Hi family and friends, Keely here from San Jose, Costa Rica. We just completed our week of free travel, which we spent in Puerto Viejo de Talamaca, a small beach town on the Caribbean coast. We had a low key week in this relaxed town, using rented bikes as transportation. (A shout out to Mike, who was kind enough to tote me around on the back of his bike due to my pathetic inability to ride one.)
Although it was a little difficult to find things to do in Puerto Viejo that did not involve partying, we did manage to set up some cool activites. Some of the group went on a Jaguar tour at the local animal shelter and got the chance to hold baby sloths and play with the monkies! The next day some of the group, myself included, went on a canopy/ziplining tour that included 20 platforms and a tarzan swing! This was definitely a highlight of the trip for me, and luckily we all survived the extremely tall platforms and the many ziplines. Other than that we got the chance to spend some time at the beach (when it wasn't raining), shop at the many stands, watch a belly-dancing performance, and enjoy a sushi buffet at Chile Rojos as a group. Food was a big part of this week (as usual in our group) because there were so many delicious places to eat in town. I know that fruit Batidos are a group favorite.
Emotionally this began as a difficult week for the group, since two of our members went back to the U.S. But as usual the group has pulled through a rough time and in my opinion, has become closer because of it. We did our best to still have fun and enjoy our time in Puerto Viejo, even in the rain.
Free Travel ended today with a long bus ride back to San Jose, and in light of Becca's 19th birthday we went out to an Asian restarant and after much anticipation saw the 7th Harry Potter movie. At 3 o'clock tomorrow morning we set off for the airport to fly to Honduras, our last stop in the trip! We are all in complete disbelief as to how soon we'll be coming home and how fast this adventure has gone by. I have made great friends throughout this experience and we have all become very close. All we seem to talk about is how much we're going to miss one another. But we are all looking forward to having a great last week in Roaton learning to SCUBA!!
Also, a belated Happy Thanksgiving from all of us to our family and friends!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
When I grow up I wanna be Kate Bosworth
When I was eight years old, I saw the movie Blue Crush. You know, that one where Kate Bosworth lives in Hawaii and surfs in competitions until she gets into an accident and becomes truamatized but eventually finds the inner strength to win Pike in Oahu? Yeah, well ever since I saw that movie, I´ve wanted to learn to surf. There´s just something inherently cooler about a girl who can stand sideways on a board in the middle of the ocean, and Kate Bosworth was certainly no exception. I dreamed about being just like her; listening to Bob Marley in my Volkswagen van with the board rack on top while driving to the beach, getting bleached hair and tanned skin, and being better than every boy in the water. But since I wasn´t even four feet tall yet, I knew I´d have to wait a little while before putting on that wetsuit and paddling through the frigid seas of Half Moon Bay or Santa Cruz.
Three years later, I finally had my chance. I was in Hawaii, on Kate´s turf. It was the perfect setting; the water was warm, the waves were small, my instructor was hot, and my rented board was huge, stable, and spongy. It didn´t take me long to stand up. To this day, I can´t even describe how good that felt. I began to get up every time, smiling and cheering as I rode the baby waves all the way in. My mom clapped from her towel on the sand and my instructors laughed while I continued to show off. I was envisioning myself winning Mavericks and basking in the excitement of my newfound talent when the tide came in and a rogue wave knocked me off my high horse. Suddenly I was underwater, getting pummeled and smacked by a force I´d never felt before. My leash was wrapped around both my ankles, and I felt the weight of my board dragging me into the depths of the Pacific. My lungs burned as my air supply began to run out, and I tried frantically to rise out of the sea. Finally, I felt my foot brush against the ocean floor. I pushed myself upward, realizing with simultaneous relief and embarassment that I had been about two feet away from air the entire time. My eyes burned with saltwater and the fresh cuts on my legs stung. This was not what I´d signed up for. Kate Bosworth had betrayed me. Surfing was no longer a dream, but a sham. Looking around, I said goodbye to the world I had so wanted to be a part of, the world that, I felt, had almost been the cause of my untimely death. Without hesitation, I grabbed my board and marched out of the water, throwing it down in front of my mom. "Return it," I commanded, "I am never doing this again."
Despite my fierce, eleven year old conviction never to return to the waves, I tried about four more times over the years, and each time it was the same. I´d get up, I´d feel confident, I´d think about maybe pursuing it more, and then I would get slammed and upset and kick myself for thinking that I could ever learn to surf. So, when we traveled to San Juan del Sur, I was a little nervous to get back out into the water. The same desire I had when I was eight stuck with me; despite all the times I´d gotten thrashed by the ocean, I still wanted to be Kate Bosworth. Nevertheless, I couldn´t help but wonder if something would happen again to make me give up. Well, the ocean was reliably rough, and I came out of the water with a rash on my stomach, bruises on my hips, and arms that felt like lead, but the difference this time was that I couldn´t wait to get back out and try again. So, for a couple days in San Juan, I rented a board and kicked it in the baby waves, standing up almost every time and getting back in the water even when I fell. I don´t know what changed this time, but for some reason I wanted to keep going despite the fact that I felt inches away from death. I don´t know if I´ve gotten better at surfing or better at coping, but something has definitely changed. Maybe while we´re in Puerto Viejo, I´ll rent a board and go out once more. And if I don´t, I can always console myself with the fact that the gold coast will always be waiting for me if I ever get the urge to be like Kate again.
Emily
Three years later, I finally had my chance. I was in Hawaii, on Kate´s turf. It was the perfect setting; the water was warm, the waves were small, my instructor was hot, and my rented board was huge, stable, and spongy. It didn´t take me long to stand up. To this day, I can´t even describe how good that felt. I began to get up every time, smiling and cheering as I rode the baby waves all the way in. My mom clapped from her towel on the sand and my instructors laughed while I continued to show off. I was envisioning myself winning Mavericks and basking in the excitement of my newfound talent when the tide came in and a rogue wave knocked me off my high horse. Suddenly I was underwater, getting pummeled and smacked by a force I´d never felt before. My leash was wrapped around both my ankles, and I felt the weight of my board dragging me into the depths of the Pacific. My lungs burned as my air supply began to run out, and I tried frantically to rise out of the sea. Finally, I felt my foot brush against the ocean floor. I pushed myself upward, realizing with simultaneous relief and embarassment that I had been about two feet away from air the entire time. My eyes burned with saltwater and the fresh cuts on my legs stung. This was not what I´d signed up for. Kate Bosworth had betrayed me. Surfing was no longer a dream, but a sham. Looking around, I said goodbye to the world I had so wanted to be a part of, the world that, I felt, had almost been the cause of my untimely death. Without hesitation, I grabbed my board and marched out of the water, throwing it down in front of my mom. "Return it," I commanded, "I am never doing this again."
Despite my fierce, eleven year old conviction never to return to the waves, I tried about four more times over the years, and each time it was the same. I´d get up, I´d feel confident, I´d think about maybe pursuing it more, and then I would get slammed and upset and kick myself for thinking that I could ever learn to surf. So, when we traveled to San Juan del Sur, I was a little nervous to get back out into the water. The same desire I had when I was eight stuck with me; despite all the times I´d gotten thrashed by the ocean, I still wanted to be Kate Bosworth. Nevertheless, I couldn´t help but wonder if something would happen again to make me give up. Well, the ocean was reliably rough, and I came out of the water with a rash on my stomach, bruises on my hips, and arms that felt like lead, but the difference this time was that I couldn´t wait to get back out and try again. So, for a couple days in San Juan, I rented a board and kicked it in the baby waves, standing up almost every time and getting back in the water even when I fell. I don´t know what changed this time, but for some reason I wanted to keep going despite the fact that I felt inches away from death. I don´t know if I´ve gotten better at surfing or better at coping, but something has definitely changed. Maybe while we´re in Puerto Viejo, I´ll rent a board and go out once more. And if I don´t, I can always console myself with the fact that the gold coast will always be waiting for me if I ever get the urge to be like Kate again.
Emily
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Truth About Turtles
Hey everybody. Maya here, broadcasting live from the beautiful beachside town of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, our chosen free-travel destination. Our week on la Playa Camronal was harder than most of us expected, with killer bugs and long, often fruitless nights of turtle work. A fair ammount of our time during the day was spent relaxing, and the rest performing various seemingly meaningless tasks-- we picked up garbage on the beach, gathered wood into a huge pile (a tedious, almost depressing activity, seing as how no matter how much wood we moved, it never seemed to make a difference on the stick-littered beach), and carving steps into a hillside (we just can't seem to keep away from shovelling mud, can we?). At night, we split up into groups and took three hour shifts. The schedule was like this.
9-12.........it was pretty likely that you would see at least a few turtles, and more than a few tourists.
12-3.........you probably saw the most turtles during this shift, although you were barely conscious enough to realize you were no longer dreaming when you did.
3-6...........yes, you heard me. 3-6AM. this shift we spent asleep face-down in the sand. Because turtles never lay eggs during high-tide, these three hours were totally uneventful.
We rotated through shifts, each group laughing and complaining in turn about the turtles they saw, and the sand they ate. My first night out, I was lucky enough to have the 9-12 shift. My group and I were astonished when, after what felt like an eternity of patrolling the beach, we came upon two turtles, each preparing to lay eggs. They were small-ish, but strang in the darkness. Apparently, turtles go into a trance when they lay their eggs. For this reason, we were expected to dig underneath the turtles' backsides, stick our gloved hands underneath them, and let the creatures lay their cold, sticky eggs into our fingers. This experience was totally surreal. The turtles made soft, gasping sounds while spurting amniotic fluid and what looked like ping-pong balls from their cloecas (I think this is how you spell it. A cloeca is the one hole that animals such as turtles, frogs and chickens use for all sexual and excretory purposes). After we collected and counted the eggs, we burried them inside a small structure used as a turtle sanctuary on the beach, and watched the turtles struggle back to the sea.
A few times, we got to witness baby turtles digging their way out of the sand and scrambling towards the ocean. The babies were adorable, tiny and quick. We held them once or twice while they tried frantically to escape. At times we were also required to unearth the eggshells as well as the unhatched eggs from their holes in the sanctuary. We were directed to pop open the unhatched eggs, and record our findings. Often times, the eggs were full of lumpy yellow custard. Sometimes, the insides resembled a round pinkish organ, tumor-like in its underdeveloped state. The saddest thing I saw, during our week at the turtle project, was a perfectly-formed baby turtle inside an unhatched egg, literally hugging its placenta.
We were all exhausted and dirty when we rode away from Playa Camronal in the back of pickup trucks at 3AM, telling ghost stories and falling asleep on eachothers' shoulders. After what I believe was 10 hours of travel on busses and in taxis, we arrived in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.
So here we are, in the land of dredlocks, smoothies, and reggae, riding our rented beach cruisers and soaking up the sun. We failed to celebrate Thanksgiving, seing as how it is more than difficult to prepare a holiday dinner on a bus. But we were all thinking of our families yesterday, a wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving.
12 days left, and until then, know that we are all happy, healthy, and livin it up!
We hope you are all doing well.
*Shout out to my mommy! I miss you.
9-12.........it was pretty likely that you would see at least a few turtles, and more than a few tourists.
12-3.........you probably saw the most turtles during this shift, although you were barely conscious enough to realize you were no longer dreaming when you did.
3-6...........yes, you heard me. 3-6AM. this shift we spent asleep face-down in the sand. Because turtles never lay eggs during high-tide, these three hours were totally uneventful.
