It is so hard to capture this trip in words and to express the feelings and thoughts the run through my head as I experience the things that I have so far. So far, this trip has been an emotional roller coaster and sometimes I have moments where I am overwhelmed with happiness and there are others where I question my existence and the life I have been blessed with. I love that I am able to take something from every country that I visit and I can only hope these lessons will stay with me and shape me into a better, more resilient person. Since I already wrote about my Guatemalan experience, I am going to try to play catch up with some special moments that I had in other countries.
In Belize, we sailed for three days straight, without shelter under the bright sun, only with the occasional rain storm to relieve us from the fear of heat stroke, in which case I was then really cold and really wet. During the day, there were hours where I could feel the cancer beginning to form under my skin, despite the thick barrior of SPF 65 that I applied religiously (and as a former tanning salon employee, applying any kind of SPF is a bold move to make). At night, we would pitch tents on little islands where it would usually start raining really hard, making me wish I could be at home, where I could take a hot shower, and tuck myself into bed. What I learned, though, is that it takes a certain deprivation of even the most basic of necessities in order to really appreciate the luxuries that I am blessed with in my day to day life. A couple weeks ago, Rachel and I checked into a hotel with air conditioning and the smell and feel of it was just remarkable beyond words. Even just walking into an air conditioned store and browsing around is a treat...why buy something when you can enjoy the air conditioning for free, right? These are the kinds of simple pleasures that I hope stay with me as I come back into the comfortable western way of life.
In Honduras, I had the same kind of experience, but instead of learning the importance of valuing the simple pleasures in life, I have learned to value the people I have been blessed with throughout my life time, especially my amazing family. Rachel and I spent a week volunteering with a medical team where we traveled around various poor towns up in the mountains and set up little medical clinics for the day. As I sat there, and watched teen mom after teen mom come in with all their children, I could not help but wonder if any of these women were ever told that they had potential to do whatever they wanted, that having kids and being subjected to one man was not the only option. I thought back to the times growing up, where I was told that I could be anything I wanted to be in the world and the sky was the limit. I thought about my family and how I could afford to make a plunge and take a chance and achieving any dream I had, because they would support me no matter what. And then I realized that the majority of these women do not have that kind of freedom and resources to break free from the cycle of poverty . In fact, to me it seemed like these young women were not really living, but more like surviving. We would give them whatever medicine we could and if it was bad, we would refer them to a hospital for further free treatment, but the reality is that most of them could not even afford the bus ride down to the city. The one week I spent there was such a wake up call to how amazing my life is and how valuable the people are that have come in and out of it. Anways, this blog is a little longer than I anticipated, so I going to continue with Nicaragua next time. Meanwhile, I am going to be happy and appreciate those who love me and the things I am blessed with
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
DEET= DUMB
To the makers of all products containing Deet,
You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Not only have you given me a false sense of security that I cannot afford to have at this point of my life, but you have ruined my watch, and even tainted what was supposed to be a very special moment in my life. I wish I could show you how ¨effective¨ your product is, but all that I have to show for the layers and layers of your product that i have applied, are a body full of bites and an empty wallet. At first, I thought that I was to blame, as I had been trying to conserve the small tube of what was promised to be a miracle repellent. As time passed, I began to get more and more liberal about the layers and frequency of application. What happened, however, was not that the scary amount of bites decreased, but more obscure things, like the paint off my watch began melt away, and labels on my water bottles would disintegrate. I also developed this extreme paranoia that if I did not have deet on at all times, on all parts of my body, I was doomed to be viewed by all insects as a walking delicious Salsbury steak. There were times that I would apply and then break into cold sweats, so minutes later, I would have to apply again.
One dreadful night, I decided to take a break from all the worrying and get a beer at the bar. That was the night, where I was to choose whether I would join team Imperial, or team Salvavida. These are the two most prominent Honduran beers, and the decision of which one I would chose as my preference is something that is to be taken seriously, as it determines how people think of you. After putting the beer up to my lips, I suddenly felt my lips go numb and swallowed what I thought was a mouthful of Raid. Little did I know, I had touched my deet ridden hands to the bottle of the beer and what I thought was an innocent move of touching the bottle to my lips, turned into an hour of not being able to feel my lips and a hatred of Imperial Beer. Luck for you, makers of deet, I was able to get over it.
You, scientists who got together and determined that 34.6753% deet was the most ideal concentration and you salesmen, who conspired with the makers of these products to make innocent people like me, feel safe about leaving the confines of my room and then make me feel guilty for not putting enough on so I have to buy a new bottle every other day, are 100% to blame and this is why I do not like you.
