I was not aware that there was a waterpark 45 minutes away from Xela by Chickenbus.
Holy Skipping Out on Class, Batman!
Really quick post here... still in Xela--- can't seem to get myself to leave... was originally going to post out of here on Sunday, but I reckon I'll be staying for a couple days more. I think I'll continue my lessons until Wednesday, then to Antigua on Thursday to hike Pacaya ... hopefully the same day. Then off to Coban and Semuc Champey! I want to post pictures, but every time I hook my camera up to a computer it seems to make all mechanics involved shake violently. Quite honestly, I haven't been taking that many anyway.. going to school is pretty yawn-inducing, and I doubt any of you care very much.
I'll write again after my weekend trip to Chichicastenango (MAD shopping). Love---
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Food Poisoning. Episode 1
Don't worry... I don't plan on going into detail. Not because I have any heart and would want to spare you the horror... but because I was out of consciousness most of the time and can't remember most of it.
Wednesday at some point, I ate a sandwich with "cheese". Mistake #1. I followed this up with much too much of a questionable tea-like substance. Mistake #2. I then overobligated myself throughout the day with much too many things which were much to far away from any conceivable bathroom area. Mistake #3. Oh, the twisted cosmo of mistakes.
I'll keep it short and just state that I will never... ever go travelling without a hearty supply of trash bags again. I missed about 48 hours of waking life, not to mention all of my lessons and volunteer obligations at the center.
Anyway, happily, my friend Spencer from Berkeley came to meet me on Friday (when I was feeling a bit better) and has been kindly helping me get back on my feet these last couple days... at least up until HE got food poisoning last night. Oh, Guatemala.
On a slightly happier note, I took charge of my first Saturday off school and went to Zunil and Fuentes Georginas in my first combination of chicken buses (old American school buses painted to look gangsta, and filled to the point of bursting with both people and the chickens they carry along with them) and collectivos (pick up trucks that pack as many people as they can into the bed) and had a marvelous time. In Zunil, they have this thing called "Maximo" (also ca
lled San Simon, and likened to Judas on many occasions)... a creepy stuffed doll that wears sunglasses and a sombrero and is supposed to be the god of debauchery. You'd think he'd be fun and interesting to look at, but really, he just scared my pants off. I refused to go inside.
We really only spent a little bit of time there before heading to Fuentes Georginas to swim in the hot springs. The hot springs are fed by sulfur vents in the volcano, and therefore smell like poo (in some spots). The guidebook doesn't tell you that. They're also suffocatingly hot, and after about 5 minutes or so of swimming around, you have to hop out and dance around on the pavement for a bit to cool off. I spent most of my time hanging out on a rock and drinking a beer. The American Way.
Overall, I'm doing well. I have to say I wasn't doing so well a few days ago when all I did was watch the ceiling spin and wish that someone, anyone knew I was dying alone in a grimy hostel room by myself.... but we all have our humbling moments.
Wednesday at some point, I ate a sandwich with "cheese". Mistake #1. I followed this up with much too much of a questionable tea-like substance. Mistake #2. I then overobligated myself throughout the day with much too many things which were much to far away from any conceivable bathroom area. Mistake #3. Oh, the twisted cosmo of mistakes.
I'll keep it short and just state that I will never... ever go travelling without a hearty supply of trash bags again. I missed about 48 hours of waking life, not to mention all of my lessons and volunteer obligations at the center.
Anyway, happily, my friend Spencer from Berkeley came to meet me on Friday (when I was feeling a bit better) and has been kindly helping me get back on my feet these last couple days... at least up until HE got food poisoning last night. Oh, Guatemala.
