Nearing the end of my travels

I woke up to another beautiful day on Utila ready to finish up my last two dives. The boat was loaded down with about 18 divers as we made our way around the island to the North Side. The two dives were spectacular and a great way to close out my diving on the island. Saw several eels and big crabs just doing their thing in the ocean. It's such a complex system with so much diversity of organisms and their roles in the community. Last night I went out for a night dive to the moon hole and saw a toad fish which, as it's name suggests, makes a deep sound similar to a toad. I could tell I was close to it when the sound began rumbling my stomach and after a few minutes of searching then waiting for the sound I spotted it sticking it's head out from under a coral. The bioluminescence were pretty amazing as well. On Catalina you can see the light emitted from these dinoflagellates when you stir up the water in the dark as well.

The past few weeks of traveling have been great fun. I've met so many amazing people, seen some wonderful sights, and done some really fun activities. I only wish that everyone had the time, money, and motivation to get out and see more of the world. I will return to the states with a new found appreciation for many of the things that I often take for granted. I feel that traveling on my own has also been a valuable experience in being able to approach others for social stimulation, not that I generally struggle with that. Many thanks to my family who have supported me both with encouragement and financially. It's not easy to pack a bag and leave the comforts of home and explore near places that put you in situations that really make you think about what you're doing and how you do it.

This evening I'll go out on a sunset cruise with some fellow divers from the shop and the staff who have been taking me out diving this week. Last night was the first night the sunset wasn't completely blocked out by the clouds and it was absolutely beautiful. In the morning I'll be on a 6:30am boat back to La Ceiba to catch a bus to the airport in San Pedro Sula were I'll likely be sitting around for about 8 hours waiting for my flight to Fort Lauderdale. So excited to see Mel and Lauren some friends I know from back in NC.

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

The Sun Came Out!

I awoke this morning after a good night sleep ready to get back out into the water. We cruised around the east end of the island and came around to the north side where we anchored at CJ's Drop off for our first dive. It was quite a drop off we went over the edge and were looking out into a blue abyss. We stayed along the wall and dropped down to about 100 feet and proceeded to swim alongside the wall full of colorful coral reef and an assortment of other fascinating organisms. At one point we looked out into the blue water to see a giant of a barracuda lurking in the distance.

Each dive seems to top the previous one as I become more familiar with the landscapes and organisms more commonly found on the reef. I did expect to see a more dense population of fish and wildlife, but you can always rely on the breathtaking sights of the different species and color variation of the coral. Coral, the keystone species in this ecosystem, is fascinating in itself because as an animal the coral grows algae as a source of energy. This eliminates the need for the coral to absorb nutrients from the water. This technique of growing it's food source is obviously very successful as evident from the bright and varied colors of the coral themselves and the other organisms living within this community.

I can see the end of my travels rapidly approaching with only two more nights on Utila before making the journey back to San Pedro Sula where I fly out at 230am Monday morning. It's been a grand adventure but I look forward to getting back out to California and getting back to work to pay off my debts I've managed to accure from my adventures. But like someone once told me..."Money comes and goes, time only goes"

Arrival to a Rainy Paradise!

I woke up this morning around 7am to the sound of the rain still coming down. I was prepared for another night in La Ceiba after flipping through my Honduras Guide book for things to do. I went to the front desk and asked the owner to call the boat company to see if they were going to make the crossing to Utila. As he spoke with the person on the phone I could tell by his look of surprise that my luck had suddenly taken a change. I ran back to my room packed up my stuff and caught a taxi to the boat terminal. When I took my seat the "mate" of the ship came around handing out little plastic trash bags. My first assumption was that we might get wet, but they turned out to be barf bags and as the boat made it's way out into the waters I understand why. The entire crossing was a roller coaster ride up and over then crashing down the backside of the waves. I was able to hold my own, but had to look away when many of the other passengers proceeded to open their little white trash bags and make good use of them. After an hour and a half of this the motors slowed down and we coasted into the dock at Utila.

My friend's who worked on the island gave me a few suggestions as to which dive shops to consider as there are many shops competing for the business of the divers who come to the island. I feel good about my choice and find myself at a Alton's Dive Shop which is basically a dock covered in dorm housing and dive equipment. I ran into a friend a met briefly on the boat from Rio Dulce to Finca Tatin. It's quite amazing how many travelers find themselves in the same places so often.

Less than two hours after I stepped off the boat onto Utila I was getting onto the dive boat with my gear to experience my first dive in the Caribbean. The first dive was a wreck dive to a cargo ship that sits at about 100 feet. I was pretty distracted from the boat at the surrounding coral reefs and colorful fish. After so much diving and snorkeling in the kelp forests of Catalina it took me aback to see so much colorful life swimming through the coral. After everyone had returned to the boat we went a bit further up the coast to the airport caves from where we would drift dive about 100 yards to the moon ring, a circular open area of sandy bottom surrounded by coral. My favorite sighting was a huge green moray eel free swimming along the edge of the reefs. I've seen a few moray eels on Catalina, but this one was so much bigger.