Loveless and Bug Bitten,
Natasha
You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Not only have you given me a false sense of security that I cannot afford to have at this point of my life, but you have ruined my watch, and even tainted what was supposed to be a very special moment in my life. I wish I could show you how ¨effective¨ your product is, but all that I have to show for the layers and layers of your product that i have applied, are a body full of bites and an empty wallet. At first, I thought that I was to blame, as I had been trying to conserve the small tube of what was promised to be a miracle repellent. As time passed, I began to get more and more liberal about the layers and frequency of application. What happened, however, was not that the scary amount of bites decreased, but more obscure things, like the paint off my watch began melt away, and labels on my water bottles would disintegrate. I also developed this extreme paranoia that if I did not have deet on at all times, on all parts of my body, I was doomed to be viewed by all insects as a walking delicious Salsbury steak. There were times that I would apply and then break into cold sweats, so minutes later, I would have to apply again.
One dreadful night, I decided to take a break from all the worrying and get a beer at the bar. That was the night, where I was to choose whether I would join team Imperial, or team Salvavida. These are the two most prominent Honduran beers, and the decision of which one I would chose as my preference is something that is to be taken seriously, as it determines how people think of you. After putting the beer up to my lips, I suddenly felt my lips go numb and swallowed what I thought was a mouthful of Raid. Little did I know, I had touched my deet ridden hands to the bottle of the beer and what I thought was an innocent move of touching the bottle to my lips, turned into an hour of not being able to feel my lips and a hatred of Imperial Beer. Luck for you, makers of deet, I was able to get over it.
You, scientists who got together and determined that 34.6753% deet was the most ideal concentration and you salesmen, who conspired with the makers of these products to make innocent people like me, feel safe about leaving the confines of my room and then make me feel guilty for not putting enough on so I have to buy a new bottle every other day, are 100% to blame and this is why I do not like you.
Loveless and Bug Bitten,
Natasha
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A quick glance of San Andres and Tikal
Above: My host family and pet Ron RonBelow: Me catching bait to fish and the the coconut lady shouting goodbye
The steps I had to climb in Tikal and me not letting go of the wall to the left
Sitting on a ruin watching the Sun come up over Tikal
The view from my kitchen after a storm
Staring death in the face
i love Guatemala. I have a strange rash on my legs that look like leprosy and I´ve been told its probably bed bugs, and my stomach never feels quite right, and its always either really hot or really cold but...I love Guatemala, I just can´t explain it. I have met so many awesome people along the way-both locals and fellow travellers-and i just feel so privileged to be among such an amazing culture that I don´t really have time to do anything but absorb every opportunity that is given to me, which I think has so far lead to me becoming a stronger person.
For example, about a week ago, we ventured out to a small town called Semuc Champey where, once again, my intense and uncontrollable fear of climbing up things and jumping off rocks was completely irrelevant to the guides leading the trek. Following a hefty hike up and down a huge mountain, we were taken to the beginning of a cave and given candles. Because I was too cheap and too aesthetically involved in myself to by those strap on sandals, known to most old men and hippy women as Tivas, I had to trade my rainbows for some tennis shoes that were completely missing half the sole, about 3 sizes too big and held together by a shoe lace. They said that my sandals would fly off in the cave, which probably really should have been an indicator as to what I was about to get myself into. So, with nothing but a candle and wearing my little green bikini and oversized tennis shoes, we began to venture into the cave. At first, we were about calf high in water and our biggest concern was avoiding flying bats, but all too quickly, things got bad....really bad. A waterfall in the distance caused the current to begin to pick up and the water level got higher and higher, which caused a predicament for someone like myself, who on a good day is a little over 5 feet tall. Also, I was blessed with the ability to run, but absolutely no desire to swim more than what it takes to cool me down after a long day of tanning. So add that together, along with the fact that my tennis shoes were acting as 10 pound weights on my feet, and subtract one arm (because it was pitch dark and the only way to see was to keep your candle above water and hope it didn´t get splashed) and you can see that i had myself a terrible situation. And to add to that, the guides seem to get some kind of sick pleasure out of explaining the bare minimum of what we were about to do, in the fastest spanish possible, over the extremely loud and echo-y noise of water currents , to the first 5 people in a group of 20 and watching all of us try to not die as we climbed over rocks and swam through small holes and God knows what else. It was at the point that I had about enough that we approached the mother of all waterfalls that he turned to me and said (in spanish)
¨Chica, you are going to grab that make shift rope that is being sustained by a small rock out yonder and hoist yourself up against the force of an extremely strong waterfall while not being able to breathe or see anything. Also, you can´t see what is on the other side becasue it will be dark and your candle will be soaked and useless. And after that, you are going to feel for a worm hole in the wall and then slide down to the other side, but stay to the left or else you will fall into an abyss of the waterfall - Ready, set, go!¨
okay, I wish his description was the detailed, but really it was like ¨chica, follow me and hold on tight, okay!!¨
Needless to say, we all made it out alive and daylight has never looked so amazing.
After that, I jumped off a tall bridge into the river and also off a swing, you know how you did it in third grade where you would land in sand, except I had to time it so I didn´t fall into rocks. This is what Travellers insurance is for, right??
