a belated post

So! The volcano! Yesterday morning I got up at 5am to catch the tourist van in time (which was 20 minutes late...nice to see that my ability to freak out over nothing still exists...I managed to wipe away my tears before the driver saw me though :p). The ride to the volcano was about an hour and a half, and the small landslides I saw and the crazy dirt road towards the end made me wonder about my future trip to Nebaj (where it takes a three(?) hour dirt road to reach the mountain town).

The climb was harder than I thought it would be, and I'm still sore today. An hour and a half of going uphill - it makes me want to go hike more and get in shape. Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of clouds that morning (which beat the rain in the afternoon...I'm glad I took the early trip), so we weren't able to see the other three volcanoes on the horizon. It didn't matter that much to me though - I was happy to be walking through a beautiful green forest, watching the dirt and rock types change the higher we got.

The first big change was when we reached an old lava flow from a couple years ago. A long river of volcanic rocks cut drastically across the green forest/grass and the sight made us remember that we weren't just climbing up an ordinary hill.


I'd hate to be under there!

We climbed further, walking over the river of rocks, seeing the very peak (which we would not be climbing up) in the near distance, but everything was still green. Our guide who was ahead of us, motioned to us to hurry up...and when we joined him at the edge of a small cliff, we saw an entire valley of volcanic rock. Our guide led us down into it (I was so happy to be wearing my thick and sturdy sneakers) and we scurried across the giant and oddly formed rocks like little goats.


Can't you just imagine this as lava? Or at least, cow shit?

We'd been going through the valley for about ten minutes or so when I felt a blast of warm air. I looked to my side and saw a large crack in the rocks that had turned white around the edges and was expelling extremely hot air. From then on, I couldn't stop smiling, really feeling as if the Earth was truly alive and breathing under me. The amount of vents increased (as did the heat - it became impossible to get too close to the vents), and our guide pointed out a very large vent that you could see a glowing red in. It was difficult to see, but I was estatic. My first view of lava! I felt like I could go home right then, the experience complete.


Can you see it?

A girl in a group on the way back across the valley heard our oohs and aahs and said, "Just wait - it gets better". Shocked that there could be more to see, we all started hurrying across the rocks, seeing more glowing vents here and there.

And then we came over a hill of rocks. I don't even know how to begin to explain what it's like to see a river of flowing lava. It was moving at the speed of maple syrup, and the contrasting red orange to the black rock was striking. I was viewing power, an absolute force of nature, the insides of Mother Earth spilling out of an open wound. Often when I reach the destination of a long hike, such as the view at the top of a mountain, I stop, appreciate the beauty, and move on. But I was paralyzed here - I never wanted to leave, never wanted to tear my eyes from this new element. I feel like I've failed here in writing about it, so here are some of the pictures I took. Again, I don't think they do it justice, but to give you an idea:








The climb down was nice - quick and easy. I slept nearly the entire way back to Antigua. Volcan Pacaya is a place and an experience I will never forget.

**

Here is a picture of the other students I've been staying with - Kanako, Erika, and Zack. This is the table we spent our meals at in Cesar's home. We had our last night together yesterday, all going out for dinner, and I'm actually going to miss them.


Alejandra joined us for lunch.

**

Today I leave for Monterrico, a small town on the Pacific Ocean. I'm extremely nervous about traveling so much by chicken bus, but seeing as I have all day to go about three hours, I think I'll be okay. I really hope there's some green coconuts there.

thar she blows

I'm incredibly tired, and I hope to write a more detailed post later but:

Today I climbed onto an active volcano. Not only did I see the hot air vents and paths of huge volcanic rocks, but I actually stood right next to a river of lava. Pictures to come.

Dancing makes me feel beautiful.

Tomorrow I leave for the beach.

it's all about the little things

While I was studying in a cafe yesterday morning, a woman placed a bunch of her handmade goods next to me to sell and set herself up to weave more. I'd never seen anything like it.


Certainly takes clothes making to a whole new level.

**

Though my teacher did give me a bunch of new words yesterday (reflexive verbs...wooo), we spent at least half of the class just sitting there talking to each other. The conversation was totally helpful (as she'd stop and correct me if I said something wrong) and a much more fun way to learn.

**

I sold my finished fiction (it was hard for me to part with both Capote and Vonnegut, but I just can't carry them around for the whole trip - I'll have to buy new copies after I get back) and bought 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' and 'Wicked'. Started 'Wicked' last night and looove it...really difficult to put down.

