Following my last note, I traveled for a week and a half from Flores, to El Remate and Poptun in the Peten (Northern Guatemala) to Coban in the central part and east to Lanquin, Cahabon, El Estor and Rio Dulce. After which, I returned to my recent Guatemalan home, San Pedro, for holidays with some friends and my last week and a half in the country.
El Remate is another sleepy town on Lake Peten on the opposite side from my previous home for a week San Andres. I stayed there for two nights and went canoeing in the lake for 4 hours the first day. During my canoe trip I came across an injured duck who was more the happy to let me pick him up and pose for some cool fotos with me. Tried to help him but he was pretty helpless. Then I put him back in the lake and a Guatemalan came by and scooped him up and took him home for dinner.
From my open-air bungalow in El Remate, I arose at 5am and headed to Tikal. The ruins at Tikal are awesome. I highly recommend them and am positive that this is the coolest thing I have seen in Guatemala. There are many building structures over a huge area of the jungle which include 3 pyramids of more the 40 mtrs in height and one of more than 60. The aforementioned, rise above the rainforest and after climbing several hundred steps to the top, provide a view I can´t really describe adequately. Also, I got to see my beloved monkeys swinging around in the trees. But unfortunately missed out on seeing a Tucan.
From El Remate and Tikal I headed to Poptun where I stayed at a place called Finca Ixabol which has a pretty interesting history complete with the Guatemalan army murdering one of the owners and possible CIA involvement. But now it is just an overpriced summer camp for grown ups. I was a little bit disappointed actually although I did have a lot of fun there. Food is served family style so it is a good place to meet people from all over the world.
At the Finca, I went on a caving trip that was really cool. A two hour hike in the jungle each way to and from the cave and then two hours in the cave or more appropriately in the river. The cave was formed by an underground river. We climbed and swam about 2 kilometers into the cave to reach a waterfall. At which point, we jumped off the rocks into total darkness. The sensation was similar to what it must feel like to jump into a black hole but in reality it was just a 6 or 7 meter jump.
On the way out of the cave we heard a loud shriek and all turned to see that this chick from England smashed her head on a stalagtite and had fallen back on her ¨bum and hand¨ and had blood pouring down here face. She was pretty tough. Didn´t even get too scared about the blood which was considerable. And of course, the guide didn´t have any first aid type stuff to help out. This is Guatemala. So we just did the appropriate thing and leisurely stopped for lunch and then did the 2 hr hike back.
From Poptun, I headed to Coban which is a town of about 20,000 people in central Guatemala. On a map it looks like it is about 3 hours away from Poptun at the most but do to the lack of roads in this part of Guate I had to do a big circular route to get there which took 9 hours.
While in Coban it came to my attention that the first game of the two game soccer championship of professional soccer in Guatemala was being played in the city. Half jokingly, I asked if there were any tickets left and was surprised to here the response, ¨of course¨. So I headed over to the ¨stadium¨ five minutes before the game and got a ticket for $4 US. The stadium did not have any seats, only needed to find a spot on the hills around the stadium. There were 15,000 people at the game in a city of only about 20,000. Coban, a huge underdog, won the game 3-0 against Muncipal from Guat City. And the place was roaring. Also, there were 2 fights in the game and three ejections.
I met up with 4 cool people in Coban that were heading to Lanquin. So the five of us joined up to see Semuc Champey another beautiful spot in Guatemala. It is also the location of a river that goes underground and above the river are huge natural baths for swimming. The site is squeezed in amongst the mountains of central Guatemala. It was really stunning. I climbed dangerously close to the underground river while two Guatemalan women flailed there arms and yelled words of discouragement at me. I talked to them a bit later, and it turns out one of there friends died in the exact spot I was screwing around in.
From Lanquin, three of us tried to head to El Estor which is supposed to be ¨really hard to get to from Cahabon¨. But we were sure we could do it. 17 hours later, after sitting on the side of the road in Cahabon trying to find a ride on the dirt path that leads to El Estor, we caught a truck at 3am for the 4 hour trip. As a friend said, ¨ït was an experience.¨
In El Estor, I visited a 20 meter hot waterfall which reachs a very cold river passing below. The hot water comes from two natural springs a couple hundred meters from the site of the fall that the security guard was nice enough to show me while telling me stories about hot tourists chicks skinny dipping there.
From El Estor I headed to Rio Dulce and caught a bus back to San Pedro for the holidays. But first, I hit McDonalds for my first fastfood experience since leaving the States way back in October. Upon my arrival back in SP, I was thrilled to see that my friends had also returned and I would have some people to share the holidays with.
Christmas in San Pedro was pretty low key. I woke up to notice that a rash on my left leg had spread considerably and I have a bad case of poison ivy. My left leg is basically covered and I have some spots on my other leg, my arms, and my side. Really charming stuff.
One more week and I am off to Panama and Peru.
Wednesday, December 26, 2001
Friday, December 14, 2001
Caliente
After five days I am back to a town with Internet. After my last note, I left San Pedro at Lake Atitlan and got on an over-night bus to Flores in the Peten Region of Northern Guatemala. The Peten Region is the jungle area. Flores is the capital situated on an Island in Lake Peten Itza. And it is hot here. I mean really hot. F´n hot.
I spent about a day in Flores. It is a small, sleepy town. Very quiet and very clean. Not a lot to do there except get some good food and watch amazing sunrises and sunsets. The still lake is a perfect mirror of the sky producing vivid sunrises, day time images and sunsets. Its breathtaking.
From Flores I headed across the lake in a Lancha to San Andres where I spent the week living with a family and going to Eco-Escuela. And I am pleased to report I finally got a taste of the third world. Details include a wood burning stove, no phone, and no sink to be seen. The shower empties into the street by a PVC pipe. I mean this living situation was a new experience for me. My sink was a bucket I filled with water (there wasn´t a lot of shaving this week). If this was the first place I had lived I would have been very concerned about Guatemala. Also, i got my first taste of doing my own laundry by hand. And I suck at it. I hope to never do it again.
But I had a great time this week. My teacher was very cool. 23 year old dude that likes to play basketball (which is highly unusual here). We were gonna play but I had to rectify a problem with my shoes. My shoes stunk. I washed them 3 times and I think there are back from hell. I had no idea until the overnight bus. I am sure that I was the only one sleeping on that bus ride.
sidenote - Speaking of bus rides. The overnight bus was a breeze. I had heard some horror stories. The three stops for police to search the bus were the only times I woke up. And it was half empty, so my lanky ass could spread out and let the rest of em enjoy the true horror that was my shoes.
Back to San Andres - I went on a couple cool hikes in San Andres. The first was with the school. We went to a guys own private rainforest-farm type place. They are trying to reclaim some of the jungle areas that have been ruined by people trying to grow corn and other crops improperly. This man has 50 hectars where he is growing all kinds of food (corn, beans, papaya, bananas, okra, mandarins, pimiento, oranges, guavas, etc.) and also replanting the native trees to try and slowly grow back some rainforest. Although the trees will take hundreds of years to grow. Got some free fruit here and it was awesome.
The second hike caught me by surprise. My teacher (huber) told me he wanted to show me a cool archaelogical spot so I met him after class for a ¨walk¨. After 5 hours, I mentioned to him that this was a hike not a walk. But anyways, he showed me a really cool spot that I don´t think many people would know to go see (its not in the books). It is called Motul and has only just recently been cleaned up. They have cut back all the overgrowth but the buildings have not been excavated (they are covered by grass and moss and some trees grow directly on the pyramids and what not). It was awesome. About seven or eight building structures out in the middle of the forest. Marked only by a simple little sign. Nobody else was around. Also, we found some ceramic pieces and a little Mayan sculpture just chillin on the ground.
The other big highlight was swimming in the lake by a half built house. Some moron started building a house on the shore of the lake. Unfortunately for this guy, the lake goes up and down in a cycle of about 40 years and it was at the bottom of the cycle when he started building. Halfway through getting the house done it was underwater and remains so today. I swam out about 200 feet from shore and found the two wood posts marking the entrance. The first floor of the house is about three quarters submerged. The locals love laughing about this place.
Other interesting experiences included seeing a black scorpion chilling with me in the bathroom. Also, this morning I saw an iguana sunning outside my room. It was about 2 feet long. I was hoping to see a snake or tarantula but that will have to wait for later in the week I guess. The boas are well liked for controlling the rats and mice in houses. Oh and I saw an eclipse today over the lake which was also cool.
Oh and one last thing. I had a breathtaking view from my room which was situated on a hill facing back toward Flores on the otherside of the lake. The sunrise was on my left and sunset was on my right. It was unreal but hot, real hot. I mean hot.
Ok. I am off for El Remate, Tikal, hopefully rafting, caving, etc. No school this week.
I spent about a day in Flores. It is a small, sleepy town. Very quiet and very clean. Not a lot to do there except get some good food and watch amazing sunrises and sunsets. The still lake is a perfect mirror of the sky producing vivid sunrises, day time images and sunsets. Its breathtaking.
From Flores I headed across the lake in a Lancha to San Andres where I spent the week living with a family and going to Eco-Escuela. And I am pleased to report I finally got a taste of the third world. Details include a wood burning stove, no phone, and no sink to be seen. The shower empties into the street by a PVC pipe. I mean this living situation was a new experience for me. My sink was a bucket I filled with water (there wasn´t a lot of shaving this week). If this was the first place I had lived I would have been very concerned about Guatemala. Also, i got my first taste of doing my own laundry by hand. And I suck at it. I hope to never do it again.
