February 26, 2011
The last week has been so busy that I didn't even have a chance to write. We have come and gone from Belize already and its a good thing because it was the most expensive place so far. All the prices were on par with home. We got to Belize City at around 1 and booked our ferry tickets straight away. Having 45 minutes to spare I decided to taste the local street food. We got a chicken and rice with beans and salad meal. It was awesome!! There was this guy with cloudy eyes and yucky teeth who saw me counting my change to pay for the food and came up and just stuck his hand in my face and expected me to give him money. I ignored him and Chad even got between us and he still wouldn't take a hint. The lady selling me chicken however told him to "git tha heel oudda heeaah"! I must say hearing English has been quite refreshing...even if we can only understand half of it. The ferry ride to Caye Caulker (pronounced Kee...of which i didn't know until we were two days on the island) was about 45 minutes. Once we got there this guy decided he was going to help us find the best accomodations in town. We figured what the hell and he actually found us a perfect place on the quieter beach for only $20 a night which was a steal really for the island. We stayed 4 nights in Caye Caulker. Mostly we ate, drank and went to the beach. On the Saturday night after we arrived however there was a "Full Moon Party". You had to buy tickets and the only way to get out to the party was to take a water taxi. It was pretty pricey but we figured it would be worth it. However our beach day tired the hell out of us and we fell asleep at 5pm and then woke up at 1am! So off we went to catch the water taxi and we got to the party by 1:30. It was winding down a bit by then but still pretty wild. They had the party in this two level cabana type deal. The bar was on the lower floor and the dance floor was at the top and of course everyone wanted to be on the top floor. They had "security gaurds" manning the stairs and only really letting locals go up. It was a pretty basic dance/drinking party. The prices for drinks were stupid...a spiced rum and coke was $6US!! This one hippie girl tried to bust out the hoola hoops but the police officer grabbed her hoops and said "no hoola hoops". It was funny at the time...mostly because of our distaste for hippies...and hoola hoops. We left the party at 5am with the second last boat...the very last one left at 7am!!
Our friends from Vancouver recommended a sailing trip that they had done the previous year. So we looked into it and it sounded wicked. We booked it and left town on February 22. It was with a company called Raggamuffin. The boats were definately worthy of the name Raggamuffin. We had three crew...all local Caye Caulkerins named Jermaine, Shane and James. Jermaine was a slightly shady character who was supposedly accused of stealing cocaine that washed up on his friend's island from the Colombian drug runners. James was an older guy that used to teach diving courses and is an expert spear fisherman. Shane was the entertainer of the group and was a backflipping, dancing, freestyle rapping flirt machine. He says his family wants to send him to the US to try to become a real rapper. The first day we stopped to snorkel some reefs twice. The very first snorkel spot we saw a HUGE eagle ray, that was probably about 10 feet across. We passed through a school of baracudas while going through the reef and I almost chickened out and went back to the boat. Thier teeth are as big as sharks teeth!! A german guy on our tour caught a huge one on the first day. The tour was all about sailing, fishing, snorkeling, eating and rum punch. They figured this punch was the best thing in the world. It was this concoction of fruit punch juice crystals, water and cheap white rum. They made a big batch of it in those big water jugs. So like 25 gallons of rum punch and 20 of us couldn't even finish it. The food was really good though. The first night we had conch curry and baked baracuda! We stopped on this tiny little island that was maybe 1/2 an acre with 3 or 4 palm trees and surrounded by reef. Our 12 tents covered the place. We slept there for the night and they cooked us up a big breakfast in the morning. The next morning the winds were good enough that we could actually sail a bit. We had the sails up most of the time but the engines were usually always going too. More fishing that day and Chad caught a baracuda. Others on the boat caught a red snapper and a tiny little tuna! The second night we spent on Tobacco Caye. This island had lots of houses on it and there are actually 20 people that live there. We snorkeled here as well and I saw two more spotted eagle rays, some little sting rays and some other people saw a bunch of jelly fish. They pushed some more damn rum punch at us but we opted to patronize the only bar on the island and have a beer. Three days of fishing and sailing and no beer is unheard of! Later that night it was dance party central at the boat where the crew thought they should show the single ladies how to dance "Belizean" style. That was our time to exit as most people know Chad is not a fan of dancing and didn't feel like being rum punched into dancing to Michael Jackson tunes. Next morning was another big breakfast and off for more snorkeling and fishing. On our way to Placencia we were lucky enough to have a pod of bottle nose dolphins chase our boat for a few minutes! They were so big and amazingly beautiful.
