Wow! So I just returned this afternoon from by 6 day trek with a tour group here in Xela. It was absolutely amazing! We only hiked 4 days (the other two were traveling/bus days) but went about 35 miles in all and were up in the highlands of Guatemala walking through some of the most remote villages. It was so worth it! I am/was definitely not in tip-top hiking shape, partly just because it´s been a couple of years without backpacking due to knee injuries and stuff like that, so parts of the trip definitely hurt my legs (but, like always, was totally doable) and I am quite exhausted right now, but the good kind of exhausted. I was also really glad not to be sick because I was sick again just a few days before leaving for the trek, but other than a car sick episode on the first day, had no problems (and felt really sorry for the couple other members of our group who got sick, I can´t even imagine!) We visited this highland cheese factory, took a traditional tamskal (basically like a sauna but with a fire in a little brick building outside...it´s the way that the locals bathe) ate beans and rice, hiked through villages where spanish is not even spoken, stayed at a house of a local man who told us his story about the civil war (the campesinos in this part of the country basically found themselves stuck between the guerrilas and the military, siding with either meant the other side would kill you, but one had to choose sides...the reality is that most of them knew or cared less about the politics...), made some new friends, aquired some sore muscles, summited the highest non-volcanic point in Guatemala, took a dip in a freezing highland stream (almost on par with snow melt streams in Driggs), and saw a lot of pigs. Probably more than that too, but it´s hard to recap everything quickly!!
So, I´m taking off again tomorrow morning (henceforth the need for efficiency and speed) for San Cristobal over the Mexican border with an ICA friend and another gal from the trek. I think I´ll be there 4 or 5 days and then will be heading back to Xela for the last time (I believe). I had an unfortunate realization last Tuesday as I packed up my things for the trek, discovering that someone in my house had, likely over the last 2 weeks, stolen the equivalent of $190 U.S. dollars from me. It was, partly my fault because I had stopped leaving my door locked at all times, but am also nearly 100% sure that the guy who took it is one of the pensionistas in my house who has a sketchy reputation around town and has had problems consistently with my host mom (she actually kicked him out earlier this month, telling him he had to be out by May). I confronted him, but of course he is going to deny it...Anway, live and learn. It makes me sad that even in a place where I felt safe and trusting, I was taken advantage of, and although I really can´t imagine that anyone else in the house would have taken it from me, there will always be that tiny tickling of a doubt...plus I´m $200 shorter, which isn´t a ton of money, but down here, it´s worth a lot more. I decided not to tell the Spanish school though because I don´t want my host mom to stop recieving students (it´s basically how she feeds her family...) and since there have never been any problems with her house before hand and the person I believe is guilty is leaving the house...still, what a crumy thing to have happen (although, it made me glad most of my $ was in traveler´s checks, that way only the cash could be lifted, along with a few of the quetzales I had already converted from the checks...).
Life is good! I´m really glad to be feeling better and it seems like it is working out well the way I am weaning myself off of my Guatemalan home and it also feels like time to be moving on. In just three weeks I´ll be seeing my mother and my sister in Honduras! Yay! Until later...
Monday, April 30, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Leaving Xela...supuestamente
Well, after returning from my Semana Santa weekend, I was scheduled to take off on a trek that following Wednesday. I however, was feeling tired and not exactly ready-excited to take off for a 6 day hike two days after returning, so changed my reservation for the 25th of this month. Turned out that was a good decision because I finally decided to pick up some stomach amoebas (after 2 months of no problems...) and spent all of Thursday out of comission, took the medicine, killed the amoebas, but still was sick all weekend. (Although, I figured out if I just don´t eat, I normally feel functional, however, anorexia doesn´t seem like the best cure either...) I went back to the doctor who said that my stomach was probably just having a bad reaction to the drug, because it´s aparently pretty strong, so she sent me on my way with a perscription for an anti-nausea drug and another drug to help re-balance the PH in my digestive system and grow good bacteria. Unfortunately, I´m still not back in tip-top shape, actually, I´m more in see-saw shape, I think I may go back to the doctor again today. So, supuestamente, I am leaving on Wednesday morning for a 6 day trek..we´ll see.