And now that I´m ranting about how cool I am, I am going to continue with saying that two days ago I climbed up a volcano and stared death in the face as I peered into smouldering hot lava, just so that I could roast the most perfect marshmallows and hot dog weenie on a long stick that was given to by some locals. Can you say, AMAZING??? Man, I am so fired up and I want everyone to come to Guatemala. I just love it, love it, love it and I can´t wait to see what the rest of Central America is like. Right now, we are in a little hippy lake town called San Pedro and we are going to hang out here for a few days until our amazing English friend Steve, who we met in Belize meets up with us, and then we are off to explore El Salvador. We celebreated Steve´s 300th day traveling last week and our group has not been the same since he left us (or is it maybe that among 4 girls, we need some testosterone to balance it all out?) Anyways, we have heard some shady stories about El Salvador so it will be good to have a man around.
Alright, well I am going to go get some dinner.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY AND GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FIRST DAY OF HAVING A REAL JOB!!!! (well, tomorrow anyways!!) I am proud of you!!
For example, about a week ago, we ventured out to a small town called Semuc Champey where, once again, my intense and uncontrollable fear of climbing up things and jumping off rocks was completely irrelevant to the guides leading the trek. Following a hefty hike up and down a huge mountain, we were taken to the beginning of a cave and given candles. Because I was too cheap and too aesthetically involved in myself to by those strap on sandals, known to most old men and hippy women as Tivas, I had to trade my rainbows for some tennis shoes that were completely missing half the sole, about 3 sizes too big and held together by a shoe lace. They said that my sandals would fly off in the cave, which probably really should have been an indicator as to what I was about to get myself into. So, with nothing but a candle and wearing my little green bikini and oversized tennis shoes, we began to venture into the cave. At first, we were about calf high in water and our biggest concern was avoiding flying bats, but all too quickly, things got bad....really bad. A waterfall in the distance caused the current to begin to pick up and the water level got higher and higher, which caused a predicament for someone like myself, who on a good day is a little over 5 feet tall. Also, I was blessed with the ability to run, but absolutely no desire to swim more than what it takes to cool me down after a long day of tanning. So add that together, along with the fact that my tennis shoes were acting as 10 pound weights on my feet, and subtract one arm (because it was pitch dark and the only way to see was to keep your candle above water and hope it didn´t get splashed) and you can see that i had myself a terrible situation. And to add to that, the guides seem to get some kind of sick pleasure out of explaining the bare minimum of what we were about to do, in the fastest spanish possible, over the extremely loud and echo-y noise of water currents , to the first 5 people in a group of 20 and watching all of us try to not die as we climbed over rocks and swam through small holes and God knows what else. It was at the point that I had about enough that we approached the mother of all waterfalls that he turned to me and said (in spanish)
¨Chica, you are going to grab that make shift rope that is being sustained by a small rock out yonder and hoist yourself up against the force of an extremely strong waterfall while not being able to breathe or see anything. Also, you can´t see what is on the other side becasue it will be dark and your candle will be soaked and useless. And after that, you are going to feel for a worm hole in the wall and then slide down to the other side, but stay to the left or else you will fall into an abyss of the waterfall - Ready, set, go!¨
okay, I wish his description was the detailed, but really it was like ¨chica, follow me and hold on tight, okay!!¨
Needless to say, we all made it out alive and daylight has never looked so amazing.
After that, I jumped off a tall bridge into the river and also off a swing, you know how you did it in third grade where you would land in sand, except I had to time it so I didn´t fall into rocks. This is what Travellers insurance is for, right??
And now that I´m ranting about how cool I am, I am going to continue with saying that two days ago I climbed up a volcano and stared death in the face as I peered into smouldering hot lava, just so that I could roast the most perfect marshmallows and hot dog weenie on a long stick that was given to by some locals. Can you say, AMAZING??? Man, I am so fired up and I want everyone to come to Guatemala. I just love it, love it, love it and I can´t wait to see what the rest of Central America is like. Right now, we are in a little hippy lake town called San Pedro and we are going to hang out here for a few days until our amazing English friend Steve, who we met in Belize meets up with us, and then we are off to explore El Salvador. We celebreated Steve´s 300th day traveling last week and our group has not been the same since he left us (or is it maybe that among 4 girls, we need some testosterone to balance it all out?) Anyways, we have heard some shady stories about El Salvador so it will be good to have a man around.
Alright, well I am going to go get some dinner.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY AND GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FIRST DAY OF HAVING A REAL JOB!!!! (well, tomorrow anyways!!) I am proud of you!!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Moving on to Belize!
So as a result of San Andres being the home of the slowest internet i have ever encountered, which is inside the hottest room I have ever been on, on the very top of the biggest hill i have ever tried to surmount, I have not written as much as I had planned. oh and not to mention there are these CRAZY rain storms that just come out of nowhere and knock out all elecricity and internet signal. Totally not worth it to start writing a blog and then get cut off without so much a thunderstorm warning. But since we have to catch a 5am bus to Belize tomorrow, we have decided to bid farewall to our little town of San Andres and stay in a hostal in the next big town over close to the bus stop. So here I am, relfecting upon the past two weeks and there is just so much that has happened, so much personal growth, that I don{t even know where to begin.