But I had a great time this week. My teacher was very cool. 23 year old dude that likes to play basketball (which is highly unusual here). We were gonna play but I had to rectify a problem with my shoes. My shoes stunk. I washed them 3 times and I think there are back from hell. I had no idea until the overnight bus. I am sure that I was the only one sleeping on that bus ride.
sidenote - Speaking of bus rides. The overnight bus was a breeze. I had heard some horror stories. The three stops for police to search the bus were the only times I woke up. And it was half empty, so my lanky ass could spread out and let the rest of em enjoy the true horror that was my shoes.
Back to San Andres - I went on a couple cool hikes in San Andres. The first was with the school. We went to a guys own private rainforest-farm type place. They are trying to reclaim some of the jungle areas that have been ruined by people trying to grow corn and other crops improperly. This man has 50 hectars where he is growing all kinds of food (corn, beans, papaya, bananas, okra, mandarins, pimiento, oranges, guavas, etc.) and also replanting the native trees to try and slowly grow back some rainforest. Although the trees will take hundreds of years to grow. Got some free fruit here and it was awesome.
The second hike caught me by surprise. My teacher (huber) told me he wanted to show me a cool archaelogical spot so I met him after class for a ¨walk¨. After 5 hours, I mentioned to him that this was a hike not a walk. But anyways, he showed me a really cool spot that I don´t think many people would know to go see (its not in the books). It is called Motul and has only just recently been cleaned up. They have cut back all the overgrowth but the buildings have not been excavated (they are covered by grass and moss and some trees grow directly on the pyramids and what not). It was awesome. About seven or eight building structures out in the middle of the forest. Marked only by a simple little sign. Nobody else was around. Also, we found some ceramic pieces and a little Mayan sculpture just chillin on the ground.
The other big highlight was swimming in the lake by a half built house. Some moron started building a house on the shore of the lake. Unfortunately for this guy, the lake goes up and down in a cycle of about 40 years and it was at the bottom of the cycle when he started building. Halfway through getting the house done it was underwater and remains so today. I swam out about 200 feet from shore and found the two wood posts marking the entrance. The first floor of the house is about three quarters submerged. The locals love laughing about this place.
Other interesting experiences included seeing a black scorpion chilling with me in the bathroom. Also, this morning I saw an iguana sunning outside my room. It was about 2 feet long. I was hoping to see a snake or tarantula but that will have to wait for later in the week I guess. The boas are well liked for controlling the rats and mice in houses. Oh and I saw an eclipse today over the lake which was also cool.
Oh and one last thing. I had a breathtaking view from my room which was situated on a hill facing back toward Flores on the otherside of the lake. The sunrise was on my left and sunset was on my right. It was unreal but hot, real hot. I mean hot.
Ok. I am off for El Remate, Tikal, hopefully rafting, caving, etc. No school this week.
Wednesday, December 05, 2001
Palabra
The last week has been pretty uneventful really. I have been enjoying the weather, the swimming, the tanning, the sleeping and the food hear in San Pedro. It is really chill here. The restaurants are really cheap and the food is the best I have had in Guatemala. My teacher pretty much sucked last week, but other than that things have been awesome. And it seems like my teacher this week is very good.
This place is a very small town with a bunch of hippees. A bit too much english speaking going on for good spanish emersion. There are only two or three paved roads in the town. The other roads arent roads for automobiles, they are really just walking trails. Also, there is a pretty open drug culture here. All the hotel owners are dealers which seems to subsidize the hotel room prices (makes it cheap for me). Also, the cops are a real pain in the butt. I get searched pretty much once a day by the police here. They have been very thorough in searching my back pockets - yeah I have a great butt. They search all the gringos at will. Its really annoying but easier to just let them search then to cause a problem by telling them not too. I now have a strong appreciation for the racial profiling complaints that minorities have back home.
I have been hanging out mostly with Stefan, Jeanette and Jeremy. Stefan and Jeanette I know from Xela days. Jeremy is a dude from Minnesota. He has dreds and is pretty much a floater. But really cool and fun to hang out with here. I am enjoying meeting very different types of people. For example, Jeremy never went to college and instead went to live on the streets of Berkeley and Oakland after high school trying to eek out a living playing music. Obviously that didnt work out and he went back to Minnesota and was a waitor for a while. After Guatemala he is going to get his Dive Master's Certification and live on Utila for a while. Then he will return to live on the beach in San Diego.
Last thursday night there was a big party for the full moon. The full moon over the lake was amazing and the party was a lot of fun. To get to the party you had to take a boat over to a beach on the lake - a 20 minute ride. Nice opportunity to hear some good music. There was a very open presence of drugs at this party as there is throughout this pueblo. Also, there were some disgruntled partiers complaining that the acid dude took a bit of his product and dropped the sheet on the beach somewhere so no one was able to purchase any from him. Don't worry mom, I am sticking to the booze.
Over the weekend I was in Antigua for Mary Ann's going away party on Sunday afternoon/evening. It was awesome. She rented out an open air bar and there was a band from guate which was really good (the Chupacabras). There were about 150 people there. An interesting mix of extranjeros and Guatemaltecos. Also, many of the young girls from the school that Mary Ann teaches at were there. They are 10-14 year olds. RJ seemed to be very good friends with many of them and was working the dance floor.
Also, while in Antigua I got my plane tickets arranged for South America. I am flying into Lima on January 4th through Panama (where I will spend one night and see the Panama Canal - on the 3rd) and then I return to Guatemala via Chile on June 14th. The tentative plan is to spend a week in Peru at the start of the trip (hope to see Machu Pichu and Lake Titicaca), live in La Paz for about 5 months working and then spend a week in Chile at the end of the trip. I am fired up to have this part of the trip arranged (tentatively).
Graff is claiming he may come down this weekend (although I think this is pretty unlikely) which would mean I would go to hang out in Antigua for a night or two this weekend. I have to stop by there regardless to pick up the plane tickets from the travel agent. Then I head off to the Peten Region in North-Eastern Guatemala. I will spend two or three weeks up there studying spanish and checking out the jungle. This area is a rain forest type of landscape; home to the Tikal Ruins, tons of wildlife, waterfalls, hot springs, and other natural wonders. I am going to buy a hammock so I can sleep outside in the open air of the jungle and wake up with the monkeys. Also, I hope to go rafting and try out caving for the first time.
Only three weeks til Xmas now. I am probably going to return to San Pedro to spend Xmas and New Years before leaving for America de Sur. Hope that know one expects any presents. Its really expensive to send stuff from here and I am broke. But if you want to send me stuff feel free to send stuff to:
Flaco Gringo sin Pelo, Casa Elena, San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala
The kid at the hotel that deals drugs will most likely steal anything that comes.
This place is a very small town with a bunch of hippees. A bit too much english speaking going on for good spanish emersion. There are only two or three paved roads in the town. The other roads arent roads for automobiles, they are really just walking trails. Also, there is a pretty open drug culture here. All the hotel owners are dealers which seems to subsidize the hotel room prices (makes it cheap for me). Also, the cops are a real pain in the butt. I get searched pretty much once a day by the police here. They have been very thorough in searching my back pockets - yeah I have a great butt. They search all the gringos at will. Its really annoying but easier to just let them search then to cause a problem by telling them not too. I now have a strong appreciation for the racial profiling complaints that minorities have back home.
I have been hanging out mostly with Stefan, Jeanette and Jeremy. Stefan and Jeanette I know from Xela days. Jeremy is a dude from Minnesota. He has dreds and is pretty much a floater. But really cool and fun to hang out with here. I am enjoying meeting very different types of people. For example, Jeremy never went to college and instead went to live on the streets of Berkeley and Oakland after high school trying to eek out a living playing music. Obviously that didnt work out and he went back to Minnesota and was a waitor for a while. After Guatemala he is going to get his Dive Master's Certification and live on Utila for a while. Then he will return to live on the beach in San Diego.
Last thursday night there was a big party for the full moon. The full moon over the lake was amazing and the party was a lot of fun. To get to the party you had to take a boat over to a beach on the lake - a 20 minute ride. Nice opportunity to hear some good music. There was a very open presence of drugs at this party as there is throughout this pueblo. Also, there were some disgruntled partiers complaining that the acid dude took a bit of his product and dropped the sheet on the beach somewhere so no one was able to purchase any from him. Don't worry mom, I am sticking to the booze.
Over the weekend I was in Antigua for Mary Ann's going away party on Sunday afternoon/evening. It was awesome. She rented out an open air bar and there was a band from guate which was really good (the Chupacabras). There were about 150 people there. An interesting mix of extranjeros and Guatemaltecos. Also, many of the young girls from the school that Mary Ann teaches at were there. They are 10-14 year olds. RJ seemed to be very good friends with many of them and was working the dance floor.
Also, while in Antigua I got my plane tickets arranged for South America. I am flying into Lima on January 4th through Panama (where I will spend one night and see the Panama Canal - on the 3rd) and then I return to Guatemala via Chile on June 14th. The tentative plan is to spend a week in Peru at the start of the trip (hope to see Machu Pichu and Lake Titicaca), live in La Paz for about 5 months working and then spend a week in Chile at the end of the trip. I am fired up to have this part of the trip arranged (tentatively).
