I had a fun first weekend.
I went to a large market about a half an hour from Granada. It was definitely similar to other Latin American markets I've been to, but there were a couple of noteworthy distinctions. The first was the large selection of taxidermied reptiles including an assortment of frog couples in compromising positions. It was a bit disconcerting, but in order to assist the local economy I did my Christmas shopping early. So, let me know if you prefer frogs or lizards. The second new encounter for me was the giant cheese section of the market. Cheese is so delicious that I didn't think twice about cruising through. But, I was very wrong and I may never eat my former favorite food again. The smell was horrific. It was far worse than even the meat section and most definitely the worst smell ever. I need to stop writing about it to keep from gagging. Oh well. At least this new repulsion will be a healthy diet change.
I also went on a kayak tour of the small islands in Lake Nicaragua. It was really fun and a bit scary when we got into the wavy open water. The lake is the only place that has a special type of shark that migrates from ocean salt water up the fresh water rivers to the lake. There numbers are quite small, so we didn't really have much of a chance to see one but it was still exciting to think that they're out there somewhere. We did see a ton of really cool looking birds and some interesting plants though. We also saw caiman skeleton with its head and part of its tail still attached.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Settling In
My first two days of classes and living with a family are going well. I have class with another girl from the states. She is a bit farther along with Spanish than I am which is great because it pushes me. The school has a really down to earth feel and funds a program helping street kids by providing meals, clothing, and tutoring. Several of the teachers and the school tour guide are graduates of the program.
The school activity yesterday afternoon was a trip to a crater lake about 15 miles from Granada. The water was really nice and it felt so good to cool off. Have I mentioned that it is really hot here? In the evening after dinner, I went to a free salsa class at the school. I think I might have finally exorcised my salsa demons. I wouldn´t exactly call what I´m doing salsa dancing, but at least now I´m moving in the same direction as everyone else :-)
My family lives about ten yards from the school which is really nice in the morning. The house centers around a courtyard kitchen and besides the kitchen table all the furniture is rocking chairs (about 10) around a coffee table. I love it - in fact it totally rocks. Sorry. There is a grandmother, husband and wife, their two kids, and their daughter´s two kids in the house. The two year old and nine month old are hilarious and really fun. The two year old has been trying to explain something to me about dogs for two days now, but I´m just not getting it. Hopefully, we´ll cover his vocabulary in class tomorrow. The whole family is good natured, and they think it´s hilarious that every time I go to use the bathroom or the sink, the water goes out for several hours. Oh well. At least I´m not wasting water.
The school activity yesterday afternoon was a trip to a crater lake about 15 miles from Granada. The water was really nice and it felt so good to cool off. Have I mentioned that it is really hot here? In the evening after dinner, I went to a free salsa class at the school. I think I might have finally exorcised my salsa demons. I wouldn´t exactly call what I´m doing salsa dancing, but at least now I´m moving in the same direction as everyone else :-)
My family lives about ten yards from the school which is really nice in the morning. The house centers around a courtyard kitchen and besides the kitchen table all the furniture is rocking chairs (about 10) around a coffee table. I love it - in fact it totally rocks. Sorry. There is a grandmother, husband and wife, their two kids, and their daughter´s two kids in the house. The two year old and nine month old are hilarious and really fun. The two year old has been trying to explain something to me about dogs for two days now, but I´m just not getting it. Hopefully, we´ll cover his vocabulary in class tomorrow. The whole family is good natured, and they think it´s hilarious that every time I go to use the bathroom or the sink, the water goes out for several hours. Oh well. At least I´m not wasting water.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
It´s really hot here
I am in Nicaragua! I arrived this morning and had no trouble changing money and finding the bus stop to get out of Managua and head to Granada. It was a little tricky when I was getting out of the cab at the bus stop and two bus conductors grabbed my backpack and started arguing about which bus I should take. Fortunately, my panic Spanish kicked right in and I was able to yell at them that I didn´t care which bus I took I just wanted my bag back. One of the guys hurled it onto his bus, so I followed my bag in and took that one. I´m pretty sure they were intimidated by me so that´s why they didn´t give the back directly to me :-)
Once we got into Granada, I decided to get off at a stop that lots of passengers stood up for. I didn´t know where to head, so I put on my packs and started walking like I knew where I was going. For the first time ever this worked out really well because after a block I saw a sign for a hostel that was recommended on wikitravel. I checked into a tiny but mostly clean dorm that I´m sharing with two girls from Germany.
