Things we did in Guatemala

Happy two thousand and eleven!


Surprise, surprise - I didn't blog at all during the Christmas holidays.  Too busy eating obscene amounts of food and being happy!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forward to this year.  I certainly am.  For the next seven days I'm having a "blog party" so to speak - one new blog post every day, maybe two or three!  Many posts will wrap up my Guatemala chapter, some will include lots of photos, and there'll be a few random posts as well.

First of all, straight out of my blog notebook: Things we did in Guatemala.  Hannah and I's trip had its ups and downs.  We didn't have the experience we had expected.  One day I was grumpy and dwelling on the things we didn't accomplish, and I decided to list our positive, memorable, and/or noteworthy experiences to remind myself that yes, we had indeed seen and learned a lot!

Things we did in Guatemala
October - December 2010

- successfully chicken bussed from Antigua from Reu, leaping off at the Esquintla McDonald's just in time.

- almost panicked (but didn't) when we couldn't find cheap hostels in Reu; settled on La Quinta in the central park; happily took cold showers and happily drank cold beers to escape the heat.


- the first camioneta to Nueva Alianza:  This bus is going to break down.  Why is everyone staring at me?  Oh my gosh, that woman has a plastic bag full of living adolescent chickens.

- eating dinner with Joel, Carlos, and Kevan during the first week at Nueva Alianza.  Broken Spanish conversations. How fun it was (initially).

- buying our Tigo internet stick in Antigua = a nightmare.  Realized how limited my Spanish skills were.

- first shopping trip in Reu = hot and overwhelming; unpleasant mercado; no idea how much to pay for produce (I was so paranoid about people ripping me off because I was a gringa); woman steals our chicken and pancake mix.

- ... how good our first macaroni and cheese dinner was, even if it was third choice after chicken and pancakes.

- freaked out after week one in Nueva Alianza; questioned my world view and life goals; received encouraging and practical thoughts from Dave on issues related to international development.

- learned to quickly - and without hesitation - light a gas stove (I'd struggled with this before, embarrassing but true).

- learned to wash my clothes in a pila.

- ate and loved cauliflower torta (cauliflower cooked in a fried egg), arroz con leche, and the camioneta's wife's homemade tamales.

- read Johnathan Franzen's "Freedom" and discussed it ALOT with Hannah (I recommend the book).

- impressed with Earth Lodge's tree houses and their work with local schools (more about this later in the week).
- saw sea turtles dig nests and swim out to sea.

- LOVED swimming in the Pacific Ocean; usually I hate oceans, so this was a nice change.

- cooked a substantial meal for thirteen people.

- volunteered at La Festival de la Tortuga, Monterrico and Hawaii's second annual turtle festival.

- riding in the back of pick-up trucks = fun and now my preferred method of transportation.

- rode a boat, truck, and three busses to Chichicastanango with Hannah and Amy and was really happy.

- climbed Volcán San Pedro and couldn't walk normally for days.

- dock at San Marcos = idyllic.  Prettiest spot I encountered in Guatemala.

- saw a murder victim in the streets of Monterrico.

- caught a ride in the back of a truck with two heavily armed soldiers.  They were among the friendliest Guatemalans we met.  One of them earnestly described (in Spanish) his efforts to learn English in his spare time, and his earnestness warmed my heart.

- avoided being stranded in Reu by the grace of the old woman selling snacks at the cuatro caminos intersection in Reu and Nueva Alianza's agua pura truck driver.  This experience, too, warmed my heart.

Happy New Year, and see you tomorrow!

Sunny Antigua

Today was lovely.  It was warm and sunny and we spent hours walking around Antigua, taking photos, eating fruit and pastries, and buying more Christmas presents  (for ourselves, mostly).  I found a beautiful rug/bed spread and after a bit of bargaining managed to purchase it for less than 20USD.  It'll be difficult to manage in airports but worth the trouble!  

These two photos were taken at the community pila two blocks from our hostel.  Each morning a dozen women or more wash their clothes (sometimes their babies!) here.  Loving the bright yellow.

To cave or not to cave?

A month ago, I wrote a post about fear and how it's important to effectively deal with it and not let it ruin your experiences.  

