I’m over Antigua, yet I must continue to go there. I like that I’m 11 hours from the Peace Corps office, but I don’t like it when I actually have to make the trip, which seems to be quite often lately. I had been a site rat (I don’t like the negative connotation of this name because I think it’s a good thing to spend time in site – it is the reason we’re here – but that is the name that has been given to us) for quite some time, but lately it’s been a week in site, a week out of site, and it’s getting old. However, that does not mean that I’m not looking forward to showing Allison, Eefje, Jeanne and Erin around Guatemala. That will be worth it. I foresee many adventures. I’m also just excited to share my life with people who knew me before I came here and who aren’t already accustomed to life in rural Guatemala. You could say that I’m hoping to shock them a little bit.
I broke this last trip to Antigua into two days, mainly because of the half marathon – I didn’t want to be sitting in micros and buses for 11 hours straight right before racing. I stayed in Rio Dulce on Friday night, which should be a 3 hour trip (ideally 1.5 – 2, but drivers suck here). I left San Fernando at 1:30 pm and got to Rio Dulce at 6 pm. You can do the math on that one. The main problem was that about 45 minutes outside of town, there’s a 20-foot-deep ditch that bisects the road. The surrounding houses were being inundated by the stream that could not pass through the clogged culvert, so they removed the culvert and are currently constructing a bridge. Originally they announced that it would take three days. Welcome to road construction in Guatemala: it has been three weeks. Anyway, the micro drivers knew about this going in, so their plan was for one to leave San Fernando and the other to leave Cadenas (the junction with the next highway) at the same time and switch passengers at the road block. Sounds perfect, except that the driver coming from Cadenas didn’t show up. So after getting out of the first micro and walking across the ditch on a narrow concrete wall, I waited. But don’t worry, I learned the skill of patience back in January, although I have honed it down to an art over the past 6 ½ months.
After maybe an hour, I piled into some random micro, escaping a creepy and very talkative construction worker, and eventually made it to Cadenas after we changed the tire that exploded while we were driving. In Cadenas I found my next micro pretty quickly, however, this character drove beyond slow. He also shared with me that he had been in the States for three months a few years back (without a visa but not even working) and got put in jail for a year. He now does not like the U.S. he told me. Obviously. But I’m thinking he probably had to do something a little bit worse than just not have papers. I did not ask, though. That was the main excitement of the trip. 4 ½ hours the first day plus 8 hours the second day equals 12 ½ hours total (including waiting), which is a new record my friends! I think I win as being the furthest volunteer from the training center; during the workshops, one of my friends went to her site and came back to the office within the same afternoon. I could do that … if I had a plane. Speaking of planes, a few “crashed” in Chahal a couple weeks ago – drug planes.
The half marathon was definitely the highlight of the week. Although not very organized (start line not marked, for example) and pacing was impossible (kilometer markers were few and far between), I ran the first 10 km in 47 minutes and finished in 1:42:09 (7:47.9 mile pace)!! My time in Coban was 1:54:46 – 12 minute PR! This course was a lot flatter, as well, I wasn’t gravely ill four days before, and I had more training under my belt. I think I could’ve dipped under 1:40, though, had the course not been on cobblestone for a few kilometers. It is very difficult to sprint on. It’s also not so good for the ankles. I had a bad ankle going into the race (it’s hurt for about a month), but told myself I would ignore it until after the half. You know how I am. So I didn’t break it during the race, but it definitely was sorer and I found out from the nurse that my Achilles tendon is slightly torn, but only a 1 on a scale of 1 – 4. I suppose it’s time for a break. Despite the ankle, though, I was the 19th woman – next year top 10! They gave prizes to the top three women and top SIX men. Que machismo. But at least they allow women to run, right?