Graff is claiming he may come down this weekend (although I think this is pretty unlikely) which would mean I would go to hang out in Antigua for a night or two this weekend. I have to stop by there regardless to pick up the plane tickets from the travel agent. Then I head off to the Peten Region in North-Eastern Guatemala. I will spend two or three weeks up there studying spanish and checking out the jungle. This area is a rain forest type of landscape; home to the Tikal Ruins, tons of wildlife, waterfalls, hot springs, and other natural wonders. I am going to buy a hammock so I can sleep outside in the open air of the jungle and wake up with the monkeys. Also, I hope to go rafting and try out caving for the first time.
Only three weeks til Xmas now. I am probably going to return to San Pedro to spend Xmas and New Years before leaving for America de Sur. Hope that know one expects any presents. Its really expensive to send stuff from here and I am broke. But if you want to send me stuff feel free to send stuff to:
Flaco Gringo sin Pelo, Casa Elena, San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala
The kid at the hotel that deals drugs will most likely steal anything that comes.
Monday, November 26, 2001
Mi Chulo-Mano Es Feurte
Back in Guatemala after a week of travelling. I am moved into San Pedro on the Western side of Lago Atitlan. I am staying at a hotel on the Lake for $2 per night. There is a dock right outside my room where I can go for a swim each morning. And needless to say the view is ridiculous and the weather here is awesome as well. Usually clear blue skies and 75-85 degrees. Only bad part so for was the dog barking full force for an hour and a half beginning at 1am. A real pleasure.
Last week I was in Honduras, travelling with RJ (who is living in Antigua right now). It was good to be back in the company of a good friend after 5 weeks in Guatemala solo. Our first stop was the ruins at Copan (a town just across the border). Mayan ruins dating from about 500 AD. We had the pleasure of being ripped off by a couple of the locals. We were promised a four hour guided tour on horseback of the local pueblo and ruins for 10 bucks. The price was quickly stepped up to 15 and the adults disappeared and left us with Hector, our 10 year old tour guide.
Hector was pretty charming and told us all about the drinking problems of our original tour guides. RJ and I rode proudly on a dirt road while Hector ran behind us throwing rocks. Yes - he didnt have a horse to ride. Hector gave us some vivid descriptions of the local sites, including such phrases as - Those are some mayan ruins over there - and - This rock looks like a frog. After 2 hours on the horses Hector told us to buy our admission to the ruins. When we returned to get back on our horses some other local kids informed us Hector had split. Luckily we ran into Hector again at 9pm that night and gave all four feet of him shit for ripping us off.
After Copan, we headed to La Ceiba and caught a boat to Utila in the Bay Islands (a group of islands off the northern coast of Honduras). Utila is a very small island with basically two roads one running east-west across the water front and the other north-south. In Utila we met up with four other friends and landed in a scuba class at the Utila Dive Center. Scuba diving was awesome and the hotel came free with the class. A few of the highlights included seeing a school of squid, a crab, a boat wreck, swimming in an underwater cave and tons of fish and coral. Our guide, Marcelo, was a cool guy from Brazil that chicks dig. His life consists of hooking up with chicks from all over the world, scuba diving, and going out every night.
After four days of scuba diving and four nights of impressing the locals with our unique brand of american humor. We left on Friday morning by plane to head back to Guatemala. The 9 minute plane ride was a quick start at 6am but the rest of the journey was a bit longer including 5 buses, two taxis, a pick up truck and some walking. Thirty-six hours later RJ and I were overjoyed to be sitting in Panajchel on the Northern side of Lago Atitlan drinking a few beers under a clear blue sky. That evening we met up with seven of RJs friends from Antigua at a beautiful lake front house near San Lucas (on the South-West side of the Lake) where we spent a day and a half. We were lucky enough to get out on the Lake for some swimming, water-skiing and cliff diving. A great end to the week.
Honduras was an interesting contrast to Guatemala. The island and the countrysides were beautiful. The air was clean and the weather much warmer than Xela. And the people were pretty friendly and helpful for the most part. The cities seemed to be a bit more Americanized than the cities in Guatemala generally. Including much more strip mall type business locations and a broader variety of fast food chains. Also, some of the people that we met seemed to only be interested in ripping off tourists. After only a week in Honduras I find myself much more cynical of people trying to help me figure out how to get around.
Today I have been getting acquianted to San Pedro with a couple of friends that have been living here for a while. This afternoon I return kicking and screaming to spanish classes. I am not looking forward to this at all after a very enjoyable week off. But I need to keep learning for my volunteer work in the spring.
Last week I was in Honduras, travelling with RJ (who is living in Antigua right now). It was good to be back in the company of a good friend after 5 weeks in Guatemala solo. Our first stop was the ruins at Copan (a town just across the border). Mayan ruins dating from about 500 AD. We had the pleasure of being ripped off by a couple of the locals. We were promised a four hour guided tour on horseback of the local pueblo and ruins for 10 bucks. The price was quickly stepped up to 15 and the adults disappeared and left us with Hector, our 10 year old tour guide.
Hector was pretty charming and told us all about the drinking problems of our original tour guides. RJ and I rode proudly on a dirt road while Hector ran behind us throwing rocks. Yes - he didnt have a horse to ride. Hector gave us some vivid descriptions of the local sites, including such phrases as - Those are some mayan ruins over there - and - This rock looks like a frog. After 2 hours on the horses Hector told us to buy our admission to the ruins. When we returned to get back on our horses some other local kids informed us Hector had split. Luckily we ran into Hector again at 9pm that night and gave all four feet of him shit for ripping us off.
After Copan, we headed to La Ceiba and caught a boat to Utila in the Bay Islands (a group of islands off the northern coast of Honduras). Utila is a very small island with basically two roads one running east-west across the water front and the other north-south. In Utila we met up with four other friends and landed in a scuba class at the Utila Dive Center. Scuba diving was awesome and the hotel came free with the class. A few of the highlights included seeing a school of squid, a crab, a boat wreck, swimming in an underwater cave and tons of fish and coral. Our guide, Marcelo, was a cool guy from Brazil that chicks dig. His life consists of hooking up with chicks from all over the world, scuba diving, and going out every night.
After four days of scuba diving and four nights of impressing the locals with our unique brand of american humor. We left on Friday morning by plane to head back to Guatemala. The 9 minute plane ride was a quick start at 6am but the rest of the journey was a bit longer including 5 buses, two taxis, a pick up truck and some walking. Thirty-six hours later RJ and I were overjoyed to be sitting in Panajchel on the Northern side of Lago Atitlan drinking a few beers under a clear blue sky. That evening we met up with seven of RJs friends from Antigua at a beautiful lake front house near San Lucas (on the South-West side of the Lake) where we spent a day and a half. We were lucky enough to get out on the Lake for some swimming, water-skiing and cliff diving. A great end to the week.
Honduras was an interesting contrast to Guatemala. The island and the countrysides were beautiful. The air was clean and the weather much warmer than Xela. And the people were pretty friendly and helpful for the most part. The cities seemed to be a bit more Americanized than the cities in Guatemala generally. Including much more strip mall type business locations and a broader variety of fast food chains. Also, some of the people that we met seemed to only be interested in ripping off tourists. After only a week in Honduras I find myself much more cynical of people trying to help me figure out how to get around.
Today I have been getting acquianted to San Pedro with a couple of friends that have been living here for a while. This afternoon I return kicking and screaming to spanish classes. I am not looking forward to this at all after a very enjoyable week off. But I need to keep learning for my volunteer work in the spring.
Thursday, November 15, 2001
Final Day in Xela
My final friday night in xela was great. I checked out Being John Malcovich a great movie you should all see if you haven't already. It was a refreshing dose of American culture which has been sorely missed at times. The theater was a cafe with a 30 inch tv and a pretty impressive sound system. I have been told that Guatemalans do not go out to see movies frequently they just watch them at home because they hit the movie theaters and cable simultaneously anyways. So there are a couple small cafes in xela which show video tapes to audiences of mostly gringos.
Following the movie. I headed to a bar with a couple friends. We were just hanging out grabbing a couple beers. And we got into a conversation with a couple guat dudes that were completely rip shit. Have I mentioned that the guatemalans have a problem with the fire water. They get all shades of wasted down here. It is pretty sad really, includes stumbling, vomiting, hitting on nasty chicks, etc. I have never seen anything like it and I saw some pretty bad stuff at school. The dudes convinced us to get a bottle of rum. So Saturday morning I was greeted with my 1st Xela hangover. It was a fun night though. Oh... and on the way home we noticed that the two guatemalan dudes were making out in the park, which was interesting.
On Saturday, I returned to Lake Atitlan. This time I was at Pana which is a city on the opposite side of the lake from where we hiked to the weekend prior. Pana is very touristy and full of hippies. The food was good but I don't see my self returning to Pana again. We took a boat ride around the lake and visited a couple other small pueblos (Santiago and Santa Catarina). The lake is huge. It took about 30 minutes to cross at cruising speed. But it is absolutely beautiful and the weather is great. I am feeling good about my decision to live down there for the two weeks following my trip to Honduras next week.
On Saturday night after dinner, a group of us hit a bar on the main strip in Pana. We were about the only gringos in there which was pretty cool. Although again there were many completely wasted guatemalans in there. One of which was adament on having a conversation with me. My spanish is decent now. I can understand most of what people say except when they are slurring all their words together and very excited to be speaking to a gringo. The enthusiasm was appreciated, the steady stream of syliva was not. Also, some large guat chick wearing a pseudo belly dancer outfit was doing an excellent job of bumping into me constantly on the dance floor. And a lot of you know how little patience I have when getting bumped into at bars. Luckily, I didn't make a scene - well she was bigger than me - a lot. Came back on Sunday.