We rotated through shifts, each group laughing and complaining in turn about the turtles they saw, and the sand they ate. My first night out, I was lucky enough to have the 9-12 shift. My group and I were astonished when, after what felt like an eternity of patrolling the beach, we came upon two turtles, each preparing to lay eggs. They were small-ish, but strang in the darkness. Apparently, turtles go into a trance when they lay their eggs. For this reason, we were expected to dig underneath the turtles' backsides, stick our gloved hands underneath them, and let the creatures lay their cold, sticky eggs into our fingers. This experience was totally surreal. The turtles made soft, gasping sounds while spurting amniotic fluid and what looked like ping-pong balls from their cloecas (I think this is how you spell it. A cloeca is the one hole that animals such as turtles, frogs and chickens use for all sexual and excretory purposes). After we collected and counted the eggs, we burried them inside a small structure used as a turtle sanctuary on the beach, and watched the turtles struggle back to the sea.
A few times, we got to witness baby turtles digging their way out of the sand and scrambling towards the ocean. The babies were adorable, tiny and quick. We held them once or twice while they tried frantically to escape. At times we were also required to unearth the eggshells as well as the unhatched eggs from their holes in the sanctuary. We were directed to pop open the unhatched eggs, and record our findings. Often times, the eggs were full of lumpy yellow custard. Sometimes, the insides resembled a round pinkish organ, tumor-like in its underdeveloped state. The saddest thing I saw, during our week at the turtle project, was a perfectly-formed baby turtle inside an unhatched egg, literally hugging its placenta.
We were all exhausted and dirty when we rode away from Playa Camronal in the back of pickup trucks at 3AM, telling ghost stories and falling asleep on eachothers' shoulders. After what I believe was 10 hours of travel on busses and in taxis, we arrived in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.
So here we are, in the land of dredlocks, smoothies, and reggae, riding our rented beach cruisers and soaking up the sun. We failed to celebrate Thanksgiving, seing as how it is more than difficult to prepare a holiday dinner on a bus. But we were all thinking of our families yesterday, a wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving.
12 days left, and until then, know that we are all happy, healthy, and livin it up!
We hope you are all doing well.
*Shout out to my mommy! I miss you.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Greetings yet again from the city of Leon as we wind up week two in this beautiful ciudad de Nicaragaua. Youve already heard from Becca--alright from the open door to my right i just witnessed my first Nicaraguan ¨ding dong ditch¨. I hope everyone else can find this as ammusing as I am, proof that where ever you are life is more similiar then different (atleast in my opinion), and kids will be kids. Monday night was quite an adventure for Ernest, Liza, and I, we set out to get our ears pierced at a local tienda of sorts (cute i know), each adding an additional hole to our lobes (in Ernest´s case 2)..sorry for any families i may be prematurely releasing this news to. come to think of it i should probably buy Ernie some alcohol swabs and help him keep those new studs clean. Wednesday, Eliza and I had the pleasure of killing or our own lunch! honestly, if i could kill my lunch everyday i would. we came home to about 20 crabs scampering around our kitchen, the result was a few knives, hammers, and fresh crab and frijole soup the next day. DELICIOUSO!I cant speak for everyone but Eliza and I are more then thankful for our new family and friends we´ve made here in Leon. our family for lack of a better word is the shit, and we cant wait to stay in touch with our new brothers Carlos and Ryan. My almuerzo calls from down the street. enjoy the pics and now all your chicklings are safe, happy, and lovin the constant sweat mustaches dripping from our upper lip. hasta pronto! (maybe too pronto)
the amazing murals surrounding Leons streets im lucky enough to look at every day
SAND BOARDINGGG
Eliza and I at the beach.. and remind me how im getting college credit for this??
no tears..
our family cookin crabs in the kitchen.
thanks! -Ella
thanks! -Ella
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tienes Que Caminar
Sup guys, it´s Emily. Again. In light of us having about a month left in Central America, I thought I´d share an important lesson that I´ve learned the hard way: that no matter where you are, who you´re with, or what you´re doing, you have to walk.
It seems simple, the act of walking. You put one foot in front of the other, you move yourself forward through space and time. The idea isn´t what´s complicated. It´s the sheer physical effort. And I know I sound like the poster child for Michelle Obama´s campaign against childhood obesity, but seriously guys, walking is HARD.
I hadn´t used my feet as a mode of transportation since all my friends got their licenses junior year. So it´s not even necessary for me to mention that I was utterly distraught by the trek, which turned out to be almost completely uphill, just as I´d feared. However, after it was over I felt wave after wave of relief crash over me; I convinced myself that we were done walking. We had to be. As usual, I was wrong.
Our week in Chicacnab brought about a different kind of walking. The muddy kind. We sloshed and squelched through two miles of sludge, only to arrive at a house sandwiched between two equally slippery hills. I sighed and resolved to make the week go by without falling down one of the increasingly peligroso hills. The only thought that kept me going was there was no way I´d have to walk like that again after Chicacnab. Once again, I was incorrect.
We arrived in Semuc Champey dead tired, but happy. We couldn´t wait to jump into the limestone pools and actually swim for the first time in months. Our tour guide told us yes, you guys can swim, but first we´re gonna check out this incredible view that takes forty five uphill, sweaty minutes to get to. At this point I just laughed as I was reminded again that nothing ever goes as suspected in Central America.
So this past weekend when we went volcano boarding, you can imagine my total lack of surprise when we were told that we would have to walk up Cerro Negro, that it would take about an hour, and that we´d get just as dirty and sweaty as we had been for the past two months. But as I slowly began my trudge uphill and felt that familiar burning sensation in my thighs, my mind didn´t immediately jump to how awful everything was and how I would prefer to be sitting in the shade with jugo de piña. I´d moved past denial and into acceptance of the fact that in order to have fun, I would have to do a little bit of work, and that eventually, I´d be able to stop walking, stand still, and enjoy the incredible vistas that seem to follow us everywhere. And I would say something cliche about how the same thing applies to life and how everyone has to work to enjoy things, but I think that you´re all smart enough to detect the metaphor here. Besides, it´s getting dark, and I need to walk home.
It seems simple, the act of walking. You put one foot in front of the other, you move yourself forward through space and time. The idea isn´t what´s complicated. It´s the sheer physical effort. And I know I sound like the poster child for Michelle Obama´s campaign against childhood obesity, but seriously guys, walking is HARD.
I hadn´t used my feet as a mode of transportation since all my friends got their licenses junior year. So it´s not even necessary for me to mention that I was utterly distraught by the trek, which turned out to be almost completely uphill, just as I´d feared. However, after it was over I felt wave after wave of relief crash over me; I convinced myself that we were done walking. We had to be. As usual, I was wrong.
Our week in Chicacnab brought about a different kind of walking. The muddy kind. We sloshed and squelched through two miles of sludge, only to arrive at a house sandwiched between two equally slippery hills. I sighed and resolved to make the week go by without falling down one of the increasingly peligroso hills. The only thought that kept me going was there was no way I´d have to walk like that again after Chicacnab. Once again, I was incorrect.
We arrived in Semuc Champey dead tired, but happy. We couldn´t wait to jump into the limestone pools and actually swim for the first time in months. Our tour guide told us yes, you guys can swim, but first we´re gonna check out this incredible view that takes forty five uphill, sweaty minutes to get to. At this point I just laughed as I was reminded again that nothing ever goes as suspected in Central America.
So this past weekend when we went volcano boarding, you can imagine my total lack of surprise when we were told that we would have to walk up Cerro Negro, that it would take about an hour, and that we´d get just as dirty and sweaty as we had been for the past two months. But as I slowly began my trudge uphill and felt that familiar burning sensation in my thighs, my mind didn´t immediately jump to how awful everything was and how I would prefer to be sitting in the shade with jugo de piña. I´d moved past denial and into acceptance of the fact that in order to have fun, I would have to do a little bit of work, and that eventually, I´d be able to stop walking, stand still, and enjoy the incredible vistas that seem to follow us everywhere. And I would say something cliche about how the same thing applies to life and how everyone has to work to enjoy things, but I think that you´re all smart enough to detect the metaphor here. Besides, it´s getting dark, and I need to walk home.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
¡Spanish School, Sandboarding y Más!
¡Hola amigos y familia! This is Becca reporting from a scorching hot but beautiful León. It has been a very busy week, what with adjusting to a new location, but I think everyone has officially settled in and is having a great time!
Like Rachael said, we began our time in León by meeting our families. Unlike the homestay situation in Xela, the majority of us are staying two to a family. This definitely makes it easier to communicate and at least attempt to understand what our families are saying. We spent Sunday getting to know our families, eating gallo pinto (mixed rice and beans- the traditional meal of Nicaragua) and exploring the city a little, as well as preparing for another two weeks of spanish school.
Most of the group had a difficult time starting back up at our spanish school, Casa Dariana. We were all definitely a bit rusty with our Spanish, and we were not prepared to talk in Spanish to a native Spanish speaker for 4 hours straight. To make matters worse, Nicaraguan Spanish is not easy to understand- they talk unbelievably fast and don't pronouce 's' sounds at the end of words. However, all of our teachers were very accomodating and willing to meet us at our respective level.
We begin each day doing "normal" spanish class activities: taking notes, reading article, doing exercises. However, to keep our attention, the teachers often take us on field trips during the second half of class. My favorite field trip was to the Museum of Myths and Legends. The building itself is actually an old prison that they used to hold political prisoners (one of our spanish teachers was actually held there when he was a Sandanista). The museum contains handmade lifesize dolls that each represent a different Nicaraguan myth or legend. One of the more interesting myths was that of "La Chancha Bruja (The Pig Witch)." In this legend, a woman thought her husband was cheating on her, so every night she said an incantation to turn herself into a pig. That way, she could follow her husband when he left the house. Legend says that if a man is cheating on his wife, he will be followed by a black pig, representing La Chancha Bruja. Other activities have included visiting the local cathedral and watching a documentary on the Nicaraguan Revolution.
Since we didn't have class today (it is Saturday after all), the group took a trip to one of the local volcanoes to go sandboarding. We got up bright and early (7:45 to be exact) to take our favorite form of transportation, the open-backed truck, to the volcano Cerro Negro. Cerro Negro is a beautiful volcano covered with black volcanic ash (hence the name) and situated amoung several other volcanoes, including Telica and El Hoyo. With our sandboards strapped to our back, we hiked about 45 minutes up the volcano. On the way to the top, we stopped to see a large crater and the sulfur formations that covered the crater. Once we finally made it to the top, we put on our gear consisting of a bright green jumpsuit, goggles and gloves (we looked like a hazmat crew), and rode down the mountain two-by-two. The ride was exhilirating- we reached speeds of 35 miles per hour! Although the actual ride down the mountain only took about a minute, it was definitely worth the trek up to the top. After a short break, some members of the group decided to go for a second run while the others laid on hammocks back at the rest station. To make a great day amazing, we all received free t-shirts when we returned back to the city!
Tomorrow, we are going to the beach to relax and rejuvinate before we have to go back to school. Hopefully our second week in León will be as exciting and eventful as the first!
Love and verb conjugations,
Becca
PS- At the request of both Meghan and my parents, below are a few photos from the past weeks:
Like Rachael said, we began our time in León by meeting our families. Unlike the homestay situation in Xela, the majority of us are staying two to a family. This definitely makes it easier to communicate and at least attempt to understand what our families are saying. We spent Sunday getting to know our families, eating gallo pinto (mixed rice and beans- the traditional meal of Nicaragua) and exploring the city a little, as well as preparing for another two weeks of spanish school.