Other than battling nausea and stomach bugs, I decided to take some more Spanish classes but at a different school (one that my host mom used to work with). I took 15 hrs a week (3hrs/3days) and that was really perfect. By the end of my second week I was getting sick of my teacher because she kept showing up late and stuff, but overall, I think more classes helped. If anything, it is just great for me to have to sit and speak to someone for 3 hours, or listen. Plus, I asked this time to not really do much grammar or anything and that was much better. The thing is though, that non of my friends here really know that I´ve gone to lessons and I can´t talk to them about it because my host mom could get in trouble with ICA if they were to find out I´m going to school somewhere else. So be it. Other than that I´ve sort of just been hanging out-either spending the time in bed, the internet cafe, central park or a coffee shop (with ICA friends...playing backgammon), or at home with my host mom and those who come eat at my house. Really nothing too interesting in terms of grand adventures. The last couple of weeks there has been a new student in my house from Norway, Helene, who is super fun to have around. On Saturday I climbed the volcano Santa Maria again with the school, mainly because I haven´t hiked in 3 or 4 weeks and am headed off on that trek...it is such a killer hike though! Plus, I had thrown up 2 hours before we left so was a little queasy in the stomach all the way up. We didn´t have a view at all, which was too bad, but made me glad I´d gone earlier when we had such a fantastic view. Then, yesterday (Sunday) a group of us thought it would be nice to go to the hot springs (my third trip) and took the bus to Zunil and then rode up in the back of a pick-up truck to the Fuentes. It was definitley nice on the sore muscles! I, unfortunately, got sick on the way back (I´m really getting sick of this being sick thing!), came home and spent the rest of the day/night in bed. Whatever, guess I´m in Guatemala.
So, the plan from here is my trek, then San Cristobal in Mexico with and ICA friend, then (hopefully) to the amusement parks south of here to visit my friend Emily from home who will be there for work, then Lago Atitlan for a little while, then off to Honduras to meet my sister and my mom who are flying in on the 19th. Yay!!! My mom will spend a week with us in Copan and then my sister will stay with me for another couple of weeks. Time is just flying by! I am feeling a little sad to know that I am finally at that point where I will be leaving Xela for good (for the most part); It´s been home for the last 2 and a half months!!
Other than battling nausea and stomach bugs, I decided to take some more Spanish classes but at a different school (one that my host mom used to work with). I took 15 hrs a week (3hrs/3days) and that was really perfect. By the end of my second week I was getting sick of my teacher because she kept showing up late and stuff, but overall, I think more classes helped. If anything, it is just great for me to have to sit and speak to someone for 3 hours, or listen. Plus, I asked this time to not really do much grammar or anything and that was much better. The thing is though, that non of my friends here really know that I´ve gone to lessons and I can´t talk to them about it because my host mom could get in trouble with ICA if they were to find out I´m going to school somewhere else. So be it. Other than that I´ve sort of just been hanging out-either spending the time in bed, the internet cafe, central park or a coffee shop (with ICA friends...playing backgammon), or at home with my host mom and those who come eat at my house. Really nothing too interesting in terms of grand adventures. The last couple of weeks there has been a new student in my house from Norway, Helene, who is super fun to have around. On Saturday I climbed the volcano Santa Maria again with the school, mainly because I haven´t hiked in 3 or 4 weeks and am headed off on that trek...it is such a killer hike though! Plus, I had thrown up 2 hours before we left so was a little queasy in the stomach all the way up. We didn´t have a view at all, which was too bad, but made me glad I´d gone earlier when we had such a fantastic view. Then, yesterday (Sunday) a group of us thought it would be nice to go to the hot springs (my third trip) and took the bus to Zunil and then rode up in the back of a pick-up truck to the Fuentes. It was definitley nice on the sore muscles! I, unfortunately, got sick on the way back (I´m really getting sick of this being sick thing!), came home and spent the rest of the day/night in bed. Whatever, guess I´m in Guatemala.