Once we got into Placencia we were sunburned and tired and not in the mood for the tourist "helpers" who want to find you a hotel. We followed a couple who did use of these helpers and got a place on the beach for pretty cheap. A few minutes later the same guy came to our door and asked for my husband. Chad being in the bano at the time couldn't come to the door. So he proceeded to ask me for a tip of $5US! I asked him what the hell for and he said that he bought us there so he deserved a tip. I gave him $1US and told him I didn't have any more money. He gave it back and asked for my husband again. He stunk like booze and had one that was all cloudy and he had no teeth. He was frickin creepy. In the end he took his one dollar and left after I told him he wouldn't get any tip. Anyways, after that went out for some food and then hit the hay. As the next morning we had to catch the ferry to Honduras. There is only one ferry a week so we didn't really have a choice. The ferry ride was 4 hours and i got a bit sea sick but not too bad. An english fellow from the sailing trip was headed the same way so we decided to stick together. On the boat we met some other Canadians from Burnaby who live on Utila (where we were headed). They are dive instructors there and were a wealth of information. We decided to stick with them as they knew the cheapest and fastest way to get to the island. We didn't realize what an endeavour it was to get from Belize to Utila. First the ferry from Placencia to Big Creek for passport stamps then on to Peurta Cortes in Honduras for immigration and more passport stamps. After that we caught a city bus to San Pedro Sula to the main bus terminal and after that we caught a bus to La Ceiba and had to stay overnight because there are only two ferries a day that go to Utila, last one was at 4. La Ceiba was dirty and loud but we all shared a cab this moring to get to the terminal and we finally made it here.
When we got to the main dock we dropped our big bags at Captain Morgan's Dive Shop and headed out for some breakfast and some major dive shop shopping. We visited three of the major ones and it took us almost all day. We finally decided on Utila Dive Centre because they had the best accomodations and the best reputation. A bit more expensive than the others but the fact that our room is actually decent and there is a great pool and a nice garden with hammocks makes it worth it. The other shops were bare bones, borderline infested places. One house they had a room in looked haunted and the other shop was situated over top of a swamp. We are dead tired and are sick of moving around all the time. I think we will stay here for a couple weeks. It will be nice just to chill for a while. So that brings you up to speed on what we've been up to for the past week. Made me tired just writing it!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Bus rides, Tikal and off to Belize
February 18, 2011
We're on our way to Belize right now...yes, right now...i'm writing this while riding the bus. We lucked out so far and actually have seats on this bus. Still a super grumpy ass driver but what have you, I think that is just what you have to deal with. We left Lanquin the day before yesterday and had the worst bus ride ever. We took the tourismo bus to Flores. These type of buses are only supposed to hold 14 people maximum. To save money the company (AdventureTouristas) decided to pack three full bus loads of people into two buses. We were all settled into our seats in the first bus and our bags were tied to the roof and then all of a sudden the driver decided that Chad and I needed to switch buses. They told us it was a bigger bus, a better bus. Then they grabbed our packs and tied them to the other bus's roof. When I opened the door I was wondering where they expected me to sit. There was not one open seat. The driver proceeded to pull out the two wooden boxes they put in the ailes between the real seats. That was where they expected us to sit. I lost it! I was actually yelling in Spanish! Looking back I was pretty proud of myself! But it didn't do any good. He told us if we wanted to go to Flores this was the only way to get there and he didn't mind leaving us behind. Bugger! They have no respect for women, especially when that woman is yelling in broken spanish. Chad was ready to start a coup and take over the bus and leave the cranky driver to fend for himself in the jungle. Every Guatemalan we have met has been so nice and helpful and generally wonderful people, except for the tourism industry. They seem to think they can charge whatever they want and just shrug their shoulders when you complain. This israeli girl was in tears yesterday because her bag was ripped open on the roof of the truck and she asked why it was open and the driver lost it on her. I had about $7 in Mexican Pesos in a side pocket of my bag that "mysteriously" disappeared when we got to Flores. There are a couple ladies from England sitting behind me who were charged three times as much for this bus to Belize and when they confronted the company about it they just gave the good ole Guatemalan shrug. Anyways enough venting about bus trips...i believe bad bus rides are all part in parcel for this type of traveling.