Most of the group had a difficult time starting back up at our spanish school, Casa Dariana. We were all definitely a bit rusty with our Spanish, and we were not prepared to talk in Spanish to a native Spanish speaker for 4 hours straight. To make matters worse, Nicaraguan Spanish is not easy to understand- they talk unbelievably fast and don't pronouce 's' sounds at the end of words. However, all of our teachers were very accomodating and willing to meet us at our respective level.
We begin each day doing "normal" spanish class activities: taking notes, reading article, doing exercises. However, to keep our attention, the teachers often take us on field trips during the second half of class. My favorite field trip was to the Museum of Myths and Legends. The building itself is actually an old prison that they used to hold political prisoners (one of our spanish teachers was actually held there when he was a Sandanista). The museum contains handmade lifesize dolls that each represent a different Nicaraguan myth or legend. One of the more interesting myths was that of "La Chancha Bruja (The Pig Witch)." In this legend, a woman thought her husband was cheating on her, so every night she said an incantation to turn herself into a pig. That way, she could follow her husband when he left the house. Legend says that if a man is cheating on his wife, he will be followed by a black pig, representing La Chancha Bruja. Other activities have included visiting the local cathedral and watching a documentary on the Nicaraguan Revolution.
Since we didn't have class today (it is Saturday after all), the group took a trip to one of the local volcanoes to go sandboarding. We got up bright and early (7:45 to be exact) to take our favorite form of transportation, the open-backed truck, to the volcano Cerro Negro. Cerro Negro is a beautiful volcano covered with black volcanic ash (hence the name) and situated amoung several other volcanoes, including Telica and El Hoyo. With our sandboards strapped to our back, we hiked about 45 minutes up the volcano. On the way to the top, we stopped to see a large crater and the sulfur formations that covered the crater. Once we finally made it to the top, we put on our gear consisting of a bright green jumpsuit, goggles and gloves (we looked like a hazmat crew), and rode down the mountain two-by-two. The ride was exhilirating- we reached speeds of 35 miles per hour! Although the actual ride down the mountain only took about a minute, it was definitely worth the trek up to the top. After a short break, some members of the group decided to go for a second run while the others laid on hammocks back at the rest station. To make a great day amazing, we all received free t-shirts when we returned back to the city!
Tomorrow, we are going to the beach to relax and rejuvinate before we have to go back to school. Hopefully our second week in León will be as exciting and eventful as the first!
Love and verb conjugations,
Becca
PS- At the request of both Meghan and my parents, below are a few photos from the past weeks:
Our own architectural marvel at Tikal
The group at The Myths and Legends Museum
Some of the dolls at the museum representing traditional Nicaraguan festivals
Monday, November 1, 2010
Hola from Leon!
Hello Friends and Family, this is Rachael blogging from Leon, Nicaragua. This last week or so has been busy since we left Chicacnab, in the cloud forest that you heard about from Kelley.
From Chicacnab we hiked a couple miles down a muddy slippery mountain side (my feet just did not seem to want to stay under me) then took a bus to Coban where we spent the night, showered the grit and dirt of Chicacnab off of our bodies and treated ourselves to delicious ice cream, grilled cheese and whatever else we fancied.
The next day we got up early and bussed to Semuc Champey, the elvish falls, where we would be spending the night. A bus ride of less than two hours and a bumpy half hour standing in the back of a pickup and we were so happy to feel the warm air as we arrived at our hotel.
It felt like paradise, luscious, humid, tropical paradise. The hotel was set right on the river, made up of grass roofed huts and cocoa trees, big ferns and colorful flowers growing everywhere (plants on top of plants, soft cushy moss, things can not grow fast enough in the tropics), chirping cicadas, toothpick trunked chalky white trees with big billowing donkey ear leaves floating in the thick, velvety air. A little girl walked around selling a bag full of the juiciest, fragrant, bursty mandarins!
After we arrived we put our things in our rooms, grouped back up and headed straight to the falls. First we walked around the park a bit then hiked up to the look out point. The walk to get there was a bit strenuous, there were some frusturated sighs to be heard from people who felt they were being tricked into yet another trekk! The thirty minute hike was up a mix of natural and man made steps to where a look out point is built into the cliffs at the top of the climb. We quickly caught our breath there as the sight of stunning jade pools and lush green jungle rejuvenated us. It looked like the view out of an airplane window, a string of chunky turquoise beads flung haphazardly on the jungle floor.
We headed back down the same way we came up, arriving at the river´s edge. We swam in the first pool, the water cool and refreshing, until our guide beckoned us to the rocks at the edge which we jumped off to enter the second pool.To get to the next pool the jump was higher and scarier, He created little challenges, jump in then swim as far as you can underwater, or try to swim under a log laying on the bottom of the pool, his sturdy hands waiting to guide us through the underwater tunnel, he challenged us to climb up a steep little waterfall, hands groping for a pocket to grab as legs kicked their way up. We reached the last pool, where the group jumped simultaneously off a little rock and walked over to look off the edge at the frothy waters so far below.
We reluctantly climbed out of the wonderful water, trudging our sopping, sweaty, hungry selves out of the park and back to the hotel where we ate lunch and waited to begin our next adventure into the Las Marias caves.
Before entering the caves we were given candles to light our way. We left the daylight behind us as we stepped into the cavernous limestone caves, the cool water at first shocking, we held the candles above our heads as we swam deeper into the dark hallway. It was a feeling like no other, eery but somehow sacred, we fell mostly silent besides the occasional nervous giggle as we followed our guide deeper in. We proceeded to climb ladders, scale the sides of rocks,and jump into a deep pool of water from a perch high up on the slippery cave wall. The limestone walls and ceiling were covered in stalactites and some spots in the cave were very narrow and small, we had to crawl through in order to cross, going to other spots involved ladder and rope climbing or jumping across rocks, climbing the rope was particularly exhilirating. It was impossible to hear through the roar of the waterfall that was pounding over your head, onto your back, but the guide was awesome as usual, instructing where to put our feet, and watching us carefully the whole way up.
On the way back we blew out all the candles, save for a stub at the front of the line and made our way back in darkness. We had the option of lowering ourselves through a little hole to the next level, rushing water pounding our ears, no idea what is through the rabbit hole, blind trust in the strong, sure hands of our guide, reemerging on the other side, treading water in complete darkness for a minute, no idea how large the space we are in is, until the guide emerges with his headlamp and points us in the right direction.
Finally, emerging into the day, now darkening into dusk. The muggy daylight seems alien, we blink our eyes, adjusting to outside the cave. It seems like we could have emerged in another time, like we only would have been half surprised had a dinosaur come rustling out of the forest.
The next day we boarded a bus to Flores expecting a ten hour trip. Travels went smoothly for a while, with most of us sleeping spread out on unoccupied seats, heads on eachothers shoulders, or bouncing against the vibrating bus window. The trip was pretty uneventful until the bus screeched to a stop, in front of us boulders were laid across the road to stop traffic. We were informed it was a protest, people moved the rocks and we were able to pass but it was not long until we were again stopped, a long line of cars stretching in both directions. This time we exited the bus and walked through the protest, we met Ari on the other side where he had flagged down a van that we were able to ride in the rest of the way.
We arrived in our hostel in Flores which was really nice and overlooked the water. We rose bright and early at four the next morning to set out for Tikal. You heard from Em a little about that, including the massive tarantula that some psycho members of my group actually touched. I could actually imagine tricking myself into holding it if I just pretended it was a little rodent or other type of mammal, it was that giant and hairy, alas I still didn´t touch it, just stood there whimpering as I watched my brave and crazy friends let it crawl on their hands and arms.
The ruins of Tikal were gorgeous, the remains of huge temples that tower over 230 feet high in addition to all sorts of other ancient buildings We spent the morning climbing ruins and wondering around Tikal before heading back to enjoy the rest of the day in Flores.
The next morning we headed to the airport where we flew to Nicaragua (a process of 4 different flights in all, each about an hour long)
We spent the next four days in a lovely hostel in Grenada, lounging by the pool, hanging in hammocks and just generally roughing it and living a hard life. We are finally in the sunshine! It is hot and humid, we sleep under a sheet, if that, and are finally starting to get tan! (but yes mom, I will be careful and wear sunscreen)
We are now in Leon, we met out families yesterday afternoon and had our first day of Spanish classes today. We are excited to spend two weeks here! Hope everyone is doing well ! We send our love!
From Chicacnab we hiked a couple miles down a muddy slippery mountain side (my feet just did not seem to want to stay under me) then took a bus to Coban where we spent the night, showered the grit and dirt of Chicacnab off of our bodies and treated ourselves to delicious ice cream, grilled cheese and whatever else we fancied.
The next day we got up early and bussed to Semuc Champey, the elvish falls, where we would be spending the night. A bus ride of less than two hours and a bumpy half hour standing in the back of a pickup and we were so happy to feel the warm air as we arrived at our hotel.
It felt like paradise, luscious, humid, tropical paradise. The hotel was set right on the river, made up of grass roofed huts and cocoa trees, big ferns and colorful flowers growing everywhere (plants on top of plants, soft cushy moss, things can not grow fast enough in the tropics), chirping cicadas, toothpick trunked chalky white trees with big billowing donkey ear leaves floating in the thick, velvety air. A little girl walked around selling a bag full of the juiciest, fragrant, bursty mandarins!
After we arrived we put our things in our rooms, grouped back up and headed straight to the falls. First we walked around the park a bit then hiked up to the look out point. The walk to get there was a bit strenuous, there were some frusturated sighs to be heard from people who felt they were being tricked into yet another trekk! The thirty minute hike was up a mix of natural and man made steps to where a look out point is built into the cliffs at the top of the climb. We quickly caught our breath there as the sight of stunning jade pools and lush green jungle rejuvenated us. It looked like the view out of an airplane window, a string of chunky turquoise beads flung haphazardly on the jungle floor.
We headed back down the same way we came up, arriving at the river´s edge. We swam in the first pool, the water cool and refreshing, until our guide beckoned us to the rocks at the edge which we jumped off to enter the second pool.To get to the next pool the jump was higher and scarier, He created little challenges, jump in then swim as far as you can underwater, or try to swim under a log laying on the bottom of the pool, his sturdy hands waiting to guide us through the underwater tunnel, he challenged us to climb up a steep little waterfall, hands groping for a pocket to grab as legs kicked their way up. We reached the last pool, where the group jumped simultaneously off a little rock and walked over to look off the edge at the frothy waters so far below.
We reluctantly climbed out of the wonderful water, trudging our sopping, sweaty, hungry selves out of the park and back to the hotel where we ate lunch and waited to begin our next adventure into the Las Marias caves.
Before entering the caves we were given candles to light our way. We left the daylight behind us as we stepped into the cavernous limestone caves, the cool water at first shocking, we held the candles above our heads as we swam deeper into the dark hallway. It was a feeling like no other, eery but somehow sacred, we fell mostly silent besides the occasional nervous giggle as we followed our guide deeper in. We proceeded to climb ladders, scale the sides of rocks,and jump into a deep pool of water from a perch high up on the slippery cave wall. The limestone walls and ceiling were covered in stalactites and some spots in the cave were very narrow and small, we had to crawl through in order to cross, going to other spots involved ladder and rope climbing or jumping across rocks, climbing the rope was particularly exhilirating. It was impossible to hear through the roar of the waterfall that was pounding over your head, onto your back, but the guide was awesome as usual, instructing where to put our feet, and watching us carefully the whole way up.