Before coming on this trip I went to an aquarium in Myrtle Beach and saw a few tanks filled with the same colorful fish and coral I dove with today. I look forward to the 8 more dives I have ahead of me before I leave the island on Monday. Tomorrow morning if the weather permits we'll make our way around to the north side of the island. Whale Sharks are often seen out that way, but it's been a few months since one was last sighted...I have a good feeling.

Rain Rain go away!

I made an abrupt decision to leave the beautiful tropical forest getaway at the Finca Tatin and start my journey to Honduras yesterday. I had really been enjoying the place but I found myself at a long dinner table not able to really talk with anyone as there were representatives of about 6 different languages, which was fun for the first day or so, but I could feel the approaching need for a change of scenery. Two friends I had met in San Pedro Laguna apparently felt the same way and decided to do a quick pack and join me on the boat to Livingston and beyond.

From Livingston we caught a boat across the river to Puerto Barrios. In route I started talking to a lady from Honduras carrying a small container with fish she was bringing back for her kids. When we got off the boat we were immediately confronted with taxi drivers trying to lure us in for what I would later find out to be way too much for a ride to the boarder. Instead my new friend waved us in her direction and proceeded to help us get all the way into San Pedro Sula. Had I rushed once we arrived at the bus station I could have made it to La Ceiba last night, but decided to take it easy and spend the night in the city with Ema and Steve. Honduras has seen some rough times, but with a new president in place I am told things have at least improved to some degree. We went out for a bite to eat and looked around the park a bit and things seemed to be pretty safe and tranquil as there were hundreds of people out and about in the area. As we sat in the diner we saw the number of people quickly begin to thin out and store owners began boarding up their businesses. We took the hint and made our way back to the hotel for the night.

Ema and Steve took off early this morning to make their way to Nicaragua and left me to get a few more hours of sleep before heading back to the bus station and on to La Ceiba where I would catch a boat to Utila. Everyone has told me how great it´s going to be and that we´re at the beginning of Whale Shark season. So as we approached La Ceiba and the rain became heavier and heavier my spirits began to dip though I tried to stay positive and hope for the best. As the taxi driver approached the terminal I could see there wasn´t much hope and found myself at a little hole in the wall hotel in La Ceiba. But i´ve moved past that and looking on to bigger and brighter things...that´s a lie, this is a huge downer in my trip, but I am hopeful that tomorrow will bring better weather and a safe ride out to the island. For now i´ll have some quality time to explore La Ceiba under the cover of my rain jacket and get some rest tonight.

I have reached the Caribbean Sea!

It´s been four days since my departure from San Pedro Laguna. 14 hours stuffed in a minibus with a dozen singing Israelis to Languin followed two days later with a 5 hour ride in the back of a 4 wheel drive pickup following the river from Semuc Chempay as it winds it´s way through beautiful countryside and I have arrived at the Caribbean Sea.

Semuc Chempay was beautiful although I did a solo trip there due to time constraints and finding out that I needed to leave the following morning at 830. Hiking around through the forest and soaking in the little pools separated by natural bridges of rock was a nice way to spend the afternoon. I arrived back at the hotel in time to hop on another bus to the Languin Caves where a group of about 15 of us were lead through caves which opened up into giant rooms with beautiful rock formations that with a little imagination looked like an elephant or a frog. The tour culminated with the group stopping at the entrance to the cave and turning all the lights out. Within a few minutes we could see a few bats soaring past our heads leaving the cave to go out and be nocturnal.

When the truck dropped myself and a handful of others who had also been staying in Languin at the boat dock in Rio Dulce I decided to follow the advice of a friend I met the night before. He suggested staying at Finca Tatin, which turned out to be some great advice I might add. After getting in a boat we started making our way from Lago Izabal toward the Caribbean Sea. It was a nice change to see so much wildlife out and about. We cruised past areas of Lily Pads, trees full of pelicans, and past local villagers in their hand carved wooden kayaks. When we pulled up to Finca Tatin I knew I had found a special place. Surrounded by jungle and squawking birds, this little oasis sits on the quiet river and offers a tranquil setting with hammocks everywhere, great kayaking, and a fun communal dinner.

Today I took a boat with a few other guests to The Seven Alters, some waterfalls on the Caribbean Sea just past Livingston. I had to use my imagination to picture what the falls would like with water coming over the rocks since they haven´t had any rain in the past few days. From there we went a few more kilometers down the coast and found a beautiful beach to hang out on for a few hours.

So here I sit in Livingston for an hour or so before I hop back in the boat for a short ride back to the hotel. A few friends staying at there whom I met in San Pedro are probably going to travel to Utila with me on Tuesday. I can feel the end of this trip rapidly approaching, but I am glad I saved this part for last as I am enjoying the relaxation after studying for three weeks.

Graduation!