The rest of the week really wasn’t that exciting. Yes, I got to see my PCV friends, but I just saw them at the 4th of July party, and really, I didn’t come here to make friends with gringos. I have enough of those back home, right guys? I left the training/Spanish workshop early, though, to observe an HIV/AIDS taller (workshop) that some other volunteers were giving to teachers in one of their sites. It was fun, and very important – the HIV rate in Guatemala is extremely high and education about this is lacking. Now I’m considered trained to be one of the presenters, so that’s pretty cool.
The trip home was quite long, of course, but at least I got to see a new area of the country. The department of Baja Verapaz is beautiful! But Coban to Chahal is no longer a trip I enjoy making. With the rainy season, the road is even worse and the trip that once took 3 ½ hours on a good day, took 5 hours! And the whole time with only half a seat. Oh how my ass hurt at the end of the ride. They shoved 30 people in (and on) the micro that should hold 15!
I got home Saturday afternoon, which was important to me because I really wanted to spend Sunday in Chahal. The whole family went out to the finca (farm) of one of the son-in-laws. We ate lunch (I provided a delicious potato salad – my mom’s recipe), then swam in the river and just relaxed. When we got back to town we played a game of basketball. This time the court was fixed, so we played full court, 5 on 5. My team won, thanks to my two 3-pointers; although, I probably shouldn’t have played due to my Achilles, but I would tarnish my reputation here if I declined to participate in a sporting event. However, I will have to excuse myself from the road race that’s being held this week – too much pressure on the ankle … not that a basketball game is good for it either.
That’s all for now. A few days of work in site, then those of us involved in Las Conchas are making a visit to a very developed ecotourism site, Semuc Champey, to get some ideas from that municipality. Should be hard work :) Then off to pick up Allison and Eefje at the airport!
28 July 2008
19 July 2008
Out of Site
Where to begin? It’s been awhile since I’ve written, and I don’t really know where I left off, or what’s gone on in my life in the past few weeks. It has been quite eventful; I know that much.
Vacation anyone?
We’ll start at a logical point: my little vacation at the end of June. Kelly, another volunteer in Guatemala, showed up in Chahal on Thursday afternoon. She was the first person to visit me here; it was fun to be able to show off my town to her. She was jealous, but I do have the picturesque Peace Corps site (although I am slightly biased). We took off early Friday morning, hoping the ominous bridge about an hour outside of town would not be flooded. Luckily, it didn’t rain cows (that’s the phrase here) the night before, so we made it to Rio Dulce (Sweet River).
Here in Chahal, obviously, we have a nice river, but Rio Dulce is a large body of water, which I have missed, especially since a year ago at this time I was going out on Yellowstone Lake daily.
Aguas Calientes: becoming one with the bats
In Rio Dulce we went on a little excursion to Aguas Calientes (hot waters). It’s a thermal spring that becomes a creek and then a waterfall which joins with a cold creek below. It was beautiful; I felt like I was back in Yellowstone … aww the smell of sulfur. Before we took our hot showers, we followed the cold creek upstream until it disappeared inside a cave. As I’m sure you can easily guess, I went inside. How could I not? The guide told me that about 200 meters inside I would find a large waterfall. I had never seen a waterfall inside of a cave, so off I went. Kelly, however, did not feel the inclination to join me and the guide stayed with her.
Alone. Thrilling. I swam in with my headlamp. Within about a minute there was no longer daylight streaming in and with every stroke it became louder and louder with the approaching waterfall. I want to be brave and say I wasn’t scared, but I admit, my heart was racing a bit. Swimming inside a deep, dark cave alone with a huge waterfall (not knowing if any dangers related to that lay ahead), and bats flying in front of my face trying to eat the insects before I inhaled them – yes, it made me a bit anxious, but that made the experience that much better. When I got to the waterfall, I climbed up the rocks and stood next to it. I did exercise enough good sense, though, to not swim in it – who knows what kind of undercurrent it has, or if there’s a secret cave below where half the water flows into and where I would spend the rest of my days treading water and eating bats. Not exactly my idea of a good time.
