Well were in Peten now and so much has happened over the last few days, it´s been a long journey to where we are. After we ate a bunch of fatty fair food in Xela and lounged in the gorgeous thermal pools, we heading north past Huehuetenango to Todos Santos, which was awesome. I was a bit sick, but it was a cool spot. People here were very poor and yet very friendly and the kids just wanted to play. I played a lot of marbles and we meet a lot of little kids that wanted to practice their spanish with us. For the majority of kids in this town schooling stops after grade 6. in fact there is no high school about at all and people have to go to a different town for any more education, which just doesn´t really happen.
All the girls is this town leave to weave and start at about age 10. If they don´t learn to weave how can they become good mothers and wives, because they cant make clothes for their families?! Don´t worry about algebra, but these women really can weave and make amazing clothes. the mean mostly wear the traditional clothes as well and it is a great site to see. the town was great and we bought a few little pieces of fabric to remember the place by. I wasn´t feeling the best so i left meagan to make the decisions and it took her nearly 4 hours. I know her family out there can understand.
After Todos Santos we cruised through amazing scenery in no less than 5 different vehicles over about 12 hours to reach Coban. Coban sucks. it´s weird and it sucks. But we headed to the great tourist destination of Semuc Champey and it was amazing. We stayed close to the park and got up early to have the park to ourselves and about 2 others for a couple of hours before the masses arrived. It was awesome. I loved it.
Semuc Champey is a huge limestone bridge formed into swimming pools as a fast flowing river is subducted below the bridge leaving a smaller amout of water to trickle through the pools and provide people with an awesome place to swim. You really do feel like a big kid just swimming and diving and climbing from pool to pool and lounging and letting fish nibble on your toes before trying to dive about and catch some bigger ones. I LOVED this place it was awesome. The whole time i couldnt stop thinking about how many of ýou out there wold be loving this as well.
Today we are going to head over to San Andres (we´re staying in Flores) to see the place meagan lived last year as we wait and hang out for the arrival of.... Cap´n Scotty Boy Cincotta himself! He´s left his boat and been traveling in our wake for a while in Guatemala and we wanna catch up so hopefully we´ll see him soon.
Well i hope everyone is well, we´ll be traveling to tikal soon and be sure to make a sacrifice for my sisters and travis´s birthday. We´ll make a sacrifice to the God of the 30 yr olds for you travis and hope we don´t need a goat or something. Bub´s I´ll try and see if i can get a beer or two for you on me at knoppies, that´s a lot better than turning 30. ONLY joking travis, i´m not that far away.
Take care all
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Xela- the big city
M: Arriving here was just as I remember which actually helped. We made it to the town center and found a brand new hotel. Today we went to Zunil and Fuentes Georginas pictures are coming soon but we are having trouble with USB ports. It was market day in Zunil and the women were decked out. Most of the vendors were women and their children as well were in impressive dress. Intricate hupils, cortes, and headress... I couldn´t keep my eyes off of them.
C: so we went and bought a hupil that we will now be lugging around for 6 months but it is pretty cool. the women really did look awesome.
Here in xela, there seems to be some sort of fairia on with all the usual bad rides and food of fairs or shows in the western world, but guatemalan style. The ferris wheel was hand operated and the food is everything from churros to typical guatemalan fare and we will be indulging again tonight. They is also this really weird, but cool, custom here were people break egg shells filled with confetti stuff on your head. It only happens near the end of February. So we bought some and some little kids smashed them on my head.
M: The hot springs of Fuentes Georginas are surrounded by lush temperate forest and the pool was quiet and relaxing. Wendy knows what I´m talkin´about. We spent the day reading and bathing in the hot hot hot mineral water. The man who promised to pick us up from the spot atop a winding 8 km road surrounded by patchwork fields was late so we started walking. Luckily for us we came a across another pick up who took us back down for half price. That man´s karma just skyrocketed. Tomorrow we are planning on heading north away from the cities on our 150 km 3 day bus trip across the highlands... the road less traveled. First stop we hope is Todos Santos Cuchumante and then 3 other towns until we pick back up in Coban on the more popular road. We are looking forward to the adventure and we will give an update when we reach the city. Cuidate mucho y hasta pronto.
C: so we went and bought a hupil that we will now be lugging around for 6 months but it is pretty cool. the women really did look awesome.
Here in xela, there seems to be some sort of fairia on with all the usual bad rides and food of fairs or shows in the western world, but guatemalan style. The ferris wheel was hand operated and the food is everything from churros to typical guatemalan fare and we will be indulging again tonight. They is also this really weird, but cool, custom here were people break egg shells filled with confetti stuff on your head. It only happens near the end of February. So we bought some and some little kids smashed them on my head.