Have I mentioned the prostitutes in Xela? I think not. But if I have don't get the idea that I am hung up on them. Its just an interesting part of the cultural experience. I was headed to the Menonite Bakery (best donuts in North America, I mean ridiculously good - I am a frequent customer). Anyways, I was headed to the Bakery with my teacher and we passed a group of girls on a street corner. They were saying something to me, but I was oblivious (dad's gift to me of not being able to hear background noise). My teacher indicated the sales proposition and I was pretty appalled. Don't get me wrong, I like young girls as much as the next guy. But these girls were pretty gnarly.
An interesting thing about the Bakery. It is only open Tuesdays and Fridays, I guess the menonite schedule is cook one day, sell the goods the next day and rest a day, then repeat. So Monday is cooking, Tuesday is selling, Wednesday is a day off, Thursday cooking, Friday selling. Weekend free. I think this is a schedule that we can all live by.
The main excitement of the week is that I finally got on the phone with the person I have been corresponding with via emailing in Bolivia for about 2 months regarding the volunteer work opportunity. And it looks like everything is good to go. The plan is for me to help a man named Peter McFarren (director of Quipus an NGO in Bolivia) with a new business venture that is he has underway. Peter has an impressive resume which includes founding Quipus, opening a couple museums, an orphanage, etc. and is an accomplished professional photographer. Peter is starting a company called DESATEL which will provide power, phones and internet service to small pueblos in Bolivia. DESATEL is a company with three directors, Peter (Quipus), a director of the University of NUR, and a director of CARE Bolivia. In reality it is a private for-profit company being formed by 3 NGO's in Bolivia. I will be working with Peter for January - June. It is a little bit of a leap of faith but I have been told great things about him by several people.
Today is my final day in Xela. Which means there is a reasonably good chance that I will wake up with a hangover tomorrow for the bus ride to Chiquimula. Tomorrow morning I am hopping on a Pullmen (1st class) bus to Guat City and then switching to another bus to Chiquimula. Have to crash in Chiquimula for the night cause the border closes at 6pm. Then heading to Copan Honduras to check out the ruins there on Saturday before heading to the Bay Islands for a week. There will be 4 or 5 of us hanging out on Utila for the week. Getting scuba certified, laying around on the beach, etc. Yes, I have a very tough life.
BTW - to those who were unhappy with no digestive update in the last email you will be glad to know there was an incident this week but after a few stressful minutes it was over and all is back on track.
Following the movie. I headed to a bar with a couple friends. We were just hanging out grabbing a couple beers. And we got into a conversation with a couple guat dudes that were completely rip shit. Have I mentioned that the guatemalans have a problem with the fire water. They get all shades of wasted down here. It is pretty sad really, includes stumbling, vomiting, hitting on nasty chicks, etc. I have never seen anything like it and I saw some pretty bad stuff at school. The dudes convinced us to get a bottle of rum. So Saturday morning I was greeted with my 1st Xela hangover. It was a fun night though. Oh... and on the way home we noticed that the two guatemalan dudes were making out in the park, which was interesting.
On Saturday, I returned to Lake Atitlan. This time I was at Pana which is a city on the opposite side of the lake from where we hiked to the weekend prior. Pana is very touristy and full of hippies. The food was good but I don't see my self returning to Pana again. We took a boat ride around the lake and visited a couple other small pueblos (Santiago and Santa Catarina). The lake is huge. It took about 30 minutes to cross at cruising speed. But it is absolutely beautiful and the weather is great. I am feeling good about my decision to live down there for the two weeks following my trip to Honduras next week.
On Saturday night after dinner, a group of us hit a bar on the main strip in Pana. We were about the only gringos in there which was pretty cool. Although again there were many completely wasted guatemalans in there. One of which was adament on having a conversation with me. My spanish is decent now. I can understand most of what people say except when they are slurring all their words together and very excited to be speaking to a gringo. The enthusiasm was appreciated, the steady stream of syliva was not. Also, some large guat chick wearing a pseudo belly dancer outfit was doing an excellent job of bumping into me constantly on the dance floor. And a lot of you know how little patience I have when getting bumped into at bars. Luckily, I didn't make a scene - well she was bigger than me - a lot. Came back on Sunday.
Have I mentioned the prostitutes in Xela? I think not. But if I have don't get the idea that I am hung up on them. Its just an interesting part of the cultural experience. I was headed to the Menonite Bakery (best donuts in North America, I mean ridiculously good - I am a frequent customer). Anyways, I was headed to the Bakery with my teacher and we passed a group of girls on a street corner. They were saying something to me, but I was oblivious (dad's gift to me of not being able to hear background noise). My teacher indicated the sales proposition and I was pretty appalled. Don't get me wrong, I like young girls as much as the next guy. But these girls were pretty gnarly.
An interesting thing about the Bakery. It is only open Tuesdays and Fridays, I guess the menonite schedule is cook one day, sell the goods the next day and rest a day, then repeat. So Monday is cooking, Tuesday is selling, Wednesday is a day off, Thursday cooking, Friday selling. Weekend free. I think this is a schedule that we can all live by.
The main excitement of the week is that I finally got on the phone with the person I have been corresponding with via emailing in Bolivia for about 2 months regarding the volunteer work opportunity. And it looks like everything is good to go. The plan is for me to help a man named Peter McFarren (director of Quipus an NGO in Bolivia) with a new business venture that is he has underway. Peter has an impressive resume which includes founding Quipus, opening a couple museums, an orphanage, etc. and is an accomplished professional photographer. Peter is starting a company called DESATEL which will provide power, phones and internet service to small pueblos in Bolivia. DESATEL is a company with three directors, Peter (Quipus), a director of the University of NUR, and a director of CARE Bolivia. In reality it is a private for-profit company being formed by 3 NGO's in Bolivia. I will be working with Peter for January - June. It is a little bit of a leap of faith but I have been told great things about him by several people.
Today is my final day in Xela. Which means there is a reasonably good chance that I will wake up with a hangover tomorrow for the bus ride to Chiquimula. Tomorrow morning I am hopping on a Pullmen (1st class) bus to Guat City and then switching to another bus to Chiquimula. Have to crash in Chiquimula for the night cause the border closes at 6pm. Then heading to Copan Honduras to check out the ruins there on Saturday before heading to the Bay Islands for a week. There will be 4 or 5 of us hanging out on Utila for the week. Getting scuba certified, laying around on the beach, etc. Yes, I have a very tough life.
BTW - to those who were unhappy with no digestive update in the last email you will be glad to know there was an incident this week but after a few stressful minutes it was over and all is back on track.
Thursday, November 08, 2001
Quieres busear?
Here is my proof that my spanish lessons are really
paying off. My spanish sentence of the week (some of
you will recognize this): "Nunca encuentro una chica
a quien yo le gusta solo si ella no esta bastante
borracha." My teacher and I spent a good 15 minutes
trying to come up with a good translation for: "I have
never met a girl that didn't like me, she just wasn't
drunk enough." I think that we got close. Yep, the
guatemalans teaching me spanish are getting a great
impression of American males.
Anyways, since my last email the only real story is
the hike I took to Lake Atitlan last weekend. The
trip was with a group called Quetzaltrekkers. They
are based in Xela and 80% of the cost of the hike goes
to help an organization which provides education,
housing, healthcare, counseling, etc. to some local
street children.
The trip was awesome. We (12 hikers and 3 guides)
covered the 35+ miles in the first two days. Pretty
grueling hike altogether. Very much up and down, up
and down, up and down. We passed through all
different types of landscapes. And spent a good
percentage of the trip on single track trails on the
edge of cliffs.
The trip began with a steep 2 hours climb to a peak
which looked back into the entire valley containing
Quetzaltenango and a couple other small towns. This
part was typical forest terrain until the very top
which was a vast grass land (seemed a bit out of
place).
We had a snack up there and then headed into a cloud
forest, very tropical terrain. After several hours
and after passing a few small pueblos with only
indigenous people (and after some soccer with some of
the kids) we broke for lunch on a ridge in the cloud
forest. Then we headed through some corn fields for a
few hours to our campsite (and some more soccer with
kids) on a cliff looking down at our decent for the
next day. We quenched our hungry with some asparagus
soup, pasta and corn and had a sweet bonfire.
On Sunday we awoke before the sunrise (4:45) to a
clear sky and vast array of stars and then the sunrise
over the volcanoes on the horizon. We began the days
hike by heading down into town and eating some
breakfast in the center of town. After breakfast we
continued down to a river where we hopped in to some
really frigid water (a smaller group of us also
climbed down to a ledge where we stood and look down a
40 foot waterfall). After which we passed over a very
rickety bridge (one of the guides almost fell off the
bridge cause the boards were not nailed in and he was
on the edge and the board began to flip).
We climbed for a couple hours and then walked on a up
and down type circuit of mostly cornfields for a long
day. At the end of the day we hit a restaurant in a
small town. Great food. Got a well deserved liter of
Gallo (guate beer). The restaurant was really some
families house. One of the little boys was the center
of attention. He was running around with obvious
signs of a recent pants peeing incident while beating
up his older brother.
The meal was awesome. I could have eaten another two
plates but no luck. And then we headed out of town
for a half hour to a campsite in the backyard of some
house. Also on a cliff.
