel safe walking alone at night so always placed a curfew on myself. Because of this, my nights consisted of eating dinner with the family at 7 and then either talking to the other students or studying. Although I’m not the biggest partier, I hated to feel so restricted and wanted the choice to go out as it presented itself. Maybe this makes me sound like a spoiled brat but I’m much happier now that I’ve moved.

My new house is much closer to the center of Antigua and my school and is weirdly quieter. (I say this and I just heard a round of fireworks go off and now it sounds like a band playing). There’s another American couple, and an American girl living here too. We all share 2 bathrooms. The house mother is again named Maritza, I’m assuming this is a form of Mary with all of the catholic influence here. She doesn’t actually live here but is here most of the day either preparing meals for us and tidying up the house or conversing with us in Spanish. My room is much larger and is decorated cutely with yellow walls and has a desk and a bedside table with a lamp, the latter is a luxury I didn’t have in my last house.

Well, I’m off to wander some more around Antigua and try to find a place to do yoga….