After claiming my bunk, I consulted my Lonely Planet bible er book and set out to find a school to enroll in. However, I totally managed to misread the map and went in the complete wrong direction. After walking in the sun and humidity through blocks and blocks of shanty homes, I decided I´d better head back the way I came. I was pretty embarrassed when I realized I was only a block away from where I wanted to go when I turned right instead of left. Oh well, at least I got to see a less touristy side of the city.
I stopped to get some lunch at little homefront restaurant, and the owner was so nice and chatty. She told me of a school nearby that has a good reputation, and she even told me I could come back and pay later when she couldn´t make change for my large cordoba bills. The school turned out to be great and I start classes tomorrow morning and move into my homestay after class. The director even made phone calls to two possible volunteer places and set up appointments for me to visit. And the best part: after I found a bank to make change and went back to the restuarant, I got a free piece of yummy cornbread.
After all that work I needed a nap and managed to snag one of the hammocks in front of the hostel. Now I´m at the internet cafe after dinner and two beers. A pretty good first day!
Once we got into Granada, I decided to get off at a stop that lots of passengers stood up for. I didn´t know where to head, so I put on my packs and started walking like I knew where I was going. For the first time ever this worked out really well because after a block I saw a sign for a hostel that was recommended on wikitravel. I checked into a tiny but mostly clean dorm that I´m sharing with two girls from Germany.
After claiming my bunk, I consulted my Lonely Planet bible er book and set out to find a school to enroll in. However, I totally managed to misread the map and went in the complete wrong direction. After walking in the sun and humidity through blocks and blocks of shanty homes, I decided I´d better head back the way I came. I was pretty embarrassed when I realized I was only a block away from where I wanted to go when I turned right instead of left. Oh well, at least I got to see a less touristy side of the city.
I stopped to get some lunch at little homefront restaurant, and the owner was so nice and chatty. She told me of a school nearby that has a good reputation, and she even told me I could come back and pay later when she couldn´t make change for my large cordoba bills. The school turned out to be great and I start classes tomorrow morning and move into my homestay after class. The director even made phone calls to two possible volunteer places and set up appointments for me to visit. And the best part: after I found a bank to make change and went back to the restuarant, I got a free piece of yummy cornbread.
After all that work I needed a nap and managed to snag one of the hammocks in front of the hostel. Now I´m at the internet cafe after dinner and two beers. A pretty good first day!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Goodbye and pics
Leaving Guatemala was sad. Saying goodbye to new friends and my new family was really hard. My host mom cried and so did I. I had such a great experience. I am still in awe of the amazing and strong Guatemalan people. I am so grateful for everything I learned.
I organized most of my pics into groups. I still need to add the pics from the volcano (they're on Sean's camera), but I will do that today.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13525016@N03/
I organized most of my pics into groups. I still need to add the pics from the volcano (they're on Sean's camera), but I will do that today.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13525016@N03/
Lava
For our last day in Guatemala, Sean and I went on a sunset hike up an active volacano about an hour and a half outside of Antingua.
When we got off the bus at the trail head, a group of kids came running up to sell hiking sticks. I had heard that you can use the stick to poke the lava flows and they'll catch on fire, so of course we had to get one for each of us - the best 5 quetzales I've ever spent!
We hiked up a steep trail for about 45 minutes (I would have preferred an hour, but the guide was practically running to get us there before it got dark) to a great lookout point over a field of volcanic rock with a view of bright red lava flowing down the side of the volcano.
