Guatemala

Guatemala, what can I say about Guatemala. First of all it is amazingly beautiful. I met up with my brother in EL Remate, Guatemala and we took the 6 am bus up to Tikal where we spent the morning hiking up the ruins which were amazing! It is such a lush, green Country. And the people are so welcoming... We headed to Flores from Tikal which is a little Island next to Santa Elena where we spent the evening in a funky hostel that we loved. We roamed the Island looking for an ATM since Monday, Sept 15th was Independence Day in Central America so all banks were closed and it was a witch hunt to find an ATM machine on Tuesday that still had money in it... But we managed to do so and booked our bus out of Flores headed for Antigua, Guatemala at 9 pm on Tuesday the 16th. We spent the day resting and shopping and jumped on our 11 hour bus that dropped us off in Antigua on Wednesday Sept 17th. Antigua is a darling little cobblestone village with plenty of stores, restaurants and Spanish schools. We were staying in a hostel ran by a woman named Irma who acted like a grandmother, which was a good thing making sure she kept Ryan in line and got him up on time for the buses. She actually only had to hurry him along once. We took a bus to one of the active volcanoes called Volcan Pacaya near Antigua and we were able to hike up to the lava and get so close your shoes began to melt. It was pretty impressive. Unlike anything I have ever seen. It was about a 6 hour trip so when we were coming back down the mountain it was getting dark and looking back up you just saw this bright yellowish red stream coming down the side. It was really impressive. We jumped out of bed the next morning to catch a 7 am bus headed for Chichicastenago which is a small village about 3 hours away that is known for its markets on Sundays and Thursdays. We hit it just right and were able to spend about 4 hours there on Thursday. It was amazing! The colors and crafts were so beautiful. There were all kinds of traditional masks both Mayan and also masks used for carnival, there were rugs, blankets and tablecloths made with the most radiant colors ever, and plenty of beaded and coral jewelry. It was the most amazing market i have ever been to.

From Chichi we headed South to Lago Atitlan which is a huge lake surrounded by 3 volcanoes and we spent the night in a small village on the water called San Marcos which was beautiful. We ate an amazing $2 meal at a local little restaurant where we got attacked by cats and then headed to bed in our little hippie hostel which was amazing. The next morning we feasted on fresh fruit, granola, homemade yogurt, oatmeal, bananas, and raisins. It was incredible. We then headed to another little village, bigger than San Marcos called San Pedro where we rented kayaks for a couple of hours. It was again breathtaking! From there we headed back to Antigua slept at Irma's place one more night before getting on a 4 am bus to Copan, Honduras which is where we are now. WE just visited the ruins and I am about to go take a nap. It was been an awesome week away and Guatemala has been amazing. The people have been lovely, the sights breathtaking, the food delicious... I have absolutely no complaints! I have missed the kids and I cannot wait for Ryan to meet them tomorrow so he can put some faces to names. Also, I did take tons of pictures and I will put them up a bit later when I am on a cheaper, faster computer.

After a rough week, I am off to renew my visa!

Well, I have been in Honduras just shy of my 90 day limit so I am off to renew my visa. And it could not have came at a better time! Last week was very exhausting and challenging. Mondays are always rough in school and class with all the kids, but this last Monday was really rough. Around 3pm, after school, lunch and chores-rest time, I went to wake up the littlest kids to see if they wanted to color with me and another volunteer. When I went into their room there were 2 of the little boys sleeping on a shared mattress and one of the little girls sleeping on a table. The room was covered in poop. Poop was smeared all over the floor, beds and walls. I am thinking it was human and dog poop. It was everywhere and they were all sleeping in the middle of it and the room stunk! I got one other volunteer and we woke the kids up and asked what happened and of course they all had different stories. One of the kids said that he and I made the mess together! We took all the beds outside and cleaned them, mopped the floor and began to clean the walls. The walls weren´t just covered with poop, but also filth that had been building up for over a year. I thought it would be a good idea to just paint the room and have the kids do some little decorations to brighten up the room. All the volunteers agreed so early the next morning I headed into town with another volunteer to purchase some paint brushes and supplies. We began painting around 9 am and finished around 4pm. The only color we had a decent supply of was white so we painted 3 coats of white paint over the filthy blue that the kids had been living with. We didn´t have time to let the kids paint that evening so either the other volunteers will do that while I am away or once I get back we will have that be phase 2. Wednesday was kids day, which here is like Christmas. The kids get to take the day off of school and play games all day and every kid gets a present. It was really fun to see all of the kids so happy. We had a huge BBQ and the meat was amazing! Actually all of the food that day was amazing! We even got a huge cake and a pinata! It was good times, but also very tiring.