Little did I know since we set up camp after dark that
Lake Atitlan was just below us. After trying to sleep
through the sounds of one of the hikers hurling 4
times during the night I awoke at 5:45 to the most
beautiful view of the sun rising over the Lake
surrounded by volanoes and small pueblos. Really
undescribable. Two hours later we were in the water.
After 35+ miles it was quite refreshing. And it was
an awesome way to go see the lake for the first time.
Most people hit it on a bus. The anticipation was
well worth it.
We spent our day swimming in the lake and the having
lunch in San Pedro on Monday. I checked out a
language school there. And am seriously considering
heading there for a couple weeks after Honduras. It
is really hot and sunny at the lake and I am thinking
swimming and tanning might be better than breathing in
the polluted air of Xela for a couple weeks.
It was an awesome trip. Toughest hiking I have done
in terms of distance. We lost some dude the first day
who had to head back to Xela in a pickup truck cause
he couldn't hack it. Awesome view of a vast array of
plants and animals. And a good peak into the
dismal/simple life of the indigenous people in the
countryside. Very friendly people of meager means of
living.
Only bad part was the two of the three guides sucked
and we had to keep waiting for them. They were a bit
slow and there was some obvious sexual tension between
them. Much bickering/flirting.
Got back around 5:30pm on Monday night, had some
dinner and went to sleep for 11 hours. Great sleep.
All I have left at this point from the trip is 30+
misquito bites and a couple small blisters on my big
toes (which have already gone away).
The rest of the week has pretty much consisted of the
usual: spanish classes, chillin with the fam, hitting
a couple bars, reading, etc.
My plans for the remainder of the stay in Guatemala
have probably changed a bit. Although my family
rules, I am thinking that 4 weeks in Xela is enough.
After my study break in Honduras visiting the ruins
in Copan and the Bay Islands (to learn scuba for $150)
the week of the 16th of November I think I am going to
head to San Pedro (at Lake Atitlan) and take classes
for two weeks. After which, I plan to head to Flores
(in the Peten region of Eastern Guatemala) for two
more weeks of classes. The ruins of Tikal and some
cool caving, rafting, jungle type stuff are near
Flores.
Hope this note finds all in good health and good
spirits.
BTW - I am struggling to find cheap airfare to Bolivia
or other parts of South America. Any advice is appreciated.
paying off. My spanish sentence of the week (some of
you will recognize this): "Nunca encuentro una chica
a quien yo le gusta solo si ella no esta bastante
borracha." My teacher and I spent a good 15 minutes
trying to come up with a good translation for: "I have
never met a girl that didn't like me, she just wasn't
drunk enough." I think that we got close. Yep, the
guatemalans teaching me spanish are getting a great
impression of American males.
Anyways, since my last email the only real story is
the hike I took to Lake Atitlan last weekend. The
trip was with a group called Quetzaltrekkers. They
are based in Xela and 80% of the cost of the hike goes
to help an organization which provides education,
housing, healthcare, counseling, etc. to some local
street children.
The trip was awesome. We (12 hikers and 3 guides)
covered the 35+ miles in the first two days. Pretty
grueling hike altogether. Very much up and down, up
and down, up and down. We passed through all
different types of landscapes. And spent a good
percentage of the trip on single track trails on the
edge of cliffs.
The trip began with a steep 2 hours climb to a peak
which looked back into the entire valley containing
Quetzaltenango and a couple other small towns. This
part was typical forest terrain until the very top
which was a vast grass land (seemed a bit out of
place).
We had a snack up there and then headed into a cloud
forest, very tropical terrain. After several hours
and after passing a few small pueblos with only
indigenous people (and after some soccer with some of
the kids) we broke for lunch on a ridge in the cloud
forest. Then we headed through some corn fields for a
few hours to our campsite (and some more soccer with
kids) on a cliff looking down at our decent for the
next day. We quenched our hungry with some asparagus
soup, pasta and corn and had a sweet bonfire.
On Sunday we awoke before the sunrise (4:45) to a
clear sky and vast array of stars and then the sunrise
over the volcanoes on the horizon. We began the days
hike by heading down into town and eating some
breakfast in the center of town. After breakfast we
continued down to a river where we hopped in to some
really frigid water (a smaller group of us also
climbed down to a ledge where we stood and look down a
40 foot waterfall). After which we passed over a very
rickety bridge (one of the guides almost fell off the
bridge cause the boards were not nailed in and he was
on the edge and the board began to flip).
We climbed for a couple hours and then walked on a up
and down type circuit of mostly cornfields for a long
day. At the end of the day we hit a restaurant in a
small town. Great food. Got a well deserved liter of
Gallo (guate beer). The restaurant was really some
families house. One of the little boys was the center
of attention. He was running around with obvious
signs of a recent pants peeing incident while beating
up his older brother.
The meal was awesome. I could have eaten another two
plates but no luck. And then we headed out of town
for a half hour to a campsite in the backyard of some
house. Also on a cliff.
Little did I know since we set up camp after dark that
Lake Atitlan was just below us. After trying to sleep
through the sounds of one of the hikers hurling 4
times during the night I awoke at 5:45 to the most
beautiful view of the sun rising over the Lake
surrounded by volanoes and small pueblos. Really
undescribable. Two hours later we were in the water.
After 35+ miles it was quite refreshing. And it was
an awesome way to go see the lake for the first time.
Most people hit it on a bus. The anticipation was
well worth it.
We spent our day swimming in the lake and the having
lunch in San Pedro on Monday. I checked out a
language school there. And am seriously considering
heading there for a couple weeks after Honduras. It
is really hot and sunny at the lake and I am thinking
swimming and tanning might be better than breathing in
the polluted air of Xela for a couple weeks.
It was an awesome trip. Toughest hiking I have done
in terms of distance. We lost some dude the first day
who had to head back to Xela in a pickup truck cause
he couldn't hack it. Awesome view of a vast array of
plants and animals. And a good peak into the
dismal/simple life of the indigenous people in the
countryside. Very friendly people of meager means of
living.
Only bad part was the two of the three guides sucked
and we had to keep waiting for them. They were a bit
slow and there was some obvious sexual tension between
them. Much bickering/flirting.
Got back around 5:30pm on Monday night, had some
dinner and went to sleep for 11 hours. Great sleep.
All I have left at this point from the trip is 30+
misquito bites and a couple small blisters on my big
toes (which have already gone away).
The rest of the week has pretty much consisted of the
usual: spanish classes, chillin with the fam, hitting
a couple bars, reading, etc.
My plans for the remainder of the stay in Guatemala
have probably changed a bit. Although my family
rules, I am thinking that 4 weeks in Xela is enough.
After my study break in Honduras visiting the ruins
in Copan and the Bay Islands (to learn scuba for $150)
the week of the 16th of November I think I am going to
head to San Pedro (at Lake Atitlan) and take classes
for two weeks. After which, I plan to head to Flores
(in the Peten region of Eastern Guatemala) for two
more weeks of classes. The ruins of Tikal and some
cool caving, rafting, jungle type stuff are near
Flores.
Hope this note finds all in good health and good
spirits.
BTW - I am struggling to find cheap airfare to Bolivia
or other parts of South America. Any advice is appreciated.
Friday, November 02, 2001
Happy All Saints Day
My last note took so much out of me I went directly
to a bar where I proceeded to sample all the finest
local cervecas and get more acquainted with my fellow
students. Most of them are pretty cool. There are
also a couple tools - other than myself of course.
There are a handful of Europeans and the rest are from
the USA. Mostly from the midwest for some reason.
Sense my last note, I have really taken ahold of my
gringo roots and started hitting the local sites. On
Saturday, I took a pretty sweet hike up to the Laguna
at Chicabal. The lake is in the crater of an old
volcano about 10,000 feet up in the clouds. We got
rained on a bit. But it was cool. The site is an
ancient Mayan ceremonial ground which was a
disappointment because it prevents anyone from
swimming in the lake. And after walking straight up a
montain for 3 hours that is all I wanted to do. But
the rain was a reasonable substitute for an American
not trying to get strung up by his balls by the
indigenious people. We celebrated our return to Xela
by getting one of the fellas housed for his b-day.
On Sunday I hit some natural springs (Georginas) on a
different old volcano. The trip to the springs was
pretty eventful. I got to rub elbows with a breast
feeding infant on the chicken bus to Zunil. At Zunil,
I piled in the back of a pick up truck for the 20
minute drive up the mountain to the springs. Very
relaxing couple of hours once you got adjusted to
swimming in 100 degree water filled with a lot
children with questionable bathroom decision making
skills. Also, there was a really good restaurant next
to the spring where I loaded up on food for next to
nothing.
Sunday afternoon, we got screwed by the always
reliable Guatemalan public electricity. Setting up to
destroy a few entrees and catch a film at one of the
cafes the power went out. Usually it goes out for
10-30 minutes. But this day it was relentless and the
movie was not to be. But the food was great. And on
that note - to change things up a bit rather than
saving it for the end - my stomach has remained true
to the cause and continues to destroy all parisites
providing me with a very comfortable bathroom
schedule.
The other big excitement for the week was preparations
for All Saints Day. They get really fired up down
here for this. I live across the street from the
cementary so I was right in the middle of the heart of
the festivities. All Saints Day pretty much consists
of decorating your family graves, eating, drinking and
foos ball. There is a mini carnival set up outside my
front door with all kinds of street meat, desserts,
foos ball, video games, a ferris wheel, some pseudo
bumper car things, and a sea of hot teenage guatemalan
chicks.