We then went down to the field of black rock. Some of the rock had been lava as recently as 21 days ago and some was much older. It was a bit tricky walking on it because the rocks were really sharp and loose and some of the bigger rocks were hollow, and when you stepped on them they cracked and broke - not to mention the guide was still running.
The closer we got to the red lava flows, the hotter it got. Many of the rocks were steaming and in a couple of places you could look down below your feet into crevices with hot red patches. We of course stuck our hiking sticks in there, and yep they totally caught on fire!
We hiked right up to the lava flows and made it in time to watch the sunset. I still can't believe they let us get that close to the lava. It was crazy watching how quickly the lava flowed and changed paths.
Sean, of course, had to hike up a little higher to get closer to a big lava lake thingy (that's the technical term). I chose to stay where I was by the lava river since I had already burnt a small hole in my shoe and was terrified of the rapidly changing flows. Sean made it back just fine in time to catch the guide hiking back.
We weren't in such a rush hiking back down, but it was a bit tricky since the guide didn't have any flashlights with him and it was pitch black out. Fortunately I had thrown my headlamp in my backpack, but that was the only light for our group of 15 people. It helped me avoid the piles of horse crap along the trail, but the rest of the group wasn't so lucky - sorry guys.
Back at the trail head a young boy collected the sticks back to sell again tomorrow. He was really quite clever and also asked if I wanted to give him my headlamp so I wouldn't have to carry it in my suitcase. He said he could use it to get tips from guiding hikers down. He even tolerated my education is freedom speech and agreed to study really hard in school and follow his dreams, so clearly I had to give this cutie the headlamp. These kids are smart and know a sucker when they see one, so as we were waiting for the bus and got some fruit out of the backpack there was suddenly a large group of kiddos around us offering to study really hard if we would share. So, no fruit for us. When we got in the bus I remembered that we also had some bread in the backpack so we snacked on that, and not two seconds later a kid was at an open window asking if anyone had bread. Being the kind person I am, I slouched down in my seat and told Sean to hide the bread until the kid went away. I have my limits.
When we got off the bus at the trail head, a group of kids came running up to sell hiking sticks. I had heard that you can use the stick to poke the lava flows and they'll catch on fire, so of course we had to get one for each of us - the best 5 quetzales I've ever spent!
We hiked up a steep trail for about 45 minutes (I would have preferred an hour, but the guide was practically running to get us there before it got dark) to a great lookout point over a field of volcanic rock with a view of bright red lava flowing down the side of the volcano.
We then went down to the field of black rock. Some of the rock had been lava as recently as 21 days ago and some was much older. It was a bit tricky walking on it because the rocks were really sharp and loose and some of the bigger rocks were hollow, and when you stepped on them they cracked and broke - not to mention the guide was still running.
The closer we got to the red lava flows, the hotter it got. Many of the rocks were steaming and in a couple of places you could look down below your feet into crevices with hot red patches. We of course stuck our hiking sticks in there, and yep they totally caught on fire!
We hiked right up to the lava flows and made it in time to watch the sunset. I still can't believe they let us get that close to the lava. It was crazy watching how quickly the lava flowed and changed paths.
Sean, of course, had to hike up a little higher to get closer to a big lava lake thingy (that's the technical term). I chose to stay where I was by the lava river since I had already burnt a small hole in my shoe and was terrified of the rapidly changing flows. Sean made it back just fine in time to catch the guide hiking back.
We weren't in such a rush hiking back down, but it was a bit tricky since the guide didn't have any flashlights with him and it was pitch black out. Fortunately I had thrown my headlamp in my backpack, but that was the only light for our group of 15 people. It helped me avoid the piles of horse crap along the trail, but the rest of the group wasn't so lucky - sorry guys.
