30 Marzo, 2007: Nina
So I miss San Marcos already. We are in Antigua right now and it is as touristy as everyone says. We leave tomorrow to begin our two day trip to El Peten, the northern part of Guatemala, the jungle. It should be about a 10 to 12 hour bus ride, but we are splitting it up into two days, and stopping in a place called Rio Dulce (sweet river) for the first night. I think I will be glad to be back in remote land. So far, my favorite times have been in the remote areas, like the Finca de Alianza, San Marcos, and the Fuentas Georginas. One thing I am not looking forward to, the misquitos!! So far we have encountered very few of the flying friends, but from everythig I have read, they are pretty bad in the jungle, naturally.
So I said I would write a little more about San Marcos... if anyone is thinking about taking a nice little get-away to some place warm and beautiful, but want to avoid the overpriced hotels, crowds, consumerism, and resorts, then Lago De Atitlan, specifically San Marcos, is a wonderful place. We enjoyed every bit of it. We would wake up in the morning and enjoy fresh fruit and banana bread, purchased from a woman sitting along the path the day before. We explored through the little paths that lead throughout the little village, on either side bamboo, coffee, and banana plants. We purchased veggies from the little stand and prepared delicious meals. We spent hours on the huge rocks overhanging the lake, swam in the clear waters, and took naps in the hammocks. At night we would walk down and sit on the shore of the lake and watch the stars and fireflies. And all of this was extremely economical... our bunglalow was about $9 per night. The meals we prepared ourselves, like pasta with fresh tomatoe, red pepper and onion sauce, and fresh bread, was less than $3. The bottle of Chilean wine hiked the price up a bit though.. to a whopping $9 total. Hey, you have to "splurge" sometimes!
Nina:
Wow, I have been on the internet for two hours and 15 minutes now!! We hadnt checked email since Sunday. I am going to write more about our time in San Marcos, but tomorrow. till then...
29 March 2007: Matthew
After leaveing Panajachel in a little motorboat with thirty or so people crammed on, we arrived at San Marcos, which was as tranquil and low key as you could imagine, especailly after the adventure of our previous day. With the help of some kids who met us at the boat we scored a little bungalow a short walk for the shore of the lake.
One aspect that we enjoyed at "El Unicornio" was that they had a kitchen which was available for the guests to use. Nina and I managed to make dinner a couple of times for ourselves and were able to save a couple of Quetzales that way, not to mention that it was awesome! Also, we were able to spend some good hammock time, and some time sitting around on the rocks at the lake reading, listening to music, and swimming... a very nice and relaxing time.
I think that Nina is going to fill in a few more details about our time at San Marcos. Currently we are in Antigua, and will spend today and tomorrow looking around before heading north to Lago de Isabel and then Tikal.
25 March 2007: Matthew
So we were under the impression that the bus ride between Xela and Lago de Atitlan should take about 2 1/2 hours... which might be the case in perfect conditions... and if you get on the right bus. There were several options for our route, and I had been told that it was possible to take a direct bus from Xela to San Pedro, which was the next closest town to the San Marcos, where we were hoping to spend the next couple of days. So, when we arrived at the main bus terminal we proceeded to ask around for a bus going this direction (direct), because otherwise a person can get stuck in the situation of changing buses several times in efforts to achieve their final destination. Of cousre there are many people eager to help out while a couple of foreigners who are searching for the correct bus, and everythings seems extremely urgent. In a short time we were sitting on a bus which we were told was going to San Marcos-San Pedro. We were thinking that things were great, not only did we find the right bus, but it is going to our final destination, not our next to last destination!! Well, as we embark on our journey I have my compass handy since I like to know WHICH wrong direction we're going if indeed it is a wrong direction. I notice immediately that we are going more like north-west while we should be going something more in the north-easterly direction. At first I justify it to myself that there is a ton of road construction going on, and that maybe this is sort of a detour. However, once we leave the road construction and start hitting the mountain roads - in the same direction - I pull out the map again to see what our actual final destination might be. Oh! there is another San Marcos!!! Fortunately we had not really gone too far (not quite an hour) and so Nina and I hopped off at the next Pueblo to catch a bus back to our starting point...