On the way back we blew out all the candles, save for a stub at the front of the line and made our way back in darkness. We had the option of lowering ourselves through a little hole to the next level, rushing water pounding our ears, no idea what is through the rabbit hole, blind trust in the strong, sure hands of our guide, reemerging on the other side, treading water in complete darkness for a minute, no idea how large the space we are in is, until the guide emerges with his headlamp and points us in the right direction.
Finally, emerging into the day, now darkening into dusk. The muggy daylight seems alien, we blink our eyes, adjusting to outside the cave. It seems like we could have emerged in another time, like we only would have been half surprised had a dinosaur come rustling out of the forest.
The next day we boarded a bus to Flores expecting a ten hour trip. Travels went smoothly for a while, with most of us sleeping spread out on unoccupied seats, heads on eachothers shoulders, or bouncing against the vibrating bus window. The trip was pretty uneventful until the bus screeched to a stop, in front of us boulders were laid across the road to stop traffic. We were informed it was a protest, people moved the rocks and we were able to pass but it was not long until we were again stopped, a long line of cars stretching in both directions. This time we exited the bus and walked through the protest, we met Ari on the other side where he had flagged down a van that we were able to ride in the rest of the way.
We arrived in our hostel in Flores which was really nice and overlooked the water. We rose bright and early at four the next morning to set out for Tikal. You heard from Em a little about that, including the massive tarantula that some psycho members of my group actually touched. I could actually imagine tricking myself into holding it if I just pretended it was a little rodent or other type of mammal, it was that giant and hairy, alas I still didn´t touch it, just stood there whimpering as I watched my brave and crazy friends let it crawl on their hands and arms.
The ruins of Tikal were gorgeous, the remains of huge temples that tower over 230 feet high in addition to all sorts of other ancient buildings We spent the morning climbing ruins and wondering around Tikal before heading back to enjoy the rest of the day in Flores.
The next morning we headed to the airport where we flew to Nicaragua (a process of 4 different flights in all, each about an hour long)
We spent the next four days in a lovely hostel in Grenada, lounging by the pool, hanging in hammocks and just generally roughing it and living a hard life. We are finally in the sunshine! It is hot and humid, we sleep under a sheet, if that, and are finally starting to get tan! (but yes mom, I will be careful and wear sunscreen)
We are now in Leon, we met out families yesterday afternoon and had our first day of Spanish classes today. We are excited to spend two weeks here! Hope everyone is doing well ! We send our love!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Just Some Wildlife, NBD
What's up guys, it's Emily again. That's right, you haven't gotten rid of me yet. And don't think you're going to, because for the rest of the trip, you'll be hearing from me once a week. That's seven blogs. Get excited. Anyway, to begin.
I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but we've encountered quite a bit of wildlife lately, starting in Chicacnab. After being assaulted by insects on our two hour hike to the village, we were greeted by the shrill barking of several dogs, undoubtedly perturbed by the sight of muddy, sweaty gringos. We looked at each other knowingly; we'd seen this before. So we continued walking and talking until another noise stopped us. Our heads whipped in all directions; we wondered what creature could possibly have produced that gargling, throaty call. We all saw it at the same time. A massive turkey stood before us, chest puffed out as if to say, "this town ain't big enough for the two of us." It became immediately clear that our new acquaintence essentially owned Chicacnab, and it was best that we stayed out of his way. The other animals in the village (chickens, dogs and less domineering turkeys) managed this just fine, calmly moving within their own territories. We quickly realized that we would have to carve out a place of our own before the wildlife took over. And between working on the kitchen, trying to stay warm, and sleeping for 12 hours a night, we came to find this task a little bit difficult. The village dogs paid no attention to the door on the outside of our cabin, and more than once we returned to our beds to find them covered in pawprints. To my horror, one of them even stole the loaf of bread I left on top of my sleeping bag. Even as we ate, the animals made it clear that we were merely visitors to their domain. The mother hen that lived in the village dining room clucked sharply at us whenever our feet moved near her chicks, and the roosters operated on their own clock, completely indifferent to the fact that their 3 AM crows were not appreciated by those trying to sleep. And worst of all, the alpha-male turkey and his brood set up camp beside the bathroom, gobbling madly whenever anyone tried to pass. So for someone like me, with a deep-seated irrational fear of birds, peeing became impossible. Needless to say, I was kind of relieved when we threw our bags over our shoulders and and high-tailed it out of Chicacnab. However, our wildlife encounters had only just begun.
We got through Semuc Champey without seeing much in the way of animals, but as soon as we got to Tikal, we realized once again that humans weren't the only inhabitants of Guatemala. No more than five minutes into our tour of the Mayan temples did we notice the black clump of fur attached to our guide's back. He was carrying a tarantula. A few of us screamed and jumped backward despite his insistance that the four-inch spider was "really friendly." I immediately asked to hold it, because even though I refuse to go within five feet of a pidgeon, spiders don't frighten me. After a few more of us got a turn to hold Harry the tarantula, we trekked deeper into the jungle, greeted by the dinosaur-like sounds of howler monkeys. We wondered what it must have been like for the ancient Mayans to try and sleep despite the screetching. Eventually, we got to a small clearing in front of temple number four and took a break to eat. It was here that we saw an army of furry critters similar to raccoons. They bounded through the grass with the strides of an antelope, shyly sprinting away whenever we got too close. Then we noticed a little one lagging further behind the pack, its nose buried in a discarded bag of Lays chips. "It's too bad that people litter all over their home," said our guide, looking at the animal reproachfully. As I continued to gaze at the little mammal, I felt an epiphany creep over me. The animals in Chicacnab weren't the nuisance that I'd originally they were. We had encroached on their territory, on their land, on their home. We were guests in Guatemala, and the people and animals who lived there were understanding enough to let us explore their world. I couldn't believe that I'd been so quick to forget how to be a good visitor. Only in Central America can a pissed off turkey and a shy, furry dude teach you how to respect the land you walk on.
I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but we've encountered quite a bit of wildlife lately, starting in Chicacnab. After being assaulted by insects on our two hour hike to the village, we were greeted by the shrill barking of several dogs, undoubtedly perturbed by the sight of muddy, sweaty gringos. We looked at each other knowingly; we'd seen this before. So we continued walking and talking until another noise stopped us. Our heads whipped in all directions; we wondered what creature could possibly have produced that gargling, throaty call. We all saw it at the same time. A massive turkey stood before us, chest puffed out as if to say, "this town ain't big enough for the two of us." It became immediately clear that our new acquaintence essentially owned Chicacnab, and it was best that we stayed out of his way. The other animals in the village (chickens, dogs and less domineering turkeys) managed this just fine, calmly moving within their own territories. We quickly realized that we would have to carve out a place of our own before the wildlife took over. And between working on the kitchen, trying to stay warm, and sleeping for 12 hours a night, we came to find this task a little bit difficult. The village dogs paid no attention to the door on the outside of our cabin, and more than once we returned to our beds to find them covered in pawprints. To my horror, one of them even stole the loaf of bread I left on top of my sleeping bag. Even as we ate, the animals made it clear that we were merely visitors to their domain. The mother hen that lived in the village dining room clucked sharply at us whenever our feet moved near her chicks, and the roosters operated on their own clock, completely indifferent to the fact that their 3 AM crows were not appreciated by those trying to sleep. And worst of all, the alpha-male turkey and his brood set up camp beside the bathroom, gobbling madly whenever anyone tried to pass. So for someone like me, with a deep-seated irrational fear of birds, peeing became impossible. Needless to say, I was kind of relieved when we threw our bags over our shoulders and and high-tailed it out of Chicacnab. However, our wildlife encounters had only just begun.
We got through Semuc Champey without seeing much in the way of animals, but as soon as we got to Tikal, we realized once again that humans weren't the only inhabitants of Guatemala. No more than five minutes into our tour of the Mayan temples did we notice the black clump of fur attached to our guide's back. He was carrying a tarantula. A few of us screamed and jumped backward despite his insistance that the four-inch spider was "really friendly." I immediately asked to hold it, because even though I refuse to go within five feet of a pidgeon, spiders don't frighten me. After a few more of us got a turn to hold Harry the tarantula, we trekked deeper into the jungle, greeted by the dinosaur-like sounds of howler monkeys. We wondered what it must have been like for the ancient Mayans to try and sleep despite the screetching. Eventually, we got to a small clearing in front of temple number four and took a break to eat. It was here that we saw an army of furry critters similar to raccoons. They bounded through the grass with the strides of an antelope, shyly sprinting away whenever we got too close. Then we noticed a little one lagging further behind the pack, its nose buried in a discarded bag of Lays chips. "It's too bad that people litter all over their home," said our guide, looking at the animal reproachfully. As I continued to gaze at the little mammal, I felt an epiphany creep over me. The animals in Chicacnab weren't the nuisance that I'd originally they were. We had encroached on their territory, on their land, on their home. We were guests in Guatemala, and the people and animals who lived there were understanding enough to let us explore their world. I couldn't believe that I'd been so quick to forget how to be a good visitor. Only in Central America can a pissed off turkey and a shy, furry dude teach you how to respect the land you walk on.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Chicacnob!!!!!
Greetings from Coban....Kelley here!!
Let me start this weeks blog entry by saying everyone is alive and well after our week in the cloud forrest. (Dirty, smelly, and cold...but alive, and happy to be alive!) After our super relaxing week in San Marcos getting in touch with our spiritual, creative sides we had a bit of a change of pace hiking to a remote village with no plumbing or electricity.
We spent the week clearing out mud and clay so that a community kitchen could be built and used by the entire village in the future. Due to rain, we were unable to work on Thursday, giving our sore muscles and blistered hands a break from shoveling and we helped in the feilds picking corn. Friday we finished our work and even got to plant a few trees!
Our accomodations were most definitely basic- we all stayed together in a big room, sleeping on bunk beds. We enjoyed staying all together, something we have yet to do.
All that being said, what a beauitiful opportunity for all of us to appreciate life's simplicity! I think it's safe to say that we we were all able to take something special away from this experience. We are all very grateful for showers, indoor plumbing and a break from beans and rice!!
In recap: We were dirty, smelly, blistered and sore...but happy! Happy to have such an experience, and happy to have had it together. We are looking forward to our last few days in Guatemala with visits to Semuc Champey, cave exploring, and seeing ancient Mayan ruins. I guess our lives are kinda cool, right!? It is crazy to think that our time here in Central America is almost half way over and even more crazy that our time in Guatemala is down to only a few days.
Let me leave you with knowing that everyone is happy, everyone is healthy, and everyone is very thankful for everything we are so incredibly lucky to have back home. Next time you hear from us we will be in Nicaragua!!! Hugs from all fourteen of us!!!
PS it has been brought to Ella's and my attention that our blog might be lacking a little in the photo department.... lo siento!!..... Enjoy!!
The group on the last leg of the trek to San Marcos!!!
My girl Ella kayaking in San Marcos!! Kindaaaaa cool
Outside the school in Chicacnob on the soccer field.
Some of our group with our guides in Chicacnob next to some of the work we did
Let me start this weeks blog entry by saying everyone is alive and well after our week in the cloud forrest. (Dirty, smelly, and cold...but alive, and happy to be alive!) After our super relaxing week in San Marcos getting in touch with our spiritual, creative sides we had a bit of a change of pace hiking to a remote village with no plumbing or electricity.
We spent the week clearing out mud and clay so that a community kitchen could be built and used by the entire village in the future. Due to rain, we were unable to work on Thursday, giving our sore muscles and blistered hands a break from shoveling and we helped in the feilds picking corn. Friday we finished our work and even got to plant a few trees!