On a slightly happier note, I took charge of my first Saturday off school and went to Zunil and Fuentes Georginas in my first combination of chicken buses (old American school buses painted to look gangsta, and filled to the point of bursting with both people and the chickens they carry along with them) and collectivos (pick up trucks that pack as many people as they can into the bed) and had a marvelous time. In Zunil, they have this thing called "Maximo" (also ca
lled San Simon, and likened to Judas on many occasions)... a creepy stuffed doll that wears sunglasses and a sombrero and is supposed to be the god of debauchery. You'd think he'd be fun and interesting to look at, but really, he just scared my pants off. I refused to go inside.We really only spent a little bit of time there before heading to Fuentes Georginas to swim in the hot springs. The hot springs are fed by sulfur vents in the volcano, and therefore smell like poo (in some spots). The guidebook doesn't tell you that. They're also suffocatingly hot, and after about 5 minutes or so of swimming around, you have to hop out and dance around on the pavement for a bit to cool off. I spent most of my time hanging out on a rock and drinking a beer. The American Way.
Overall, I'm doing well. I have to say I wasn't doing so well a few days ago when all I did was watch the ceiling spin and wish that someone, anyone knew I was dying alone in a grimy hostel room by myself.... but we all have our humbling moments.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Maced in the Face
Ugh.
Just finished my 3rd day of language school here in Quetzaltenango (Xela) and DAMN I've got a lot of homework! Whatever happened to siestas in latin america? Mi Maestra is pretty awesome... really understanding and she doesn't push too hard, but there's a lot of homework involved every night. Pair that with volunteer work and student activities, and I find myself pooping out at about 8pm every night.
Overall, I'm doing well. Met some cool people that I'm volunteering and studying with, and I'm staying in a hostel that has private rooms for 4 bucks a night. Not bad. I think I'm coming down with something at the moment though... my stomache feels... odd. It may be because I drank about 5 cups of tea this morning trying to stay awake through my lessons... Or it might be because I've been eating street food... a big no no in the hygiene department.
Whatever the case, Xela is one of the bigger cities in Guate, and I'll be able to get medical attention should I really need it... I hope.
Anywho.. I ended up going to San Pedro this weekend with a couple of guys from Colorado. It was FUCKING AWESOME. I'll post pictures as soon as I've got a minute to grab my USB cable. There were a lot of expats.. primarily Americans, but it was still a sick spot to spend a day or two. Except for the hippies. Too many damn hippies.
We ended up going out both of the nights that I was there. 5 Q for a cuba libre. 8.1 Q= 1 USD. 10 dollars = trashy smashy. Both nights, we ended up at Freedom Bar, which hosts a fat rave party every night. Imagine lots of Europeans dancing to trance back when trance was still cool... circa maybe 1986? I didn't mind though... it was still a rockin good time, except for the end of the night.
Instead of turning on the lights and telling people to get out, like we silly Americans... they just pepper spray everyone in the fucking club. At first I thought they had unleashed a cat upon us (which would have been about on par for both originality and cruelty)... but after speaking for a moment or two with a very irate bartender, we had come to find that this is the general means of doing business. I think the Guatemalans win in the efficacy department.
Blerg! Ok, my stomache feels really shitty. Gonna go curl up in bed for a few minutes... and then it's off to go teach art at the local high school... I'll post pictures when I don't feel as likely to puke anymore.
Besos.
Just finished my 3rd day of language school here in Quetzaltenango (Xela) and DAMN I've got a lot of homework! Whatever happened to siestas in latin america? Mi Maestra is pretty awesome... really understanding and she doesn't push too hard, but there's a lot of homework involved every night. Pair that with volunteer work and student activities, and I find myself pooping out at about 8pm every night.
Overall, I'm doing well. Met some cool people that I'm volunteering and studying with, and I'm staying in a hostel that has private rooms for 4 bucks a night. Not bad. I think I'm coming down with something at the moment though... my stomache feels... odd. It may be because I drank about 5 cups of tea this morning trying to stay awake through my lessons... Or it might be because I've been eating street food... a big no no in the hygiene department.
Whatever the case, Xela is one of the bigger cities in Guate, and I'll be able to get medical attention should I really need it... I hope.
Anywho.. I ended up going to San Pedro this weekend with a couple of guys from Colorado. It was FUCKING AWESOME. I'll post pictures as soon as I've got a minute to grab my USB cable. There were a lot of expats.. primarily Americans, but it was still a sick spot to spend a day or two. Except for the hippies. Too many damn hippies.