Once BACK in Xela we decided on a slightly diferent destination near the lake which is more of a likely destination for buses - Panajachel. While on the first bus ride the driver (I think) was trying to avoid road construction on the main highway and we spent at least an hour on a dirt road that navigates through the mountains on road conditions which I think anyone back home would only attempt in an all terrain vehicle. Only a few times could we detect the wheels spinning in the dusty dirt under the bus. It is kind of fun to watch the symphoney of heads bobbling back and forth to the rythym of the rocks and dips of the road.
Three buses later, we arrive in Panajachel. As it was just barely too late to catch a boat to San Marcos we decided to stay the night in Panajachel, and then just finish our journy in the morning. We found a clean, relatively quiet place and will continue our journey today. I don't know that we'll have internet access in San Marcos, so we'll chat again in a few days...
23 de Marzo, 2007: Nina
Today is our last day in Xela, I cant believe it has been four weeks already! We leave tomorrow for Lago de Atitlan where we will spend a relaxing few days on the shores of the beautiful lake. Next, to Antigua, the ancient colonial city of Guate, and then to the Tikal Ruins in the jungle up North. After that, to Honduras. Thus is the plan for the next 2 weeks.
This week was really good, I had the best teacher. She was the same teacher that Matthew had the first week (the three of us in the picture here). We totally clicked and had a lot of really good laughs and talks about life and such. She was awesome. ¡Muchos Gracias, Marlin, tu eres la mejor!
19 de Marzo 2007: Nina
Our adventure to Las Fuentas Georginas
To Zunil? We ask the driver of the big yellow bus that, in its days of youth, transported students in the US. The driver shakes is head yes. We climb on board and make our way to the back of the bus, where we see standing room. 5 minutes later we are traveling down the bumpy road to Zunil, a small town about 20 minutes from Xela. Two men run up to the bus as it is taking off and jump in the ermegency exit, Matthew shuts the door. I spot an upside-down 5 gallon bucket and sit down, staring out the back window as we leave Xela. As the city becomes smaller, the hills become bigger and more rugged. The grey buildings of the city turn to rust orange earth, accompanied by green trees covering the hillsides. I take a deep breath, excited to be going away for a relaxing evening and night in the mountains. Our plan was to spend the night at a place called Las Fuentas Georginas. Natural hotspring pools in the mountains 8 km from Zunil. We were going to take the bus to Zunil and catch a ride from one of the many trucks that take people up the mountain to the springs. So far so good. We had taken our time getting ready in the afternoon but had successfuly got on the right bus. We get off the bus in Zunil, cross the bridge and spot the area where we think the pickups may be. Can you take us to Las Fuentas, we ask the first driver, in our not-at-all perfect spanish. They are closed, they tell us. They close at 5 in the evening. We ask another driver, same story. We ask a third driver and find a glimer of hope, after telling him we wanted to spend the night in one of the bungalows at the Fuentas, he says he thinks the bungalows close at 7, if we hurry we might be able to make it. I can drive fast and honk my horn, he says, but I can't promise anything. How much for the ride? Since it is late he says, 50 quetzales (about 7 US dollars) which is expensive only divided between the two of us. We ponder our delima for a moment. Should we risk riding all the way up only to find it closed? The last bus back to Xela leaves at 8 we hear, we may miss that as well. What the heck, we grab the glimer of hope and agree to get in the truck. ¡Vamos!
We chat with Robert up the windy hill to the Fuentas. He tells us he is a responsible driver and won't rip us off. He seemed to genuinely believe we might have a chance at getting into the Fuentas. 20 minutes later we stop in front of an enormous green door. Satus: closed. Very closed. It is dark but by the headlights of Robert's truck I can see pieces of glass lining the top of the green door/gate, the equivelent of barbed wire in many countries. To the right is a valley with thick, lush, foliage. To the left, the wall of a cliff. Robert honks his horn. Robert honks his horn for about 5 minutes. I was not about to tell him that it was ok, let's just go back down. As long as he was willing to sit there and honk is horn, I would let him. I wanted through that gate. He tells Matthew to get out and yell. Matthew gets out and yells. Moments later we hear a voice in return and moments after that, footsteps on the other side of the gate. Our hearts leap with relief. The man tells us the price for staying in the bungalow, once again it is more expensive because it is so late. We agree and grab our bags from the pick up. Hasta luego Roberto, thanks for the help, we are in!