**

I was able to talk to Michael yesterday, via Skype (best computer program ever). We finally made some plans for when he comes down here and that made it possible for me to plan my next week. Today is my last day of classes, tonight I go out with the girls (reggatone at La Sin Ventura!), tomorrow eaaaarly I go trek up a live volcano, and Sunday I leave for a town on the Pacific Coast called Monterrico. I'm not quite sure how that town will be, as I've heard it can be kind of boring during the week, but I'm craving a green coconut like you wouldn't believe. Also, I read that this time of year the baby turtles hatch and do their run to the ocean...that would be so awesome to see.

If Monterrico is too boring or expensive (as I could only find one place in the guide book there that's in my budget), I'm going to move on to Xela. It's another big city, somewhat like Antigua but less white people. I have no real burning desire to go there, but it might be a nice time. Next Friday, Michael will be down here and we'll go to Lake Aitilan (sp?), a beautiful lake surrounded by two volcanoes with a lot of fun lakeside towns, and then up to Nebaj, a tiny village in the mountains. Should be a good couple weeks here.

**

After dinner last night, Cesar pulled out his guitar and played and sang some songs. There were a few Guatemalan songs (in which he taught us enough to sing the chorus along with him) and he ended by playing The Beatles 'Yesterday'. I had the biggest damn grin across my face and couldn't believe the luck I had in being placed in that house.

**

Kanako and I ended the night by sitting and talking on the patio for a good hour and a half - all in Spanish. We talked about everything under the sun, laughed like crazy, and invited each other to our respective countries to visit. I never thought that the first person I would connect so well with in Central America would be a Japanese girl. We only stopped talking and went to bed because Carmen (Cesar's wife) knocked on the window.

**

I couldn't be happier with life than I am right now.

mish mosh

I've been at school for only three days, and already I have a routine. I feel as if I've lived in Antigua for many years, studying and running my errands in the morning and attending classes in the afternoon. I wonder if my American life existed. I will be sad for ending my growth in Spanish when I have my last classes tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to moving on.

**

I finally figured out how to get hot water from the shower yesterday. Three days of ice cold showers are three days too many - though I suppose it is preparing me for more remote areas. I would just hope that when I put myself at risk with a contraption like this, with all these wires, that I would be rewarded with blistering hot water:


Don't go splashing that water!

**

I finished 'Cat's Cradle'. Not to sound like every damn person who waited until he died to pick up one of his books, but I'm in mad mad love with Kurt Vonnegut.

I am now out of fiction books, so today is a trip to the bookstore.

**

I was sitting in the park reading/people watching yesterday when I saw this traditionally dressed woman(I'm not sure what's the proper thing to call these women - Guatemalan, Mayan...) come by with two children - one 7-or-so-year-old boy and one 1-year-old daughter who was just barely toddling along. As they walked through the park, I never once saw the woman look back behind her...she just kept walking forward, keeping up the same pace, the boy at her side, and the baby girl trailing behind and occasionally even stopping to play with a flower or something. It wasn't until she reached the edge of the park that she turned to her boy and said something, at which point the boy went back and grabbed his sisters hand.

In the days of leashing children and using cell phones as location devices, it was odd to see such a young child left to do her own thing - but then, I wonder if it was even a possibility to snatch such a kid or if a protective swarm of other mothers would have emerged from the sidelines.

**

Last night I taught Kanako, a native Japanese girl who has a second language of rough English and is now trying to learn Spanish, how to play chess. I tried, with the help of a dictionary, to only use Spanish words to teach her. It was probably the most fun I've ever had playing the game - a completely new experience.

i could get used to this

Yesterday represented the kind of day I had originally hoped to have here in Antigua.

After I wrote my blog post yesterday morning, I went to a local cafe for a cup of some -awesome- coffee (screw it, I'm drinking caffeine down here...the coffee is way too delicious not to) and studied my lesson until I knew it like the back of my hand. While I was there, I met a girl from Boston who has been living in Antigua for over a year teaching English and she gave me a bunch of information about great places in Guatemala to visit. I now really want to visit this place called 'Semuc Champagne', where you swim through these caves with a light on your head and apparently has all these gorgeous natural pools. She gave me her email in case I had any questions, and I left the cafe.