After a rivalling game of scrabble, Christina and I exchanged contact information and we said our goodbyes. It´s quite amazing how much you can learn about a person from talking with them for four hours a day for fifteen days. Of course every bit of it was in Spanish as our conversations, beyond learning verb conjugations, wound everywhere from poverty and quality of life to astronomy and sustainability. Much of the time was spent flipping through my dictionary trying to find the words to complete my thoughts, but we always managed and the skill of putting yourself out there has turned out to be one of the biggest things I´ve aquired in speaking a foreign language.

Rosa and her family also gave me a warm departure after I cleaned off a plate piled high with rice, chicken, vegetables, and of course fresh tortillas than I couldn´t ever take down. They have been great hosts and the food was amazing...I´m going to miss the food, but the change of scenary and environment across town has provided a nice change. I decided to splurge and found myself and nice room on the roof of a lakeside hotel. So for five bucks a night i´ll enjoy a beautiful view and relax for the next two days while figuring out the last details of my upcoming voyage east to semuc chempay which looks pretty nice from the pictures and all the good things the travels i´ve met have said.

I wish I would have come upon the english teaching opportunity earlier. I feel like today was a great day and would like to see how much these young adults could accomplish over a longer period. We played a game with verbs written all over the ball and they did very well. I have started to see the different personalities of some of the students come through. They were very quite and anxious to participate or volunteer initially, but that has definately changed over the week. I gave the teacher my contact info and said if any of his students were interested in a penpal in the states I would like to do that, or if not me find some other students or anyone who might be interested.

I´m Pooped!

Somewhere between hiking up to La Nariz de Indio, the avocados and sweet bread in Santa Clara, the hummus and falafel, or the three chicken tacos, I aquired some sort of stomach bug. I can´t say it was all that bad because when Jay got it he could hardly leave the vecinity of the bathroom to run to the store. I was at least able to pull myself together long enough to walk across town and watch the superbowl.

But enough about my bowel movements...here it is Monday night and tomorrow morning is my last day of classes. I am a bit sad to be leaving Rosa and her family and to say goodbye to my teacher who has not only helped me improve my spanish, but has taught me so much about the culture here through our conversations, our feildtrips to visit local families in need, and provided the opportunity to teach at some local schools.

I didn´t make it out to the highschool this afternoon. On my way to the internet cafe one of the students saw me in the street and asked how I was doing. I told him I would be there tomorrow and ready to teach them a Bob Marley song. I went down to the school around 2pm when the class lets out and met up with Jema who taught the class on her own today. She said it went well but would be happy to have me in there tomorrow. At camp we do a game with a ball where we write questions like, ¨your favorite color¨ or ¨tell a joke¨. I decided to spin that game into an activity to help the kids work on their verbs. So this afternoon, sitting in a tree house at this cool little restaurant overlooking the lake, Jema and I sat and wrote verbs that the when the kids would catch the ball, wherever their thumb landed they would have to make a sentence with that verb. The idea of sedentary learning doesn´t very much appeal to me, let alone sedentary teaching so hopefully this will change it up and get the kids to be a bit more interactive.

So although I am approaching the end of a great phase of my travels I know that I am entering into a new and just as exciting chapter. I think three weeks is all I can really take of classes and the two days before I leave San Pedro will be dedicated to lounging around in hammocks with a lake view while sipping on cool beverages. I have started flipping through my lonely planet books and have for the most part figured out my itinerary for the remainder of my time in Central America. So excited to wind up on Utila Island off the coast of Honduras and enjoy some Caribbean scuba diving.

La Nariz de Indio

I rose from my bed early this morning around 3:15am to meet some friends on the other side of town for a nice sunrise hike up to La Nariz de Indio (Indian´s Nose) which from San Pedro lookes like the outline of...well you can probably guess. After leaving San Pedro we walked through San Juan and came to the base of the mountain and began our ascent. We arrived at the peak just in time to watch the sun creep up over the horizon of the distant volcanoes to give us a spectacular array of colors streaked across the sky. After some fruit and a few pictures we made our way down the backside of the mountain into Santa Clara where we went to the Saturday market and bought fresh avocados and bread for lunch. Piles of tomatoes and other fresh produce lined the aisles and locals meander to and from makeshift shade structures having friendly conversations with each other.

After we got some food, our group decided to split. We all hoped in the back of a pick-up and road down the mountian into San Pablo where myself, Samuel and Jema got a tuk tuk on to San Marcos. The plan was to go jump off the rocks I kayaked to the other week. But after wondering down some streets, not really sure where we were, we ran into a local and he told us about an amazing waterfall about an hour down the road. After about an hour of walking we come around a corner in the road and the man points up to a hotel in a valley where the man lived an hour up into the hills. We bought our new friend a soda and said goodbye at the dock where we jumped in a boat and made our way back to San Pedro. Riding across the lake in a boat offers a great view of the surrounding villages dwarfed by the volcanoes in the background. After putting down some hummas, pita, and falafel at an Israeli restuarant I made my way back to sleep off the lost time from my early morning departure.