So, the plan from here is my trek, then San Cristobal in Mexico with and ICA friend, then (hopefully) to the amusement parks south of here to visit my friend Emily from home who will be there for work, then Lago Atitlan for a little while, then off to Honduras to meet my sister and my mom who are flying in on the 19th. Yay!!! My mom will spend a week with us in Copan and then my sister will stay with me for another couple of weeks. Time is just flying by! I am feeling a little sad to know that I am finally at that point where I will be leaving Xela for good (for the most part); It´s been home for the last 2 and a half months!!
Monday, April 9, 2007
Semana Santa!!
Well, Happy Easter to all! The easter bunny missed me down here though, oh well, life goes on. So, basically since I arrived here in Guatemala, it seems the whole country has been preparing for Semana Santa. I wonder what they will do now that it is over? I went with my friend Alicia to nearby Lago Atitlan for the weekend. We spent a couple of nights with a few past ICA friends (who now have a house in Panajachel while they work at a nearby nature reserve) and then another couple of nights across the Lake at a town called Santiago, soaking in the culmination of Semana Santa.
First, Panajachel.
Pana is a VERY touristy town and has a large population of American Ex-pats along with Guatemalan hippies. It was actually a bit of a strange place for me, largely because so many of the tourists weren´t extranjeros--they were Guatemalans. Apparently the lake is a popular getaway for people from the capital and is almost a the spring break location for a lot of the college students here in Xela. It was definitley strange to me how easy it was to pick out the local tourists-I mean, foreigners are easy, they usually are caring a backpack and have very white skin...but almost the only difference between the extranjeros and the locals were the lack of a backpack. I can´t quite explain how strange this was to me. Most of Guatemalan tourists were very light skinned, carried around digital cameras and were wearing ¨Panajachel¨shirts purchased on the main street so as to better remember their trip once they returned home. I mean, I know one of the problems facing Guatemala is the intense estrangement of the Mayan population (that counts for nearly 50% of the population here) but something about this weekend really drove in the fact that there are clearly two different groups here. Extranjeros aren´t the only people in the country that come from privelage--the Mayan women on the streets targeted all tourists equally as possibly being interested in a traditional Mayan shawl or bracelet. Anyway, enough of that. I´m not sure I explained that well, but it was definitely something that made Pana very strange to me--I think especially because I spent two days across the lake in Santiago where almost the entire population is Mayan and many people there don´t speak Spanish, only the local Mayan dialect. Something about that contrast really hit home.
So, we spent Wed. in Pana and then came back early Saturday morning from Santiago and went to the Nature reserve with our two friends Nieka and Davy. It was a gorgeous little area, although in reality not a very large reserve. We did walk around though and took a ride on the zip-line, which was absolutely gorgeous and way worth the few extra Quetzals. I mean really, how often does one get to fly through the air overlooking a beautiful natural lake surrounded by three volcanos in Guatemala?
Santiago:
So, the Semana Santa celebrations...as I mentioned before, Santiago is nearly entirely Mayan and it was the first place I´ve been where almost all the men also wear traditional clothing, which was quite neat. We stayed both Thursday and Friday night, periodically walking around town to see what new developments had occured next to the Catholic church. We sort of accidentally ended up sitting through a 2 hour Mass Thursday afternoon. We went in to look at the church after lunch and figured all the people pouring in just had something to do with the special weekend, after a few minutes though, we were pretty much trapped in the center of the church watching mass begin...I couldn´t understand most of what went on, partly because half of the service was in Mayan (I can´t remember how to spell the local dialect, I think Tju-something). It was definitley me and Alicia (and a few other unsuspecting extranjeros) sticking up above the Mayan congretaion..