I'm currently having a "face your fear" moment.  Soon we're heading to Lanquín in central Guatemala.  It's supposed to be beautiful and jungly and I've found a new little known hostel that I'm excited about.  The area's main attractions are a natural limestone bridge above a great swimming river and a series of bat caves.  Travelers go on day-long tours of these caves - swimming, walking, climbing, squeezing through holes, being pushed through holes by large amounts of gushing water... and there are heaps of bats.  And heaps of spiders.  Tarantulas, even.  

I'm reading about this experience on travel forums and in our guidebook, and I'm slowly, instinctively shaking my head side to side.  No.  No no no.  No thank you.  

Yes, that's a cool photo of a girl walking (or swimming?) through a cave with a candle.  It's a nice idea.  But no.  Can you imagine if that were me, in a swim suit up to my collar bone in water, only a candle lighting my way, and I saw a tarantula on the cave wall?  I would freak OUT.  Canyoning in New Zealand was challenging enough.  And that was in a relatively open space dappled in sunlight.  I'm just not my bravest when there's water involved.

Me being pushed down a canyon outside Wanaka, New Zealand.  This is an example of me freaking out in a mild "I'm sort of enjoying this" way... not to be mistaken for how I would react in a tarantula cave water scenario.

But I'm going to do it.  Not because I enjoy the stomach lurching, skin tingling sensation that accompanies the thought of me being submerged in pitch black cave water with tarantulas, but because I know I'll feel accomplished when it's over.  I didn't want to bike down the world's most dangerous road at first, and I ended up wiping out, destroying my knee, and being miserable most of the way down the mountain.  But I'm glad I did it.  I have a cool scar and at the very bottom of the mountain I got to play with baby monkeys.

If I knew there were baby animals (or some form of cake) at the end of the cave tour, I'd definitely do it.  As it is, I'm publishing this post in case I find out there aren't puppies or desserts included in the tour and in case I'm tempted to spend my day reading in a hammock instead.  Man up, Brown.  Go down the caves.  

Eeek.

Spider and cave photos taken from a guy's recent blog about Semuc Champey.

San Pedro & Lake Atitlán

San Pedro, one of the many towns on Lake Atitlán, and where we stayed for several days.

Amy, James, and I walking towards the cathedral on Sunday.  There was a big Christmas festival that evening, including a parade, marching band, and basketball game.

There were lots of beautiful flowers along San Pedro's streets.
Behind Hannah and Amy you can see a sign for one of San Pedro's many Spanish language schools.

It's true.  Lots of good (cheap) food here!  If you're ever in San Pedro, definitely visit Clover's.  

I love this photo.  We were on the dock at San Marcos waiting to catch a boat back to San Pedro.

Not the cutest photo of me - I was concentrating!
But a great shot of Volcán San Pedro, which we climbed the next day.  

Amy at the top of the volcano.

Yesterday was a Catholic feast day - the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Last night everyone was on the streets to celebrate the virgin Mary.  There were bands, food stalls, a parade, and tons of fireworks.  The day before, December 7, was the Burning of the Devil, which didn't seem to be a huge deal in San Pedro. 

Hannah and I are back in Antigua for a few days.   We were thrilled to discover that in our absence this hostel somehow acquired a copy of the newest Harry Potter movie.  That's how we're spending our evening... we even have microwave popcorn!  

So touristy

Hannah and I started out in a rural mountain community, moved to a less rural beach community, and are now backpackers on the gringo trail. Without a doubt, Nueva Alianza and Reu were "real" Guatemala. There were no other tourists, hardly any spoken or written English, and most people farmed for a living. In Monterrico and Hawaii, there were more Guatemalan and western tourists, but outside of the volunteer center we still needed Spanish to survive.

Many people say Antigua isn't "real" Guatemala. The streets are clean, stray dogs and cats aren't common, there are English bookshops, locals seem wealthier, and western tourists abound. So yes, it's not dirty poor indigenous culture Guatemala. But the city definitely has history. The streets and parks and crumbling cathedrals have been there for centuries. And Guatemalans still possess the city. I see more Guatemalans on the streets than I see tourists, and locals patronize some of the nicer restaurants.