Yesterday we got up at 4:00am to catch the bus to Tikal Ruins! We chose the earliest tour because you get to see more animals and its not nearly as hot. We had a tour guide who spoke English with a Spanish and Australian accent. He kind of reminded me of a Guatemalan Crocodile Hunter! He was so passionate about the animals and Mayan history. We saw first thing in the morning a little fresh water crocodile. Later on in the tour we saw spider and howler monkies and tons of different birds and parrots. Leaf cutter ants were carrying bits of flowers, seeds and leaves to thier hills. Our guide grew up in Tikal and has been doing tours since he was 12. There is a lot of work going on in Tikal right now, only 15% of the ruins have been uncovered because at first sight it just looks like mountains with trees in the middle of the jungle but under that jungle there are massive pyramids and sacraficial alters!! From the tallest pyramid we could see the entire jungle and the tops of the other pyramids peaking out of the canopy. There are 17,000 structures in Tikal. This is a huge place. No one really knows why the Mayans left the city but they think it might be because of overpopulation and the difficulty of getting fresh water and food into the city. In 900AD there were no trees and no gardens, there is no natural springs or rivers. The city was a place for royalty and they were served by the people of the surrounding area. Water and food had to be carried long distances every day. El Mirador is another Mayan city that is even more impressive than Tikal but you can't get there unless you hike there. The trip is 5 days long. Chad really wanted to do it but I am not really in shape to hike 30km a day through the jungle in 40degree heat. Louise took us on a walk through the jungle on our way back to the buses and we found a car graveyard from the 60's....it reminded me of the farm at home!! I am getting a teensy bit homesick but I think once we get to the ocean that will be well behind me. Time is going way too fast.
We're on our way to Belize right now...yes, right now...i'm writing this while riding the bus. We lucked out so far and actually have seats on this bus. Still a super grumpy ass driver but what have you, I think that is just what you have to deal with. We left Lanquin the day before yesterday and had the worst bus ride ever. We took the tourismo bus to Flores. These type of buses are only supposed to hold 14 people maximum. To save money the company (AdventureTouristas) decided to pack three full bus loads of people into two buses. We were all settled into our seats in the first bus and our bags were tied to the roof and then all of a sudden the driver decided that Chad and I needed to switch buses. They told us it was a bigger bus, a better bus. Then they grabbed our packs and tied them to the other bus's roof. When I opened the door I was wondering where they expected me to sit. There was not one open seat. The driver proceeded to pull out the two wooden boxes they put in the ailes between the real seats. That was where they expected us to sit. I lost it! I was actually yelling in Spanish! Looking back I was pretty proud of myself! But it didn't do any good. He told us if we wanted to go to Flores this was the only way to get there and he didn't mind leaving us behind. Bugger! They have no respect for women, especially when that woman is yelling in broken spanish. Chad was ready to start a coup and take over the bus and leave the cranky driver to fend for himself in the jungle. Every Guatemalan we have met has been so nice and helpful and generally wonderful people, except for the tourism industry. They seem to think they can charge whatever they want and just shrug their shoulders when you complain. This israeli girl was in tears yesterday because her bag was ripped open on the roof of the truck and she asked why it was open and the driver lost it on her. I had about $7 in Mexican Pesos in a side pocket of my bag that "mysteriously" disappeared when we got to Flores. There are a couple ladies from England sitting behind me who were charged three times as much for this bus to Belize and when they confronted the company about it they just gave the good ole Guatemalan shrug. Anyways enough venting about bus trips...i believe bad bus rides are all part in parcel for this type of traveling.