First, I have become way more comfortable with bodily functions and having a face so shiny with sweat that you could check yourself out with it. As I said last time, there is not any running water so if you gotta poop, its just gonna sit there until water comes back on. And if you gotta poop after someone else has just pooped...well, yah...not the most pleasant thing over. Telling your host mama that you just let a load out in her toilet and you don{t know what to do about it is even worse. Plus, add the language barrier and a bunch of over the top signals to get your point across, and you got yourself a situation. For the most part, showers consist of my pouring a bucket of cold water over my head and getting dressed, only to begin sweating again the moment I have stepped out of the shower. And as for the hair straightner...forget it. See, i told you...tons of personal growth here. I only have three tank tops that I am rotating and I have become accostomed and maybe have even fallen in love with the idea of a headband and sunglasses as a means of feeling sassy.
Personal growth numero dos- I have never been scared of bugs or creatures, but there are some MASSIVE ones out here that I have battled with, with my own bare hands. I picked up two huge fat frogs who conveniently blocking my way up the stairs, and killed this bug that they call a RON RON, or a Rhinosaurce bettle, and I kid you not, the name matches the description. I found it in my room one late night after everyone had gone to bed, and for a second, I think I blacked out. There was no way I could step on it, as I figured if I didn{t pass out from the crunch, it could quite possibly take my shoe and throw it back in my face. So I poisened it with some clothes bug spray and watched as it died slowly. Then I got brave and put it in a ziplock bag so i could properly dispose of it outside where its spirit could not find me. Go me! The next day, I showed my teacher pictures that I had taken of it and she was like "oh yah, the other girl took a picture of one of those at the zoo the other day!" Greaaatt...so the creature that was in my room last night, actually belongs in a freaking ZOO!! My sister e-mailed me later and told me that she had looked the animal up online and that they are used as pets for small children in China. Double great... so i possibly killed someone{s pet!
Personal Growth lesson numero tres- Its okay to have nothing to do. And by do nothing, I mean sit around in a hammock all day while dripping sweat on the lake. That{s been my life for the past two weeks, and although I am enjoying it, it was kind of a difficult transition to adjust to. Not saying I am the most active thing in the world when i{m at home, but it seems like these people are just so happy doing this for their life, not just during their vacation, like us gringos. I absolutely LOVED the people in the village...so friendly and ready to try out their english. The kids run around screaming "I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU" and not in a bothersome creepy way, but in a curious eager to learn kind of way. I absolutley adore it!!
Yesterday, we went fishing and we passed a little strip of land where two ladies were washing clothes on this hut on the lakeside. We pulled in the ask it they sold limons, and in doing so got ourselves invited inside what we thought was a village, but was really the home to one family with 12 kids. There were chickens and children everywhere, and they{re clothes were all really dirty, but the women, with the most kindness ever, hauled over chairs and insisted that we sit down. She proceded to cut open coconut after coconut with her machete, until we could eat coco no more. I was playing with a little baby boy, who was no more than 7 months and we were talking to a 13 year old girl who was saying she had gone to school before, but can{t afford to get to the school since they live in such a remote area. As the boat drove away, the lady said to us "I don{t have money, and I don{t have a house, and we don{t have much clothes, but we have God" W0w, talk about a dose of faith and humility right on the spot. Despite our society{s need to be consumers, i learned that happiness truly does come from the peace you can give yourself from within your heart. Amen sister!
Personal growth numbero Cuatro- You are as tough as you push yourself to be. On Saturday, we left San Andres at 3am to make the 1 and a half hour drive to Tikal so we could watch the sunrise over Mayan Ruins. After a thirty minute hike in the pitch dark where we had to be careful for these massive tree roots on the ground that were apparently the home to tarantulas, while listening to howler monkies, who if you{ve never heard, sound like a mob of starving jaguars, with the scary movie "The Ruins" playing over and over in my head, and after climbing up man made stairs, which a handful of people had apparently fallen of off and died in the past year, I made it to the top to watch the sun come over the city. Although it was a little cloudy, it was a magical experience, especially to think that there is so much more to discover (apparently, it is only 20 percent excavated), and so much that we don{t know, and probably will never know.
But that wasn{t even the best of it! Our guide led us to an even huger, more massive ruin that, I am not kiddening you, had 100 plus stairs up, in the form of a rickety wooden, verticle ladder! I can{t wait to show you picture of this thing! I wasn{t sure if I wanted to climb up, but I did and although I got to the top, and refused to let go of the wall, and then climbed right back down, I{m glad i did it.
So that{s a basic recap of my 2 weeks here in San Andres. Other than learning life lessons, Rachel, Dana and I, along with another girl, Katie who is traveling solo, but has joined us, we have just managed to make the best of every situations. There have been tummy aches, crazy boat experiences, tons of Gallo (the local beer), weird meals made by our homestay moms that we couldn{t even decipher, creatures galor, etc, but we are alive and stronger than ever. So now we are moving on the Belize, ready to experience more. yessss!