When I reemerged from the cave, we hiked back to Aguas Calientes and relaxed there for awhile. I set off to hike on my own to the spring. I had climbed up to the top of the waterfall when the guide got up from his log to accompany me. I shouted across the creek that I wanted to go alone, but he followed anyway because some other tourists were interested in going. I disappeared into the woods in front of them and took off running on another trail – I wanted some time alone in the woods. After a bit, I headed back and took the trail toward the spring; they were long gone. I took it all in, then worked my way back to the waterfall, where I noticed some tree like vines which were just incredible. They were woody and thick, and each one intricately wrapped itself all around multiple trees. It was difficult to follow them from the beginning to the end. Anyway, I climbed back down and Kelly told me that the guide had come back on a completely different trail because he had gone off looking for me! I should probably feel bad, but I don’t. I’m so tired of having to have guides here. I’m not used to being guided on hikes. I needed that escape; he’ll get over it.
Friday night we spent in Rio Dulce at a hostel right on the river, danced a bit, of course, then took off in the morning to Livingston which lies at the mouth of Rio Dulce on the Caribbean Coast. Finally in a boat again! It’s about a 2 hour boat ride, and gorgeous the whole way. There are a few scattered villages, but not much development. The broad river eventually narrows into a steep, narrow, breath-taking canyon, then widens again as it approaches the sea. Despite being soaked by the rain, it was beautiful.
Livingston: back on the water
In Livingston we experienced a bit of the Garifuna culture. Garifunas are black-latinos: escaped slaves that settled on the Caribbean coast throughout Central America. They have their own language and some awesome music and dancing.
On Sunday we hopped into a boat that took us up the coast to Siete Altares (7 Altars), the site of the first Tarzan film. It’s a sparkling blue waterfall in the jungle, but just a 15 minute hike from the beach. Despite the hoards of people, it was beautiful, and fun to jump off of! Then we continued in the boat up the coast to Playa Blanca (White Beach), where we relaxed in hammocks underneath coconut trees for the rest of the afternoon.
We stayed in Livingston until Tuesday, not doing much, just relaxing until we had to be in Antigua for meetings. On Monday, though, I walked up the beach to go back to Siete Altares; it was just that beautiful, and I needed more time alone in the woods. Along the way I met some little boys who were scooping up little crabs and clams in the sand. They were so excited to show me how many they had gathered up and offered to give me some, saying how delicious they were. I politely declined, telling them that I didn’t have a stove to cook them on. “You can buy one,” they told me.
Tuesday morning we left on a boat heading south along the coast to Puerto Barrios, described to us as “a toilet,” but the cheapest way to get out. It’s the port where the infamous railroads full of bananas led to back in the days when Chiquita Banana was trying to rule Guatemala. (If you’re interested in the coup that the U.S. CIA helped to facilitate of the democratically elected Guatemalan government in 1954, I suggest that you read Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala. Some other good books about Guatemala are The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? and I, Rigoberta Menchu.)
From there we went to Antigua for meetings, and more importantly, the Peace Corps 4th of July party. I have to say, it was the best 4th of July party I’ve ever been to … and it wasn’t the USA!
Volcan Pacaya: playing in lava
Saturday very well could be the highlight of my week. I finally went backpacking again. It’s been since OCTOBER! A group of us went to Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano near Antigua. It’s a pretty easy hike up, at least once you get through the children renting hiking sticks and the teenagers who have graduated from sticks to renting horses. We set up camp next to the lava field with a perfect view of the spewing cone. Once it was dark, we packed our bags with our dinners and plenty of marshmallows and set out for our trek across the lava. Maneuvering was a little difficult in the dark (even with headlamps), especially when we got to areas with hot flowing lava underneath the cool lava we were walking on top of. Some of us hiked up to a small cone that was somewhat active to check it out. However, once we made the ascent, it became more active! Perhaps it didn’t like us. (Here’s another near-death hiking story to add to my repertoire, even though I wasn’t in Yellowstone with Caleb.) It started shooting the lava closer to us. Then add in the sound of the escaping gas, it was enough to make me scurry back down to “safety.” After that, it was time to go to the river of lava to poke it with a stick. By this point, I had had enough of red hot lava and was content with waiting on the black, cool lava for marshmallows, but really, have you ever known me to refuse an adventure when other people are doing it? So I went, a bit freaked out, but it turned out to be amazing. If you were wondering, sticks don’t easily enter flowing lava. Although it’s moving, it’s still relatively solid. It takes a bit of force for the stick to break into it, and then pretty quickly it will catch on fire, just like it felt my shoes were going to do! After that, my adventure-bucket was filled to the brim and I was content to retire to the non-flowing, non-glowing lava and toast my tuna and roast my marshmallows, which were delicious. Eventually we made our way back to camp to relax around the campfire. (It was so refreshing to finally need a fire to stay warm.)