Back at the trail head a young boy collected the sticks back to sell again tomorrow. He was really quite clever and also asked if I wanted to give him my headlamp so I wouldn't have to carry it in my suitcase. He said he could use it to get tips from guiding hikers down. He even tolerated my education is freedom speech and agreed to study really hard in school and follow his dreams, so clearly I had to give this cutie the headlamp. These kids are smart and know a sucker when they see one, so as we were waiting for the bus and got some fruit out of the backpack there was suddenly a large group of kiddos around us offering to study really hard if we would share. So, no fruit for us. When we got in the bus I remembered that we also had some bread in the backpack so we snacked on that, and not two seconds later a kid was at an open window asking if anyone had bread. Being the kind person I am, I slouched down in my seat and told Sean to hide the bread until the kid went away. I have my limits.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
El Salvador
After a day of chicken buses through Honduras, Sean and I spent another night in Honduras before heading to the boder town of El Poy. We were dropped off at the border town and started walking towards the road blocks and immigration offices with our backpacks excited about entering El Salvador.
We heard that the El Salavdorian border officials would be really strict, but it was quite the opposite. In reality, we had to ask around to get someone to look at our passports and even then they were Honduran exit officials and barely seemed to care. We kept on walking through what felt like no-man's land, and finally asked where the next bus stop was and where to find immigration. A really helpful guy, like all the Salvadorans we encountered, told us we were already in El Salvador and pointed to the nearby bus stop. We hopped a bus to the town of La Palma, and a short ride later we were there. I think I'm still waiting for somebody official looking to grab me and ask why I was in El Salvador without permission.
La Palma is an interesting little town. Many of the townspeople make their living producing art in the style of Fernando Llort. He taught his style to the artists in the town, and the bright colorful work is all over town and painted on every kind of souvenier item you can imagine. We looked around at the shops, hung out in the town square, and hiked along a almost totally dried up river. La Palma is a nice place with really friendly people, but honestly a bit boring.
We thought we would make the next day more exciting by taking what had been described as a terrifying chicken bus ride through the mountains to the border town of Metapan. If anyone ever tries to tell you to take the so called exhilarating ride from Citala to Metapan, suggest that you sit in church reading chemistry text books instead because it would be more exciting. The four hour ride along dirt roads with a few hills at 10 m.p.h. was pretty and a nice view of rural life in El Salvador, but nowhere close to exhilarating. Oh well, now we know.
We heard that the El Salavdorian border officials would be really strict, but it was quite the opposite. In reality, we had to ask around to get someone to look at our passports and even then they were Honduran exit officials and barely seemed to care. We kept on walking through what felt like no-man's land, and finally asked where the next bus stop was and where to find immigration. A really helpful guy, like all the Salvadorans we encountered, told us we were already in El Salvador and pointed to the nearby bus stop. We hopped a bus to the town of La Palma, and a short ride later we were there. I think I'm still waiting for somebody official looking to grab me and ask why I was in El Salvador without permission.
La Palma is an interesting little town. Many of the townspeople make their living producing art in the style of Fernando Llort. He taught his style to the artists in the town, and the bright colorful work is all over town and painted on every kind of souvenier item you can imagine. We looked around at the shops, hung out in the town square, and hiked along a almost totally dried up river. La Palma is a nice place with really friendly people, but honestly a bit boring.
We thought we would make the next day more exciting by taking what had been described as a terrifying chicken bus ride through the mountains to the border town of Metapan. If anyone ever tries to tell you to take the so called exhilarating ride from Citala to Metapan, suggest that you sit in church reading chemistry text books instead because it would be more exciting. The four hour ride along dirt roads with a few hills at 10 m.p.h. was pretty and a nice view of rural life in El Salvador, but nowhere close to exhilarating. Oh well, now we know.
Honduras
Honduras is cool.
Sean and I visited Copan, a city right on the border with Guatemala that has a large site with Mayan ruins. The ruins are smaller than Tikal, but really impressive because of the sculptural details. It was also cool seeing ruins that hadn't been totally restored and had large trees growing right through the pyramid steps. There were also Scarlet Macaws and giant forest rats all around!
