Off the beaten path

(These are pictures of the main square in Santa Ana. Because I was sick most of the time, this is about all of Santa Ana that I saw. At least that was pretty.)

Confident with our Spanish and anxious for a little adventure, we decided to go from Monterrico to El Salvador using the public bus system. We also realized that not many tourist buses went to the boarder, so it was really our only option. Surprisingly, the chicken buses (old schools buses decked out with Jesus paraphernalia and techno music) were not terribly crowded and even a tiny bit more comfortable than the crappy minivans that are considered tourist buses. The locals were always very helpful and would help us flag down the right bus to wherever we wanted to go. However, we did end up having to take 1 boat, and 2 buses to reach the boarder, then walk about 1K across the boarder, and then take another 2 buses to our final destination of Apaneca. We just about randomly chose this small mountain town because our travel books remarked highly of this ¨very pleasant¨ mountain town in the middle of the ruta de los flores (route of the flowers). When we reached there, we had arrived in a VERY small, somewhat empty town with no banks, restaurants, tourists or street signs-- a big difference from everywhere we went in Guatemala. Eventually, we found a nice hotel (basically a house with rooms for rent in the back) and ate at the local Pupusaria (kind of like a thick corn tortilla filled with cheses, beans, or meat). Unfortunately, later that night I (Shana) felt the affects of not having any gringo friendly food.

The next day we headed onward to the 2nd largest city in El Salvador, the ¨Queen of the West¨, Santa Ana. I was expecting a cute, clean, touristy town like Antigua, but not in El Salvador. Although Santa Ana is larger with a very beautiful Cathedral and Municipal Theater, it is still void of any gringos. Unlike Guatemala, there is no obvious indigenous influence and everything seems a bit poorer. Unfortunately, I´m still sick (probably from the pupusaria), so I´m spending most of my time in bed enjoying our first cable television of the trip. Thank goodness the Food Network is in English! Greg is taking very good care of me, running to the (Walmart owned) local grocery store for Gaterade of Ritz crackers and has even agreed to go to the Mall to see Sex and the City with me (we hope its in English).

If I´m all better by tomorrow, we´re going to head north to Honduras to Copan where we expect to see some awesome Mayan ruins (and probably some gringos again).

Antigua, liquid hot lava, and Monterrico

Antigua is a lot like the Disneyland version of Guatemala. I think the people who made Epcot Center must have visited Antigua. The town is very quaint, with cobble stone streets, and dozens of beautiful old churches. Most of the churches are now in ruins (once the Spanish colonists left there weren´t enough people or money to keep them up), but the ruins are still beautiful. The tourist police make sure there little to no crime and it´s pretty easy to ¨experience¨ Guatemala by sipping a banana licuado in a garden court yard.

The biggest highlight of Antigua (and possible the whole trip) was visiting the Volcano Pacaya. We successfully made it to the top of this one (luckily only a 1.5 hour hike uphill) to GREAT rewards. Pacaya is an active volcano that spurts liquid hot lava all the time. And, since there are no saftey precausions in Guatemala, they let us walk right up to the liquid hot lava and poke it with sticks. The motlen rock is actually mushy and of course lights the wooden sticks on fire instantly. We walked on lava fields that felt hot because of the hot lava running beneath it. 2 girls even fried some egges over the hot lava. The pictures and videos really say it all, but it is surreal to see hot molten rock flowing down the mountain about 10 ft away from you. It was a good thing we wore good hiking shoes since we could even feel the heat through those.

Next, we decided to heat to the southern coast to Monterrico. This is where Guatamalas from the capital often spend the weekend to get away from the big city. And, man, it was definitely away. Monterrico consisted of 1 main street lined with a few tiendas (small curb side shops) and comedors (local diners) and a strip of mostly empty hotels. We stayed at a nice place on the beach with lots of hammocks for about $10 a night. The ocean water was very warm, but the waves were crazy big. The undertowe was killer (literally, we were warned), so you couldn´t go swimming much in the ocean. So, we spend a few days just hanging out by the pool and reading in the hammocks. We probably would have stayed longer, but the constant heat both day and night (without airconditioning) and swarm of mosquitos at night became pretty exhausting. We did take a great tour of the mangroves which survive in a mix of fresh water and salt water. They reminded us a lot of the bayous of Louisiana-- although these smelt like rotten eggs because of the decaying mangrove leaves. After all this relaxation we decided to hit the road, local style, and try our hand at travelling by chicken bus....