Next was another delicious lunch, with carne asada and potatoes. I went to the school afterwards with my housemate Kanako (finally, her name is sticking! I felt so bad, I had to ask her something like 20 times) and studied a bit extra. My lesson went really well, and though I'm a bit overwhelmed at the amount of verbs I was given and that I'm learning some new stuff (demonstrative pronouns), I'm pleased that my teacher is putting me on such a fast track since she knows I only have one week to learn. I can't believe how much it's already helped my conversation skills...I end up playing translator a lot at the dinner table.

The tamale for dinner left something to be desired (it was all corn? it didn't have anything inside and the masa itself was pretty mushy..Mexico definitely wins that contest), but the conversation was great. Zack was out having dinner with some friends so it was only Cesar and us three girls; we just sat there after eating for a good hour, chatting about everything from types of bugs (where the comedic and animated Cesar acted out every bug, even pretending to be an ant, carrying a napkin on his head) to how a traditional Guatemalan funeral is conducted (unfortunately, the latter topic was very relevant, as Cesar was attending a service last night/this morning for a friend).

By 8:30pm or so, the three of us ladies were dressed and out on the town - there was lightening in the sky, but no rain, and the air was so warm. The drinks at Monoloco was even cheaper than I expected (Q3, or, 42 cents) for ladies night, and we all ended up with four rum and cokes each. The bar itself was really packed, but we did manage to find a table with a couple local boys who we practiced Spanish with for some time. The guys were nice, chatty, and wanted to dance, so after an hour or two, we went over to La Ventura. The bar was having their salsa night and the dance floor was packed and hot! It makes me regret having bangs a bit, because as soon as I start to sweat, they become wet and stick to my forehead as if I just got out of the shower. :p Erica danced with one of the guys, while Kanako and I took turns and danced simultaneously with the other, Diego. That girl is so adorable - you can't help but smile and laugh with everything she says.

We were there dancing until midnight, where I also danced with an ex-salsa teacher/current performer in a salsa band, Jose (who taught me a couple things beyond the basic move), and Manny, another local who though he couldn't dance as well was certainly enthusiastic. I felt like we left at a reasonable time and it made things easier to be out with other girls - I'm going to keep trying to do that in the future.

I already feel a world different than I did this past weekend. I'm comfortable, feel like I understand the city more, and best of all, I feel confident even in my Spanish. If this is what being here for a few days is like, I can't even imagine how I'm going to feel after a few weeks of traveling in Guatemala.

**

I'm still devouring books. 'In Cold Blood' is long finished, and I'm halfway through 'Cat's Cradle', my last pleasure book. There is a couple bookshops here that will trade along with a few extra Quetzals, and though I'm going to take advantage, I'm wondering if I shouldn't slow down a bit, both to keep my books for longer and to keep myself from reading so many English words.

dolor de cabeza

After yesterday's Spanish lesson, my head is swimming. It's been a long time since I've put 100% effort into learning something (haha, Mom, don't read that!) - sure I'd gather information from my lessons in college, but I certainly wasn't attempting to retain everything. However, my goal yesterday, as I sat across the sweet Ana Lucia, was to fully comprehend every new word she gave me and make it a part of my vocabulary. Easier said than done. She's a great teacher to have though, working less from the book and more with actual conversation. Also, it helps that a great deal of this is review (at least, the first day was), and I'm just finding myself attempting to tap into my junior year of high school. However, after I leave the internet here, I'm spending the rest of the morning going over flash cards and conjugating verbs...woooo, vacation!

Yesterday was otherwise uneventful. I got know the other students in the house a little better:

* Zack from Springfield, Illinois who is studying Spanish in Guatemala and Costa Rica until December.
* Erica from New Mexico, who is taking a break from working as a Physician's Assistant in Belize.
* Conseca(? I keep forgetting her name :( ) from Japan who is studying Spanish in Antigua for four months because "Spanish gives you the chance to express your emotions, unlike Japanese".

They're all really nice, though I can't help but feel this weird tension between Erica and I - I don't know if it's just an American attitude of needing to get to know a person first before being friendly (Zack was a bit standoffish on Sunday too, but now we've sat around and talked a lot more) or if we're stepping on each other's niche by being the adventurous young white American girl traveling alone. Tonight is ladies night at one of the local bars though, and us three girls have talked about going out, so hopefully any weirdness I'm experiencing/imagining will dissipate.