PS I love your guys comments, it really means a lot to me!!
First, I have become way more comfortable with bodily functions and having a face so shiny with sweat that you could check yourself out with it. As I said last time, there is not any running water so if you gotta poop, its just gonna sit there until water comes back on. And if you gotta poop after someone else has just pooped...well, yah...not the most pleasant thing over. Telling your host mama that you just let a load out in her toilet and you don{t know what to do about it is even worse. Plus, add the language barrier and a bunch of over the top signals to get your point across, and you got yourself a situation. For the most part, showers consist of my pouring a bucket of cold water over my head and getting dressed, only to begin sweating again the moment I have stepped out of the shower. And as for the hair straightner...forget it. See, i told you...tons of personal growth here. I only have three tank tops that I am rotating and I have become accostomed and maybe have even fallen in love with the idea of a headband and sunglasses as a means of feeling sassy.
Personal growth numero dos- I have never been scared of bugs or creatures, but there are some MASSIVE ones out here that I have battled with, with my own bare hands. I picked up two huge fat frogs who conveniently blocking my way up the stairs, and killed this bug that they call a RON RON, or a Rhinosaurce bettle, and I kid you not, the name matches the description. I found it in my room one late night after everyone had gone to bed, and for a second, I think I blacked out. There was no way I could step on it, as I figured if I didn{t pass out from the crunch, it could quite possibly take my shoe and throw it back in my face. So I poisened it with some clothes bug spray and watched as it died slowly. Then I got brave and put it in a ziplock bag so i could properly dispose of it outside where its spirit could not find me. Go me! The next day, I showed my teacher pictures that I had taken of it and she was like "oh yah, the other girl took a picture of one of those at the zoo the other day!" Greaaatt...so the creature that was in my room last night, actually belongs in a freaking ZOO!! My sister e-mailed me later and told me that she had looked the animal up online and that they are used as pets for small children in China. Double great... so i possibly killed someone{s pet!
Personal Growth lesson numero tres- Its okay to have nothing to do. And by do nothing, I mean sit around in a hammock all day while dripping sweat on the lake. That{s been my life for the past two weeks, and although I am enjoying it, it was kind of a difficult transition to adjust to. Not saying I am the most active thing in the world when i{m at home, but it seems like these people are just so happy doing this for their life, not just during their vacation, like us gringos. I absolutely LOVED the people in the village...so friendly and ready to try out their english. The kids run around screaming "I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU" and not in a bothersome creepy way, but in a curious eager to learn kind of way. I absolutley adore it!!
Yesterday, we went fishing and we passed a little strip of land where two ladies were washing clothes on this hut on the lakeside. We pulled in the ask it they sold limons, and in doing so got ourselves invited inside what we thought was a village, but was really the home to one family with 12 kids. There were chickens and children everywhere, and they{re clothes were all really dirty, but the women, with the most kindness ever, hauled over chairs and insisted that we sit down. She proceded to cut open coconut after coconut with her machete, until we could eat coco no more. I was playing with a little baby boy, who was no more than 7 months and we were talking to a 13 year old girl who was saying she had gone to school before, but can{t afford to get to the school since they live in such a remote area. As the boat drove away, the lady said to us "I don{t have money, and I don{t have a house, and we don{t have much clothes, but we have God" W0w, talk about a dose of faith and humility right on the spot. Despite our society{s need to be consumers, i learned that happiness truly does come from the peace you can give yourself from within your heart. Amen sister!
Personal growth numbero Cuatro- You are as tough as you push yourself to be. On Saturday, we left San Andres at 3am to make the 1 and a half hour drive to Tikal so we could watch the sunrise over Mayan Ruins. After a thirty minute hike in the pitch dark where we had to be careful for these massive tree roots on the ground that were apparently the home to tarantulas, while listening to howler monkies, who if you{ve never heard, sound like a mob of starving jaguars, with the scary movie "The Ruins" playing over and over in my head, and after climbing up man made stairs, which a handful of people had apparently fallen of off and died in the past year, I made it to the top to watch the sun come over the city. Although it was a little cloudy, it was a magical experience, especially to think that there is so much more to discover (apparently, it is only 20 percent excavated), and so much that we don{t know, and probably will never know.
But that wasn{t even the best of it! Our guide led us to an even huger, more massive ruin that, I am not kiddening you, had 100 plus stairs up, in the form of a rickety wooden, verticle ladder! I can{t wait to show you picture of this thing! I wasn{t sure if I wanted to climb up, but I did and although I got to the top, and refused to let go of the wall, and then climbed right back down, I{m glad i did it.
So that{s a basic recap of my 2 weeks here in San Andres. Other than learning life lessons, Rachel, Dana and I, along with another girl, Katie who is traveling solo, but has joined us, we have just managed to make the best of every situations. There have been tummy aches, crazy boat experiences, tons of Gallo (the local beer), weird meals made by our homestay moms that we couldn{t even decipher, creatures galor, etc, but we are alive and stronger than ever. So now we are moving on the Belize, ready to experience more. yessss!