We also spent two fantastic days at a coffee and cardamom plantation about 20 miles outside of Copan. The countryside there is so lush and beautiful. We stayed in the guest house and when we weren't out having fun we ate great homemade food and lounged in hamocks.
I think the best part was the horseback tour of the finca. We pretty much ate our way through - we stopped to taste fresh coffee beans and cardamom and to eat grapefruit, starfruit, and coconuts fresh from the trees!
At the stables when we were getting ready to ride, the guide asked who was nervous and Sean was the only one who raised his hand, so he got put on this sweet little pregnant pony. I didn't say anything and somehow managed to get the big old horse that doesn't like other horses and took off running every time someone tried to take over his spot as first in line. Later in the trip, Sean switched horses with the guide and his new horse kept trying to race my horse. It was really fun going fast, but also a bit terrifying since I had very little control and was pretty much just hanging on for dear life.
When the guide stopped to pick grapefruit for us to try, the guide's horse took off without him. He asked me to chase after it with my horse and bring it back. I thought he was kidding and laughed it off, but he was serious and said my horse would know what to do and I just needed to grab the rope from his horse when we got in front of it. So, I gave grumpy old Lucero a kick and we took off. He was right, all I had to do was hold on then grab the rope from his horse. I'm thinking about joining the rodeo if this teaching stuff doesn't work out :-)
Our last day in Honduras consisted of too many hours riding and waiting for chicken buses. The only bright part of the day was a little kid at one crossroads town who sat down next to us as we were eating peanut butter and crackers. When he found out we were from the U.S., he got all excited because we must know Andy, a guy who volunteered in his community and helped his dad. I tried to explain that we didn't know him, but the kid went on describing him insisting that we must have met him being from the same place and all. So if anybody knows Andy who is white and has brown hair and Volunteered near La Entrada, tell him that a little kid who really likes peanut butter says, "Hi."
Sean and I visited Copan, a city right on the border with Guatemala that has a large site with Mayan ruins. The ruins are smaller than Tikal, but really impressive because of the sculptural details. It was also cool seeing ruins that hadn't been totally restored and had large trees growing right through the pyramid steps. There were also Scarlet Macaws and giant forest rats all around!
We also spent two fantastic days at a coffee and cardamom plantation about 20 miles outside of Copan. The countryside there is so lush and beautiful. We stayed in the guest house and when we weren't out having fun we ate great homemade food and lounged in hamocks.
I think the best part was the horseback tour of the finca. We pretty much ate our way through - we stopped to taste fresh coffee beans and cardamom and to eat grapefruit, starfruit, and coconuts fresh from the trees!
At the stables when we were getting ready to ride, the guide asked who was nervous and Sean was the only one who raised his hand, so he got put on this sweet little pregnant pony. I didn't say anything and somehow managed to get the big old horse that doesn't like other horses and took off running every time someone tried to take over his spot as first in line. Later in the trip, Sean switched horses with the guide and his new horse kept trying to race my horse. It was really fun going fast, but also a bit terrifying since I had very little control and was pretty much just hanging on for dear life.
When the guide stopped to pick grapefruit for us to try, the guide's horse took off without him. He asked me to chase after it with my horse and bring it back. I thought he was kidding and laughed it off, but he was serious and said my horse would know what to do and I just needed to grab the rope from his horse when we got in front of it. So, I gave grumpy old Lucero a kick and we took off. He was right, all I had to do was hold on then grab the rope from his horse. I'm thinking about joining the rodeo if this teaching stuff doesn't work out :-)
Our last day in Honduras consisted of too many hours riding and waiting for chicken buses. The only bright part of the day was a little kid at one crossroads town who sat down next to us as we were eating peanut butter and crackers. When he found out we were from the U.S., he got all excited because we must know Andy, a guy who volunteered in his community and helped his dad. I tried to explain that we didn't know him, but the kid went on describing him insisting that we must have met him being from the same place and all. So if anybody knows Andy who is white and has brown hair and Volunteered near La Entrada, tell him that a little kid who really likes peanut butter says, "Hi."
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