Friday morning as I was sitting with Christina practicing the future verb tense she asked me if I would like to do some other volunteer work with another school. So at about 9am I packed up my stuff and we walked up into town, past the market, and to El Centro, a school for children with disabilities. I sat around a table with two other volunteers who run a summer camp in Canada, a teacher from the school, Christina and four students at the school. Paulina, Jose, Pedro, and Pedrito. It was challenging to work with the students, but as I worked more with them the kids warmed up to me and began to open up with smiles and laughter. We worked on two phrases, ariba and abajo (above and below). Raising our hands up and down like a game of simon says. After a little snack of jello I said goodbye to the students and returned to class with Christina.

After lunch with Rosa I made my way down the hill to the highschool I´ve been teaching English at. I met up with another friend Jema who is going to take over the class when I leave next week. Jema and I sat down this weekend to do some legit lesson planning rather than just going with the flow. There are just so many approaches one could take to teach a language. I like the format The Cooperative has approached teaching Spanish so I am going to try to take that and use it as a foundation for English lessons. At the end of class the students were asking me to play some more songs on my Ukulele so of course I obliged and without even writing the lyrics on the board they all sung along with the chorus. They requested a Bob Marley song for Monday... After class let out we were invited to stay and watch a school ceremony that recognized students for outstanding acheivements and gave the students a chance to meet the candidates for what I assume to be the equivalent of class president. Loud music played over the speaker system as two fo the school officials annouced the names and grades of the students coming up to the stage. They were adorned with the local dress and approached the stage in a manner that was more akin to dancing than walking. What a world away from my days in high school. The need for these kids to care for siblings, work to help support their families, and be respectable members of the society seems to up the level of maturity.

Im a teacher...of sorts

When I was reading the website describing The Cooperativa where I was planning to study Spanish I was happy to see all the things they do to give back to the community. They had mentioned volunteer opportunities, but they only had placements for the mornings when I was taking class and I didn´t want to loose my teacher. So this afternoon we were on our way back from visiting the family I´m sponsoring and when my teacher told me I could help out at a local school I was all over it.

I have come to understand that when your ability to fully communicate with someone is limited you should be open to whatever happens. So as I walked with the teacher through the school and took in all the kids´ gazes and heard their giggled he explained to me...in spanish...what the kids have covered in their english lessons (not a whole lot) and that I could help them with their pronunciation and basic introductions. So with very little to go off of, I went for it. I think that all my experience of working with children has lead up to this point in my life, to walk into a classroom of about 30, 15 year old students who speak little to no English and just dive into it. I felt like a legit classroom teacher for about 30 minutes. Writing phrases on the board like, ¨What is your name¨ and ¨Where are you from¨ then below writing the spanish translation and how to answer the question...¨My name is ____¨ and ¨I am from____¨. At the end of my time I had covered the white board with some basic introduction questions and answers. The rest of the class time consisted of me asking the students the questions about how many brothers and sisters they had and how old they were. It was kind of similar to the start of my Spanish lessons. Afterward I thanked them for having me and told them that I can understand the challenge of learning a new language. I can´t take all the credit, the teacher of the class is also a teacher at The Cooperativa and from what I hear is awesome. In fact, my teacher at The Coopertiva had him for a teacher when she was a student there. I was invited to come back again on Thursday to work with his class again. Awesome! I may try to teach them a song in English, not sure yet but it will be nice to have a bit of time to think about how I am going to approach them as opposed to coming in with no ammo.

Though my Spanish is coming along pretty well I think im pretty far off from understanding one of the 21 native languages spoken in Guatemala. One of which is common around San Pedro is Tz´utujil. With the help of my teacher I was able to ask questions to the mother of the four children. While the kids were busy eating the chocolate treats and looking through the school supplies I brought them I asked the mother about her lifestyle and how she was able to be so strong to support her family. She told me that her eldest children are very helpful in every aspect of life, whether it´s hiking down to the lake for water or gathering sticks to burn the fire they use to cook their food. The whole time she had a very straight face and didn´t seem to show much expression. I asked her what made her smile she said that being around people who were genearlly nice and kind made her smile. With this the corner of her mouth slightly curved up and a smile slipped out. I have a lot of respect for this woman taking care of her family and just barely getting by, but it seems that her family and friends around her are what really represents the quality of her life. It was great to see the kids so excited about their school supplies and I asked my teacher to tell them they should work hard in school even though at times it can be challenging. The eldest child responsed by saying he was glad to get to go to school and would work hard. Oh Education!

Bienvenido al Hotel California

Just left the beach on the lake where I was working on a new song with my friend Augu. The Gypsy Kings do a great cover of Hotel California in Spanish and we´re working it out. It´s a lot harder to sing in Spanish, but with it being Augu´s first language it should come together.

While I was sitting on the beach I saw a little farm that was growing fennel. This may be the first time I´ve ever seen it not growing wild. Though not too surprising as there are small plots of land scattered about the city with little gardens. When I was walking up to meet the family my school supports we walked up a trail through hundreds of coffee plants picked clean from the recent harvest.