PS I love your guys comments, it really means a lot to me!!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
I´m here!!!!!
Bievandios a Guatemala!! It is sooo cute and beautiful in the little village that I´m gonna call home for the next two weeks. We had to catch a little launcha, or boat across the lake before we reached a small village called San Andres. Within minutes of arriving, it starting pouring with intense thunder and lightening, but then less than ten minutes later, it was clear skies again. No wonder everything is soo green! Boy, its hot and humid!! Everyone just sits on their hammocks in their porches or goes down by the lake to cool off, but despite the fact that its seems like everyone just sits around, there is no obvious signs of poverty. No one begs for money on the streets and everyone seems very happy.
Having said that, there is no running water here in the afternoons and nights, it usually turns off at 2pm and doesn´t come back on until the morning...that is if it comes on at all. I took my first bucket shower as well as my first lake shower! interesting!! there is also no water in the toilets so everyone just goes and it sits there until we can flush again . Also electricity is very variable.
My teacher at school is very nice and its cool becasue its one on one, so I feel like i´m learning a lot. My host mama is also very nice and she cooks amazing meals! fresh hot tortillas with every meal, including spaghetti!
Tonight, we have a date with the entire village as the Guatemalan soccer team battles USA. We are definately the minority, but holding our own with cervesas in hand.
I´ll be back tomorrow to post about some crazy shit that´s I´ve had to deal with, including how I had to explain to my host mama, in spanish, that I had pooped in the toilet and it wasn´t flushing. Also, how I managed to kill the LARGEST animal I´ve ever seen in my life. Stay tuned folks!! see ya soon!
Having said that, there is no running water here in the afternoons and nights, it usually turns off at 2pm and doesn´t come back on until the morning...that is if it comes on at all. I took my first bucket shower as well as my first lake shower! interesting!! there is also no water in the toilets so everyone just goes and it sits there until we can flush again . Also electricity is very variable.
My teacher at school is very nice and its cool becasue its one on one, so I feel like i´m learning a lot. My host mama is also very nice and she cooks amazing meals! fresh hot tortillas with every meal, including spaghetti!
Tonight, we have a date with the entire village as the Guatemalan soccer team battles USA. We are definately the minority, but holding our own with cervesas in hand.
I´ll be back tomorrow to post about some crazy shit that´s I´ve had to deal with, including how I had to explain to my host mama, in spanish, that I had pooped in the toilet and it wasn´t flushing. Also, how I managed to kill the LARGEST animal I´ve ever seen in my life. Stay tuned folks!! see ya soon!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Let the challenge begin
Welcome, Welcome!! I should probably change that to say challenges. My brain is exploding with things/emotions/people that I need to address before I leave, which is exactly a week from tomorrow-yikes!! There are still flights to be booked, activities to plan, malaria pills to be taken, clothes to be bought, people to say bye to...all while still suffering from the wrath of my oral surgeon, who apparently had no mercy while pulling out my poor little wisdom teeth.
But the reason I decided to create what is probably my 5th or 6th attempt at having a blog was not to complain but rather do two things
1) Keep ya'll updated with pictures and cool stories.
2) Try to convince people to join up with Rachel, Dana and I as we trek through the following countries: Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Peru
The three of us were fortunate to have that experience that pretty much every kid has when they see a globe for the first time. You know, the one where you lay a map out, close your eyes and randomly point at a geographic region and then daydream about all the cool/weird/crazy stuff that you could do if went there. So yah, maybe it was a bit more strategic, but it was basically the same idea with each country that we were going to be in...and then we connected the all dots into one marvelous 4-month journey. So here it is...for anyone who wants to get away...to the coolest places ever...with the coolest people ever.
Aug 15 - arrive in Flores, Guatemala. We'll be learning/teaching at ecoescuela-espanol.org for three weeks, living with Mayan families, heading towards fluent in Spanish!
Sept 5/6 - heading to Belize via San Ygnacio, where ecoadventurish stuff is way rad, and jaguars are chilling on your porch. Then off to Caye Caulker, a beautiful island out in the Carib. Belize peeps speak English (former british colony) and Garifuna, and are this crazy Rasta mestizo mixing, reggae blasting, dread swinging, hippie people. Also in Belize we'll be visiting Dangriga, where hammocks outnumber humans, possibly Placencia, some jaguar sanctuaries, etc.
Sept 17/18-heading back to Guatemala City and Antigua, a beautiful colonial spanish language school type city, and also to Lake Atitlan, with volcanos and mayan villages and kayaks and fun stuff.
Sept 24 - Heading to El Salvador, hitting some sweet beaches, then Lago de Ipango, a rad crater lake, climing El Poy, and then crossing the border to Honduras byyyyy
Oct 1- checking out the ruinas at Copan, and then bussing it to San Pedro and La Ceiba, and the Bay Islands, the cheapest diving certification on the planet, snorkeling among whale sharks, and all night dancing. Robinson Crusoe shipwrecked here in 1659. Tiiiight!!!