We're currently in San Pedro, a community on Lake Atitlán. In my opinion, this is the most touristy place we've been so far. An entire section of town consists of brightly painted signs advertising yoga classes and barbecue chicken pizza and "American portions for Guatemalan prices," and all the bracelet and cloth vendors speak broken English - good price, only ten quetzal. And I see way more westerners than Guatemalans. Up the hill is "real" San Pedro, which is nothing special except it's the legit Guatemalan section of town.

Talking about which parts of a country are most authentic and which parts are - wrinkle your nose in dislike - so touristy is pretty pointless and tiresome. Everyone has a different opinion. I prefer Antigua to San Pedro (the latter's beautiful lake and volcano scenery aside). But I think most people travel for a combination of authenticity and comfortable tourism. For example, San Pedro is making me miss Nueva Alianza and Reu's "real" factor. We had to speak Spanish there and I felt like I was truly in the middle of a different culture. On the other hand, when we were in Reu, we lived for Friday morning breakfasts at McDonald's because our food choices in the community were so limited. Here in San Pedro, the food is delightful. Last night we had the best garlic bread, barbecue chicken pizza, and hot fudge brownie I've ever tasted. Was it authentic Guatemalan food? I don't think so. Was it an memorable traveling experience in an atmospheric restaurant? Yes.

Today I did have some delicious real Guatemalan food. For 10Q, or about 1.25USD, I bought three chicken tacos from a food stall... the most flavorful chicken I've had so far in Guatemala. I added a bit too much spicy green salsa and luckily walked past a woman selling arroz con leche, basically sweet hot milk with rice. Very satisfying. Tonight I'll revert back to non-Guatemalan food. Maybe mango curry or satay chicken.

Eating will always be one of my favorite things about traveling.

Boat, truck, bus bus bus

Last night I had a prolonged bad moment during which I wanted to be anywhere but Guatemala. Lots of disillusionment and self-doubt.

But I vowed to wake up this morning with a positive attitude and renewed determination to make the next two weeks super memorable and fun. It wasn't easy as we had to get up at six am, I was still grumpy, and there was no coffee involved. After arriving in Panajachel and having an okay breakfast, we discovered a shuttle to Chichicastanango would be fifteen American dollars - a ridiculous price for the distance. I inquired about a chicken bus to Chichi and was told to take a boat to somewhere I couldn't pronounce, then a pick-up truck to St. something, and then a bus to Solalá and then a bus to somewhere else, and then a bus to Chichi. Are you kidding me? But I was determined to make it to Chichi by Saturday night so we could go to mass at the local cathedral. Down to the boat docks we trekked. A half dozen jewelry vendors and boatsmen followed, trying to sell their craft. By the time we arrived at the docks, I couldn't remember the name of our first destination. We dumbly stared at all the boats.

Amy: If it's gonna be too hard, why don't we just spent the night here and catch a shuttle in the morning?

The voice in my head: AGHHHH. I give up. I have no more energy to fight my disillusionment and bad attitude.

Two boatsmen continued to pester us about our boating needs until finally an exasperated Amy said, "WE'RE TRYING TO GO TO CHICHI," and one of the men said the name of our first destination - the one I'd forgotten and have forgotten again - and led us to the appropriate dock. Thank you, persistent boatsmen.

The ensuing journey was delightful because it was physical, dirty, with-the-locals travel and got us to our destination for less than two American dollars. We didn't end up going to mass tonight, but I don't care. I fought the bad attitude and came out on the other side. In the morning we'll spend a few hours at the market, searching for Christmas presents and honing our bargaining skills. And tomorrow we'll head back to Lake Atitlán where Amy's boyfriend James is studying Spanish.

Congratulations to Auburn (again)! I've been planning a potential trip to St. Louis for New Year's, and now I have a national championship road trip to consider as well. The traveling never stops!

You might notice I've changed the title of my blog and my name from Mary Elizabeth to Mary Beth. I intend to keep this blog for awhile and will be experimenting with different titles, layouts, and content during the next two months. Thanks for understanding.