Once at the hotsprings, we enjoyed ourselves emensely. After checking into our rustic but clean bungalow we put on our swimwear and headed for the pools. We were pleased to find that we were the only ones there. There were three pools, one very big pool about 5 feet deep, surrounded by small boulders and a cliff, that was fed by extremely hot water trickeling down the side of the adjacent cliff. The big pool fed into two smaller pools that were a bit cooler. The large pool was the perfect temperature, and it felt good! Steam rose from the pools and drifted into the night sky. We probably stayed in the water for almost an hour or so. Mom, you would have loved it! We awoke in the middle of the night and went back to the pool again. This time, there was no light coming from anywhere near by and the stars were brilliant.
We spent the next day relaxing in the sun, went for a short hike, worked on homework, and relaxed in the pools a bit more. We found that it is a very popular place to go during the day as there were many visitors. Mostly Guatemaltecas as it is a free government subsidised activity for them. We were so glad we had made it there the night before and had enjoyed our many hours of tranquility and relaxation alone!
13 March 2007: Matthew
Traffic here, as with most all third world countries, is "exciting" to say the least. So far Nina and I have had daily experiences with balancing ourselves on the narrow sidewalk, which hopefully lines at least one side of the street, to avoid catostrophic intamacy with buses, cars, motorcycles, other people... all at the same time. We have had quite a few experiences in the local micro-buses which are the easiest, and cheapest way to get around town at any length. A couple of weeks ago we participated with a tour to a coffee plantation which utalized a private micro-bus, so that allowed us to see some more of the more rural areas, and traffic excitement, but in a slightly controled environment. But then yesterday, we had the opportunity to really jump in and ride the "chicken" bus. These buses are so named because of the unlimited number of things that might be brought aboard which are accompanying people in their daily lives - including chickens. Nina and I were on our way to visit a church in San Andres, about a 30 minute ride Northwest of Xela, which is famous for its unusual colorful painting and images on the front of the church. We boarded the bus, and waited for a short while as others also boarded the bus, allowing it to reach the critical departure capacity. Then the ride began... holy cow, I felt like I was on an amusment park ride as the driver swereved around given obsticles in his path and proudly showed his mass and prowess on the road by standing on the accelerator. The excitment may have been accented by the fact that the windows only open half way, and the other half is so deeply tinted that it is nearly impossible to see out. Except for the narrow gap in the window where it is possible to experience the outside world, you feel like you are in a human blender complete with the condiments that are being sold in the isle.
Needless to say, we made it home safely and I am very much looking forward to some upcoming experiences in the chicken bus. I'm going to have to make good use of the straps on my bag to secure my backpack on the top of the bus though....
10 March 2007: Matthew
I put up a few more tentative dates and places where we will be on Our Plan.
10 de Marzo 2007: Nina
Thanks to everyone who has posted messages for us! They are so fun to read. We stayed in Xela this weekend and are having a lazy Saturday. We enjoyed fresh mangos and melons on the patio this morning for breakfast. Every day we walk by a market with delicious looking fruits and veggies and it has really made me miss cooking! So l asked if I could cook dinner tonight for everyone. Matthew and I will stop at the market on our way home from the internet cafe today. Our host mom cooks wonderful meals. They are a little high on the starch side but not compared to most other family ´s diets around here. From what I hear, ours is pretty balanced. And we have been served a huge variety of meals.. I dont know if we have been given the same thing twice yet! Other students have said that they always get rice and beans.. with maybe a fried egg thrown in now and then. So we are very lucky!! Our food is very good. And, we have not experienced any upset stomachs yet. (knock on wood).