The main stuff happened on Friday. All around town the locals had constructed these gates decorated with pine needles and fruit and starting Friday morning began constructing these elaborate alofombras (carpets on the street made of sand or something like that depicting different images) on the path outlined by these gates. This work went on all day and the results where incredible. At three in the afternoon, the procession began at the church where a very large...I´m not sure how to describe it, maybe a casket with Jesus in it? began being carried through town. This procession started at three and ended at 6 AM Saturday morning. Very slow moving...But, they just marched over the alofombras that had taken all day to construct and a crowd of people followed the procession all through the night...
Ok, I think I am getting a little burned out on typing, so you are probably getting a little burned out on reading. Anyway, I´m sure I missed a ton like always, but it is imposible to include everything!
First, Panajachel.
Pana is a VERY touristy town and has a large population of American Ex-pats along with Guatemalan hippies. It was actually a bit of a strange place for me, largely because so many of the tourists weren´t extranjeros--they were Guatemalans. Apparently the lake is a popular getaway for people from the capital and is almost a the spring break location for a lot of the college students here in Xela. It was definitley strange to me how easy it was to pick out the local tourists-I mean, foreigners are easy, they usually are caring a backpack and have very white skin...but almost the only difference between the extranjeros and the locals were the lack of a backpack. I can´t quite explain how strange this was to me. Most of Guatemalan tourists were very light skinned, carried around digital cameras and were wearing ¨Panajachel¨shirts purchased on the main street so as to better remember their trip once they returned home. I mean, I know one of the problems facing Guatemala is the intense estrangement of the Mayan population (that counts for nearly 50% of the population here) but something about this weekend really drove in the fact that there are clearly two different groups here. Extranjeros aren´t the only people in the country that come from privelage--the Mayan women on the streets targeted all tourists equally as possibly being interested in a traditional Mayan shawl or bracelet. Anyway, enough of that. I´m not sure I explained that well, but it was definitely something that made Pana very strange to me--I think especially because I spent two days across the lake in Santiago where almost the entire population is Mayan and many people there don´t speak Spanish, only the local Mayan dialect. Something about that contrast really hit home.
So, we spent Wed. in Pana and then came back early Saturday morning from Santiago and went to the Nature reserve with our two friends Nieka and Davy. It was a gorgeous little area, although in reality not a very large reserve. We did walk around though and took a ride on the zip-line, which was absolutely gorgeous and way worth the few extra Quetzals. I mean really, how often does one get to fly through the air overlooking a beautiful natural lake surrounded by three volcanos in Guatemala?
Santiago:
So, the Semana Santa celebrations...as I mentioned before, Santiago is nearly entirely Mayan and it was the first place I´ve been where almost all the men also wear traditional clothing, which was quite neat. We stayed both Thursday and Friday night, periodically walking around town to see what new developments had occured next to the Catholic church. We sort of accidentally ended up sitting through a 2 hour Mass Thursday afternoon. We went in to look at the church after lunch and figured all the people pouring in just had something to do with the special weekend, after a few minutes though, we were pretty much trapped in the center of the church watching mass begin...I couldn´t understand most of what went on, partly because half of the service was in Mayan (I can´t remember how to spell the local dialect, I think Tju-something). It was definitley me and Alicia (and a few other unsuspecting extranjeros) sticking up above the Mayan congretaion..
The main stuff happened on Friday. All around town the locals had constructed these gates decorated with pine needles and fruit and starting Friday morning began constructing these elaborate alofombras (carpets on the street made of sand or something like that depicting different images) on the path outlined by these gates. This work went on all day and the results where incredible. At three in the afternoon, the procession began at the church where a very large...I´m not sure how to describe it, maybe a casket with Jesus in it? began being carried through town. This procession started at three and ended at 6 AM Saturday morning. Very slow moving...But, they just marched over the alofombras that had taken all day to construct and a crowd of people followed the procession all through the night...
Ok, I think I am getting a little burned out on typing, so you are probably getting a little burned out on reading. Anyway, I´m sure I missed a ton like always, but it is imposible to include everything!
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