Thursday we had class as normal and then I headed to La Ceiba to meet up with my brother and his friend, Jon. They have been traveling Central America for about a month and we had plans to meet up and travel to renew my visa. We went out Thursday night in La Ceiba to La Casona (the local disco) since it was ladies night and women get in for free. Running on 4 hours of sleep we woke up about 6 am Friday to begin our journey which has been non-stop since Friday morning. We took a bus to San Pedro Sula, from there took a minibus to Puerto Cortes, a port we were told we could catch a boat everyday to Belize. Once we got to Puerto Cortes we had a cab take us to the dock where there were no boats. The boats only run to Belize on Mondays from Puerto Cortes. Our taxi driver told us that they run every hour from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala so he drove us to the Guatemalan border where we crossed over and jumped on another mini-bus to head to Puerto Barrios. The power was out when we crossed the border so immigration didn´t check us in. We got to Puerto Barrios around 6 pm after about 8 hours all together on buses, minibuses and cabs. Our hotel attendant told us that the boats from Puerto Barrios, Guatemala to Punta Gorda, Belize run every 30 minutes beginning at 6:30 am. We woke up and got to the dock at 6 am and were told that the ferry doesn´t run until 10 am. We met a local who lived in New York for 23 years and he offered to show us around. He showed us all the local sites in Puerto Barrios which was really fun. He took us to their central market where we bought tons of fresh fruit for about $5. We bought huge carrots, apples, 3 lbs of strawberries, peaches and more. After debating taking a direct cab to Belize City we decided to take the 10 am ferry. We jumped on the ferry and headed to Punta Gorda, Belize. When we arrived they wouldn´t let us through with all of our fruit. But they let us sit on the dock for about 10 minutes so that we could try and inhale as much fruit as possible! Weeach downed about 3 bananas, 1 lbs of strawberries, a couple of peaches, and some apples. Oh and Ryan and I each made little dents in our huge carrots! From there were got on an old school bus painted in Jamaican colors headed for Belize City, an 8 hour bus ride. Oh, our friend from New York told us we were going to have to pay about $100 because customs didn´t stamp our passports when we entered Guatemala. We explained the power was out and he called a friend of his to help us get through without paying. We gave him a generous tip for showing us around and helping us avoid getting ripped off, but the immigration people were very nice.

We arrived in Belize City around 7pm and went out to get some dinner and then passed out in our hostel on the water. That was yesterday, Saturday. Today, Sunday we woke up and Ryan, having some last minute plans, thought it would be best if he headed North with his friend Jon to help him cross the border while I headed West to a small town near Tikal, Guatemala called El Remate. We split up around 7 am today and I headed to the border between Guatemala and Belize. It was about a 4 hour bus ride (in Belize all of the buses are old school buses painted in yellow, red and green) to the border followed by a 1.5 hour minibus ride on the Guatemalan side to El Remate which is where I am now. It is a small hippie town surrounding a huge lake and it is about 30 minutes from the ruins of Tikal. My brother Ryan should be meeting up with me here tonight and then we will be headed to Tikal tomorrow and celebrating Central America´s Independence day, which is tomorrow September 15th, either here or in Flores, Guatemala. From here we are headed South to a couple of small towns before entering Antigua, Guatemala. From there we are heading East to Copan, Honduras and then back North to La Ceiba so I can be back for the school day Monday.

It has been quite an adventure thus far! The food has been amazing and super cheap! Belize reminded me of New Orleans invaded by Jamaicans! The road we took from Southern Belize to Belize City was amazing! We were surrounded by beautiful jungle! I do miss the kids a bit, but I was for sure ready for a break, to see a familiar face, and do some sightseeing-traveling! I plan on heading South in December once I am done at the Hogar so that I will have spent a bit of time in each Country in Central America. If anyone is interested shoot me an email. I hope everyone is well! Also, I would proofread this email if this cafe wasn´t so expensive so I apologies for all of the errors.

Off to renew my Visa

After this week I am totally ready for a break! I walked into the bedroom of the youngest kids, who I feel are totally neglected, to see if they wanted to draw with me. When I walked in I almost threw up because three of them were laying on the floor sleeping and there was poop smeared all over the beds, the floor, and the walls. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life. Ruth, one of the younger girls sleeping in the room, woke up and her eyes were swollen shut. I assumed it was because she had touched the poop and then rubbed her eyes. I took her and bathed her and let her rest in the volunteer room while I got the other volunteers to check out the room. We all spent about 2 hours cleaning the beds, the floor and the walls. We decided that the best thing to do would be to paint the little kids room. So we talked to the teacher and skipped teaching the next day and went into the nearest town to buy paint brushes and rollers and we painted the entire room with some leftover white paint. We are going to try and pool together or get some donations to get some colored paint to help spruce it up a bit and paint some neat designs and let the kids do some hand prints as well. Also, today is kids day here which is basically like Christmas. So we had a huge BBQ, all the kids got a gift, we are having cake tonight, it has been quite a week! But tomorrow after class I am headed to La Ceiba to meet up with my brother in a hostel and we are traveling until next Sunday, about 10 days. We will hopefully be able to make it to El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize. To renew a visa you must either go to Belize or Costa Rica. Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have an agreement and won't renew visas. So we are off to Belize! I will try and update the blog with some interesting travel stories while I am away.