M: The hot springs of Fuentes Georginas are surrounded by lush temperate forest and the pool was quiet and relaxing. Wendy knows what I´m talkin´about. We spent the day reading and bathing in the hot hot hot mineral water. The man who promised to pick us up from the spot atop a winding 8 km road surrounded by patchwork fields was late so we started walking. Luckily for us we came a across another pick up who took us back down for half price. That man´s karma just skyrocketed. Tomorrow we are planning on heading north away from the cities on our 150 km 3 day bus trip across the highlands... the road less traveled. First stop we hope is Todos Santos Cuchumante and then 3 other towns until we pick back up in Coban on the more popular road. We are looking forward to the adventure and we will give an update when we reach the city. Cuidate mucho y hasta pronto.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Solo Espanol
Nosotros hemos estado aqui en San Pedro por casi un mes. Voy a estar un poco triste porque hay muchas personas buenas aqui. La escuela de espanol ha sido excelente. Yo he aprendido mucho, pero tengo que aprender mas. Necesito practicar con muchas personas y quiero tomar mas clases de espanol.
Los ultimos dias han sido grandiosos, Meagan y yo subimos el volcan San Pedro con otros estudiantes y algunas maestros. La vista para amanecer fue increible. En la noche hubo una pequena fiesta. Muchos rones baratos y hombres con machetes. Sin duda es un punto culminante del viaje hasta el momento.
Adios todos,
Courtney
Los ultimos dias han sido grandiosos, Meagan y yo subimos el volcan San Pedro con otros estudiantes y algunas maestros. La vista para amanecer fue increible. En la noche hubo una pequena fiesta. Muchos rones baratos y hombres con machetes. Sin duda es un punto culminante del viaje hasta el momento.
Adios todos,
Courtney
Friday, February 9, 2007
Unbelievable Guatemalans
C: Todas los dias yo digo "Mira a que hombre!, Mira a que chica!"
and everyone laughs because i can{t speak spanish properly (or escribe it for that matter). but i have to try to speak more, the whole writing thing is hard but i am practicing that lots, i have at least 3 hours of home work every day on top of my 4-5 hours of study. I{m super impressed with meagan though, she seems to be able to get us out of any problem and can usually help me with whatever word or verb i don{t know.
Pero, i am more impressed with the everyday lives of the people here. We went to a market today in another lake town, Santiago. It was really cool, lots of bright colours and i can not get over the amount of work that goes into making the traditional dress they all wear. The Hupil (sp?) are first hand woven and then some little ol lady goes and handstiches a bunch of amazing intricate designs - birds, flowers, food - it{s really cool. i{d have a photo of them but the little ol ladies get grumpy if you take too many snaps. Rightfully so, i{d get pissed if someone was taking me as a tourist attraction... and boy did we meet some ugly tour group in the market.
M: I´m sure as individuals there were some lovely people but as a long procession of pushy, overheated, and way out of their comfort zone of elegance they were nasty. Courtney and I treated our Spanish teacher to a morning out after 3 weeks of lessons. We took the hour long lancha ride around Volcan San Pedro passing terraced lake front fields and enjoying a tranquillo ride. Luckily the lake was calm and we sat on the tippy top. The fields of maize, frijoles, cebollas and coffee are watered using a petrol powered pump and hose. We often go for early morning jogs at dawn along the path we pass men carring the pumps strapped tied to a leather strap that they place across their foreheads. It must weigh at least 50 some odd pounds. The woman we pass are mostly carrying corn soaked with lime en route to the machines that grind it into masa for the staple tortillas. In one the few areas left you still see men wearing the traditional pants which they keep amazingly white. Anyhow back to the market. We wondered snacked on the local fruits, atol, and tostadas, learned about the traditional dress and bought a cookin´spoon for our camp stove. Yesterday we visited an all organic coffee farm for one of its first "tours"
C: I learned a lot and yet i didn{t really understand a thing. well.... i understood a bit but meagan will no doubt tell me more over the next few days. it was really cool though and it was a real grass roots program. it was just meagan and i and the director of the museum we had visited and his cousin, who just happened to be the owner of the farm. it was great and it cost less than $3 each for over 2 hours! we might do another tour or two later on this week. oh yeah meagan decided we are going to stay for another week, and my spanish will be all the better for it. she will no doubt learn even more about how to get me out of trouble when i fumble my illiterate way into it.
When we were at the farm we saw guys carry huge bundles of coffee on there backs using the head thing meagan talked about. one guy in one day picked over 140 lbs in one day. the people here amaze me. Young, young children (tommy kern would have a solid year of work experience under his belt by now if he lived by the lake); old, old people and everyone in between is either carrying huge bundles of stuff either on their heads (women) or with their heads and backs (men and kids). Just when i think i{ve seen the biggest bundle on a person i see something else. It wouldn{t be so bad if the people weren{t so short. I feel massive around here. in fact i am, and people are carrying things well over twice the size of me. it{s unbelievable. no talk of ergonomic backpacks for kiddies, people that would be quietly enjoying retirement in our lovely first world nations are carrying nearly twice their own body mass in corn husks to feed the horses.
Yet through what we may perceive as hardship flourish a people so happy and beautiful and proud. at the market today a guy was walking/ultramarathon shuffling back and forth with humungous bundles of produce on his back. He was sweating and looked tired and then as soon as he saw my jaw drop and his work ethic he started to laugh and joke and even tickled me on his way. he was a very cool human being.