We ended up going out both of the nights that I was there. 5 Q for a cuba libre. 8.1 Q= 1 USD. 10 dollars = trashy smashy. Both nights, we ended up at Freedom Bar, which hosts a fat rave party every night. Imagine lots of Europeans dancing to trance back when trance was still cool... circa maybe 1986? I didn't mind though... it was still a rockin good time, except for the end of the night.
Instead of turning on the lights and telling people to get out, like we silly Americans... they just pepper spray everyone in the fucking club. At first I thought they had unleashed a cat upon us (which would have been about on par for both originality and cruelty)... but after speaking for a moment or two with a very irate bartender, we had come to find that this is the general means of doing business. I think the Guatemalans win in the efficacy department.
Blerg! Ok, my stomache feels really shitty. Gonna go curl up in bed for a few minutes... and then it's off to go teach art at the local high school... I'll post pictures when I don't feel as likely to puke anymore.
Besos.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Rifles! Colorado! Explosive Diarrhea!
I gotta keep this quick... possibly leaving in the next 45 minutes to head out to Lago Atitlan in a Tercel with a couple of Coloradans and an Aussie...
So I'm sitting on a computer in Xela, Guatemala... listening to Semana Santa outside and massaging my bug bites. I'm staying at the Black Cat hostel at the moment, which I can highly recommend, aside from the complete lack of hot water (which you only realize AFTER sudsing your entire head). I had forgotten what staying in a hostel was like. The snoring roommates, the creaky bunks, the grimy showers. The reason I find myself on a computer at this particular moment is because some poor chap desperately needed to take a shit in our semi-public restrooms, and was busying himself putting about until I left. What a tragedy it is to get the shits when you are staying in a place with co-ed bathrooms...
Anyhow- the last few days have been somewhat uneventful. I've met a lot of really cool people, and have been adopted most of the places I've gone. The ride from Antigua to Xela yesterday was something of a mess though. The hostel (which booked my transport) had forgotten to give me a ticket... so when the shuttle arrived at 4am, I had nothing to prove that I had paid for the ride. This led to a mess of phone calls and some crazy driving into Guatemala City trying to make everyone's bus. When we got to G. City, I was the only one going to Xela, so at one point, they pointed at me, unloaded me off the shuttle with all my things, and left me on a dark Guatemalan street with all belongings at 5am. I would have been completely alone if not for the man with the rifle waiting for me.
I'm not sure what he was doing there.
He was, however, probably one of the nicest people I've met thus far. He found a giant canister for me to sit on, and turned on a swinging bulb over my head so I'd be illuminated as a rich foreigner with all my things in the middle of the night in the 5th most dangerous city in the world.
... while he stood there with his rifle.
Anyway, a bus eventually came to get me, and after a 5 hour drive through the winding countryside, I was safely in Xela.
Which is where I'll be for the next month. Schools starts for me on Monday-- so I'm going to try to get in one last adventure before I immerse myself in my studies. I'll keep you all up to date.
So I'm sitting on a computer in Xela, Guatemala... listening to Semana Santa outside and massaging my bug bites. I'm staying at the Black Cat hostel at the moment, which I can highly recommend, aside from the complete lack of hot water (which you only realize AFTER sudsing your entire head). I had forgotten what staying in a hostel was like. The snoring roommates, the creaky bunks, the grimy showers. The reason I find myself on a computer at this particular moment is because some poor chap desperately needed to take a shit in our semi-public restrooms, and was busying himself putting about until I left. What a tragedy it is to get the shits when you are staying in a place with co-ed bathrooms...
Anyhow- the last few days have been somewhat uneventful. I've met a lot of really cool people, and have been adopted most of the places I've gone. The ride from Antigua to Xela yesterday was something of a mess though. The hostel (which booked my transport) had forgotten to give me a ticket... so when the shuttle arrived at 4am, I had nothing to prove that I had paid for the ride. This led to a mess of phone calls and some crazy driving into Guatemala City trying to make everyone's bus. When we got to G. City, I was the only one going to Xela, so at one point, they pointed at me, unloaded me off the shuttle with all my things, and left me on a dark Guatemalan street with all belongings at 5am. I would have been completely alone if not for the man with the rifle waiting for me.