Camping on Pacaya was a perfect way to end the week, and exactly what I’ve been needing. I was ready to get back to site, though, after a long week away; however, I was not excited for the 10+ hour trip. But it’s worth it to live in Chahal!
Back to Chahal
In Chahal, I was back to work right away. Tuesday was the day I’ve been planning for a couple months to reforest with the school that I’m teaching in. I was a little nervous because I left all the final details for my counterpart to work out, but he was on top of it. I was quite impressed!
Sadly, all the trees in the tree nursery I made with my students died. I don’t think I have a green thumb, because also, most of my vegetables in my garden have died. Only the squash and cucumber have survived. However, I blame it on the hot days and the pounding rain at night, plus the dogs that hopped the fence. Anyway, even though all the trees died, we had reserves in the municipal tree nursery. We brought the trees to the school and walked with the kids to the reserve. The mayor and the school superintendent showed up, among other “important people.” Each said a few words (everything is a big production here) and then we planted our trees. It turned out well.
That was the highlight of my week, though. I felt like I had lost some ground in my relationships in the muni after being gone for so long, which made going to the office not much fun. Then, worst of all, I learned that a neighbor from my childhood (who was basically a grandmother to me) passed away. Things like that are hard anywhere, but especially when I’m away from my family and everyone who knew her, and alone here without anyone to get a real hug from. It made me wish I had a site mate. I was ready to get out of here for the weekend to go hang out with other volunteers, but at the last minute I decided to stay. It’s a long, expensive trip, especially after having just traveled. Being here in Chahal, though, was exactly what I needed. Saturday I went to a beautiful farm with part of my host family and brought home a fish to eat. That night there was a dance, and on Sunday the whole family came over to my house for a huge lunch and invited me to join them. Then, that evening, we all went and played basketball. It was a perfect weekend and now I’m back to being in love with my site!
Now I’m off again for Antigua for some training sessions. Sunday, though, I’m running my next half marathon! Wish me luck!
To put some images with the descriptions, check out my facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028411&l=68020&id=27500355
Vacation anyone?
We’ll start at a logical point: my little vacation at the end of June. Kelly, another volunteer in Guatemala, showed up in Chahal on Thursday afternoon. She was the first person to visit me here; it was fun to be able to show off my town to her. She was jealous, but I do have the picturesque Peace Corps site (although I am slightly biased). We took off early Friday morning, hoping the ominous bridge about an hour outside of town would not be flooded. Luckily, it didn’t rain cows (that’s the phrase here) the night before, so we made it to Rio Dulce (Sweet River).
Here in Chahal, obviously, we have a nice river, but Rio Dulce is a large body of water, which I have missed, especially since a year ago at this time I was going out on Yellowstone Lake daily.
Aguas Calientes: becoming one with the bats
In Rio Dulce we went on a little excursion to Aguas Calientes (hot waters). It’s a thermal spring that becomes a creek and then a waterfall which joins with a cold creek below. It was beautiful; I felt like I was back in Yellowstone … aww the smell of sulfur. Before we took our hot showers, we followed the cold creek upstream until it disappeared inside a cave. As I’m sure you can easily guess, I went inside. How could I not? The guide told me that about 200 meters inside I would find a large waterfall. I had never seen a waterfall inside of a cave, so off I went. Kelly, however, did not feel the inclination to join me and the guide stayed with her.