Our accomodations were most definitely basic- we all stayed together in a big room, sleeping on bunk beds. We enjoyed staying all together, something we have yet to do.
All that being said, what a beauitiful opportunity for all of us to appreciate life's simplicity! I think it's safe to say that we we were all able to take something special away from this experience. We are all very grateful for showers, indoor plumbing and a break from beans and rice!!
In recap: We were dirty, smelly, blistered and sore...but happy! Happy to have such an experience, and happy to have had it together. We are looking forward to our last few days in Guatemala with visits to Semuc Champey, cave exploring, and seeing ancient Mayan ruins. I guess our lives are kinda cool, right!? It is crazy to think that our time here in Central America is almost half way over and even more crazy that our time in Guatemala is down to only a few days.
Let me leave you with knowing that everyone is happy, everyone is healthy, and everyone is very thankful for everything we are so incredibly lucky to have back home. Next time you hear from us we will be in Nicaragua!!! Hugs from all fourteen of us!!!
PS it has been brought to Ella's and my attention that our blog might be lacking a little in the photo department.... lo siento!!..... Enjoy!!
My girl Ella kayaking in San Marcos!! Kindaaaaa cool
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Trekkin and Relaxin!
Hola familias!
Debbie here, writing from the super zen, super hippie town of San Marcos. So, last time we checked in was in during our lovely 2 weeks in Xela homestays! Where we are now, is quite different, not in a bad way though, in fact most of us love it here more than Xela! San Marcos is a tiny town located on Lago Atitlan (one of the most beautiful lakes in all of Central America) and is mainly a place where people come for spiritual healing and what not. But, before I get too into explaining what we're doing in San Marcos let me tell you how we got here... Friday morning we woke up bright and early (6 am to be exact) and drove 45 minutes away from Xela where we began our trek. For the next 10 hours we trekked up and down a mountain, struggling, but doing our best to keep up our positive attitudes. 16 km later at about 4:30 pm we arrived in a small village, set up our beds in a local families home, ate dinner and went to sleep at about 7:30! We were all soooo tired from the day, and we were told that day 2 (Saturday) was going to be the hardest day out of the 3, and we had to wake up at 4 am! Saturday was indeed the hardest day of all, even though it was the same amount (16 km) most of the day was up hill, and it wasn't slighty up hill either, it was like climbing giant, unsteady stairs made of slippery rocks all the way up, but we did it and we are all so proud of ourselves! After setting up at a local hostel in Santa Clara, we all went to dinner together and talked about the day. Sunday we had to wake up at 4 am again, but this time it was worth it. We walked for about 20 minutes to a spot over looking Lago Atitlan and watched the sunrise. It was without a doubt one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. All of you should google Lago Atitlan after reading this and be jealous as to where we are spending the next week. Sunday was also the day we arrived in San Marcos, after a 15 minute boat ride from San Pedro we arrived at this quaint little town of San Marcos and settled into our absolutely gorgeous hotel, La Paz. After 3 days of trekking and no showering you can imagine how excited we were when we realized where we were staying, a place with hot showers, warm beds, beautiful scenery and of course, delicious food. This week is supposed to be somewhat of a spiritual retreat for each of us, and we are required to do at least one spiritual activity each day, so many of us do yoga or meditation. Maya and Meghan are both taking Indian head massage classes, and Keely and myself were lucky enough to be their massagees yesterday for 2 hours. Over all everyone else is just excited and happy to be in this beautiful place! Until next time... Adios!!
-Debbie
Debbie here, writing from the super zen, super hippie town of San Marcos. So, last time we checked in was in during our lovely 2 weeks in Xela homestays! Where we are now, is quite different, not in a bad way though, in fact most of us love it here more than Xela! San Marcos is a tiny town located on Lago Atitlan (one of the most beautiful lakes in all of Central America) and is mainly a place where people come for spiritual healing and what not. But, before I get too into explaining what we're doing in San Marcos let me tell you how we got here... Friday morning we woke up bright and early (6 am to be exact) and drove 45 minutes away from Xela where we began our trek. For the next 10 hours we trekked up and down a mountain, struggling, but doing our best to keep up our positive attitudes. 16 km later at about 4:30 pm we arrived in a small village, set up our beds in a local families home, ate dinner and went to sleep at about 7:30! We were all soooo tired from the day, and we were told that day 2 (Saturday) was going to be the hardest day out of the 3, and we had to wake up at 4 am! Saturday was indeed the hardest day of all, even though it was the same amount (16 km) most of the day was up hill, and it wasn't slighty up hill either, it was like climbing giant, unsteady stairs made of slippery rocks all the way up, but we did it and we are all so proud of ourselves! After setting up at a local hostel in Santa Clara, we all went to dinner together and talked about the day. Sunday we had to wake up at 4 am again, but this time it was worth it. We walked for about 20 minutes to a spot over looking Lago Atitlan and watched the sunrise. It was without a doubt one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. All of you should google Lago Atitlan after reading this and be jealous as to where we are spending the next week. Sunday was also the day we arrived in San Marcos, after a 15 minute boat ride from San Pedro we arrived at this quaint little town of San Marcos and settled into our absolutely gorgeous hotel, La Paz. After 3 days of trekking and no showering you can imagine how excited we were when we realized where we were staying, a place with hot showers, warm beds, beautiful scenery and of course, delicious food. This week is supposed to be somewhat of a spiritual retreat for each of us, and we are required to do at least one spiritual activity each day, so many of us do yoga or meditation. Maya and Meghan are both taking Indian head massage classes, and Keely and myself were lucky enough to be their massagees yesterday for 2 hours. Over all everyone else is just excited and happy to be in this beautiful place! Until next time... Adios!!
-Debbie
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Saturday was our trip up to chi chi. Unlike our other trips this one was planned entirely by the students. The plan was to take a mini bus to Minerva where these guys ask you where your going and then try to drag you into their bus. Once we found one that was headed to chi chi we all hopped on. Keep in mind this was no New York city bus. We got on at 2 or maybe three to a seat. When we thought the worst was over they have one driver and one guy who hangs of the side of the bus yelling for peple to hop on. People got on and of but there were more than 50 cramed into our bus. The windy clifs this guys was flying around (a three hour trip we made in 2) made everyone a little nervous but we got there alright.
At chi chi we checked into a cool little motel. We went to dinner later that night and it was a lot of fun eating with everyone again being in homestays prevents some group interaction. The rest of the night was not that exciting because we were all kind of tired and went to bed early.
The next day we woke up and had a free breakfast thanks to Ellas negotiating skills, and prepared to head of to the market. It was intense, everyone knows exactly where they are going and have no problem grabbing you to get by, headbutting, or the most common elbow. Some streets are not as popular but trying to weave in and out of these 4 foot women was a challenge in itself. There was a small festival that I do not know the name of. They had saints they carried which we though was cool. Every once and a while they set up a tube and pack some kind of firework and light it. I was with Kelley and Ella at the time and people start moving past us so we didnt know what was going on until what we thought was a bomb went of 3 feet away from us.
At chi chi we checked into a cool little motel. We went to dinner later that night and it was a lot of fun eating with everyone again being in homestays prevents some group interaction. The rest of the night was not that exciting because we were all kind of tired and went to bed early.
The next day we woke up and had a free breakfast thanks to Ellas negotiating skills, and prepared to head of to the market. It was intense, everyone knows exactly where they are going and have no problem grabbing you to get by, headbutting, or the most common elbow. Some streets are not as popular but trying to weave in and out of these 4 foot women was a challenge in itself. There was a small festival that I do not know the name of. They had saints they carried which we though was cool. Every once and a while they set up a tube and pack some kind of firework and light it. I was with Kelley and Ella at the time and people start moving past us so we didnt know what was going on until what we thought was a bomb went of 3 feet away from us.
At the end we all had fun it was a good experience and were back in Xela
Friday, October 1, 2010
¡Puchica Xela!
Hola mis compadres!
It's Liza here, blogging from the gringo friendly cafe, La Cafetera. Where do I begin? This week has definitely passed by much faster than the week we spent in Pasac. This is a good thing. Pasac was overall, an amazing and wonderful experience that I'll always remember. However, upon our arrival in Xela, I had one thing on my mind and one thing only: to take a hot shower. Waterfall showers in the rainy jungles of Pasac just doesn't really clean you off after a day of playing soccer in the mud with endless amounts of tiny energetic children. Besides showering, there was one other thing on my mind, food! The majority of our conversations on the three hour bus ride from Pasac to Xela revolved around pizza, pan (guatemala's bread delicacy), and any other kind of americanized food that we had been deprived of. When we arrived at Xelaju, the Spanish language school that we would be attending for the following two weeks, we were warmly greeted by our host families. I have never been more grateful for a comfertable house with my own bedroom, a clean bathroom, and meals cooked for me three times a day. We started our exploration of the historic and lively city of Quetzaltenango on Sunday the 26th of September after spending our first night with our host families. Everyone was eager to go to El Mercado and check out the local food joints. On Monday we started spanish school at Xelaju, each student getting paired with a professor. Classes last from eight until one, with the lessons ranging from the studying of verbs and vocab in a classroom, to walking the streets of Xela making small talk and bettering our conversational skills. At first a lot of people were reluctant to go back to the classroom (didn't we do this trip to avoid school?!) but overall it's a good feeling to start of the day with purpose and I know I will value the lessons, at the very least, for the remainder of our time in Central America. After school, most people spend their afternoon shopping in the local market, which has an affluence of striped skirts and pants, drug rugs (a popular striped wool sweatshirt type thing), jewelry, and lots of nasty raw meat and unappetizing vegetables. And have no fear, I think everyone here has taken full advantage of the exchange rate, roughly eight quetzales to a dollar. Besides browsing the market, much time is spent lounging in comfertable cafes sipping cappuccinos, as I am doing right now. Oh! another favorite pass time in Xela is eating pan. Guatemala is renowned for its plentitude of sweat bread. Let me expand upon that: donuts, creme filled pastries, scones, eclairs, and many other kinds of fluffy white breads which I do not know the names of. It is now custom that we go to La Paneria daily to fulfill our helpess cravings for the most delicious bread we have ever tasted.
To give you a visual of the group, many of mis amigos have decorated themselves with beautful jewelry from the market, colorful hair wraps (which Ernesto has a full head of), and colorful clothing from the market. We are beautiful!
Now, to sum it all up I will touch on the highlight of my week, my birthday! We all went out to La Disquoteca Parrenda for a night of embarassing ourselves on the dance floor and experiencing a little of the night life in Xela. There were two or three salsa dancers who stood in front of our massive group of awkwardly moving gringos on the dance floor, and tried to show us how to swing our hips and step with grace and agility. It was awesome to get out on the dance floor and have some fun group bonding by embarassing ourselves a little. The concensus is, the first week in Xela was incredible, I can totally see myself coming back here, and I am extatic to spend another week here! We are all bien, and I hope you all are doing great as well back home, where ever that may be. Happy thoughts from the CarpeDiem Itza group!
PS- Puchiba means "wow" in Quiche.