Also, I got to meet my entire host family. Everyone
came over to drink guatemalan rum, eat fiambra (the
all saints day food which consists of a cold vegetable
salad with a bunch of random lunch meat in it and
cheese on top), drink cervezas, teach nick curse
words, and smoke. It was a cloud of guatemalan
cigarette smoke in the dining room. The family is
very cool though. And they enjoyed laughing at me try
to speak spanish. Also, the fiambra sounds terrible
but it is actually very good.
This week I solved my communication trouble and picked
up a cell phone. I think it is cheap, cheaper than my
non-functioning calling card anyway. But I will have
to wait for the bill to be sure. I don't always
understand every word and could have missed an
important part of the discussion when I bought it. If
you are dying to talk to me you can now also call me
at 502-213-0855, in addition to the numbers in the
last email. The area code in the last email was wrong
by the way. It is 502. Yes I am dumb.
That about wraps it up. I enjoyed watching Jordan
make the Wizards look good last night on tv and am
heading to Lake Atitlan this weekend on a 56 kilometer
3 day hike which should be sweet. Also my plans for
the spring are starting to take shape. Details to
come soon. But looks very good for me to be able to
do some meaningful volunteer work in South America for
6 months in 2002. Setting my sights on Bolivia right
now.
Cultural note of the week. I think Guatemalan dudes
are the purest form of male testosterone embodied.
They are relentless in their pursuit of gringo chicks
regardless of features (size, appearance, smell,
dress, etc.) It is really pretty hilarious. Based on
a small survey, the gringo chicks are very much
enjoying the attention.
to a bar where I proceeded to sample all the finest
local cervecas and get more acquainted with my fellow
students. Most of them are pretty cool. There are
also a couple tools - other than myself of course.
There are a handful of Europeans and the rest are from
the USA. Mostly from the midwest for some reason.
Sense my last note, I have really taken ahold of my
gringo roots and started hitting the local sites. On
Saturday, I took a pretty sweet hike up to the Laguna
at Chicabal. The lake is in the crater of an old
volcano about 10,000 feet up in the clouds. We got
rained on a bit. But it was cool. The site is an
ancient Mayan ceremonial ground which was a
disappointment because it prevents anyone from
swimming in the lake. And after walking straight up a
montain for 3 hours that is all I wanted to do. But
the rain was a reasonable substitute for an American
not trying to get strung up by his balls by the
indigenious people. We celebrated our return to Xela
by getting one of the fellas housed for his b-day.
On Sunday I hit some natural springs (Georginas) on a
different old volcano. The trip to the springs was
pretty eventful. I got to rub elbows with a breast
feeding infant on the chicken bus to Zunil. At Zunil,
I piled in the back of a pick up truck for the 20
minute drive up the mountain to the springs. Very
relaxing couple of hours once you got adjusted to
swimming in 100 degree water filled with a lot
children with questionable bathroom decision making
skills. Also, there was a really good restaurant next
to the spring where I loaded up on food for next to
nothing.
Sunday afternoon, we got screwed by the always
reliable Guatemalan public electricity. Setting up to
destroy a few entrees and catch a film at one of the
cafes the power went out. Usually it goes out for
10-30 minutes. But this day it was relentless and the
movie was not to be. But the food was great. And on
that note - to change things up a bit rather than
saving it for the end - my stomach has remained true
to the cause and continues to destroy all parisites
providing me with a very comfortable bathroom
schedule.
The other big excitement for the week was preparations
for All Saints Day. They get really fired up down
here for this. I live across the street from the
cementary so I was right in the middle of the heart of
the festivities. All Saints Day pretty much consists
of decorating your family graves, eating, drinking and
foos ball. There is a mini carnival set up outside my
front door with all kinds of street meat, desserts,
foos ball, video games, a ferris wheel, some pseudo
bumper car things, and a sea of hot teenage guatemalan
chicks.
Also, I got to meet my entire host family. Everyone
came over to drink guatemalan rum, eat fiambra (the
all saints day food which consists of a cold vegetable
salad with a bunch of random lunch meat in it and
cheese on top), drink cervezas, teach nick curse
words, and smoke. It was a cloud of guatemalan
cigarette smoke in the dining room. The family is
very cool though. And they enjoyed laughing at me try
to speak spanish. Also, the fiambra sounds terrible
but it is actually very good.
This week I solved my communication trouble and picked
up a cell phone. I think it is cheap, cheaper than my
non-functioning calling card anyway. But I will have
to wait for the bill to be sure. I don't always
understand every word and could have missed an
important part of the discussion when I bought it. If
you are dying to talk to me you can now also call me
at 502-213-0855, in addition to the numbers in the
last email. The area code in the last email was wrong
by the way. It is 502. Yes I am dumb.
That about wraps it up. I enjoyed watching Jordan
make the Wizards look good last night on tv and am
heading to Lake Atitlan this weekend on a 56 kilometer
3 day hike which should be sweet. Also my plans for
the spring are starting to take shape. Details to
come soon. But looks very good for me to be able to
do some meaningful volunteer work in South America for
6 months in 2002. Setting my sights on Bolivia right
now.
Cultural note of the week. I think Guatemalan dudes
are the purest form of male testosterone embodied.
They are relentless in their pursuit of gringo chicks
regardless of features (size, appearance, smell,
dress, etc.) It is really pretty hilarious. Based on
a small survey, the gringo chicks are very much
enjoying the attention.
Thursday, October 25, 2001
Greetings from Xela
Since the last writing I have moved into
my new home for a couple months. I am now living in
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. The second largest city in
Guatemala (Guatemala City is the first) located 8,000
feet above sea level. It is a working class city
situated between three volcanoes located about four
hours bus ride from Antigua.
My last two nights in Antigua were followed by my
first two hangovers in Guatemala. The weekend brought
some entertaining nights. On Friday night, we were
rapping up the evening at 3am and needed some food.
In our drive to El Pollo, the car ran out of gas. So
we left it on the side of the road next to a church.
The owner assured us that it was much safer there
(without gas) than it would be parked by his house
anyway (with gas). Without a vehicle we set out on
foot to find food. Luckily, El Pollo was closed. We
ended up at a walk through type window about 6 blocks
further away. Parked outside were 4 police
motorcycles and 2 pickups. And standing around
laughing and carrying on were 10 police officers,
eating Ramen Noodles. Don't ask me. This crew
probably represented a majority of the overnight
police force hard at work. And they were very
impressed with the drunken americans.
Sunday, vicious hangover and all, I headed to the bus
station to try and navigate Guatemalan public
transportation. I parked myself 3/4 of the way in the
back in a seat by myself for the one hour drive to San
Lucas where I would need to switch buses. The buses
are 1980's elementary school buses. Not bad I
thought. Til the bus began to fill up. I was in the
window seat above the tire with no leg room and two
young guatemalan girls sharing the seat. My leg fell
asleep immediately and remained so until I tried to
stand up to get off at San Lucas. I almost fell on
the 12 year olds who looked at me like I was an idiot
of course.
I am now standing on the side of a "major" highway by
guatemalan standards with no idea what bus I need. So
I ask the locals and they assure me I am in the right
spot. Buses are stopping every 5 minutes and I am
asking if this is the bus to Xela. And none of them
are. After a half hour of this, I begin to figure out
that the city name on the top of the bus is its
destination (yes, i am a genius). So I stand and wait
to see one with Xela on it. And I do and it just flys
by. And then the next one comes... same thing. And
the next... The fourth one comes and I start flailing
my arms to know avail. Now I have attracted the
attention of a kind hearted 12 year old girl who tries
to help. Then her sister and mom come over. And the
three of them start waving for the next bus - no luck.
Than dad and brother arrive. I now have a family of
5 running out into the middle of the highway to stop
the next Xela bus for me. I was cracking up. (btw -
i am about a foot taller than all of them)
From there things are pretty uneventful... but the
trip took an extra 2 hours do to the complications of
trying to hail a bus in San Lucas.
Total travel time = 6 hours. Add in the impact of a
throbbing headache and no food and you have one
miserable gringo in Xela Sunday evening.
I get a hotel to unload my 30 pound backpack. I got a
bed in a large room with 15 other people for $2
(dormitory style). I wasn't in a mood to be picky and
the place came recommended.
I headed out in the streets to quench my hunger. I
had met three dudes on the buses/in the streets of
xela while looking for the hotel and they all
recommended one restaurant also one is a cook at the
restaurant. So I headed there. But it wasn't open.
So I just sat there for a while and Steve (the cook)
showed up and let me in. Restaurant is only open from
7-10pm. I am starting to realize this city is
different than anything I have been to before. Steve
hooked me up with a huge dinner for $2.50.
The streets of Xela are difficult to navigate. There
are tons of dead ends and diagonal streets intermixed
with the north/south and east/west streets. I got
lost ever time I went somewhere the first 2 days.
Which explains why I showed up at my school an hour
late. Although I was also an hour late because I
never checked to see what time it started or called to
make sure I was enrolled. But as I walked in the door
a lady said "Hola Nicolas" so I knew I was cool.
Started my 5 hours of spanish class the first day and
the teacher asked me where my notebook was. Of course
I didn't have one. Asked me where my pen was. Same
respone. I guess I forgot that notebooks and writing
utensils are standard operating procedure at school.
She was pretty impressed. My teacher is a 22 year old
Guatemalan. And no she is not hot.