Lago de Atitlan

hola,

despues de terminar con nuestra tercera semana de escuela, fuimos al Lago de Atitlan con un grupo de estudiantes. (Sorry for showing off... Is it still showing off if there are several spelling mistakes?) As I said, Shana and I finished our third week of classes, and headed for the Lago de Atitlan (altitude, 4500 ft) with our friends from school. We all spent the night in San Marcos, and tiny town with a few nice hotels and famous for its holistic center. The most noteworthy thing that happened in San Marcos, other than my (Greg) multi-colored vomit (the ride here was interesting) was the traditional Mayan religious ceremony we were invited to. The ceremony was in honor of our host at the hotel, Terry, a native of Gloucester, MA, and 16 year resident of San Marcos, whose birthday was on that day. The ceremony was ... eh ... unique. We´re certainly glad we got to witness it, especially as outsiders aren´t often welcome. Other highlights in San Marcos included the sauna, the sight of Terry´s home (the coolest tree house I have ever seen), and the realization that our teachers, Luis, Jairo, and Carlos, routinely enjoy a game of Kings (though they call it El Cerclo de la Muerte). A certain answer of theirs to ¨never have I ever¨ would also qualify as a highlight, but as I don´t want Olga (the school director) on their backs, I shall not reveal it. To those who were there ... you know which one I´m talking about.

The next day, we said goodbye to all the Sakribal School people (tear) who were going back to Xela. Shana and I had decided not to return, but instead to begin our roaming phase. We caught a ferry to San Pedro, another town on the lake. This is a larger, and much more touristy town. It was filled with Gringo bars and backpackers hostels. It was also dirt cheap. Our hotel room there, with a beautiful view on the lake, a hammock out front, and a private bathroom, was $8 dollars a night ... and was definitely no where near the cheapest in town. We spent 3 nights in San Pedro, enjoying kayaking and swimming on the lake, hiking up the Volcan San Pedro (altitude 9000 ft) (this was a 6 hour hike that ABSOLUTELY KICKED OUR ASS), getting 75 minute massages for $10 (Shana, not me), and enjoying cheap food and 4o cent rum and cokes. That´s right James, 40 cent cocktails. Get your ass down here. I really liked this town, and met some great people.

After San Pedro, we´re saying goodbye to the Lago de Atitlan, and taking a 3 hour bus to Antigua, the former colonial capital of Central America.

Until next time,

Greg

Xela, Continued

Hey Y´all,

Shana and I are still in Xela (formally known as Quetzaltenango). We´re having a fantastic time, and learning Spanish quite fast. Just don´t ask to conjugate verbs in ¨Vosotros¨ because they use that person here. We´re able to understand almost everything (as long as people don´t talk ridiculously fast), and can converse pretty well too.

We´ve seen and done some really interesting things. Last Saturday, some of us students organized a trip to a cooperative ¨Finca¨(Coffee plantation), founded and operated by former Guerillas from Guatemala´s civil war against the military dictatorship that sprang up after the CIA aided coup (yes, our US guilt was high for a while). We were told about the history of the civil war and of the Guerilla organizations, about the eventual peace treaty, about the current political and economical conditions in the country. The operators also explained to us, in detail, the process of producing coffee. We were also led on a grulling, yet gorgeous hike of the plantation. Finally, we met a group of cool Tufts students who were spending time at the plantation as part of a program to study sustainable development (though at approximately $500 per year per family in coffee revenue, does the word ¨sustainable¨really apply).

On Sunday, Shana and I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity for a day in one of the poorer neighbourhoods of Xela. There were about six volunteers there, of which we were the only foreigners, and the eventual owner. We spent about 4 hours, almost without breaks, making and laying concrete on the roof of the one family home (which, when finished, will be only slightly larger than my bedroom in DC). Shana and I shared the responsibility of lifting the buckets of concrete to the roof (and yes, I´m still sore). I was very impressed with the intensity of the people working there. It seemed like every man there (Shana was the only girl there and more than held her own, both of which impressed the guys there) was building his own home.

Last Friday, we celebrate my birthday. Fortunately, Fridays are when schoolwide potluck dinners take place, so I had a pre-made party. The week before, the teachers made traditional Guatemaltecan food, so this week the students made traditional American meals. I made my baked mac-n-cheese, and Shana made b-day cake. We then went to a club to dance salsa (we had taken a couple of lessons, and have gotten pretty good). Also, as a little b-day treat, I played a game of pool and hit a shot (a jump shot to drop a ball at a tight angle three feet from the hole) that I will NEVER stop talking about. Ok, I´m done showing off.

If the weather allows it, we´re going to travel with a few students and a couple of teachers (Carlos and Jairo ... the female teachers don´t really come out for reasons, for societal reasons) to the Lago de Atitlan. From there, we will most likely travel to Antigua, then Monterico (on the Pacific coast), and then who knows. The tentative plan is to travel through El Salvador and then up to the Atlantic coast of Honduras, and to that country´s Bay Islands. We´ll keep you updated.

Hope everything are going well state side (or in the UK, Germany, or wherever you are).
(Pictures to be posted at a later date).