Alone. Thrilling. I swam in with my headlamp. Within about a minute there was no longer daylight streaming in and with every stroke it became louder and louder with the approaching waterfall. I want to be brave and say I wasn’t scared, but I admit, my heart was racing a bit. Swimming inside a deep, dark cave alone with a huge waterfall (not knowing if any dangers related to that lay ahead), and bats flying in front of my face trying to eat the insects before I inhaled them – yes, it made me a bit anxious, but that made the experience that much better. When I got to the waterfall, I climbed up the rocks and stood next to it. I did exercise enough good sense, though, to not swim in it – who knows what kind of undercurrent it has, or if there’s a secret cave below where half the water flows into and where I would spend the rest of my days treading water and eating bats. Not exactly my idea of a good time.
When I reemerged from the cave, we hiked back to Aguas Calientes and relaxed there for awhile. I set off to hike on my own to the spring. I had climbed up to the top of the waterfall when the guide got up from his log to accompany me. I shouted across the creek that I wanted to go alone, but he followed anyway because some other tourists were interested in going. I disappeared into the woods in front of them and took off running on another trail – I wanted some time alone in the woods. After a bit, I headed back and took the trail toward the spring; they were long gone. I took it all in, then worked my way back to the waterfall, where I noticed some tree like vines which were just incredible. They were woody and thick, and each one intricately wrapped itself all around multiple trees. It was difficult to follow them from the beginning to the end. Anyway, I climbed back down and Kelly told me that the guide had come back on a completely different trail because he had gone off looking for me! I should probably feel bad, but I don’t. I’m so tired of having to have guides here. I’m not used to being guided on hikes. I needed that escape; he’ll get over it.
Friday night we spent in Rio Dulce at a hostel right on the river, danced a bit, of course, then took off in the morning to Livingston which lies at the mouth of Rio Dulce on the Caribbean Coast. Finally in a boat again! It’s about a 2 hour boat ride, and gorgeous the whole way. There are a few scattered villages, but not much development. The broad river eventually narrows into a steep, narrow, breath-taking canyon, then widens again as it approaches the sea. Despite being soaked by the rain, it was beautiful.
Livingston: back on the water
In Livingston we experienced a bit of the Garifuna culture. Garifunas are black-latinos: escaped slaves that settled on the Caribbean coast throughout Central America. They have their own language and some awesome music and dancing.
On Sunday we hopped into a boat that took us up the coast to Siete Altares (7 Altars), the site of the first Tarzan film. It’s a sparkling blue waterfall in the jungle, but just a 15 minute hike from the beach. Despite the hoards of people, it was beautiful, and fun to jump off of! Then we continued in the boat up the coast to Playa Blanca (White Beach), where we relaxed in hammocks underneath coconut trees for the rest of the afternoon.
We stayed in Livingston until Tuesday, not doing much, just relaxing until we had to be in Antigua for meetings. On Monday, though, I walked up the beach to go back to Siete Altares; it was just that beautiful, and I needed more time alone in the woods. Along the way I met some little boys who were scooping up little crabs and clams in the sand. They were so excited to show me how many they had gathered up and offered to give me some, saying how delicious they were. I politely declined, telling them that I didn’t have a stove to cook them on. “You can buy one,” they told me.
Tuesday morning we left on a boat heading south along the coast to Puerto Barrios, described to us as “a toilet,” but the cheapest way to get out. It’s the port where the infamous railroads full of bananas led to back in the days when Chiquita Banana was trying to rule Guatemala. (If you’re interested in the coup that the U.S. CIA helped to facilitate of the democratically elected Guatemalan government in 1954, I suggest that you read Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala. Some other good books about Guatemala are The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? and I, Rigoberta Menchu.)