After the first day of class I was
introduced to my family. Very nice family. There are
three living at home (mother-62 (not hot), daughter-21
(again - not hot), son-26, the father is dead) They
have a dog (Sheila - very hot) a parrot (Arturo - no
comment) and a car and a moped. Their house is pretty
small. It has 5 rooms that are all about the same
size (10x12 probably). The rooms are under one roof
but not connected by hallways. They each open up into
a cement courtyard type of area. I have a room to
myself and total privacy (the son and daughter share a
room). I have a key to the house to come and go as I
please. And the location is pretty central (5 minutes
walk from school and 10 minutes from the central
plaza) but it is right across the street from a big
cementary.
I am served three meals a day at home. The biggest
meal is at lunch. And I am settling nicely into the
afternoon siesta schedule. Oh and the family does not
speak a word of english.
The people of Xela are pretty poor typically. The
family I live with is relatively well off. There are
basically no tourists here but a good number of
foreigners learning spanish. As a result, there are
maybe 3 or 4 bars and 7 or 8 restaurants. I have
never lived in such a large city with so little
entertainment. But that is not to say that it is bad.
I am enjoying my life here very much. The people are
very nice. The food is great. I am learning a lot
very quickly. And have been continuing to read and
sleep a lot. My life is so simple.
There are very few attractions in this city either. I
think there are four things listed in the guides
books. The city is made up mostly of single story
homes. There are a couple buildings that may be 3 or
4 stories but that is it. The streets are pretty
dirty and crowded with cars that will run you over if
you are in their way. The sidewalks are very narrow
which forces you to walk in the streets.
I now have contact information for the rest of 2001.
I am living at 4th Calle 20-62 Zona 1, Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala. The phone number at the house is
011-512-765-2077. If you want to call me. Please try
between 8pm and 9pm mountain time (one hour ahead of
PST and two behind EST). Also, I can be reached at
Casa Xelaju (the school) which is located at Callejon
15 D13-02 Zona 1, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. I have a
break everyday from 10:30 - 11:00am mountain time.
The phone number is 011-512-761-5954.
Oh yeah... there was a donkey tied to a lamp post in
front of my house today. No clue why.
To those who are keeping track of my health: No
rashes/STDs and today I had my first troubles in the
bano. But don't worry, they were not too bad. So I
am still pretty damn proud of my iron stomach.
my new home for a couple months. I am now living in
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. The second largest city in
Guatemala (Guatemala City is the first) located 8,000
feet above sea level. It is a working class city
situated between three volcanoes located about four
hours bus ride from Antigua.
My last two nights in Antigua were followed by my
first two hangovers in Guatemala. The weekend brought
some entertaining nights. On Friday night, we were
rapping up the evening at 3am and needed some food.
In our drive to El Pollo, the car ran out of gas. So
we left it on the side of the road next to a church.
The owner assured us that it was much safer there
(without gas) than it would be parked by his house
anyway (with gas). Without a vehicle we set out on
foot to find food. Luckily, El Pollo was closed. We
ended up at a walk through type window about 6 blocks
further away. Parked outside were 4 police
motorcycles and 2 pickups. And standing around
laughing and carrying on were 10 police officers,
eating Ramen Noodles. Don't ask me. This crew
probably represented a majority of the overnight
police force hard at work. And they were very
impressed with the drunken americans.
Sunday, vicious hangover and all, I headed to the bus
station to try and navigate Guatemalan public
transportation. I parked myself 3/4 of the way in the
back in a seat by myself for the one hour drive to San
Lucas where I would need to switch buses. The buses
are 1980's elementary school buses. Not bad I
thought. Til the bus began to fill up. I was in the
window seat above the tire with no leg room and two
young guatemalan girls sharing the seat. My leg fell
asleep immediately and remained so until I tried to
stand up to get off at San Lucas. I almost fell on
the 12 year olds who looked at me like I was an idiot
of course.
I am now standing on the side of a "major" highway by
guatemalan standards with no idea what bus I need. So
I ask the locals and they assure me I am in the right
spot. Buses are stopping every 5 minutes and I am
asking if this is the bus to Xela. And none of them
are. After a half hour of this, I begin to figure out
that the city name on the top of the bus is its
destination (yes, i am a genius). So I stand and wait
to see one with Xela on it. And I do and it just flys
by. And then the next one comes... same thing. And
the next... The fourth one comes and I start flailing
my arms to know avail. Now I have attracted the
attention of a kind hearted 12 year old girl who tries
to help. Then her sister and mom come over. And the
three of them start waving for the next bus - no luck.
Than dad and brother arrive. I now have a family of
5 running out into the middle of the highway to stop
the next Xela bus for me. I was cracking up. (btw -
i am about a foot taller than all of them)
From there things are pretty uneventful... but the
trip took an extra 2 hours do to the complications of
trying to hail a bus in San Lucas.
Total travel time = 6 hours. Add in the impact of a
throbbing headache and no food and you have one
miserable gringo in Xela Sunday evening.
I get a hotel to unload my 30 pound backpack. I got a
bed in a large room with 15 other people for $2
(dormitory style). I wasn't in a mood to be picky and
the place came recommended.
I headed out in the streets to quench my hunger. I
had met three dudes on the buses/in the streets of
xela while looking for the hotel and they all
recommended one restaurant also one is a cook at the
restaurant. So I headed there. But it wasn't open.
So I just sat there for a while and Steve (the cook)
showed up and let me in. Restaurant is only open from
7-10pm. I am starting to realize this city is
different than anything I have been to before. Steve
hooked me up with a huge dinner for $2.50.
The streets of Xela are difficult to navigate. There
are tons of dead ends and diagonal streets intermixed
with the north/south and east/west streets. I got
lost ever time I went somewhere the first 2 days.
Which explains why I showed up at my school an hour
late. Although I was also an hour late because I
never checked to see what time it started or called to
make sure I was enrolled. But as I walked in the door
a lady said "Hola Nicolas" so I knew I was cool.
Started my 5 hours of spanish class the first day and
the teacher asked me where my notebook was. Of course
I didn't have one. Asked me where my pen was. Same
respone. I guess I forgot that notebooks and writing
utensils are standard operating procedure at school.
She was pretty impressed. My teacher is a 22 year old
Guatemalan. And no she is not hot.
After the first day of class I was
introduced to my family. Very nice family. There are
three living at home (mother-62 (not hot), daughter-21
(again - not hot), son-26, the father is dead) They
have a dog (Sheila - very hot) a parrot (Arturo - no
comment) and a car and a moped. Their house is pretty
small. It has 5 rooms that are all about the same
size (10x12 probably). The rooms are under one roof
but not connected by hallways. They each open up into
a cement courtyard type of area. I have a room to
myself and total privacy (the son and daughter share a
room). I have a key to the house to come and go as I
please. And the location is pretty central (5 minutes
walk from school and 10 minutes from the central
plaza) but it is right across the street from a big
cementary.
I am served three meals a day at home. The biggest
meal is at lunch. And I am settling nicely into the
afternoon siesta schedule. Oh and the family does not
speak a word of english.
The people of Xela are pretty poor typically. The
family I live with is relatively well off. There are
basically no tourists here but a good number of
foreigners learning spanish. As a result, there are
maybe 3 or 4 bars and 7 or 8 restaurants. I have
never lived in such a large city with so little
entertainment. But that is not to say that it is bad.
I am enjoying my life here very much. The people are
very nice. The food is great. I am learning a lot
very quickly. And have been continuing to read and
sleep a lot. My life is so simple.
There are very few attractions in this city either. I
think there are four things listed in the guides
books. The city is made up mostly of single story
homes. There are a couple buildings that may be 3 or
4 stories but that is it. The streets are pretty
dirty and crowded with cars that will run you over if
you are in their way. The sidewalks are very narrow
which forces you to walk in the streets.
I now have contact information for the rest of 2001.
I am living at 4th Calle 20-62 Zona 1, Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala. The phone number at the house is
011-512-765-2077. If you want to call me. Please try
between 8pm and 9pm mountain time (one hour ahead of
PST and two behind EST). Also, I can be reached at
Casa Xelaju (the school) which is located at Callejon
15 D13-02 Zona 1, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. I have a
break everyday from 10:30 - 11:00am mountain time.
The phone number is 011-512-761-5954.
Oh yeah... there was a donkey tied to a lamp post in
front of my house today. No clue why.
To those who are keeping track of my health: No
rashes/STDs and today I had my first troubles in the
bano. But don't worry, they were not too bad. So I
am still pretty damn proud of my iron stomach.
Thursday, October 18, 2001
Greetings from Antigua
First, I apologize to anyone that I missed on the way
out of town. I have been in Antigua for a week now.
And life is good. Sunny, beautiful weather.
The trip down was uneventful and I had the pleasure of
sitting next to a 54 year old Guatemalan hotie (yes I
looked at the birth date on her passport). I think
she dug me.
I stayed in Guatemala city for as long as it took to
drive out of the city. Not much to see as far as I
could tell. My first glimpse into the strange ironies
of the Guatemalan culture. The airport is fairly
modern and in good working order. Also, the first
things I saw on the way out of the parking lot were
Chuckee Cheese, Burger King and Dunkin Donuts. (yeah
america) But the remainder of the trip included
scenes of shanties, people walking on the sides of the
highway, the chicken buses, etc.