It's Liza here, blogging from the gringo friendly cafe, La Cafetera. Where do I begin? This week has definitely passed by much faster than the week we spent in Pasac. This is a good thing. Pasac was overall, an amazing and wonderful experience that I'll always remember. However, upon our arrival in Xela, I had one thing on my mind and one thing only: to take a hot shower. Waterfall showers in the rainy jungles of Pasac just doesn't really clean you off after a day of playing soccer in the mud with endless amounts of tiny energetic children. Besides showering, there was one other thing on my mind, food! The majority of our conversations on the three hour bus ride from Pasac to Xela revolved around pizza, pan (guatemala's bread delicacy), and any other kind of americanized food that we had been deprived of. When we arrived at Xelaju, the Spanish language school that we would be attending for the following two weeks, we were warmly greeted by our host families. I have never been more grateful for a comfertable house with my own bedroom, a clean bathroom, and meals cooked for me three times a day. We started our exploration of the historic and lively city of Quetzaltenango on Sunday the 26th of September after spending our first night with our host families. Everyone was eager to go to El Mercado and check out the local food joints. On Monday we started spanish school at Xelaju, each student getting paired with a professor. Classes last from eight until one, with the lessons ranging from the studying of verbs and vocab in a classroom, to walking the streets of Xela making small talk and bettering our conversational skills. At first a lot of people were reluctant to go back to the classroom (didn't we do this trip to avoid school?!) but overall it's a good feeling to start of the day with purpose and I know I will value the lessons, at the very least, for the remainder of our time in Central America. After school, most people spend their afternoon shopping in the local market, which has an affluence of striped skirts and pants, drug rugs (a popular striped wool sweatshirt type thing), jewelry, and lots of nasty raw meat and unappetizing vegetables. And have no fear, I think everyone here has taken full advantage of the exchange rate, roughly eight quetzales to a dollar. Besides browsing the market, much time is spent lounging in comfertable cafes sipping cappuccinos, as I am doing right now. Oh! another favorite pass time in Xela is eating pan. Guatemala is renowned for its plentitude of sweat bread. Let me expand upon that: donuts, creme filled pastries, scones, eclairs, and many other kinds of fluffy white breads which I do not know the names of. It is now custom that we go to La Paneria daily to fulfill our helpess cravings for the most delicious bread we have ever tasted.
To give you a visual of the group, many of mis amigos have decorated themselves with beautful jewelry from the market, colorful hair wraps (which Ernesto has a full head of), and colorful clothing from the market. We are beautiful!
Now, to sum it all up I will touch on the highlight of my week, my birthday! We all went out to La Disquoteca Parrenda for a night of embarassing ourselves on the dance floor and experiencing a little of the night life in Xela. There were two or three salsa dancers who stood in front of our massive group of awkwardly moving gringos on the dance floor, and tried to show us how to swing our hips and step with grace and agility. It was awesome to get out on the dance floor and have some fun group bonding by embarassing ourselves a little. The concensus is, the first week in Xela was incredible, I can totally see myself coming back here, and I am extatic to spend another week here! We are all bien, and I hope you all are doing great as well back home, where ever that may be. Happy thoughts from the CarpeDiem Itza group!
PS- Puchiba means "wow" in Quiche.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Happy Birthday Eliza!!
Eliza,
This is a photo-message from your parents and Iris just wanting you to know how much they love you and are appreciative that you were born ... I'm so sorry though, my understanding is that there's no birthday cake left!
:-)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Stoked
So I know that this is our first blog and everything and that whoever reads this probably wants to hear about how amazing everything is and how nothing bad has happened and how we're loving every aspect of Central America, but I wanted to start off on a more honest note. Now, obviously I can't speak for everyone, but I was straight up dreading this week. After arriving in Guatemala last Wednesday following a grueling night of travel, we were herded into two minibuses and taken to EarthLodge, a retreat in the hills overlooking Antigua. To say that EarthLodge was beautiful would be an understatement. Our cabins sat on a ridge nestled between three volcanos, high above the bustle of the city. Pictures do not do justice to the view from our dining room. For three days we ate delicious food, explored Antigua, got to know EarthLodge, and most importantly, got to know each other. For me, it was one of those places you end up calling home. So, you can imagine my horror when we were dragged away from EarthLodge on Sunday and taken to Pasac, a small, indigenous village in the Sololá region where we would begin our first homestays.
Everyone seemed excited to experience everything that Pasac had to offer, but even though the activities that our guides Manuel and Juan had planned sounded fun, I couldn't help but wonder how I would survive for a week in a house with a dirt floor and no running water. And I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that my family wouldn't speak Spanish. English seemed like a joke at this point. Not gonna lie, I was nervous.
Well, it's the morning of our third day in Pasac, and I can't remember why I felt that in the first place. My house doesn't have a dirt floor (though some do), and my host father speaks not only Spanish, but English too. I even got lucky enough to have Kelley, the best gringo roomate ever, staying with me. Running water is a luxury I've learned to live without, but that's only because the village is currently in the midst of a massive drainage project.
However, even if I was sleeping on a dirt floor without anyone to talk to, I would still feel the same way about Pasac as I do now, because the greatest thing about this village is the people that call it home. Every day an entourage of children follow us wherever we go, and even though they laugh at us and call us gringos, I know they've had as much fun playing games with us as we have with them. Our host mother, Catalina, was kind enough to let Kelley and I wear her clothes, and proudly proclaimed "gorda es guapa" when we had to cut the sleeves of one of the blouses to make it fit. We're all discovering little things about Pasac that make us happier than a flushing toilet ever could: papas fritas at the tienda, pan con azucar, showering in the river, the way the air smells like smoke, and a million other novelties that make this village what it is. So, you can imagine my horror that, come Saturday, we have to leave again for Xela. Because as Joe said to me yesterday, "I could live here."
-Emily
Everyone seemed excited to experience everything that Pasac had to offer, but even though the activities that our guides Manuel and Juan had planned sounded fun, I couldn't help but wonder how I would survive for a week in a house with a dirt floor and no running water. And I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that my family wouldn't speak Spanish. English seemed like a joke at this point. Not gonna lie, I was nervous.
Well, it's the morning of our third day in Pasac, and I can't remember why I felt that in the first place. My house doesn't have a dirt floor (though some do), and my host father speaks not only Spanish, but English too. I even got lucky enough to have Kelley, the best gringo roomate ever, staying with me. Running water is a luxury I've learned to live without, but that's only because the village is currently in the midst of a massive drainage project.
However, even if I was sleeping on a dirt floor without anyone to talk to, I would still feel the same way about Pasac as I do now, because the greatest thing about this village is the people that call it home. Every day an entourage of children follow us wherever we go, and even though they laugh at us and call us gringos, I know they've had as much fun playing games with us as we have with them. Our host mother, Catalina, was kind enough to let Kelley and I wear her clothes, and proudly proclaimed "gorda es guapa" when we had to cut the sleeves of one of the blouses to make it fit. We're all discovering little things about Pasac that make us happier than a flushing toilet ever could: papas fritas at the tienda, pan con azucar, showering in the river, the way the air smells like smoke, and a million other novelties that make this village what it is. So, you can imagine my horror that, come Saturday, we have to leave again for Xela. Because as Joe said to me yesterday, "I could live here."
-Emily
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
"Itza" Whole Group!
After a minor hiccup with Kelley's bags being sent by her airline to somewhere she wasn't going (now fixed) the ITZA group is all together and through security. In a short time they will be on their way to Guatemala to begin their adventure.
Look for more from them in a couple days!
Look for more from them in a couple days!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Stop...Hammer Time!
Hola Todos!
Bienvenidos a nuestra blog! We are so excited to be leading your semester in Central America. We’ve now talked to all of you on the phone and in addition to hammering home some important points about the semester we’ve gotten a brief glimpse into the make up of the group. From our short conversations with each of you, we know that we will be a fantastic team and can’t wait to embark on this journey with you all. Please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail us if you think of any questions between now and September 15th. We will be working hard this weekend and next week to finalize the details of our trip and can’t wait to see you all at 10pm at the TACA counter of the San Francisco airport September 15th!
Please take some time in the next few days to look over our blog. This is where all of our friends and family back home can keep up with our adventures. Each week one of you will be our official "blogger" and will get to write our travel tales for our dedicated followers around the globe. We encourage you to peruse past blogs to get an idea of what they might look like. Also, please inform your family and friends of this site and make sure your parents know how to use it! This way they can follow along with us and read about all of the amazing and authentic experiences we will have!
Nos Vemos Pronto!
Ari & Meghan
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Great maybe the Greatest
Woah Woah Woah! Time flies when you are in 4 different countries, flown in over 10 planes and slept in over 20 different beds. Today is the day we have all anticipated/dreaded/waited/been excited for. Its no surprise that we are feeling a lot of different emotions. However, we had a wonderful final week in Roatan and are enjoying our last day together.
Two days ago we dove our final dive (weird sounding phrase, I know), took our written certification test and recieved our certificates. Thats right folks, Carpe Cam group 2010 is open water dive certified!!
Last night we all went out to eat together at Pura Vida and basked in each others tan[ness] and good company. Bittersweet to say the least.
The following are a list of favorites that the group has compiled over the course of the trip. We have gotten to know each other very well especially each others likes and dislikes. So now its time for.... FAVORITES & LEAST FAVORITES.
Alphabetical order, okay, all things go, get ready to chuckle.
Adam: Favorite- Notting Hill, Hacky Sacks
Least Favorite: Papaya
Brian: Favorite- Being down for everything and eating everyone else's leftovers
Least Favorite: Vegetables and not being able to do everything
Brooke: Favorite- Parent Trap, Milk, Shadow Puppets, Seatbelts
Least Favorites- Being in tune with her body (embarrassing? maybe)
Emily: Favorite- Gunpoets, Stretching, Bread
Least Favorites- Stain glass, lack of bathrooms, and chasing amy
Griffin: Favorite- Kriss, Santi, Judge, Pilar, Pec Man, Bologna
Least Favorite- Lady GaGa, Buying food
Hannah: Favorite- Nutella
Least Favorite- Being in pictures and sunburned nose
Heather: Favorite- Dental Hygiene, Mate, Yoga, and Kush spilling oil
Least Favorite- Being cold
Kelly: Favorite- Winning the carpe game, footloose dance
Least Favorite- Only one taking the spanish final (ouch....)
Lauren F: Favorite- Being more down than Brian, Flowers in her hair
Least Favorite- Brushing her hair (es verdad)
Lauren W: Favorite- Singing "El Amor" by Tony Bambino, Bojangles
Least Favorite: Bug bites from sand flies, bad headphones
Lexi: Favorite- DAD BOOKS, Chakra dance
Least Favorite- When there is no coffee
Just for kicks... CARPE SLANG { slang= left, translation=right}
Totes Verdad: woah thats wayyyyy true
Es possible: yes thats highly possible
Es preguntable: QUESTIONABLE
Mas o Menos: more or less
"I mean...": Okay thats true I am embarrassed
What what you didnt know I could do that??: Used when exposing coolness
So what who caaayas??: used when doing something weird to avert attention
I love reggae: sarcastic, usually sung, after listening to excessive amts of reggae
Jovenes!: Look young people at this ant hill!!!
Friends and Fam, thank you for being so supportive and following us along on this journey. We will be back home before you know it. Love you all.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didnt do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain
See you soon. Love,
Brooke
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Deep, maybe the deepest
Hey everyone!
After a relaxing week in Sarapiqui for free travel we flew here to the beautiful island of Roatan, Honduras. It was an easy and early trip, when we got here we spent the day unpacking and hanging out in our awesome hotel. On Thursday morning we walked next door to seagrape plantation diving center to begin our SCUBA course. Our instructors Tony and Reno showed us some informational videos and then took us to get geared up. On our first day we got to dive! It was a shallow dive (of 30 ft) but still incredible. It was strange adjusting to the underwater world but everyone did great.