From there we went to Antigua for meetings, and more importantly, the Peace Corps 4th of July party. I have to say, it was the best 4th of July party I’ve ever been to … and it wasn’t the USA!
Volcan Pacaya: playing in lava
Saturday very well could be the highlight of my week. I finally went backpacking again. It’s been since OCTOBER! A group of us went to Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano near Antigua. It’s a pretty easy hike up, at least once you get through the children renting hiking sticks and the teenagers who have graduated from sticks to renting horses. We set up camp next to the lava field with a perfect view of the spewing cone. Once it was dark, we packed our bags with our dinners and plenty of marshmallows and set out for our trek across the lava. Maneuvering was a little difficult in the dark (even with headlamps), especially when we got to areas with hot flowing lava underneath the cool lava we were walking on top of. Some of us hiked up to a small cone that was somewhat active to check it out. However, once we made the ascent, it became more active! Perhaps it didn’t like us. (Here’s another near-death hiking story to add to my repertoire, even though I wasn’t in Yellowstone with Caleb.) It started shooting the lava closer to us. Then add in the sound of the escaping gas, it was enough to make me scurry back down to “safety.” After that, it was time to go to the river of lava to poke it with a stick. By this point, I had had enough of red hot lava and was content with waiting on the black, cool lava for marshmallows, but really, have you ever known me to refuse an adventure when other people are doing it? So I went, a bit freaked out, but it turned out to be amazing. If you were wondering, sticks don’t easily enter flowing lava. Although it’s moving, it’s still relatively solid. It takes a bit of force for the stick to break into it, and then pretty quickly it will catch on fire, just like it felt my shoes were going to do! After that, my adventure-bucket was filled to the brim and I was content to retire to the non-flowing, non-glowing lava and toast my tuna and roast my marshmallows, which were delicious. Eventually we made our way back to camp to relax around the campfire. (It was so refreshing to finally need a fire to stay warm.)
Camping on Pacaya was a perfect way to end the week, and exactly what I’ve been needing. I was ready to get back to site, though, after a long week away; however, I was not excited for the 10+ hour trip. But it’s worth it to live in Chahal!
Back to Chahal
In Chahal, I was back to work right away. Tuesday was the day I’ve been planning for a couple months to reforest with the school that I’m teaching in. I was a little nervous because I left all the final details for my counterpart to work out, but he was on top of it. I was quite impressed!
Sadly, all the trees in the tree nursery I made with my students died. I don’t think I have a green thumb, because also, most of my vegetables in my garden have died. Only the squash and cucumber have survived. However, I blame it on the hot days and the pounding rain at night, plus the dogs that hopped the fence. Anyway, even though all the trees died, we had reserves in the municipal tree nursery. We brought the trees to the school and walked with the kids to the reserve. The mayor and the school superintendent showed up, among other “important people.” Each said a few words (everything is a big production here) and then we planted our trees. It turned out well.
That was the highlight of my week, though. I felt like I had lost some ground in my relationships in the muni after being gone for so long, which made going to the office not much fun. Then, worst of all, I learned that a neighbor from my childhood (who was basically a grandmother to me) passed away. Things like that are hard anywhere, but especially when I’m away from my family and everyone who knew her, and alone here without anyone to get a real hug from. It made me wish I had a site mate. I was ready to get out of here for the weekend to go hang out with other volunteers, but at the last minute I decided to stay. It’s a long, expensive trip, especially after having just traveled. Being here in Chahal, though, was exactly what I needed. Saturday I went to a beautiful farm with part of my host family and brought home a fish to eat. That night there was a dance, and on Sunday the whole family came over to my house for a huge lunch and invited me to join them. Then, that evening, we all went and played basketball. It was a perfect weekend and now I’m back to being in love with my site!
Now I’m off again for Antigua for some training sessions. Sunday, though, I’m running my next half marathon! Wish me luck!
To put some images with the descriptions, check out my facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028411&l=68020&id=27500355
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