Full moon volcano hike

Wow, Its been an exciting last couple of days...

On Saturday, a group from the school went to Xocomil, a very nice tropical waterpark
set in a warm humid jungle area...We played around all day on slides lazy rivers, played
volleyball and had a nice taste away from the typical cold Xela Climate..

Bad luck struck when I put my smelly sandals in the lockerroom because they smelled
too much to put in my locker...Thats what I did wrong...I went back later to get my sandals
and too my surprise, my sandals and dirty socks were gone. I think it was probably the workers who took them because they seemed upset when I asked them for help or a lost and found..
Oh weell...A friend borrowed me her flip flops till I made it to the market the next day
and got a pair of local handicraft sandals.

Tuesday night me and 18 other people went on a full moon volcano hike that goes up to
12,000 ft abaove sea level...We left at 11pm and I went with the slow group and we all stayed
together and walked slowly with lots of breaks because of the high altitude and steepness of terrain..We had very nice views of the city when there was breaks in the forest...
We arrived at the top at like 5.45am, just a little before sunrise...
2 other volcanoes were blowing there top and and you could see the most amazing 360 degree
view of the mtns., pacific ocean, and like 6 other massive volcanoes....When the sun came up and started to shed its light it made an unforgettable picture in my mind, one I cant share cause
I am without my camera. We hung around and just admired the natural beauty of Guatemala and then we came back down at 11am...It was good because we were like a family sticking together where you stay and work together and make sure everyone is feeling fine enough
to continue and we all made it up, some made it easier and some harder..But we got there together..VOLCANO SANTA MARIA, XELA GUATEMALA

2nd week in Xela

Ive just finished my 2nd week of lessons and my Spanish is getting a little better..This last week I was real busy with school and other activities..I am taking classes from 8-1pm every day.After that we eat a simple lunch with a family and I usually go for a walk with some other students into the countryside for 3 hrs or so until it gets dark and cold, we usually stop by a sweet little restaurant overlooking the city where we get some fresh tea or licuados and they have the best hot tea,chai,or cidar around here....
They even have a traditional adobe steam room which really hits the spot for me, its small adobe and block with 2 candles inside and a brick fireplace with a vent so the smoke is vented out and the bricks are super hot and you just throw water on them..
I also have been going to the hot baths which are volcanic steam which is great for the skin and throat. There is a big hole in the ground where boiling sulfuric water comes out and it is piped into the baths and is like 104 F or so...

This morning I hiked with a fbelgium friend koen for 2 hrs to another rustic steam sauna where volcanic steam just comes out of the ground and they build a rock and cementroom around it...Its so hot you can only stay in the room for a few minutes then you have to get in the cold shower to prevent passing out...Very Coool...

Spanish in Guetamala

I have just started my second week of Spanish classes at Celas Maya....They are very good at teaching spanish and am meeting lots of cool people from all over the world who are fun to hang out with, so thats definitely a big plus...Especially since I have spent most of my time with adults working hard and not with people my age.. But that time is just as good, just a little different now.. My Spanish is getting a little better but I have some horrible habits which I cannot break because my spanish was from the local people in the mnts. who I have been working with....

This weekend me and 5 others went to the most gorgeous volcanic lake known to man...Atleast to me!!! Its a crater lake that is big and surrounded by mtns. and volcanoes on all sides and is like a piece of heaven. Pieces of corn land mixed with forest and coffee farms..

We went on an awesome horse back trip into the countryside where the excellant coffee is grown and the locals still speak there language and also where there beautiful indigenous clothing is still worn.....The horse back tour was the highlight of the weekend...It was great because we got to gallop in the flats and walk in the mountainous area and the views were incredible with an amazing sunset casting shadows of light upon the mtns and water in different places which made everything come alive.. It was a photographers dream but for me its only in my head, so youll just have to go and see it yourself.
Lake Atitlan is a must for anyone visiting Guetamala.....

This is a fascinating place with wonderful locals and lots of travelers volunteering, studying, talking politics, visiting lots of natural wonders and much more.
This country contains bountiful human resources and also great natural resources in their land. The people are absolutely wonderful here and everyone has been great to me.

on the road again..guatemala

Ya, I just arrived in Xela Guetamala about an hour ago....