For the past 2 days weve been doing SCUBA class all day, usually info in the morning and diving in the afternoon. In the evening we get to explore the westend of the island and test out great local eateries. Tomorrow is already our last day of diving and I think well all be able to get our certificates.
Trivia:
- Roatan's population is 65,000
-English is the dominant language here
-On Christopher Columbus's 4th voyage he landed on one of the three bay islands
- The currency of Honduras is the Lempira
-There is over 100 kilometers of Coral Reef around Roatan
Love you all and see you soon! Stay posted for one more blog of our last few days, we've got some great pics coming!
Love, Emily
P.S. Shout out to the Worthy's in NC! We went to Bojangles last night for some good southern cooking...
After a relaxing week in Sarapiqui for free travel we flew here to the beautiful island of Roatan, Honduras. It was an easy and early trip, when we got here we spent the day unpacking and hanging out in our awesome hotel. On Thursday morning we walked next door to seagrape plantation diving center to begin our SCUBA course. Our instructors Tony and Reno showed us some informational videos and then took us to get geared up. On our first day we got to dive! It was a shallow dive (of 30 ft) but still incredible. It was strange adjusting to the underwater world but everyone did great.
For the past 2 days weve been doing SCUBA class all day, usually info in the morning and diving in the afternoon. In the evening we get to explore the westend of the island and test out great local eateries. Tomorrow is already our last day of diving and I think well all be able to get our certificates.
Trivia:
- Roatan's population is 65,000
-English is the dominant language here
-On Christopher Columbus's 4th voyage he landed on one of the three bay islands
- The currency of Honduras is the Lempira
-There is over 100 kilometers of Coral Reef around Roatan
Love you all and see you soon! Stay posted for one more blog of our last few days, we've got some great pics coming!
Love, Emily
P.S. Shout out to the Worthy's in NC! We went to Bojangles last night for some good southern cooking...
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Me Gusta Tortugas
Hello from Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui we have arrived here for our week of free travel. The last week we were in Gandoca close to the Costa Rican and Panamanian border where we helped with leatherback turtles. We would either have to go out from 8 pm to 12 am or 12 am to 4 am on the beach to patrol. Once on the beach we would be lead by a guide where we would walk in one of two areas and look for turtles who were laying eggs. It was a tough job having to be awake so late into the night and sacrificing our bodies to tons of mosquitoes and sand flies. We learned alot about the turtles and the orginization and how important the turtles are to the local community. We left Gandoca on Thursday and took around a 5 hour bus ride to Sarapiqui where we will just relax and some people may go horseback riding or white water tubing. We are all living in one house with a shared kitchen so everyone is stocking on groceries and cooking their own meals. We are excited for this week and the next week for Scuba in Roatan.
Trivia
Gandoca had a population of 400.
The first time that leatherbacks come onto the beach they can lay up to 150 eggs.
Each turtle lays small eggs that won´t hatch to help keep a good temperature for the rest of the eggs.
The organization we worked with was a women´s organization.
Sarapiqui has a population of 49,327 and is divided into 5 districts.
Trivia
Gandoca had a population of 400.
The first time that leatherbacks come onto the beach they can lay up to 150 eggs.
Each turtle lays small eggs that won´t hatch to help keep a good temperature for the rest of the eggs.
The organization we worked with was a women´s organization.
Sarapiqui has a population of 49,327 and is divided into 5 districts.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Our group with Tyler and Chloe of Parque Maderas at our Carpe Prom. Look at how real we look...we dressed up as best we could for the occasion.
All geared up for the longest zip line in Nicaragua...except for the three chicas at the end who were too cool to put their helmets back on for the photo.
Beautiful sunset in San Juan del Sur..
Hannah, Brian, and Heather went Volcano boarding outside Leon...we had such sweet outfits to wear.
Street art in Leon during Easter Week AKA Semana SantaZippy maybe the Zippiest
Hola from Costa Rica!
After traveling on bus for most of yesterday we made it. But before we got here we did some awesome things at Parque Mederas. We helped the family to build the kiln for Tyler and even got to try our hands at spinning a pot on the foot powered wheel, its a lot harder than it looks or sounds. Before we left we even got to see the kiln in action as it glowed red and smoked all day firing pots. We also volunteered at Barrio Plantas, an NGO in San Juan del Sur that an american started a few years back. At Barrio Plantas kids come after school to learn English, classes taught entirely in English, paint, glue dream catchers and glitter together and salsa dance with hips that do not lie. We helped out in classes on two afternoons entertaining them during recess and refereeing glue usage in art class, as well as trying our rythm during the dance class. We also headed to an adult education school and each of us took on a student for an hour and worked at teaching the students English. We all have a much deeper appreciation for our Spanish teachers and the ESL teachers around the states, English is hard! Not to mention that we all speak in slang normally anyway and most of our words have two meanings depending on spelling, or at least multiple pronounciations depending on which bit of the states were from. But it was a totally awesome experience that we all enjoyed.
Wednesday we embraced our last day in Nicaragua and headed off zip-lining! It was absolutely fantastic! We strapped into our harnesses, buckled our helmets, pulled on our leather - please slow me down!- gloves and headed to the top of the 17 seperate lines. It was amazing zooming across the wires and being treated to amazing views of the ocean and San Juan del Sur. We even saw a sloth in a tree next to a path near the wires. By the time we got to the last line and finished our foray with almost flying, we all wanted to do it again. Instead of hopping back on the lines though, we had another amazing meal from Tyler and spent the afternoon catching the last waves surfing and sunning on the beach. That night we threw a prom for those missing it at home. It was a great excuse to scrub up in the shower and dig through our bags for clothes smelling faintly better than average and possibly even making us look like our former US selves. Needless to say it was a riot and we even included those awkward prom photos in front of the amazing Parque Mederas sunset. Yesterday we crossed the border, with customs line even more ridiculous than in an airport - if you can believe it- but we finally made it to our awesome hostel in San Jose, Costa Rica. We spent the day shopping and relaxing, working up to another long bus ride tomorrow to our turtle project near the Panama boarder. Were all super excited to walk the beachs and save some eggs!
Trivia for the week
- the zip line we flew down is one of the longest in Nicaragua, over 2 km
-the people in Costa Rica call themselves Ticos
-Ticos call San Jose, Chepe
- San Jose houses over one third of all Costa Ricans
After traveling on bus for most of yesterday we made it. But before we got here we did some awesome things at Parque Mederas. We helped the family to build the kiln for Tyler and even got to try our hands at spinning a pot on the foot powered wheel, its a lot harder than it looks or sounds. Before we left we even got to see the kiln in action as it glowed red and smoked all day firing pots. We also volunteered at Barrio Plantas, an NGO in San Juan del Sur that an american started a few years back. At Barrio Plantas kids come after school to learn English, classes taught entirely in English, paint, glue dream catchers and glitter together and salsa dance with hips that do not lie. We helped out in classes on two afternoons entertaining them during recess and refereeing glue usage in art class, as well as trying our rythm during the dance class. We also headed to an adult education school and each of us took on a student for an hour and worked at teaching the students English. We all have a much deeper appreciation for our Spanish teachers and the ESL teachers around the states, English is hard! Not to mention that we all speak in slang normally anyway and most of our words have two meanings depending on spelling, or at least multiple pronounciations depending on which bit of the states were from. But it was a totally awesome experience that we all enjoyed.
Wednesday we embraced our last day in Nicaragua and headed off zip-lining! It was absolutely fantastic! We strapped into our harnesses, buckled our helmets, pulled on our leather - please slow me down!- gloves and headed to the top of the 17 seperate lines. It was amazing zooming across the wires and being treated to amazing views of the ocean and San Juan del Sur. We even saw a sloth in a tree next to a path near the wires. By the time we got to the last line and finished our foray with almost flying, we all wanted to do it again. Instead of hopping back on the lines though, we had another amazing meal from Tyler and spent the afternoon catching the last waves surfing and sunning on the beach. That night we threw a prom for those missing it at home. It was a great excuse to scrub up in the shower and dig through our bags for clothes smelling faintly better than average and possibly even making us look like our former US selves. Needless to say it was a riot and we even included those awkward prom photos in front of the amazing Parque Mederas sunset. Yesterday we crossed the border, with customs line even more ridiculous than in an airport - if you can believe it- but we finally made it to our awesome hostel in San Jose, Costa Rica. We spent the day shopping and relaxing, working up to another long bus ride tomorrow to our turtle project near the Panama boarder. Were all super excited to walk the beachs and save some eggs!
Trivia for the week
- the zip line we flew down is one of the longest in Nicaragua, over 2 km
-the people in Costa Rica call themselves Ticos
-Ticos call San Jose, Chepe
- San Jose houses over one third of all Costa Ricans
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wet Maybe the Wetest
Hola from San Juan Del Sur!!! The weeks been going amazing, we arrived after a nice 4 hour bus ride from Leon Monday afternoon and everyone really seems to be enjoying themselves. Were staying at a hostel called Parque Maderas, which is incredible we can see the beutiful beach down the hill and in the and in the afternoons the temperature cools down, which has been a nice change from Leon.
The days have been full of the nicest surfing which everyone has enjoyed, the first day the group took lessons from two local surfers which was great since everyone learned so fast and now were all going out on our own.
The project for the week is to make a kilm for the upcoming art studio at Parque Maderas. A local family of potters are coming to help design and build the kilm, after it is complete it will be used for local art students and anyone staying at Parque Maderas.
This week end we plan to go on a boat trip and are going to try to snorkle in preperation for our upcoming scuba trip.
Besides that all is well and the food has been great!
And heres the trivia of the week...
Parque Maderas is a really cool project that Tyler has been working on for eight years. He originally came down to central america to start a bar with his friends, but he ended up in Nicaragua starting an incredible business. His vision is to have a hostel and restaurant for business purposes but he also has a huge garden for medicinal plants and is building and art stuido where he wants local artists to be able so stay and study. There will also be a small clinic with information about natural healing where locals can come learn and even take many of the plants home to their families. To check out more, you can go to his website http://www.parquemaderas.com/
The days have been full of the nicest surfing which everyone has enjoyed, the first day the group took lessons from two local surfers which was great since everyone learned so fast and now were all going out on our own.
The project for the week is to make a kilm for the upcoming art studio at Parque Maderas. A local family of potters are coming to help design and build the kilm, after it is complete it will be used for local art students and anyone staying at Parque Maderas.
This week end we plan to go on a boat trip and are going to try to snorkle in preperation for our upcoming scuba trip.
Besides that all is well and the food has been great!
And heres the trivia of the week...
Parque Maderas is a really cool project that Tyler has been working on for eight years. He originally came down to central america to start a bar with his friends, but he ended up in Nicaragua starting an incredible business. His vision is to have a hostel and restaurant for business purposes but he also has a huge garden for medicinal plants and is building and art stuido where he wants local artists to be able so stay and study. There will also be a small clinic with information about natural healing where locals can come learn and even take many of the plants home to their families. To check out more, you can go to his website http://www.parquemaderas.com/
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Photos
All of us in Heather and Adams appartment during our potluck in Xela
The view from the top of the Devils Nose on our third trek day. It was totally worth it to get up at 4 just to see this sunrise over Lake Atitlan.
Do you see that tiny tiny building on the tippy top of the tallest peak in the right hand corner...?Thats where we watched the sunrise from then we hiked down the face on this side to the bottom at Lake Atitlan. 
Our Lava Extravaganza. Griffin, Brian and Heather lingering to check everything out before our guide comes with the marshmellows for roasting. Nice and toasty. 
Friday, April 2, 2010
Sweaty Definitley the Sweatiest
Greetings from Nicaragua!!!