Yesterday we got up at 4:00am to catch the bus to Tikal Ruins! We chose the earliest tour because you get to see more animals and its not nearly as hot. We had a tour guide who spoke English with a Spanish and Australian accent. He kind of reminded me of a Guatemalan Crocodile Hunter! He was so passionate about the animals and Mayan history. We saw first thing in the morning a little fresh water crocodile. Later on in the tour we saw spider and howler monkies and tons of different birds and parrots. Leaf cutter ants were carrying bits of flowers, seeds and leaves to thier hills. Our guide grew up in Tikal and has been doing tours since he was 12. There is a lot of work going on in Tikal right now, only 15% of the ruins have been uncovered because at first sight it just looks like mountains with trees in the middle of the jungle but under that jungle there are massive pyramids and sacraficial alters!! From the tallest pyramid we could see the entire jungle and the tops of the other pyramids peaking out of the canopy. There are 17,000 structures in Tikal. This is a huge place. No one really knows why the Mayans left the city but they think it might be because of overpopulation and the difficulty of getting fresh water and food into the city. In 900AD there were no trees and no gardens, there is no natural springs or rivers. The city was a place for royalty and they were served by the people of the surrounding area. Water and food had to be carried long distances every day. El Mirador is another Mayan city that is even more impressive than Tikal but you can't get there unless you hike there. The trip is 5 days long. Chad really wanted to do it but I am not really in shape to hike 30km a day through the jungle in 40degree heat. Louise took us on a walk through the jungle on our way back to the buses and we found a car graveyard from the 60's....it reminded me of the farm at home!! I am getting a teensy bit homesick but I think once we get to the ocean that will be well behind me. Time is going way too fast.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Ziplinging and Tubing Day
I've noticed that most of the time I write about what we did during the day in the evening before bed and don't actually end up posting anything until a few days later. Hence the date below:
February 15, 2010
We have been here in Lanquin for 4 nights now and this will be our 5th. Its so green and lush with all the rain and mist. The birds here are pretty loud and so are thier colours. We saw some bright yellow and orange birds at breakfast. I love all the dogs and cats hanging out everywhere. I had the cat with the bright green eyes in my lap and the local boys were looking at me like I was crazy. They probably have fleas and the boys wonder why on earth I would ever touch it. Today we planned on just sitting around and not doing much but we met this english couple last night and we made a plan to go ziplining and tubing on the river. We hopped in the back of yet another truck that took us to the ziplining park. We had to hike up a little ways to the first platform. There were about 7 lines. The first was long and super fast. It was hard to enjoy the surroundings when you are flying through the air and worried about braking in time. Chad, always the hooligan, didn't listen to our guide at all and was very reluctant to use his brakes. On the second line he rammed into the platform with some good force that shook the tree we were in. After flying through the trees we headed to the river up the road and hopped into our tubes for a 20-25 minute ride down the river back to the hostel. Chad, still the hooligan and always reluctant to follow instructions, decided that he would grab the rope hanging over the river (the very same roap that the guide told us not to grab). He did a bit of a scramble but didn't even lose his tube. There is a "surf board" attached to this roap that if you are light enough you can ride in the river. Chad mastered this skill much to the suprise of the local boys watching the crazy gringos flail in the river. When we got back to the hostel they got the sauna blazing and we cooked ourselves thouroughly. Here at El Retiro its buffet style supper every night. Tonight is Typical Guatemalan food. Chad is already down in the restaurant priming his appetite with litros of Brava beer, yay for happy hour!
