Eight Weeks! Two Months! Half-way!

Whoa oh we’re half-way there!! Well unfortunately by not blogging for two weeks one runs the risk of not remembering what happened in all that time. Luckily I remember the highlights. The rest will just have to be stored in the back of the memory for interesting additions to enjoyable random discussions later in life. That will however make the blog slightly less boring and to the point. So here it goes…

Starting Wednesday, Feb. 20th I went to Steph’s house after dinner and waited for the time to pass until the adventure began. At 11:00pm we left for QuetzalTrekker’s. We were on the waiting list to climb up Santa Maria (volcano) under the light of the full moon. Well we just barely made it in as the other half of our companions ended up on the short end of the list. We enjoyed a bowl of soup and bread while everyone listened to instructions for the climb. At 12:00 midnight we piled into the back of a pickup to reach out starting point at the base of the volcano. It was a really foggy night and we only caught glimpses of our beloved full moon that gave us our light for the climb. Luckily the moon was strong enough to shine through the clouds and help our eyes and feet make the ascent. It was probably some of the most rigorous hiking I have done. It is said to be a much more difficult climb than Tajamulco (the tallest point/volcano in Central America). We reached the top at around 5:30am. It was very cold up top and we all paired up and cuddled under sleeping bags to retain warmth. The fog/clouds remained and I was doubtful the trip had been worth it as we were hoping to watch Santa Auguito’s eruptions under the dark sky. Santa Auguito is the small volcano next to Santa Maria that continues to have small eruptions every half hour. In additional we were looking forward to a beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately we missed both. But before we began to pack up to head back down the air cleared about a blanket of clouds and we watched the sun peak up above the cloud line and the moon set on the opposite side. Worth the trip after all!

Thursday we returned from Santa Maria at 11am I returned to my house in time for lunch and a shower before my afternoon classes. Clearly exhausted from complete lack of sleep I barely made it through the day but my maestra Ingrid (amazing lady...great teacher) helped me through.

Friday, Steph and I rose early despite our bodies’ dismay to head to Panahachel for the day on Lake Atitlan. Transportation in both directions proved to be an adventure in and of itself. Despite the existence of direct buses to and from Pana from Xela we managed to maneuver between 8 different buses and microbuses to reach our desired destinations. The Guatemalans are amazingly helpful and took good care of us although we probably would have figured out when we need to jump off the bus and onto another; they were more than helpful making sure we were prepared to go. We spent a little time kayaking on Lago Atitlán and the rest doing some shopping. Our bartering skills were well tested, the vendors were tough but we fought back vigorously however the most success we could manage was a 20%-40% off, not too bad overall.

Saturday we took a much needed day off. We had thought about volunteering picking up trash leading up to Fuentes Georginas but our bodies though better of that. We ended up doing a little shopping in the local open air market Minerva for ingredients to make up our trail mixes. To top them off however we need something else so we went into the nearby HiperPaís. It is owned by Wal-Mart and we were in for a huge culture shock as we entered coming from a busy, smelly, crowed outdoor market where we felt completely at home to a Wal-Mart/mall likeness was horrible! I seriously experienced some of the strongest culture shock since I have arrived here. Oddly enough it was the reverse of what it ought to be. I felt so uncomfortable in the mall I just wanted to turn right around and run out but my trail mix called me on so I purchased my Oh’s (cereal), dried salted platanos (won’t do that again), mallows and chocolate m&m like substance. I was extremely disappointed by the lack anything remotely similar to pretzels but made do with my Wal-Mart supplements and raisins and peanuts from the market. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and doing homework in El Cuartito (my prof’s vegetarian café).

Sunday was wonderful! I spent the day once again with QuetzalTrekkers. Steph, Katy and I joined in with six others for their climbing expedition. There is quite a bit of sport climbing in the area and QT provides all the equipments and sets up the routes for and easier top rope condition. They set up routes according to the group/individuals ability. A local man Miguel or Victor (depending on if he is with his son or not) has bolted all routes and up-kept them with the help of QT funding. I did my first climb on a mix crack/face climb it wasn’t easy by any means but it was fun and I was able to reach the top. On descent Victor commented me on the climb and told me it was just short of a 5.12. I have decided that he scale is two or three points higher than it may actually be considering back home I was just getting into the 5.9 level. I did another great crack climb before the final assent. My last climb was 27 meters long roughly translating to a 86 foot ascent! Long! It also was the hardest climb of the day, but way cool. I think my climbing must have improved since coming down here somehow because there is no way I would have ever made that climb previously on pure difficulty alone not taking length into account.

The week passed by with plenty of class and volunteering as is normal. Thursday I had my third round of testing for my Spanish Language classes. I have been improving but it is highly suggested that I study and practice more. Human Rights is continually interesting as we travel around to various coffee shops to hold our classes and Jason and Amanda began our series of presentations with a great start in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. Volunteering, I began the week very enthusiastic as Cesar (my supervisor) asked me to work on creating a new and improved website for them in both English and Spanish. I was thrilled to give it a shot because I love designing stuff like that and trying to make it look real professional, it is easy to see if you visited their website at all that they could use the help. However by Thursday nearing the end of my volunteering time I had to confront Cesar with my failure and incompetence. I was severely disappointed in myself but I was completely incapable of figuring out how to use the DreamWorks program they gave me to create the website with, besides being a program I had never used before it was completely in Spanish making matters slightly more complicated. I entered Friday with a plan to continue to build up my volunteer hours by working on a few things Cesar had given me to translate passing the time at school and in a café. It was nice to get out of the little office I normally work in into a calming atmosphere. I ended the day Friday in a fit of enthusiasm as I discovered the abilities that Microsoft Publisher offered for creating a web page. I am super excited to show Cesar my creation for his front page and pending approval I can’t wait to continue the work!

Yesterday, Saturday, eight of us (including a few maestros) went to the playa in Champerico again. We jumped around in the waves and played some Frisbee on the beach. (Yes ultimate teammates, I brought along a Frisbee and practiced my skills beachside in Guatemala. J) We left the beach at 2:30 with intentions of getting back for the Spanish Vagina Monologues performance. However we underestimated our three-hour return bus ride and opted for dinner and a movie at Steph’s place instead. No worries however, because there is another performance of the Vagina Monologues tomorrow night in El Cuartito so I have to look forward to.

Today I woke up early to play basketball with my brother Ronal. We played three rounds of 21 (he won 2 games to 1 but I was close!) and then we played CERDO(pig) (I won!) and around the world (close again, but I lost). I was really fun but I was once again really tired. We got a licuado (blended drink, I had banana and pineapple) and then headed home. I worked on homework and chatted online for the rest of the day in El Cuartito. It was really weird though because some random people were there doing a photo shot. I just don’t understand modeling! I mean how can holding a plate with a brownie and a marshmallow on top look sexy and all the while holding a ridiculously “serious” look. Just funny I guess. I capped off the evening with a great vegetarian burrito in Blue Angel (believe it or not it is the first burrito I have had since being here, there aren’t real popular.)

This next weekend our group will be heading into Chiappas, Mexico in order to renew our visas. And then the following weekend is spring break already. Time is flying by. Nearly all of our weekends are booked from here on out so it is going to pass quickly.

I hope health and pleasure finds you all well and safe. Miss you all. Love to hear from you!
Genna