This afternoon I went with Rosa to a little store to get some school supplies for the two oldest boys of the family. She definitely helped in the bargaining process and got a good deal for me. I still need to work on my numbers for the bargaining. I mean cinco or ocho quetzal is easy enough to quarrel over, but when I get into the ochcentas and quinientos I have to take a brief pause in the battle to take-in, process, and then formulate a response.

I had a big test today on all I´ve learned up to now and I did well. I missed a few, but all-in-all the page had mostly check marks on it. I might ask Rosa if I can put it up on their fridge. There are still times when I find myself stumbling trying to express myself with the language, but the way I measure it is that I can talk just about as well as Rosa´s 2 year old granddaughter, Rosalina. Kind of a funny way of thinking about it, but it is quite a big undertaking to learn a language. It´s a great challenge though and with each step forward you can see the reward of all the work it takes to learn.

Xela

Saturday turned out to be a day for an adventure. I´ve been spending my time tooling around San Pedro and was ready to explore. I have been told there are so many great cities around that all deserve to be seen and explored. After some discussion with two friends from the cooperativa, Jane and Jay, we decided to head west. Which was good for me because I plan on heading East when I disembark from San Pedro to close out my travels in Honduras. So with a Guatemala Lonely Planet Book (thanks David), my spanish dictionary, water, snacks and a camera we hoped on a Chicken Bus for a two and a half hour ride to Quetzaltenango, also known as Xela (Shea-La). Climbing up through the volcanoes and moutainous terrain alotted for some great vistas of the lake below. As we approached each turn the bus would sound a loud horn to warm approaching vehicles that we were about to make a wide turn around a tight corner on a narrow road. I think i´ve mentioned before that Jay is doing this trip on his motorcycle and he mentioned coming down this road was a pretty intense experience. It´s great fun riding on the bus and talking with locals or the best I can with my spanish. They are generally happy to chat and are patient as I try to come up with a word to replace one I can´t come up with in spanish or as I try to conjugate the verbs to not sound completely incompetent.

Through my travels and generally in life I have come to the realization that I am not great with navigating unknown territory. Though I had studied throughoughly the lonely planet guide on Xela and had a general idea of what I wanted to see, once I stepped off the bus the map became almost useless. But the taxis are cheap and with us being there for only a few hours we wanted to make the most of our time there.

The main allure to visit Xela was the architecture and museums around the central park. A beautiful scare located across town. I can´t say there was any one thing that really blew my mind, but it´s always fun to explore a new town. And by explore of course I mean wondering around lost and ultimatly asking directions about five times to finally arrive at our destination. I was pretty bummed to find the Natural History Museum was closed on weekends. So we found a nice place to get some food and walked about the town taking in the statues, churches, and other beautifully created buildings that litter the town. Jane did find a bookstore and purchased a copy of Harry Potter in spanish...better to translate and read this than a workbook she says.

Four hours later we had made our way back to the bus depot and found our bus back to San Pedro. I use the word bus depot loosely as it´s basically a really wide road packed with chicken buses. Each bus has a sign and a man leaning out the side yelling out it´s final destination. Being the end of the day and many people were making the journey home we found ourselves packed into the bus to the point that to reach into my pocket to get the fair I had to disloacate my arm. Next to me on the ride home was a little girl sitting on the lap of her mother, next to four other people stretched across the isle. The little girl´s hands were stained black, maybe some type of a die and I sensed that had spent the day working very hard as they struggled to stay upright as they continued to nod off. At one point the little girl was laying across my lap so I let her sleep and thought about the challenges associated with the lives the people of this country live. After the mother and daughter had gotten off the bus I started chatting with a 26 year old guy that was coming back from Xela where he has guitar lessons every Saturday. He has been working hard for years and saving to buy his guitar and take lessons. It´s great to see how someone´s drive can push them so far.

Today, Sunday, was a day to relax and sleep in. Sunday´s seem to be the most tranquil day of the week here as many families spend the day together going to church and walking about the town. I woke up at about 1030 to find Jay sitting next to the bathroom door and looking pretty bad. He had a woken up at 330 in the morn and had been back and forth to the bathroom all night. I hated it for him, but at the same time was thankful we weren´t having to take turns destroying the bathroom. Many thanks to Lissa for recommending the Probiotics. Every morning I take one pill that contains about 25 million little micro organisms that help fight off the bad bacteria that can be introduced into your stomach through food and water. Not holding my breathe but so far so good.

The true meaning of poverty

Life is so much fun here. I´ve met so many great people and love the general attitude and lifestyle of the people. It´s unlike anything I´ve ever experienced and everyday look for new opportunities to explore more and learn more about the people and culture here.