Oct 8 - Bussing it to Managua, Nicaragua, hitting up Granada, Isla de Omtepe, with two volcanoes and the world’s only freshwater sharks (sharks are rad!) and then maybe working to stay overnight at a coffee finca. We’ll check out some rad petroglyphs, and then head into Costa Rica!
Oct 15/16 – viva costa rica! Playa del Coco, Hermosa, and Tamarindo await us! (surfers surfers surfers, surfers all the time!) and then watching turtles lay eggs on the black sand beaches of Ostinal, before relaxing along the Nicoya coastal towns of Santa Teresa, Mal Pais, and the hippie town of Montezuma. Cool beaches, snorkeling, waterfall hikes, mellow vibe, getting lost in bonfires and drum circles, etc. Then its ferry/bus time up to Santa Elena and the cloud forest reserves of Monteverde. Definitely doing some ziplining, maybe some cave exploring, and general wondering of nature.
Oct 29/30 -heading into San Jose, probably doing some laundry and checking of email and civilizing of ourselves at this point, and it might be a great time for someone to fly in and join us! (hint hint) before we head up to the live active volcano of Arenal. we’ll stay at a hotel with hot springs and swim-up bars with views of lava spewing up from the very core of the earth! (and I will try to resist the urge to say “liquid hot magma!” every five minutes)
Nov 2/3- heading back into San Jose and then bussing it back to the Caribbean coast to check out Tortuguero island, snorkeling, coral reefs and reggae vibes of Puerto Limon and Cahuita. Party it up in Talamanca before heading across to Panama.Nov 10/11 Cross the Panama border and head straight to Bocas del Toro, staying at La Loma Jungle Lodge, and partying with the many tourists and funloving panamanians we’re hoping we’ll hook up with for hiking journeys, surfing, kayaking, and snorkeling at Cayo Zapatillos. Definitely spending some quality time here!We’ll grab out Panama hats and climb the volcano in the town of David, keeping an eye out for those elusive quetzals in the cloud forests. Then down into the Azuero Peninsula, the traditional heartland of Panama, with all the bullfighting, drinking, traditional tipico musica, religious processions, and drinking we can handle. Survey the outlying towns for an idea of rural Panama life, use a horse as our mode of transport, and snorkel among the turtles (turtles are a huge theme on this trip. im thinking about buying one.)
Head towards Panama City around Nov 19/20, check out the indigenous islands of San Blas, and then get some more beach time before checking out the canal in all its lock-y wonder. We’ll be around to celebrate Panama’s independence from Spain on November 28….I’m expecting good things from that day.
Dec 3 – fly to Lima, Peru! Ironically, our flight goes from Panama City to Miami Florida to Lima. I think we’ll eat McDonalds or something and drink a BudLight and call people. Have your phones ready on December 3.
Alright PERU! We’ve got two weeks here. Lets make it count!Our plan as of now is to spend a day or two in Lima and the artist colony funtown of Miraflores, maybe catching a bus to go see the Nasca lines, and Isla Ballestros I think its called, where there is a colony of penguins living next to flamingos and sea lions and you can see ocean petroglyphs or something crazy. Then we’re going to fly to Cuzco, acclimate there for a few days, its also a pretty fun town with outlying ruins and relaxing resort stuff if you want, and then climb the incan trail and checking out Macchu! we’re looking into booking a four day hike. Then we’ll come back down to Cuzco, head to Lake Titicaca and hang out among the locals there on the floating islands, do some more exploring.
Dec 17- Sad and tearful goodbyes to Dana and Rachel as I seperate from them and go visit fam in Colombia
Dec 23- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!...but more importantly WELCOME HOME!! =)
As Rachel -who was nice enough to type the itinerary up- says, we're still working out all the kinks (like how to avoid chicken buses that might fall off cliffs, the federalis, memorizing the national beers of each country, etc.) but its going to be amazing, so if you are still reading this far, come join us!!
But the reason I decided to create what is probably my 5th or 6th attempt at having a blog was not to complain but rather do two things
1) Keep ya'll updated with pictures and cool stories.
2) Try to convince people to join up with Rachel, Dana and I as we trek through the following countries: Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Peru
The three of us were fortunate to have that experience that pretty much every kid has when they see a globe for the first time. You know, the one where you lay a map out, close your eyes and randomly point at a geographic region and then daydream about all the cool/weird/crazy stuff that you could do if went there. So yah, maybe it was a bit more strategic, but it was basically the same idea with each country that we were going to be in...and then we connected the all dots into one marvelous 4-month journey. So here it is...for anyone who wants to get away...to the coolest places ever...with the coolest people ever.
Aug 15 - arrive in Flores, Guatemala. We'll be learning/teaching at ecoescuela-espanol.org for three weeks, living with Mayan families, heading towards fluent in Spanish!