I'm not sure what he was doing there.
He was, however, probably one of the nicest people I've met thus far. He found a giant canister for me to sit on, and turned on a swinging bulb over my head so I'd be illuminated as a rich foreigner with all my things in the middle of the night in the 5th most dangerous city in the world.
... while he stood there with his rifle.
Anyway, a bus eventually came to get me, and after a 5 hour drive through the winding countryside, I was safely in Xela.
Which is where I'll be for the next month. Schools starts for me on Monday-- so I'm going to try to get in one last adventure before I immerse myself in my studies. I'll keep you all up to date.
Monday, April 6, 2009
After 16 hours of flying, crying, and prioritizing, here I am in Antigua, Guatemala... listening to Guatemalan showtunes reminiscent of the 60s in the USA.
The flight was pretty rough- 5 hours to Miami, 3 hours to Panama, and another 2 hours (excluding the hour that the plane hung out at the gate trying to reconcile the "problemas technicales") to Guatemala City. This is after having woken at 8am Saturday morning and not sleeping at all the night of the 4th/5th. My sympathies to the poor Cuban metrosexual that was stuck sitting next to me both at the SFO airport and during the SF-Miami flight. My bitter sobs did not dissipate quickly. They did, however, play "Bolt" during my first flight (hooray!), and although I cried through the movie (much to the astonishment of my fellow fliers)- it managed to keep my mind centered on something other than how much I missed everyone.
I suppose I've done myself out though- as I'm pretty content here. I spent the last couple of hours sitting in el Parque Central, writing out postcards and absently sweeping away the flowers that fell into my lap from the overhanging trees. Antigua is really beautiful, although overrun with tourists. I've already meet 3 other Americans (with whom I traveled from Guat City to here) and have overheard countless others. I haven't met the other people staying with me in the dorm at "El Hostal", but from the things they've left behind- they look to be English-speakers.
Anyway, nothing much to update on just yet. I'm considering a hike up to Pacaya, an active volcano on the outskirts of Antigua. According to the dude I met yesterday, you can walk right up to the lava and roast s'mores.... provided you don't mind the spewing sulfur and flecks of molten lava.
OK- I seen a ice cream man. I need to run. Love you all much- I haven't taken any photos yet, but when I do, I'll update them.
Hasta Luego!
The flight was pretty rough- 5 hours to Miami, 3 hours to Panama, and another 2 hours (excluding the hour that the plane hung out at the gate trying to reconcile the "problemas technicales") to Guatemala City. This is after having woken at 8am Saturday morning and not sleeping at all the night of the 4th/5th. My sympathies to the poor Cuban metrosexual that was stuck sitting next to me both at the SFO airport and during the SF-Miami flight. My bitter sobs did not dissipate quickly. They did, however, play "Bolt" during my first flight (hooray!), and although I cried through the movie (much to the astonishment of my fellow fliers)- it managed to keep my mind centered on something other than how much I missed everyone.
I suppose I've done myself out though- as I'm pretty content here. I spent the last couple of hours sitting in el Parque Central, writing out postcards and absently sweeping away the flowers that fell into my lap from the overhanging trees. Antigua is really beautiful, although overrun with tourists. I've already meet 3 other Americans (with whom I traveled from Guat City to here) and have overheard countless others. I haven't met the other people staying with me in the dorm at "El Hostal", but from the things they've left behind- they look to be English-speakers.
Anyway, nothing much to update on just yet. I'm considering a hike up to Pacaya, an active volcano on the outskirts of Antigua. According to the dude I met yesterday, you can walk right up to the lava and roast s'mores.... provided you don't mind the spewing sulfur and flecks of molten lava.
OK- I seen a ice cream man. I need to run. Love you all much- I haven't taken any photos yet, but when I do, I'll update them.
Hasta Luego!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