February 15, 2010
We have been here in Lanquin for 4 nights now and this will be our 5th. Its so green and lush with all the rain and mist. The birds here are pretty loud and so are thier colours. We saw some bright yellow and orange birds at breakfast. I love all the dogs and cats hanging out everywhere. I had the cat with the bright green eyes in my lap and the local boys were looking at me like I was crazy. They probably have fleas and the boys wonder why on earth I would ever touch it. Today we planned on just sitting around and not doing much but we met this english couple last night and we made a plan to go ziplining and tubing on the river. We hopped in the back of yet another truck that took us to the ziplining park. We had to hike up a little ways to the first platform. There were about 7 lines. The first was long and super fast. It was hard to enjoy the surroundings when you are flying through the air and worried about braking in time. Chad, always the hooligan, didn't listen to our guide at all and was very reluctant to use his brakes. On the second line he rammed into the platform with some good force that shook the tree we were in. After flying through the trees we headed to the river up the road and hopped into our tubes for a 20-25 minute ride down the river back to the hostel. Chad, still the hooligan and always reluctant to follow instructions, decided that he would grab the rope hanging over the river (the very same roap that the guide told us not to grab). He did a bit of a scramble but didn't even lose his tube. There is a "surf board" attached to this roap that if you are light enough you can ride in the river. Chad mastered this skill much to the suprise of the local boys watching the crazy gringos flail in the river. When we got back to the hostel they got the sauna blazing and we cooked ourselves thouroughly. Here at El Retiro its buffet style supper every night. Tonight is Typical Guatemalan food. Chad is already down in the restaurant priming his appetite with litros of Brava beer, yay for happy hour!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Semuc Champey
February 13, 2011
We had the best day ever today. The tour we went on was insane. Absolutely every fun thing that you can do in the world we did today. We started off at 9 getting into the back of the transfer truck. In Guatemala, its standing room only, no sitting in these trucks. The ride up the mountain was picturesque. We saw some pretty remote villages with pigs and chickens and skinny ass dogs running around everywhere. The kids we dirty and sometimes pants-less but looked happy as little clams. When we got to the national park the very first thing we did was get launched off a gigantic rope swing into the river. Everyone did some sort of flop or another because when you hop off a swing your centre of gravity goes way off. After that it was time to enter the caves!! They gave us a candle each and so we formed a line and followed our guide in. We had to swim in some places so it was a little interesting trying to keep my candle above water. There was a point in the spalunk that we could jump off a ledge into the water and there was a rope you could use to climb up a waterfall. At the end of the cave we had to fit into this hole/slide/waterfall so that we could get to the other chamber that led out of the caves. It was a little clausterphobic at times but the water was cool and the air wasn't too steamy. After the caves our guide said..."ok guys...and now....tubing!" So then he gave us some inner tubes and sent us up the road to hop in the river and ride the rapids back down. After the tubing it was time to hike. Before we got to the trail our guide picked some seeds from this tree that were bright orange and covered everyone's faces with designs. Chad looked like a warrior and i looked like a flower child. The pigment does not come off very easily. Even after swimming my face was still bright orange. It was 30 minutes straight up to the lookout point where you could see the pools and the falls from up high. While we were up there we had some lunch and lingered behind a bit until the crowd went back down. I guess the howler monkies were waiting too because as soon as we were heading back down they started growling and howeling in the trees and we saw them swinging around wanted to bite our heads off. We tried to get a closer look at them but they sound like fricken demons and i guess they like to throw their poo's at you so we opted for listening instead. When we got back to the bottom it was time to finally swim in the pools. The water is crystal clear and warm and blue and wonderful! There were lots of little yellow and some blue fish. We swam around and then got ready to leave after a while. On our way back to the truck their was this old guy with a walker and his elderly wife. He made it in ok but was exhausted and had parkinson's and couldn't get his legs moving. So the poor guys from Belgium had to carry him half way out before his son came along and piggybacked him all the way out. Poor guy! Chad and I squished into the cab of the truck because instead of bringing back just one tour group they decided that they might as well put three groups in one truck. There were probably like 25 or 30 people crammed into the back and the cab and the roof of the truck. Just in the cab there were 10 people. Chad got out onto the roof after a while and had a nice view on the way back. We got back to El Retiro and tried to scrub the orange pigment off our faces but Chad is still very orange. Had a shish-ka-bob dinner and then they played a movie (127 hours-the one about the guy who cuts off his own arm because a rock fell on it). I was glad they played that after we went cave diving and not before!