Peter Hedman, you can appreciate this- there is a new Panadaria (bread shop) that just opened on our street! Very exciting because there are so many different kinds of fresh little breads, muffins, rolls, that range in price from 5 cents to 15 cents. Sooo yummy!
8 March 2007: Matthew
This week has really flown by. I can hardly believe that tomorrow is Friday! Sorry everybody at Gunderson, Fridays do not hold the same beautiful charm that they once did during the work week... a price I'm willing to pay for the time being. Study has been good, and I do feel like I'm making some progress. Language learning is such a huge endevor though, the amount of energy and time that is involved is just amazing.
Normally we eat three meals a day with our host family, but tonight we are meeting up with a group from school who are visiting a Cuban restaurant somewhere nearby. It has felt really wonderful to be in the mode of meeting poeple from all over the world on nearly a daily basis. Speaking of all over the world, I even met a guy from Wheeling, WV today!
5 March 2007: Matthew
Not much time to write... but we had a wonderful weekend at the Coffee farm. Check out a few pictures that I did manage to get posted. Dont know how it will work with our time frames, but we would love to go back there and volunteer some work on the farm. It was a really beautiful place and amazing story of overcoming adversity to have a place to call their own.
2 March 2007: Matthew
I'm feeling pretty excited about a two day tour that we are going to take this weekend to an organic/fair trade coffee farm. Nina just randomly heard another student talking about it, and so we got some info. Check out the site, it gives some more details about what we are going to do and see this weekend: Fair Trade Coffee Tour. I'll be sure to post an update about how that went. I am hoping to get some good pictures of the countryside as well.
Spanish study finished up pretty good this week. I'm starting to feel like I am back on track with most of the Spanish I have learned in the past, and of course learning lots of new things as well. There is so much work to do on it, but it's flowing pretty good... I had a great teacher this week, who spoke pretty much only Spanish with me, but could throw in an Enlish word now and again when I was getting really lost.
1 de Marzo, 2007: Nina
Spanish is coming along, but I get frustrated a lot. Not in class, but when trying to converse with others because I have such a difficult time comprehending and decifiring the words people are speaking! I guess it will just take some time. We are in class 5 hours in the morningm from 8:00 to 1:00, and then have a couple (2 to 3) hours of homework in the afternoon. ¡Nosotros estudiamos espanol mucho!
We are getting to know our way around our little corner of the city, and have already taken a bus ride across town. We live close to Parque Central (central park) and there are lots of little shops around the park. We found a very cool cafe- quirky, funky, little place that sells coffee, espresso, pastries, sandwhiches, churros. It was a very cool place to do homework. Many little rooms with tables and chairs, a bright big skylight in the main room with plants growing along the ceiling beams. Prices are about $1.10 - $1.50 for most drinks (lattes, smoothies), $2 for a slice of mango pie, $0.50 for tea or coffee. This morning during break I walked accross the street, rang the doorbell of the black door, and bought a chocolate covered frozen banana on a stick, for about $0.20. It was delicioso.
Well, it´s already past 4:00 and I have not done any homework yet. ¡Adios!
1 de Marzo, 2007: Nina
The walk to and from school:
The streets of Xela are made of asphalt, brick, and stones. They are narrow with buildings on either side. Small, dusty, buildings all linked together like one long continuous chain, all made of the same concrete. The only indication that one starts and the other ends is the brightly painted outsides and the doors that open up on to the street. Inside the concrete walls are little shops; maybe a barber or a laundry shop, restaraunts, cafes, houses, etc. There is about a 2.5 foot space of sidewalk between the walls of the buildings and the street. Not enough space for two people to walk side by side and one must watch where one is stepping foot at all times because the concrete is often broken up or the sidewalk may end abruptly. People walk in the streets as well, and scatter to the edges or on the sidewalks when a car, motorcycle, or bicycle zooms by. Children in uniforms happily walk home from school laughing, talking, sometimes smoking. Dogs lie lazily in the shade of parked cars or lean out over rooftops. On a main street that is a bit wider, women sell bananas, carrots, onions, celery, garlic, watermelon, tangerines, and more, in the afternoon.