Yesterday afternoon the school took us for a "fieldtrip" to a place that processes coffee beans. A huge industry here many of the families including the family I am staying with cultivate and harvest coffee beans on step terrain high up into the mountains. My roommate and myself asked if we could go up there and help, but I guess most of the harvesting for the season is done. They bring in hundreds of thousands of pounds of coffee in sacks which is processed in machines to take the outter shell off and is then layed out in the sun to dry. How crazy is it to think that some of this coffee might wind up at a little coffee shop in Los Angeles. After we saw the general process of how they prepare the coffee we were taken to the back of the property where they compost the pulp leftover from the coffee beans to make fertilizer. A new venture the organization is taking on is growing plants which provide a natural dye from the leaves for clothes. We saw a variety of plants that produce reds, greens, browns, and a few other colors.

I talked with the owner a bit, though only really comprehended about a third of what he was saying about his operation. I did however get that they push to be as sustainable as possible from using worn tires to fill with rocks and make paths to the stalks of the coffee plants to string together and create shades.

One big draw to the cooperativa where I study spanish is that they give back to the community with part of my tuition. My teacher, Christina, and I got in a Tuk Tuk, and road across town to visit a family that is struggling meet their basic needs. After hiking up a trail and fighting off some dogs we arrived at a tiny structure where I was introduced to the family Christina has been visiting for the past nine months or so. They don´t speak any spanish so Christina had to translate for me in order to communicate. Christina´s mother grew up speaking the local language and her father speaks spanish so she was able to pass my questions, in spanish, to the mother and back to me. The family consisted of a 26 year old mother and her four children from 1.5 to 9 years old. Her husband had passed and was left with very little to take care of her family. The coopertiva gave us eggs, sugar, oil, and beans to bring to the family. I wanted to get something for the kids and thought about picking up a soccer ball from the market, but ended up just bringing a hackysack I brought along on the trip. After visiting with them I was glad I didn´t bring the soccer ball, what good is a brand new soccer ball to a family that barely has enough food. I asked if there was anything else I could bring and she said that her children were starting school soon and could use some school supplies. So with the money I was going to spend on a soccer ball i´ll be able to buy them backpacks, paper, pens and whatever else comes to mind. It really got me thinking about what it means to be poor. We talk alot at CELP about the distribution of resources and it´s hard to imagine not having the things I so often under appreciate. The mother was so happy to hear that I wanted to bring them supplies and she walked to the back of the house and picked about a dozen of some delicious oranges to give to me. I know it´s impossible to help everyone in the world but it´s nice to able to know that I can help one family. It´s hard to imagine how much a dollar a day would improve the quality of life of this family.

On a lighter note the weekend is upon us and I have two days to let the past week or so of spanish lesson settle into my head and relax a bit. Sunday afternoon they have a big bbq at one of the restuarants with a pool out from, I guess it´s kind of a tradition around here. So looking forward to having "the best burger in town" Not that I have tired of the piles of fresh tortillas Rosa makes for every meal, but it´s nice to have to fend for myself for one day a week and give Rosa a day off. Speaking of which, got to head back for dinner and get ready to go out for the night. They are showing The Men Who Stare at Goats at a restuarant\bar in town.

El Fin de Semana (The Weekend)

Good times Saturday night...I brought my ukulele along to a small bar in the touristy part of town where I met up with a my friend from Argentina I saw playing the other night at the Buddha. A few friends, my ukulele, Augustine on the guitar and two guys on the bongos rocked pretty hard and drew a decent crowd in the tiny room of the bar which overflowed into the street. Augu was really into my kazoo and wants me to send him one when I get back to the states. It was a great time and the owner of the bar comped most of my bar tab for playing. We have another "show" on Tuesday at the same place. May try to get some practice in tonight, but I dont want to let my spanish studys slip.

After the show I wanted to meet some friends at a bar down the way and as I approached there was a group of about 10 or 15 men standing in the doorway wearing sombreros, more like a cowboy hat than what one would imagine a sombrero. There is a lot of conflict between the local churches and the restaurants and bars. In talking with my teacher there are many families affected by the drugs and alcohol that are present in the country. Some of the fathers who have historically worked very hard throughout the day to provide the neccesities families need to survive are no longer providing which in turn has negative effects on the health and wellness of their family and community. The group of men are not police officers rather a group of locals who walk around at night blowing whistles and getting the drunks off the street and using their presence to try to get bars to close down early. Good enough for me, I decided to call it a night and head home.

Sunday was a day off from going to class so I took full advantage and slept in till about 10. I made my way down to a restaurant right on the lake and set up at a table to study the afternoon away. I am feeling pretty solid on my spanish, but still have a long way to go to meet my personal expectations of what I hope to get out of studying. At around 2pm my studies slowed down when they flipped on four tvs and started the colts/jets game. A friend I met at the bookstore also came in and sat down to watch the game. After the game my friend invited me to play some poker at another bar down the road.

On my walk back to the house, a little dog started following me. The culture of dogs here in San Pedro is pretty interesting. A lot of families have dogs I guess as a means of protection or to ward off people on their property. Fair enough, lots of people in the states have dogs. The big difference is that when it gets dark the dogs start up with their barking. And throughout the night there is seamlessly nonstop barking. Since being here a few nights I have somewhat gotten used to it, but occasionally wake up and hear the dogs singing the night away.