We had the best day ever today. The tour we went on was insane. Absolutely every fun thing that you can do in the world we did today. We started off at 9 getting into the back of the transfer truck. In Guatemala, its standing room only, no sitting in these trucks. The ride up the mountain was picturesque. We saw some pretty remote villages with pigs and chickens and skinny ass dogs running around everywhere. The kids we dirty and sometimes pants-less but looked happy as little clams. When we got to the national park the very first thing we did was get launched off a gigantic rope swing into the river. Everyone did some sort of flop or another because when you hop off a swing your centre of gravity goes way off. After that it was time to enter the caves!! They gave us a candle each and so we formed a line and followed our guide in. We had to swim in some places so it was a little interesting trying to keep my candle above water. There was a point in the spalunk that we could jump off a ledge into the water and there was a rope you could use to climb up a waterfall. At the end of the cave we had to fit into this hole/slide/waterfall so that we could get to the other chamber that led out of the caves. It was a little clausterphobic at times but the water was cool and the air wasn't too steamy. After the caves our guide said..."ok guys...and now....tubing!" So then he gave us some inner tubes and sent us up the road to hop in the river and ride the rapids back down. After the tubing it was time to hike. Before we got to the trail our guide picked some seeds from this tree that were bright orange and covered everyone's faces with designs. Chad looked like a warrior and i looked like a flower child. The pigment does not come off very easily. Even after swimming my face was still bright orange. It was 30 minutes straight up to the lookout point where you could see the pools and the falls from up high. While we were up there we had some lunch and lingered behind a bit until the crowd went back down. I guess the howler monkies were waiting too because as soon as we were heading back down they started growling and howeling in the trees and we saw them swinging around wanted to bite our heads off. We tried to get a closer look at them but they sound like fricken demons and i guess they like to throw their poo's at you so we opted for listening instead. When we got back to the bottom it was time to finally swim in the pools. The water is crystal clear and warm and blue and wonderful! There were lots of little yellow and some blue fish. We swam around and then got ready to leave after a while. On our way back to the truck their was this old guy with a walker and his elderly wife. He made it in ok but was exhausted and had parkinson's and couldn't get his legs moving. So the poor guys from Belgium had to carry him half way out before his son came along and piggybacked him all the way out. Poor guy! Chad and I squished into the cab of the truck because instead of bringing back just one tour group they decided that they might as well put three groups in one truck. There were probably like 25 or 30 people crammed into the back and the cab and the roof of the truck. Just in the cab there were 10 people. Chad got out onto the roof after a while and had a nice view on the way back. We got back to El Retiro and tried to scrub the orange pigment off our faces but Chad is still very orange. Had a shish-ka-bob dinner and then they played a movie (127 hours-the one about the guy who cuts off his own arm because a rock fell on it). I was glad they played that after we went cave diving and not before!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
antigua to lanquin
February 12, 2011
We are in Lanquin, Guatemala right now and are staying at this great place called El Retiro. We have a loft room that is pretty much open to the elements so after hanging out with a couple of just graduated physicians from New Mexico we decided to start taking our anti-malaria drugs. I actually totally forgot about them and thought that we would only have to take them in deep jungle areas and well....we are actually pretty deep in the jungle. oops! they only take two days to take effect so we should be good. Chad hasn't had any mosquito bites and I've only had one so far. Its crazy out here because just down the road most people don't have power or running water and here at this place that seems like a jungle summer camp for grown-ups we have wifi and crazy amounts of booze and dance parties every night. We are only paying Q35 (about $5ish) each for our room. Probably will stay for a while longer in hopes of getting some nicer weather. Its been misting rain here since we arrived last night. We are right beside a river that is relatively clean and clear for Guatemalan standards! Going for a tube