(I don't know what I was thinking with the whole Mary Elizabeth thing, either.)

Guatemala time

One of the biggest cultural adjustments I've had to make in Guatemala is slowing... down...

By western standards, I'm a very easy going girl. I haven't been a fast paced overachiever in a long time. I'm usually 2-3 minutes late for everything. I'm flexible and prefer spontaneous adventures to well-planned outings.

But by Guatemala standards, I am so Type A. I found Nueva Alianza frustrating because there was nothing to do. Or rather, doing anything took 50 to 100 times longer than it would in a western country. Buses never left on time. No one seemed to care if the building was ever painted or if we paid for our stay.

Hawaii was a tiny bit busier, a tiny bit more structured, but that was only because it was full of western volunteers. The turtle festival was a strange experience as it was organized and led by Swiss and American expats armed with schedules and sign up sheets, but nothing went according to plan because it's Guatemala. Even after six weeks in the country, I found myself exhaling with anger because it's 2:30pm! The parade was supposed to start at one! There's nobody here! What's the point of this?!

But today I realized that Guatemala's sense of time and lack of urgency has rubbed off on me. I spent all day applying for grad schools, emailing professors, and researching internships. And I was overwhelmed by all the details and information. I had to take frequent breaks to munch on cheese and dried plums in order to stay calm. Maybe one day I will find a balance between Guatemala time and crazy American stress time.

Yesterday I ordered a scone and what I got was a cross between a floury British scone and southern cornbread. It was weird at first, but after three bites I was hooked.

Today, when I wasn't doing administrative things, I enjoyed basking in the sun on our hostel's rooftop terrace and listening to old church bells. I could happily relocate to Antigua. It's charming and quiet in an old colonial way. Walking to parque central for coffee, I saw a tour group of retired Americans, and I'm happy to report to my retired readers that Guatemala isn't just for the young and restless! Visit Taca.com for all your airfare needs!

Tomorrow we're heading north to Panajachel and Chichicastanango, but I'll continue to update every day this week.

Baby sea turtles

My friend Celine took these photos and I edited them a bit. We release most hatchlings after dark, but sometimes the babies climb out of the sand during the day. They only have so much energy reserved for their first swim into the sea, so it's important to release them as soon as possible. Unfortunately we don't have any adult turtle photos; camera flashes can keep mama turtles from laying their eggs. You'll have to hop on a plane and come see for yourself! It's pretty amazing.

In the following video, we're in the hatchery collecting over 10 hatched nests (around 400 babies).

Football and murder

1. The Iron Bowl. I was working in Monterrico at the turtle festival all Friday and had no idea how the game was unfolding. Around halftime, I took my lunch break and hurried down main street to the internet cafe, but the owner had closed shop to enjoy the festivities. After a lovely splurge of a dinner with the other volunteers, we walked 10km home and I was thrilled to learn of Auburn's tremendous victory. That's all I'll say about that.

2. We saw a murder victim on Saturday. A section of street had been marked off with police tape, but after asking a policeman what happened we were told there had been an "ordinary incident" and that we could walk under the tape. Fifteen minutes later we returned to find a dead body lying on the street, the feet sticking out from under a white sheet. A crowd had gathered, and several police were placing numbered cones around what I assume was the murder scene. Again, we asked what happened and we were told that oh, there had been a murder. But don't worry, the guy had been a drunk thief and a menace and no one was too upset when someone shot him.

3. 7 day blog challenge in Antigua. We're spending the next seven nights in Antigua (so excited for cool dry air and laundry services), and I intend to blog every single day.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving on the beach wasn't really Thanksgivingy. We spent all day in Monterrico helping set up for the turtle festival - it was so hot. But it was a satisfying, productive day and I'm excited about the weekend. Several of the German volunteers left this morning so we had a smaller group for dinner tonight. Midway through the meal, we decided to share things we are thankful for and in doing so created that heartwarming atmosphere of gratitude and contentment. Our Thanksgiving list included the park dogs, Thunder and Flash, unlimited agua pura (especially on hot days like today), being able to travel, good health, and no more maggots.