Sept 5/6 - heading to Belize via San Ygnacio, where ecoadventurish stuff is way rad, and jaguars are chilling on your porch. Then off to Caye Caulker, a beautiful island out in the Carib. Belize peeps speak English (former british colony) and Garifuna, and are this crazy Rasta mestizo mixing, reggae blasting, dread swinging, hippie people. Also in Belize we'll be visiting Dangriga, where hammocks outnumber humans, possibly Placencia, some jaguar sanctuaries, etc.
Sept 17/18-heading back to Guatemala City and Antigua, a beautiful colonial spanish language school type city, and also to Lake Atitlan, with volcanos and mayan villages and kayaks and fun stuff.
Sept 24 - Heading to El Salvador, hitting some sweet beaches, then Lago de Ipango, a rad crater lake, climing El Poy, and then crossing the border to Honduras byyyyy
Oct 1- checking out the ruinas at Copan, and then bussing it to San Pedro and La Ceiba, and the Bay Islands, the cheapest diving certification on the planet, snorkeling among whale sharks, and all night dancing. Robinson Crusoe shipwrecked here in 1659. Tiiiight!!!
Oct 8 - Bussing it to Managua, Nicaragua, hitting up Granada, Isla de Omtepe, with two volcanoes and the world’s only freshwater sharks (sharks are rad!) and then maybe working to stay overnight at a coffee finca. We’ll check out some rad petroglyphs, and then head into Costa Rica!
Oct 15/16 – viva costa rica! Playa del Coco, Hermosa, and Tamarindo await us! (surfers surfers surfers, surfers all the time!) and then watching turtles lay eggs on the black sand beaches of Ostinal, before relaxing along the Nicoya coastal towns of Santa Teresa, Mal Pais, and the hippie town of Montezuma. Cool beaches, snorkeling, waterfall hikes, mellow vibe, getting lost in bonfires and drum circles, etc. Then its ferry/bus time up to Santa Elena and the cloud forest reserves of Monteverde. Definitely doing some ziplining, maybe some cave exploring, and general wondering of nature.
Oct 29/30 -heading into San Jose, probably doing some laundry and checking of email and civilizing of ourselves at this point, and it might be a great time for someone to fly in and join us! (hint hint) before we head up to the live active volcano of Arenal. we’ll stay at a hotel with hot springs and swim-up bars with views of lava spewing up from the very core of the earth! (and I will try to resist the urge to say “liquid hot magma!” every five minutes)
Nov 2/3- heading back into San Jose and then bussing it back to the Caribbean coast to check out Tortuguero island, snorkeling, coral reefs and reggae vibes of Puerto Limon and Cahuita. Party it up in Talamanca before heading across to Panama.Nov 10/11 Cross the Panama border and head straight to Bocas del Toro, staying at La Loma Jungle Lodge, and partying with the many tourists and funloving panamanians we’re hoping we’ll hook up with for hiking journeys, surfing, kayaking, and snorkeling at Cayo Zapatillos. Definitely spending some quality time here!We’ll grab out Panama hats and climb the volcano in the town of David, keeping an eye out for those elusive quetzals in the cloud forests. Then down into the Azuero Peninsula, the traditional heartland of Panama, with all the bullfighting, drinking, traditional tipico musica, religious processions, and drinking we can handle. Survey the outlying towns for an idea of rural Panama life, use a horse as our mode of transport, and snorkel among the turtles (turtles are a huge theme on this trip. im thinking about buying one.)
Head towards Panama City around Nov 19/20, check out the indigenous islands of San Blas, and then get some more beach time before checking out the canal in all its lock-y wonder. We’ll be around to celebrate Panama’s independence from Spain on November 28….I’m expecting good things from that day.
Dec 3 – fly to Lima, Peru! Ironically, our flight goes from Panama City to Miami Florida to Lima. I think we’ll eat McDonalds or something and drink a BudLight and call people. Have your phones ready on December 3.
Alright PERU! We’ve got two weeks here. Lets make it count!Our plan as of now is to spend a day or two in Lima and the artist colony funtown of Miraflores, maybe catching a bus to go see the Nasca lines, and Isla Ballestros I think its called, where there is a colony of penguins living next to flamingos and sea lions and you can see ocean petroglyphs or something crazy. Then we’re going to fly to Cuzco, acclimate there for a few days, its also a pretty fun town with outlying ruins and relaxing resort stuff if you want, and then climb the incan trail and checking out Macchu! we’re looking into booking a four day hike. Then we’ll come back down to Cuzco, head to Lake Titicaca and hang out among the locals there on the floating islands, do some more exploring.
Dec 17- Sad and tearful goodbyes to Dana and Rachel as I seperate from them and go visit fam in Colombia
Dec 23- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!...but more importantly WELCOME HOME!! =)
As Rachel -who was nice enough to type the itinerary up- says, we're still working out all the kinks (like how to avoid chicken buses that might fall off cliffs, the federalis, memorizing the national beers of each country, etc.) but its going to be amazing, so if you are still reading this far, come join us!!
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