Honduras vs Canada!

Honduras played Canada last night so Stacy and Julio (the Honduran couple that I live with), Alison, Tyler (2 other volunteers) and I all headed to Ceiba to watch the game. Alison and Tyler are from Canada so it made for an interesting evening. Alison even brought her Canadian flag. Canada scored first but the locals didn´t seem to get too upset. Then Honduras came back to score 2 goals in the second half and win 2-1. The bar went nuts, Stacy and Julio included. The poor Canadians took it well. We headed to Julio´s favorite baleada stand, la linea, to eat a late night dinner and then we went out dancing. It was a blast! The older girls at the orphanage had give Alison and I a lesson on how to dance punta so we were trying to whip out our new skills.

Last weekend when we went to Cayos Cochinos, after dinner the local got their drums out and started playing music and singing. Everyone on the island came and joined and people of all ages were singing and dancing. They dance a style called punta and it involves moving your hips really fast while not moving your upper body. They pulled all of us one at a time up to dance in the middle of the circle. It was a blast!!! But I was terrible so when we got back to the Hogar I asked all the girls if they could dance punta and if they could teach me. So Friday I got my first lesson with Alison from the 3 older girls.

What else... I realized the other day that I have totally turned into one of the kids. The first time I ate with them I almost lost my appetite. They eat with their hands, grabbing food off of other plates, eating off of the dirty table and the floor with food everywhere! Also, they hide food in the kitchen in random different places. I used to eat with the kids just watching them in shock now I will be eating not even noticing how the other kids are eating but then all of the sudden realize in am eating refried beans with my fingers from one hand and eating scrambled eggs with my fingers from the other hand! Also I just recovered last week from getting really sick at Cayos Cochinos. The first real meal I could eat was on Wednesday and we had pastelitos with chimol. Chimol is the stuff I made with my home stay that I love! It is diced green bell peppers, onion, tomato, and cucumbers mixed together with vinegar and a bit of salt. I was stoked about the chimol and the cooks know it is my favorite so they gave me 2 extra scoops of it. We got to the table and I couldn´t eat all the food on my plate because it was the first real meal I had eaten in about 5 days. I used to just give my food to the nearest kid when I couldn´t finish a plate. But this time I found myself thinking about where I could hide the food left on my plate where no one would find it so I could eat it later. I told the other volunteers I was eating with this and they started cracking up, teasing me that I am totally turning into one of the kids!

sunset

my favorite view

the island we spent the weekend, cannot remember the name...

more of cayos cochinos

more of cayos cochinos

cayos cochinos, beautiful islands off of the coast of honduras

here was our first visited island

typical beach soccer field, sambo creek

My favorite little angel, Angelo

Angelo is 6 years old and he is in first grade so I am lucky enough to be his teacher. He is adorable! He is insanely small for his age which we assume is a result of malnutrition. He has a 4 year old brother at the Hogar, Maynor, and they are almost the same height. He is learning now to read and his numbers along with basic math.

and the girls win!!!

We play soccer every Friday for P.E. at the Hogar and sometimes we split boys and girls but sometimes we just mix teams. Last Friday we played for a good 2 hours and the girls won! Final score was 6-2! The girls were thrilled, although you cannot really tell by the picture... But here is a picture of my new teammates. They don't compare to my teammates back home, but they have big hearts!

Apple Crisp at the Hogar and Francisco

While Greg was at the Hogar, he stayed Sunday - Thursday night, we made apple crisp with the kids. I tried to explain to Greg how it works before he got here... You cannot just say, oh I am going to run into town and get some eggs and milk and I will be home in about an hour... Because all volunteers are at the mercy of the unreliable buses or hitches we can never really say when we will arrive or return. But Greg and I decided to head to town to try and get all the ingredients to make the kids an apple crisp. They do have apples here but they are spendy (abut $5 for 25 apples). We bought apples, oats, brown sugar and ice cream. We ran to the road and caught a hitch that made a couple little quick detours but we returned to the Hogar before the ice cream melted in the back of a truck. The Hogar already had flour and primavera (which is basically crisco and they use it to cook everything and call it margarine). We made apple crisp with about 5 kids in the kitchen hanging on us and watching until it was finally ready. It seemed a bit rich for the kids but they loved it. They seemed to almost love watching us make it more than eating it though. But it was tons of fun! Here is a picture of Francisco (the kid with the biggest appetite at the Hogar) and I and our plate of apple crisp, minus the ice cream!

the indiana jone's bridge, just before the swimming hole

my swimming hole

same hike, more beautiful sites

beautiful honduras on my favorite hike