Me and "the Germans" hitching to Monterrico for ice cream

(Flash is sitting in Marissa's lap)

Taken on a sunrise patrol; fishermen trying to catch the tide

Life in Hawaii, Guatemala

"We buy turtle eggs HERE --> Quetzal/dozen"

I was supposed to cook last night, but instead a North Carolina businessman invited us to his nearby resort, Hotel Casa Bella. We hopped in the back of the ARCAS director's pick up truck, rode to the other side of Hawaii, and had a lovely dinner of fried chicken and beer. I devoured a breast and two legs in under five minutes - mmmm, protein. Johnny, the owner of the hotel, lives and works in North Carolina; he and his family visit Guatemala once or twice a year, and he's currently in the country working on the property. It's such a nice place - really luxurious, especially compared to where we've been staying, but still affordable. It'd be a great place for a family vacation (hint Brown family hint). It's right on the beach, about fifteen feet from the ocean, and there's an awesome crystal blue chlorinated swimming pool. I felt so refreshed and disinfected.

Speaking of disinfection, Danish volunteer Emile has been complaining of a two month old mosquito bite. It seemed infected, despite the round of antibiotics he'd taken, and after lunch today he noticed the wound wiggling. A few minutes later he'd squeezed a full grown maggot out of his leg. It was one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. Emile's reaction: "I have a tropical DISEASE! I need to update my Facebook status..." Heaven help me if I ever have an insect living under my skin. Eduardo, the park's coordinator, says this particular type of maggot is only found in the most northern part of Guatemala and in Costa Rica, where Emile spent the first two months of his trip. Good.

Emile and I in the hatchery

Tonight I cooked pasta, green beans, cheese toast, and peanut butter honey granola balls for everyone. The no bake dessert was a huge hit. My Dutch friend, Joy, is leaving tomorrow and asked me to write the recipe in her travel notebook. She said, "we call them sweet balls!"

I've taken some good photos and videos of sunsets and baby turtles; as soon as the internet connection is strong enough, I'll share them with you. One night we released over 400 babies at once. It was amazing. Unfortunately, while I was busy with the turtles, sand fleas were busy with me. I've mentioned insect bites before, but these are the worse yet. I worry for my sanity. It's a good mental exercise, though - fighting the urge to scratch when my brain can't focus on anything but the itching.

High tide is at 1:20am tonight. Two groups will patrol - one group at 11pm (I'm thankfully in this group) and another at 3:30am. Until then, some of the volunteers are watching a movie on a laptop, others are reading. I'm catching up on emails and trying to keep one of our six month old puppies, Thunder, from stealing my sugar cookie. Yesterday Thunder and/or his sidekick Flash ate ten of my tomatoes. Our deaf USA-resident English springer spaniel, Lyra, would approve.

The original plan

The original plan

The original Guatemala plan was to live and volunteer at Nueva Alianza for two months before meeting up with my Australian friend Amy for a few days of travel. But, after almost a month in the community, we decided to go elsewhere. It was a frustrating situation for several reasons.

1. Our Spanish isn't good enough to make real friends or to communicate effectively in a work environment.
2. There weren't that many work projects we could do. We didn't have the language skills, resources, or authority to properly coordinate projects or acquire supplies.
3. We were paying money to stay in the hotel, and we decided we weren't contributing or enjoying ourselves enough to warrant "sticking it out" another month.

While I was often bored and frustrated, I'm thankful for such an intense learning experience. I'll elaborate on my new thoughts about international development in a separate post, but more generally, I learned:

1. Despite my desire to be low maintenance, my day to day happiness is still largely tied to material luxuries such as cold milk and disinfectants. Darn. I may be well traveled and flexible, but I'm still a dairy-loving American.

2. Lack of cold milk is one thing. But I absolutely cannot handle not talking to other people. Communication with others is where most of my energy comes from. Forget being a productive volunteer or able to buy a pound of green beans in the market - I want to ask complex questions about inappropriate Spanish-specific jokes and complain about my day and tease and laugh and learn about people's families. But I was restricted to very basic questions and answers with everyone but Tara and Hannah; this made it difficult for me to stay energetic and positive. I will never (again) live in a non-English speaking community before investing in serious language training. (And I do really want to become bilingual.)