(25-10-2010)
Another great session with Christina (my teacher). I was able to kind of tell her exactly what it is I do back on Catalina. She knew I lived on an island and worked with kids, but when we started talking about the lake and how it had been so polluted in December I started digging through my dictionary to find words to describe my job. The gratification of learning spanish is so apparent when I am able to communicate with locals and get to know them and their culture on a personal level as opposed to a book. Although I am reading I Rigoberta Menchú, a great book about the life of a group of natives that lived in Guatemala...thanks Lissa! There is so much pride in the culture here, though some is beginning to be lost as there is more and more western influence and many people are starting to stray. Though you can still see a strong sense of the culture. The father of the household I am staying goes up into the mountains several times throughout the year to cultivate and harvest maize (corn), beans, and coffee which will be used to feed his family. And is soooo tasty and fresh.

Each village around the lake is named after a Saint...San Pedro - Saint Pedro, San Marcos - Saint Marcos, San Pablo - Saint Pablo, etc. for the day of the Saint on which the village was founded. Today happens to be the day of Saint Pablo and I decided to go for an adventure with two friends to the village across the lake. We hiked up to the back of the city and jumped in the back of a truck and were off to San Pablo. Ten minutes later there we were. San Pablo is definatly a bit poorer a village than San Pedro and with much less tourism. Besides myself and my two friends we saw three other Gringos. Being tall in this country really sets you apart. As we walked through the market I could see clear across the crowd of people pushing their way through the little space left over after the locals had set out different foods, clothes, kitchen wears, and just about anything else you could ever want.

A few highlights of San Pablo were the crazy ferris wheel that was rigged up on a crazy pulley system driven literally by a guy sitting next to a car engine shifting gears with a clutch to speed up the ferris wheel which was mounted on some percariously stacked bricks. We passed on that ride. One guy came up to me and asked me if I was from California...I started talking with him..in spanish...and it turns out he had a few guys from California working for him making oils from herbs he was growing in the hills...He invited us to his house to see some drums and dijerydo he had made. I was cautious at first, but he had two little kids with him and I had two friends with me. We made our way through an alley and he invited us in to his house. A little old lady sat in front of the wood stove making tortillas and there were probably 4 or 5 kids around the very meager 3 bedroom house. There was no electricity and he was very appolgetic, but showed us his beautifully crafted drums and dij and his essential oils. I did pick up a small bottle of almond oils, which smelled amazing...maybe I´ll hand it off to Lissa to make some lotion. We played with the kids for a bit before heading to the central square where we were no more than 25 feet from where they were launching fireworks. Everytime one would shoot off you could feel the wave of energy released from the blast. They cleared out the fireworks and the mariachi band came out and was raging. Odd thing was everyone was just standing there staring at the stage. And I mean everyone with the exception of two little boys dancing in the square. Not really sure, part of the culture maybe? So Im back safe from that adventure and ready to hit the books a bit before bed.

Buenas Noches

Im joining the band!

Two nights ago I found myself in a cool little bar called the buddha. There were two guys playing in the front, one on a drum and the other on a guitar. The guy playing the guitar is here from Argentina and was absolutly amazing. Last night as I was on my way home I saw the Argentinian and some folks playing in a little coffee shop. I told him I saw him play the other night and that I play the ukulele and he was stoked...asked me to join them tonight. This could be my big break! At any rate should be a good time.

It´s never really hard to find much to do, especially in the evenings. Im amazed at how many bars and restuarants line the "tourist district". So many have live music from some amazing bands from around the world, play movies that are still in theatres in the US, or even the NFL playoff games. Beyond that scene are some more active and exploratory activites that im really excited about. A few friends went up San Pedro Volcano this morning and said it was amazing. I decided to go to class this morning since I arrived so late and am just all about learning Spanish. It´s amazing how much I have improved after just three lessons and I am now able and comfortable talking to locals and carrying on conversations. So instead of hiking I went kayaking with a friend I met during my break at class this morning. We kayaked probably 5 miles in total to another town across the lake called San Marcos where a huge cliff jutted out into the lake and made for some great cliff diving. Glad I didn´t bring my camera as the kayaks were no where near the caliber of the ocean kayaks on the island, but no complaints it made the journey that much more romantic.

Well it´s time to make my way back to la casa for another amazing meal cooked with so much love and care by Rosa and her daughter. I´ll go into more detail on the cuisine here another time as it is a huge part of the culture here. There is so much to record that I have started a list of topics and experiences that are making this trip so amazing.

I can find my own way!