I'm being fed really well at the house, which I couldn't be happier about. My favorite meal yesterday was lunch, where we had a big piece of chicken that had been stewed with tomatoes, rice, a medley of green beans and bell peppers, and all the thick tortillas you could want. After this week, I'm definitely going to have to move to a smaller town so that I can keep eating like this without paying a lot in town. Antigua is very much the North Beach of Guatemala.

Cesar is really nice, as is his wife Carmen, and because the two make no attempt to speak English, it's great practice sitting around the dinner table with them. Cesar teaches guitar to kids in the town and it was so lovely to hear him playing and singing this morning as I was getting ready for the day - he also said that tonight he was going to perform for us after dinner.

I'm surprised at how much the four hours of class takes away from the rest of the day (between studying, homework, and trying to sleep it off), but unlike the rest of the people in the house, I'm going to try and find a balance between school and discovering Antigua - after all, though I want to know Spanish, I want to use it more.

slowly starting to get it

So, yesterday I left off about to meet the family I'd be staying with for the next week. There was nothing too remarkable about the experience - at first the only family member I met was one of the daughters (Sophia) who showed me my room and let me know what time the meals were (no meals Sundays, so I didn't have my first one until this morning). The room is cute, certainly not as colorful as the dorms, but it's nice to have my own space and a bigger bed.


I'm spoiling myself for the rest of the trip with privacy and comfort.


And check out the view from my bed! Please ignore my dirty feet.

The house itself is impressive, both in all the open spaces, and the amount of rooms (husband, his father, wife, five daughters, two other boarders besides me and room for two more). As I was exploring the little rooftop patio, I met a boarder who left yesterday, giving me confidence in the 'brilliance' (British, haha) of the family and the school. It wasn't too long later that I met Cesar, the husband/man of the house, who seemed to be enjoying his Sunday (he smelled of alcohol and introduced his name about three times but seemed really nice, haha). As the rest of the house seemed quiet, I decided to go out and spend my late afternoon in the park.

Sunday in the park was a different experience than the other days I spent there - everyone, their babies and their grandmother seemed to be out. I couldn't help but buy an ice cream cone (not even $1) from a vendor...much like the ones that push the carts in SF/Santa Cruz, only his had a big tub of ice cream with two mixed flavors and then he topped the cone with a sickly sweet sugary jam. Perhaps not the most delicious dessert I've ever had, but the sweet cool treat hit the spot. I found myself a bench so that I could continue devouring 'In Cold Blood' (probably will go see about trading it and 'Shopgirl' tomorrow), but it was easy to be distracted by all the people watching. The traditionally dressed women were all out too, selling their wares - one of them even sent up their chubby faced 1-year-old to me, tapping me on the knee, trying to sell me a necklace. As adorable as the gimmick was, the necklace was really a POS and with only enough quetzals left in my pocket for dinner (I figure, the less I carry, the less I will spend), I had to decline.

I was feeling really tired by about 6pm (I'm not used to all this walking around!), so I found the grocery store and bought a couple small snacks - I couldn't believe how much cheaper everything was there then in the shops by the park. I mean, duh, of course the touristy shops would be more expensive, but we're talking 70 cents for two liters of water compared to $1.50 for not even half. Little discoveries like this are going to make it easier for me to make my dollars stretch.

I spent the rest of the night reading and was asleep by 10pm...originally, I'd considered going out again, but thank goodness I didn't! Apparently, the alarm on my watch is worthless (sooo quiet), so getting up before breakfast was served was not an option - however, Cesar knocked on my door to wake up and I enjoyed a delicious meal of french toast (you all know it's my favorite!), bananas and cantelope. BTW, I am in fruit heaven down here. Anyways, it was nice to eat with the other boarders (one who has class in the afternoon as well) and Cesar (who I found out does all the cooking and cleaning).

And now I'm here! I found a cheap place with incredibly fast internet (I think it might even be DSL! hahaha), so it should be easy for me to keep up my blogging routine - though hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to share more interesting things than the price of bottled water. :p

***

Facing towards the South, you can see Volcan Agua in the distance. Apparently, the crater had filled with rain water and somehow erupted, causing a huge flood in the city. Crazy to think about, but such a pretty sight.


As seen walking down the street.


Gotta love that super zoom!