M: Una semana mas we have been saying for 4 weeks now. I can´t belive it has been a month. I find myself thinking that we don´t have enough time for all we want to do. I realize that there is no need to worry and I should just keep living in the moment and we will have all the amazing experiences we are meant to have. It has been nice to connect with the people here and we have stayed far away from any real tourist activity. This week I am going to have a reunion with my wonderful teacher Letty whom I studied with last year. She taught me a lot and welcomed me into her life and family. Kenny you will be happy to know that your beloved Rosalia and Bartolo (Wendy´s teacher last year and now Courtney´s) are a hot item. Laurie your teacher is still at the school but his outfits are more cheery and he has a little boy. Enrique is still shakin´his booty at salsa lessons. Thats all for now hope everyone out there is safe as houses, happy as a pig in shit, and smiling heaps. much love.
and everyone laughs because i can{t speak spanish properly (or escribe it for that matter). but i have to try to speak more, the whole writing thing is hard but i am practicing that lots, i have at least 3 hours of home work every day on top of my 4-5 hours of study. I{m super impressed with meagan though, she seems to be able to get us out of any problem and can usually help me with whatever word or verb i don{t know.
Pero, i am more impressed with the everyday lives of the people here. We went to a market today in another lake town, Santiago. It was really cool, lots of bright colours and i can not get over the amount of work that goes into making the traditional dress they all wear. The Hupil (sp?) are first hand woven and then some little ol lady goes and handstiches a bunch of amazing intricate designs - birds, flowers, food - it{s really cool. i{d have a photo of them but the little ol ladies get grumpy if you take too many snaps. Rightfully so, i{d get pissed if someone was taking me as a tourist attraction... and boy did we meet some ugly tour group in the market.
M: I´m sure as individuals there were some lovely people but as a long procession of pushy, overheated, and way out of their comfort zone of elegance they were nasty. Courtney and I treated our Spanish teacher to a morning out after 3 weeks of lessons. We took the hour long lancha ride around Volcan San Pedro passing terraced lake front fields and enjoying a tranquillo ride. Luckily the lake was calm and we sat on the tippy top. The fields of maize, frijoles, cebollas and coffee are watered using a petrol powered pump and hose. We often go for early morning jogs at dawn along the path we pass men carring the pumps strapped tied to a leather strap that they place across their foreheads. It must weigh at least 50 some odd pounds. The woman we pass are mostly carrying corn soaked with lime en route to the machines that grind it into masa for the staple tortillas. In one the few areas left you still see men wearing the traditional pants which they keep amazingly white. Anyhow back to the market. We wondered snacked on the local fruits, atol, and tostadas, learned about the traditional dress and bought a cookin´spoon for our camp stove. Yesterday we visited an all organic coffee farm for one of its first "tours"
C: I learned a lot and yet i didn{t really understand a thing. well.... i understood a bit but meagan will no doubt tell me more over the next few days. it was really cool though and it was a real grass roots program. it was just meagan and i and the director of the museum we had visited and his cousin, who just happened to be the owner of the farm. it was great and it cost less than $3 each for over 2 hours! we might do another tour or two later on this week. oh yeah meagan decided we are going to stay for another week, and my spanish will be all the better for it. she will no doubt learn even more about how to get me out of trouble when i fumble my illiterate way into it.
When we were at the farm we saw guys carry huge bundles of coffee on there backs using the head thing meagan talked about. one guy in one day picked over 140 lbs in one day. the people here amaze me. Young, young children (tommy kern would have a solid year of work experience under his belt by now if he lived by the lake); old, old people and everyone in between is either carrying huge bundles of stuff either on their heads (women) or with their heads and backs (men and kids). Just when i think i{ve seen the biggest bundle on a person i see something else. It wouldn{t be so bad if the people weren{t so short. I feel massive around here. in fact i am, and people are carrying things well over twice the size of me. it{s unbelievable. no talk of ergonomic backpacks for kiddies, people that would be quietly enjoying retirement in our lovely first world nations are carrying nearly twice their own body mass in corn husks to feed the horses.
Yet through what we may perceive as hardship flourish a people so happy and beautiful and proud. at the market today a guy was walking/ultramarathon shuffling back and forth with humungous bundles of produce on his back. He was sweating and looked tired and then as soon as he saw my jaw drop and his work ethic he started to laugh and joke and even tickled me on his way. he was a very cool human being.
M: Una semana mas we have been saying for 4 weeks now. I can´t belive it has been a month. I find myself thinking that we don´t have enough time for all we want to do. I realize that there is no need to worry and I should just keep living in the moment and we will have all the amazing experiences we are meant to have. It has been nice to connect with the people here and we have stayed far away from any real tourist activity. This week I am going to have a reunion with my wonderful teacher Letty whom I studied with last year. She taught me a lot and welcomed me into her life and family. Kenny you will be happy to know that your beloved Rosalia and Bartolo (Wendy´s teacher last year and now Courtney´s) are a hot item. Laurie your teacher is still at the school but his outfits are more cheery and he has a little boy. Enrique is still shakin´his booty at salsa lessons. Thats all for now hope everyone out there is safe as houses, happy as a pig in shit, and smiling heaps. much love.
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