Good times in and around Reu

There were a few rays of sunshine during our last week in la finca. Last Friday Tara and I chicken bussed to nearby coastal village Champerico. The warm ocean water and fried fish were good for my soul. Tara's primary Peace Corps project is developing a tourist organization for Guatemala's underdeveloped Pacific coast, and during lunch I quizzed her on various obstacles to growing Guatemala's tourist infrastructure. We encountered one such obstacle, crime, when a local man chased us down the beach, warning us to turn around because of numerous assaults that occur south of town. We were already aware of the dangerous stretch of beach, but it was heartwarming having a local go out of his way to help us.

Later that evening, Tara, Hannah (who'd spent the day sick in Reu...), and I were riding la camioneta back up the mountain. It began to rain and two men rushed around shutting the windows. My window wouldn't budge, but I wrapped myself in my sarong, content to get a little wet, watching the pink sunset and basking in The Moment.

By Tuesday, the refreshing Friday had worn off. I couldn't wait to leave that part of the country. We'd been in Reu using the internet for several hours, and upon returning to the mercado we realized that we'd missed the bus. It always leaves about 45 minutes after the scheduled departure time, but the one time we were ten minutes late, it left on time. Typical, absolutely typical, I thought. We didn't have enough cash for a hotel room and we were wary of using a taxi on the obscure road to Nueva Alianza. But, long story short, we were saved by an old grandmother who sells snacks day after day at cuatro caminos, an intersection on the outskirts of Reu. We told her we'd missed the Nueva Alianza bus and we needed to get another ride, maybe with the agua pura truck. She let us wait under her snack shack and after awhile she helped us cross the street and told us to wait there. And in about five minutes the community's agua pura truck drove by and Ramón (ah, Ramón, how happy I was to see him) told us to hop in. He refused to take any money once we were back home.

The snack selling grandmother and Ramón redeemed the whole three and a half weeks. It was nice to leave with good feelings.

Where are we now?

taken from givingchallenge.ning.com

We're in Parque Hawaii, a natural reserve on the Pacific coast between the beach town of Monterrico and the smaller village of Hawaii. An organization called ARCAS operates a turtle conservation program, and year round volunteers live here and work with turtles and other wildlife and do environmental education in local schools. We're currently in the middle of nesting season. Every night we patrol about 10km of beach, looking for mama turtles nesting their eggs and for local men who have already claimed a nest. If we find a turtle nest, we dig up the eggs and rebury them in our hatchery. If a local has already claimed a nest, we collect the legally required dozen egg "donation" for our hatchery and offer to buy the remaining eggs. Sometimes they sell to us, sometimes they don't. They'll eat the eggs themselves or sell them to other vendors.

It's interesting work. And it's amazing to see the mother turtles coming out of the ocean and the tiny squirming babies scrambling down the sand. During the day, we hang out in hammocks, eat fresh pineapple, swim in the delightfully warm ocean, hitch rides in pick up trucks to Monterrico to buy groceries and attend town meetings about the upcoming turtle festival, and do various work around the property. Hannah and I plan on sticking around until the turtle festival in two weeks time, maybe longer.

Stay tuned for beautiful sunset photos and more thoughts on our Guatemala experience thus far.

Nueva Alianza photos

i am currently in an internet cafe in reu and thought i would take the opportunity to upload a few photos from the past three weeks. on wednesday, we´re relocating to parque hawaii, a national park(more or less) on the pacific coast. internet is quite scarce at the moment, but hopefully i´ll manage a few updates later this week.

welcome!

the kitchen (la cocina)

reading outside before we realized this is where the most bugs are

i fail at setting up mosquito nets

our beds and closets

the first meal we prepared... oatmeal, pineapple, fried egg, and coffee

the patio outside our room and la sala

a failed attempt to document the dozens of bug bites on my neck

chopping veggies in the dark

thrilled about our first mac n cheese dinner

dan does laundry at la pila

sarita!

an untoasted coffee bean

jungle hike

at one of the three waterfalls

kevin finds a cobra (not poisonous)and comes over to play

view from the outside la cocina