Upon leaving Antigua I have decided that I brought too much stuff. I mean, i still feel I did pretty well, but when the guy hauling my stuff up on top of the chicken bus yells out "Dios Mio" when I hand him my bag, it makes me wonder if I could have done without the extra t-shirts and socks. I feel I have gotten pretty good at the bus system though, you find an area with a ton of buses or stand on the side of the street listen for someone to yell out of the open bus door "pana" or "antigua", wave them down, then get your butt on...pretty simple right? the part that I need to work on however is knowing when to get off. Coming into what I thought was Panajachel yesterday afternoon(Pana to the locals), everyone started to get off the bus...seemed like a good cue, so i followed suit. As i walked through a beautiful town with markets, churches, and locals in beautifully ornatmented dress (Each community wears a similar dress but can be differentiated by the use of specific patterns and colors) I came to a sign which said Pana 7 km. In an attempt to save the 30 Quetzal it would have cost to take a taxi the rest of the way (about 4 dollars US) I decided to hoof it. I figured I have walked back to Howland´s Landing from Two Harbors on several occations and that´s 5 miles. I guess what did me in was the 50 or so pounds i was carrying on my back. So after 2 km I stopped at a little panoramic of the lake and decided to find a ride. To my luck a couple of guys let me hop in the back of their truck and ride the rest of the way in.



So finally in what was actually Pana I made my way down to the docks where I would catch a boat to Atitlan. The crossing was only a couple dollars US and I met two guys who were cycling from Belize to the bottom of Guatemala and had a good converstaion with them on the way over about their ride and my recent ride down the coast of California. Upon arriving in Antitlan I decided to treat myself to a ride in a little taxi. Basically a covered motorcycle with a back seat. After stopping at several language schools, none of which were the one I had made a reservation for, we decided to call the number for la cooperativa spanish school and found out I was in the wrong village. I took it in stride though and was glad that there was still another boat leaving soon to where I was supposed to go, San Pedro. I did meet a couple of Americans who had made Atitlan their new home and they invited me to come back anytime. On the boat ride to San Pedro I met a couple from Canada who have traveled this area many times and had a lot of good information about local culture and were just good people in general.



After a long day I arrived in San Pedro my new Candadian friends pointed out the coopertiva and I was introduced to Rosa who is the host of my homestay. She came highly recommened from two of my friends David and Lissa, who stayed with her last year. She has nothing but good things to say about them. The food is incredible, though kind of hot to eat in the kitchen where Rosa and her daughter cook over a wood fire. Jay is another student at la coopertiva also staying at Rosa´s. He came down from Washington State on his motorcycle and is continuing down into South America.

I went out last night for a few drinks and still can´t believe how cheap stuff is here. A litre of beer for 27 Quetzal (3 dollars US) I walked home from the bar with a big smile on my face and happy to call this place home for the next three weeks.



I woke up this morning (21-1-2010) to the sounds of barking dogs and roosters cacadoodledoodling at about 630, which was okay because breakfast was ready at 715 and my classes with my tutor Christina started at 8. I am grateful for all the spanish I took in highschool, but it is still going to take a lot of practice to remember all the vocabulary and verb conjugations, but better off than starting from scratch. So Im off to do some homework and catch a discussion after dinner on some local issues. we´ll see how much I can actually understand, but I feel that every little bit will continue to help improve my spanish.

Touchdown in Guatemala

Upon walking outside the Guatemala Airport I was overcome with offers to take me to my destination of Antigua. Thirty dollars didn´t sound too bad, but i knew i could do better so I took off to the streets to find one of the infamous chicken buses. A simple ¨hola¨ or ¨como estas?¨ goes a long way with getting help and before i knew it, my new friend Pedro and his elderly grandmother took a bus with me to another part of town and walked with me a good mile or two to where my next chicken bus awaited to take me into Antigua. All in all it was less than a dollar fifty US and the chicken bus provided far more entertainment than a taxi ever could. I counted at least 8 people who literally jumped on the bus and passed out candy, ingles dictionary booklets, and even two guys dressed to the T as clowns who put on a 5 minute routine, though i could only make out bits and pieces.

After getting off the chicken bus a good 2 miles from where my hostel awaited me, i made my way across town and took in the new region i´ll be exploring for the next month. Antigua is a cool little town, the streets bumpy with cobblestone are a bit confusing as there are hardly any street signs, but there was a lot to take in as I stood on the roof of the hostel and peered around the town shadowed by volcanos on all sides, one of which was puffing smoke in the distance.

Tomorrow, an early departure for San Pedro Laguna where i´ll settle in for a few weeks and enrich my lacking spanish skills.

Rainy Departure

Looking out the window from my dad's place in Long Beach I see and hear rain and wind ruining my soon approaching walk to the metro train station a few blocks away where i'll make my way to LAX. Not even the rain can ruin my spirits though as I've been planning and looking forward to my trip to Central America for several months now. Hard to believe it is finally here. I'll catch a late flight tonight to Fort Lauderdale where i'll hang out in the airport for a few hours before getting on my next flight into Guatemala City. I feel that I have prepared myself as much as possible, but there are still so many unknowns that I will come to face. With the help of my little spanish dictionary I will find my way to Antigua where i'll stay at a hostel for a night before making my way to Lago de Antitlan.