We arrived in the extremely hot city of Leon Sunday afternoon. The flight was rather short and we were all very excited to arrive in a new country. It was only a short busride from the airport and we learned that this part of Nicaragua is surprisingly less mountain filled than Guatemala. almost all of us are in doubles this week so we settled into our last homestays of the trip and enjoyed a nice day of relaxation and rest before our busy week ahead. We began our last week of launguage monday morning. We quickly learned that the people in Nicaragua have completely differet accents than the guatemalan ones we were used to. This week in Semana Santa so it is pretty crazy in the afternoon. We have seen various religious processions during the days all in preparation for easter. The first day we saw these beautiful murals on the streets that are made out of saw dust in various colors. They are beautiful. They take many hours of preparation and are destroyed in one day. We also went to the large cathedral in town to view some live music. The way the music echoed in the cathedral was incredible. After two days in this crazy heat we took an afternoon to go to the beach. Definitley an amazing treat after three days of spanish school. Today we completed our last day of language school and everyone was definitley excited. As we head into this extrememly religious weekend there will be even more processions in the streets and I definitely think that the temperature has rose even more. This afternoon we are going to some pretty unique festivities and then have an amazing easter to look forward to. The next post will be from the beach to we are all looking forward to that. Until then, adios.
TRIVIA
Leon was relocated to its current location in 1614 due to a volcano erruption
Alfombraas ( translates to ¨carpet¨ in spanish) are the names of the sawdust murals. These murals often depict Christ´s life, his time with his disciples, and the lives of saints.
We arrived in the extremely hot city of Leon Sunday afternoon. The flight was rather short and we were all very excited to arrive in a new country. It was only a short busride from the airport and we learned that this part of Nicaragua is surprisingly less mountain filled than Guatemala. almost all of us are in doubles this week so we settled into our last homestays of the trip and enjoyed a nice day of relaxation and rest before our busy week ahead. We began our last week of launguage monday morning. We quickly learned that the people in Nicaragua have completely differet accents than the guatemalan ones we were used to. This week in Semana Santa so it is pretty crazy in the afternoon. We have seen various religious processions during the days all in preparation for easter. The first day we saw these beautiful murals on the streets that are made out of saw dust in various colors. They are beautiful. They take many hours of preparation and are destroyed in one day. We also went to the large cathedral in town to view some live music. The way the music echoed in the cathedral was incredible. After two days in this crazy heat we took an afternoon to go to the beach. Definitley an amazing treat after three days of spanish school. Today we completed our last day of language school and everyone was definitley excited. As we head into this extrememly religious weekend there will be even more processions in the streets and I definitely think that the temperature has rose even more. This afternoon we are going to some pretty unique festivities and then have an amazing easter to look forward to. The next post will be from the beach to we are all looking forward to that. Until then, adios.
TRIVIA
Leon was relocated to its current location in 1614 due to a volcano erruption
Alfombraas ( translates to ¨carpet¨ in spanish) are the names of the sawdust murals. These murals often depict Christ´s life, his time with his disciples, and the lives of saints.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Our last week in Guatemala!
Last Saturday we went on a 40 kilometer hike from Xela to San Marcos. It took 2 and a half days. We carried our big packs with us and it was extremely challenging for all of us. The first night we slept at a campsite in tents. The next night we slept in an empty house that the trekking company supplied for us. The third morning we woke up at five o´clock to hike up to an overlook to watch the sunrise over Lake Atitlan. It was one of the most beautiful things we have ever seen. We hiked down and arrive in San Pedro around 11 AM. From San Pedro we took a boat over to San Marcos. All of us were exhausted by the time we got there but were so surprised by San Marcos. San Marcos is a little hippie town with barely any cars. It was filled with tourists and lots and lots of yoga. All of us spent our days choosing our own activities for the day. We did yoga, laughing yoga, stained glass art, jewlery making, modern dance, meditation and at night some of us used the sauna at our hotel. Our hotel was called La Paz which means peace in spanish. The name explains our entire stay in San Marcos. We also spent days lounging on the beach and swimming in Lake Atilla. It was absolutely gorgeous every day that we were there. Our week in San Marcos went by way too fast and we were all sad to leave. We left this Saturday morning at 5 AM and took a bus to Antigua. Once we arrived we traveled to an active volcano and roasted marshmellows over the lava! It was incredible. We are staying in Antigua for one night and we leave for Nicaragua tomorrow morning at 5 Am. Our time in Guatemala has gone by so fast and we can´t wait to see what Nicaragua has in store for us.
Here is some trivia
Hotel Acculax in San Marcos is made mostly of stained glass. Some students used the same method with paper mache.
There are over 300 volcanos in Central America, but only 3 are active. One of them is the one we went to today called Pacaya. Once the airport in Guatemala City was closed for 3 days because the volcano erupted and there was ash everywhere.
Here is some trivia
Hotel Acculax in San Marcos is made mostly of stained glass. Some students used the same method with paper mache.
There are over 300 volcanos in Central America, but only 3 are active. One of them is the one we went to today called Pacaya. Once the airport in Guatemala City was closed for 3 days because the volcano erupted and there was ash everywhere.
Friday, March 26, 2010
To Brian, from the Family:
Happy 19th Birthday Brian. Here's wishing you a great year and many happy adventures to follow!
Love, Dad, Pam, Carlie, and McKenzie
Friday, March 19, 2010
Chi Chi maybe the Chi Chiest
HOla from Xela! Today was our last day at Casa Xelaju. Tomorrow we are headed to San Marcos for a week of yoga and meditation. Before we get ahead of ourselves, we must talk about the past week in Xela We enjoyed a nice day of shopping in Chichistenango. As you can see in the picture below, we took a chicken bus for transportation. We shopped for a while on Sunday and dont worry bloggers, I am sure you will recieve gifts from Chi Chi. The market was large and overwhelming but after a bit of bargaining everyone ended up with some great items.After returning from our weekend, we had a long week packed with school and activities. Half of the group volunteered at the afterschool program on Monday and we had hot chocolate making on Tuesday. After school on Wednesday, we watched a movie about the history of the Mayan people. La Hija de Puma was an interesting film that showed much of the culture of the Mayan people. Following the movie, we had a relaxing yoga class that should have helped us prepare for the next week. I know everyone will agree that Thursday was fun and filling. We had a potluck where we all made a dish with our host family and brought it to Heather and Adam´s apartment. We enjoyed an assortment of foods from pasta, salsa, fruit salad to the traditional tortillas with eggs and queso. Fortunately we topped it off with ice cream and pie! We are stuffed and ready for a week in San Marcos!
Trivia:
Xela is said to have been a city 300 years before the Spanish found it
Xela was the site of the defeat of Tecun Uman
Xela is home to the foremost Railroad Museum in all of Guatemala
Xela is home to Xelaju MC the most succesful soccer team in Guatemala outside of the capital.
Trivia:
Xela is said to have been a city 300 years before the Spanish found it
Xela was the site of the defeat of Tecun Uman
Xela is home to the foremost Railroad Museum in all of Guatemala
Xela is home to Xelaju MC the most succesful soccer team in Guatemala outside of the capital.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Mas fotos...
A few more photos for all you wonderful blog followers....
The cloud forest was so beautiful... the little house is where we stayed.
The Chicken Bus ride back from chichi....so many people on the bus!!
The Dude Shack in the cloud forest...Brian, Griffin, and Adam
The group at Tikal on top of one of the temples! From L to R: Lexi, Griffin, Hannah, Brian, Brooke,Emily, Lauren W, Kelly, Adam, Lauren F.
The cloud forest was so beautiful... the little house is where we stayed.
The Chicken Bus ride back from chichi....so many people on the bus!!
The Dude Shack in the cloud forest...Brian, Griffin, and Adam
The group at Tikal on top of one of the temples! From L to R: Lexi, Griffin, Hannah, Brian, Brooke,Emily, Lauren W, Kelly, Adam, Lauren F.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Xela maybe the Xelajuest!
Hey everyone!
Hope you liked the pictures, there are more to come.
Uploading is easy this week because we are staying in the second largest city in Guatemala, Xela. There is a gorgeous central park and tons of things to do everyday. Everyone is living in a homestay again, some farther then others, but all the families are great.
Daily life in Xela goes a little something like this:
school starts at 8:00 at Casa Xela Ju. The school is great, during the summer they have over 50 students so they know what they´re doing. Each student has their own teacher and the day usually starts off with grammer in individual classrooms, or in the sun on the roof. Around 9:30 is cafe time, always hot and great. Then, at 10:30 is a break where we can eat bread and make sure our heads don´t explode from spanish. After the break, a lot of the teachers like to take the students to different areas in the city. We´ve gone to the incredibly big and beautiful cemetary, where the tombstones are colorful and above ground. Also, we´ve taken trips to the market, the various bread shops and parks where we have had to use spanish to converse with different vendors. The teachers don´t speak english so everyday is constant spanish anyone, tough but very helpful with the learning process. School gets out at one, which is when we all return home for lunch. After lunch, our group has tons tons of different activities - a salsa class, celebration for lauren w´s birthday, a yoga class, volenteering with local kids through the school, and yesterday we went to the Fuentes Georginas, or natural hot springs. They were incredible, hot and beautiful and a very nice afternoon after a long, exciting week.
Today we leave for a night in chi chi but i´ll let the next blogger tell you about that!
We love and miss you all
Hope you liked the pictures, there are more to come.
Uploading is easy this week because we are staying in the second largest city in Guatemala, Xela. There is a gorgeous central park and tons of things to do everyday. Everyone is living in a homestay again, some farther then others, but all the families are great.
Daily life in Xela goes a little something like this:
school starts at 8:00 at Casa Xela Ju. The school is great, during the summer they have over 50 students so they know what they´re doing. Each student has their own teacher and the day usually starts off with grammer in individual classrooms, or in the sun on the roof. Around 9:30 is cafe time, always hot and great. Then, at 10:30 is a break where we can eat bread and make sure our heads don´t explode from spanish. After the break, a lot of the teachers like to take the students to different areas in the city. We´ve gone to the incredibly big and beautiful cemetary, where the tombstones are colorful and above ground. Also, we´ve taken trips to the market, the various bread shops and parks where we have had to use spanish to converse with different vendors. The teachers don´t speak english so everyday is constant spanish anyone, tough but very helpful with the learning process. School gets out at one, which is when we all return home for lunch. After lunch, our group has tons tons of different activities - a salsa class, celebration for lauren w´s birthday, a yoga class, volenteering with local kids through the school, and yesterday we went to the Fuentes Georginas, or natural hot springs. They were incredible, hot and beautiful and a very nice afternoon after a long, exciting week.
Today we leave for a night in chi chi but i´ll let the next blogger tell you about that!
We love and miss you all
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Photos!
Ariel view from samuc champay, where we went last weekend for the day
Hiking to the Cloud Forest (from left to right griffin, brian, kelly, emily, lauren f)
Climbing to the top of one of the temples at Tikal!
Sitting inside one of the Mayan ruins at Tikal (lexi, lauren f, emily, and brooke)
Our whole group in a cave at barrio ixobel! ( top left to right: brian, heather, kelly, brooke, emily, griffin, lauren w, adam. on the bottom our guide, lauren f, ours guides daughter, lexi, and hannah)
Our group on a hill in barrio. (on top from left to right kelly, lauren w, brooke, griffin, hannah, heather, brian, lexi, adam, emily, lauren f)
Outside the school in barrio (hannah, lexi, lauren f, lauren w, and kelly)
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