Driving into Antigua, the first thing to notice is how
very old the city is. Cobblestone roads, ruins of
churches, vivid colonial architecture and three
volcanoes looking over the city. We drove directly to
a hotel through the central plaza (the center of
town). Even the government buildings on the plaza are
in very depleted condition. I was not sure what to
think of this and it was beginning to make me
concerned about my accomodations. So I changed my
range from the one dollar sign hotels ($5-$20) to the
two dollar sign category ($20-$50) (guide book
legend).
My first hotel was very nice. Typical architecture of
many of the buildings here. Square layout with a
courtyard in the middle with a fountain. I got the
king size bed, huge room, cable tv with 100 channels,
a hot shower, the works. Yeah, I am really
struggling. The hotel was built on the site of an old
convent. The only thing that remains of this convent
is an archway over the street. The rest was
completely destroyed in earthquakes.
After getting acclimated, I moved down to the one
dollar sign hotel. Twin bed, hot water between 6:30
and 8:30 in the morning, electricity goes out every
evening for varying lengths of time - making good use
of candles, no tv, no phone. But it is very
comfortable.
I have hit all the sites in the city at this point I
think. The sites pretty much consist of ruined
churches and convents but I also went to a renovated
colonial style mansion which was very cool. It is
fascinating to see historical sites in there natural
condition after 300+ years of degradation. The impact
of 3 major earthquakes in the city has taken its toll.
In stark contrast to the ruins are the houses,
restaurants and hotels in the center of town. All of
which are in excellent condition (tourist dollars no
doubt) and are adorned with vivid colors and striking
colonial architecture. And always on the horizon are
the massize volcanoes covered in evergreen with clouds
masking their peaks.
Everything about the culture centers around the pace.
Everything is so slow. And I know that America is
ridiculously fast paced, but this is slow even on a
scale with Europe as the midpoint. Walking on the
sidewalk can be quite aggrevating for a gringo. I
mean people can walk really slow, really slow.
Everyone is so relaxed here. It is refreshing. I
have been spending a good amount of time chillin in
the central plaza (a simple park with a fountain in
the middle) reading, smoking, and meeting the locals.
Yeah, so I have been hit on by a guatemalan native
already - and yes he is a guy. So I have that going
for me. Anyways, he taught me some interesting
spanish words I didn´t already know and he was very
anxious to hear all about San Francisco.
Ironies abound everywhere in this city. The poor are
so very poor. The stray dogs are really gross and it
is sad to watch them scrounging around for food. On
the same block, though the Range Rovers and beautiful
homes are very impressive. And there are many gringos
strolling around shelling out money and being accosted
by guatemalan children selling jewelry, clothes, nuts
and posters. You can definitely get by speaking
english here but I have been putting forth a good
faith effort to start learning spanish. And I for one
think I am doing an excellent job of butchering the
language. Although I have not been laughed at yet.
And people are very nice and patient with struggling
spanish speakers here which is cool. Yeah, the people
hear are very very friendly.
The food is great and everything is so cheap. Most
meals cost about $2-$3. Portions are a bit smaller
than normal so I have just been eating 4 time a day to
compensate. And for all those concerned, I am proud
to report that the steel stomach is working its magic.
So far no need for any over-the-counter
pharmaceuticals.
The social life in the city has been impacted very
recently in a negative way. I guess the tourists were
turning the town into something of a party town which
was not making the locals very happy as they view the
city as an old-style sleepy colonial town. As a
result, they have shut down 7 bars here in the last
month and eliminated liquor from many of the
remaining. The gringos have reacted negatively and
are not going out "like they used to." But I have
been able to meet up with some UVA people that live
down here and meet there friends. A typical night has
consisted of 3 or 4 beers and home by 11pm or so.
Crime has reared its ugly head once also. I just met
a couple girls that were accosted last night on the
way home by four guys in a car with a gun. Luckily
their screams were heard by the family one of them was
staying with and the aspiring rapists were forced to
leave.
And I think that about sums it up so far. To those
who are expecting a phone call - mom, dad, etc. I am
an idiot and can´t figure out how to call out of this
country so in the meantime email is the only source of
communication.
I am leaving Antigua on Saturday to go to
Quezaltenango and start spanish classes on Monday. IT
will be my first chicken bus experience which should
be cool. When I am in Xela (that is what the region
is called) I will be able to place and receive calls
from the school and receive calls at the house of the
family I am staying at. I will also be able to send
and receive real mail from the school. I will send
the contact info when I get settled next week.
out of town. I have been in Antigua for a week now.
And life is good. Sunny, beautiful weather.
The trip down was uneventful and I had the pleasure of
sitting next to a 54 year old Guatemalan hotie (yes I
looked at the birth date on her passport). I think
she dug me.
I stayed in Guatemala city for as long as it took to
drive out of the city. Not much to see as far as I
could tell. My first glimpse into the strange ironies
of the Guatemalan culture. The airport is fairly
modern and in good working order. Also, the first
things I saw on the way out of the parking lot were
Chuckee Cheese, Burger King and Dunkin Donuts. (yeah
america) But the remainder of the trip included
scenes of shanties, people walking on the sides of the
highway, the chicken buses, etc.
Driving into Antigua, the first thing to notice is how
very old the city is. Cobblestone roads, ruins of
churches, vivid colonial architecture and three
volcanoes looking over the city. We drove directly to
a hotel through the central plaza (the center of
town). Even the government buildings on the plaza are
in very depleted condition. I was not sure what to
think of this and it was beginning to make me
concerned about my accomodations. So I changed my
range from the one dollar sign hotels ($5-$20) to the
two dollar sign category ($20-$50) (guide book
legend).
My first hotel was very nice. Typical architecture of
many of the buildings here. Square layout with a
courtyard in the middle with a fountain. I got the
king size bed, huge room, cable tv with 100 channels,
a hot shower, the works. Yeah, I am really
struggling. The hotel was built on the site of an old
convent. The only thing that remains of this convent
is an archway over the street. The rest was
completely destroyed in earthquakes.
After getting acclimated, I moved down to the one
dollar sign hotel. Twin bed, hot water between 6:30
and 8:30 in the morning, electricity goes out every
evening for varying lengths of time - making good use
of candles, no tv, no phone. But it is very
comfortable.
I have hit all the sites in the city at this point I
think. The sites pretty much consist of ruined
churches and convents but I also went to a renovated
colonial style mansion which was very cool. It is
fascinating to see historical sites in there natural
condition after 300+ years of degradation. The impact
of 3 major earthquakes in the city has taken its toll.
In stark contrast to the ruins are the houses,
restaurants and hotels in the center of town. All of
which are in excellent condition (tourist dollars no
doubt) and are adorned with vivid colors and striking
colonial architecture. And always on the horizon are
the massize volcanoes covered in evergreen with clouds
masking their peaks.
Everything about the culture centers around the pace.
Everything is so slow. And I know that America is
ridiculously fast paced, but this is slow even on a
scale with Europe as the midpoint. Walking on the
sidewalk can be quite aggrevating for a gringo. I
mean people can walk really slow, really slow.
Everyone is so relaxed here. It is refreshing. I
have been spending a good amount of time chillin in
the central plaza (a simple park with a fountain in
the middle) reading, smoking, and meeting the locals.
Yeah, so I have been hit on by a guatemalan native
already - and yes he is a guy. So I have that going
for me. Anyways, he taught me some interesting
spanish words I didn´t already know and he was very
anxious to hear all about San Francisco.
Ironies abound everywhere in this city. The poor are
so very poor. The stray dogs are really gross and it
is sad to watch them scrounging around for food. On
the same block, though the Range Rovers and beautiful
homes are very impressive. And there are many gringos
strolling around shelling out money and being accosted
by guatemalan children selling jewelry, clothes, nuts
and posters. You can definitely get by speaking
english here but I have been putting forth a good
faith effort to start learning spanish. And I for one
think I am doing an excellent job of butchering the
language. Although I have not been laughed at yet.
And people are very nice and patient with struggling
spanish speakers here which is cool. Yeah, the people
hear are very very friendly.
The food is great and everything is so cheap. Most
meals cost about $2-$3. Portions are a bit smaller
than normal so I have just been eating 4 time a day to
compensate. And for all those concerned, I am proud
to report that the steel stomach is working its magic.
So far no need for any over-the-counter
pharmaceuticals.
The social life in the city has been impacted very
recently in a negative way. I guess the tourists were
turning the town into something of a party town which
was not making the locals very happy as they view the
city as an old-style sleepy colonial town. As a
result, they have shut down 7 bars here in the last
month and eliminated liquor from many of the
remaining. The gringos have reacted negatively and
are not going out "like they used to." But I have
been able to meet up with some UVA people that live
down here and meet there friends. A typical night has
consisted of 3 or 4 beers and home by 11pm or so.
Crime has reared its ugly head once also. I just met
a couple girls that were accosted last night on the
way home by four guys in a car with a gun. Luckily
their screams were heard by the family one of them was
staying with and the aspiring rapists were forced to
leave.
And I think that about sums it up so far. To those
who are expecting a phone call - mom, dad, etc. I am
an idiot and can´t figure out how to call out of this
country so in the meantime email is the only source of
communication.
I am leaving Antigua on Saturday to go to
Quezaltenango and start spanish classes on Monday. IT
will be my first chicken bus experience which should
be cool. When I am in Xela (that is what the region
is called) I will be able to place and receive calls
from the school and receive calls at the house of the
family I am staying at. I will also be able to send
and receive real mail from the school. I will send
the contact info when I get settled next week.
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