Now, going back to Jan 5 at Casa Hogar there was a massive 3 kings day party...
It started when 100 people took over the Mcdonalds for a party and lunch in the playroom..
Then they rented all kinds of flotable circus toys for the kids to bounce on and have a good time..It was awesome!!!!!
Simply Smiles donated a DVD player with 6 ft projection screen and they installed it in the kitchen where everyone watched Scooby Doo and ate traditional bread....
I stayed around a few more days with and also finished painting the room that I tried to drywall... Doesnt look bad for a beginner though!!
The following night I took the overnight bus to San Cristobal Chiapas where I got reunited with my favorite colonial Mexican city. I took a horse back ride to a local village and almost lost my leg and my horse to do a nasty full speed spill when my horse slipped coming around a corner too fast. I was pretty cut up and my horse was really banged up with blood and cuts.. I had to continue to ride him slowly through the pine forested mtn. trail and was scared he was going to fall again because of his constant limp and barely catching himself before falling. Im still feeling it and am pretty stiff in back and knees.
The next morning I started my adventure to Guatemala solo, leaving chiapas at 6 am after a long night of no sleep because I was worried I would miss my bus....I got on the bus and there was only 2 australians going to the border and one of the girls was going to the same city as me, so we felt a little safer traveling together and it made the boring and rough chicken bus rides a little better...
We arrived to out city, Xela around 4 pm and I got lost looking for a Hotel, and accidentely ran into a spanish school,,, the Aussie girl had previous reservations there and I asked and they said they school was full , so I left, then a worker came and said we can fit you and and she called a local family and I am now living with this family and eating with them too.. Its was awesome how it all worked out because I had no plans or anything and it worked out better than I could ever have imagined...
On the bus ride we were ripped off the money collector, then we got into an accident and sideswiped another van and we got all dented up and there was a long argument about who was at fault.... So I m real thankful I arrived happily in one piece.
Im tired, very stiff from horse accident and have classes tomorrow so I better get going.

La Bethanie for New Years

After Xmas,
I went to the Huatulco beach town to return a key to a missionary, one that I accidently forgot to bring back.. I was sitting in the theatre watching Oceans 12 when a big Earthquake shook the place and everyone went running... No problems though!!!
I took the overnight bus back to Oaxaca where I met up with Juan Carlos at Casa Hogar and we went to La Bethanie for the New Year...
Another overnight bus that goes from dry Oaxaca to Cloud Forest and then into tropical Lowlands which are lush and producing bountiful harvests of sugarcane, corn, lemons, oranges and about anything else, and a lot of cattle ranches..
Elec, who is now the only Dr. in this farming town of 3,000 people, was going to be letting us stay at his parents house.. He had patients coming in at all times of day and night with sicknesses and large cuts from cutting sugarcane fields with machetes after they burned them, and treating poisonouse snake bites, Dengue Fever, etc.. And this was his vacation...
We did get a nice trip into the fields and outlying areas which are full of springs, caves, and abundant vegetation...The entire coastal area has been deforested and planted with crops..An older lady said when she moved here there 4 families in 1946... She said everything was rainforest with large trees, monkeys, abundance of wild fruits, nuts and animals to give them there fill... The government deemed the land good for sugar cane and land was divided to whoever cultivated it, so everthing was cultivated and still is today...
On New Years we had a town soccer match in which I can not play but somehow my time still ended up winning...Yeh!! Then they had a 3 hour church service till midnight and it was so full we were sitting on the sidewalk outside by the street.. It is a very conservative christian town and only the family members who left for the US came back and drank alot, but the locals drink very little and it is prohibited by local coucil to have a bar...
We went into the neighboring state of veracruz and bought 33 lbs. of beef for 3 days and 8 people. We ate beef 3 times a day, lots of fruit and vegetables... This is by far the best food I have aten with any Mexican families or even restaurants for that matter. They also raise freshwater bass as a business in a pond with a natural spring next to it..
I don´t have space for everything but we had a great time and when we had to come home all the good buses were sold out, so we got stuck taken the 3rd class retired US school to take us back to Oaxaca...It was alright though, except for all the swithbacks in the mtns. and very cold weather at 10,000 ft....
Im now back at Casa Hogar doing some painting on a new addition before I leave for Chiapas.