ride and tour of Semuc Champey and some caves in the morning. One of the New Mexican med students I met spent 5 weeks at the hospital in Santiago de Atitlan. Her stories are insane and make me want to go and volunteer at a hospital. It would be beyond frustrating because of language barriers but I would love to be able to do something there. we take for granted a lot of things we learned that thier nursing education doesn't cover. They have ultrasound and xray in Santiago but at night the gaurd has to run the xray machine (he has a manual). If the doctor orders a medication they have to specify the dose and what to mix it in and how fast to give it over, these are all things that we have to figure out or look up on our own at home. I met another Canadian RN who has been working in the Cayman Islands for the past two years and is loving it. It was crazy at dinner to have two RN's and two doctors/med students sitting around swapping stories and Chad didn't even get grossed out! Our room actually has no door, it only has a curtain so I have to go and lock up our valuables in a rickety old wooden cabinet. We lost our mosquito netting somwhere along the way, chad blames it on me having way too much stuff and so he can't keep track of everything ....ya ya sure!. i am going to send a package of clothes and shoes and other useless items home when we get to Belize so that hopefully i can maybe buy some of these cool things i see and not feel guilty for having to stash it in chad's pack because mine is too full.
We are in Lanquin, Guatemala right now and are staying at this great place called El Retiro. We have a loft room that is pretty much open to the elements so after hanging out with a couple of just graduated physicians from New Mexico we decided to start taking our anti-malaria drugs. I actually totally forgot about them and thought that we would only have to take them in deep jungle areas and well....we are actually pretty deep in the jungle. oops! they only take two days to take effect so we should be good. Chad hasn't had any mosquito bites and I've only had one so far. Its crazy out here because just down the road most people don't have power or running water and here at this place that seems like a jungle summer camp for grown-ups we have wifi and crazy amounts of booze and dance parties every night. We are only paying Q35 (about $5ish) each for our room. Probably will stay for a while longer in hopes of getting some nicer weather. Its been misting rain here since we arrived last night. We are right beside a river that is relatively clean and clear for Guatemalan standards! Going for a tube ride and tour of Semuc Champey and some caves in the morning. One of the New Mexican med students I met spent 5 weeks at the hospital in Santiago de Atitlan. Her stories are insane and make me want to go and volunteer at a hospital. It would be beyond frustrating because of language barriers but I would love to be able to do something there. we take for granted a lot of things we learned that thier nursing education doesn't cover. They have ultrasound and xray in Santiago but at night the gaurd has to run the xray machine (he has a manual). If the doctor orders a medication they have to specify the dose and what to mix it in and how fast to give it over, these are all things that we have to figure out or look up on our own at home. I met another Canadian RN who has been working in the Cayman Islands for the past two years and is loving it. It was crazy at dinner to have two RN's and two doctors/med students sitting around swapping stories and Chad didn't even get grossed out! Our room actually has no door, it only has a curtain so I have to go and lock up our valuables in a rickety old wooden cabinet. We lost our mosquito netting somwhere along the way, chad blames it on me having way too much stuff and so he can't keep track of everything ....ya ya sure!. i am going to send a package of clothes and shoes and other useless items home when we get to Belize so that hopefully i can maybe buy some of these cool things i see and not feel guilty for having to stash it in chad's pack because mine is too full.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Lazy Days
February 8, 2011
So time seems to be going faster and faster. I can't believe its already the 8th and I only have like 3 months left of our trip. Tonight is our last night in San Pedro. We booked a bus tomorrow morning at 8:15 to Antigua and we will spend a couple nights there checking out the city. Our plans really do change daily. Today was the best lazy day. Started out with breakfast at our favourite spot for coffee and then a beer on the docks and then poutine and cocktails by the pool at La Pescina (Quebecois owned). The sad part of leaving is that we have to say goodbye to Lauren and Dustin our pals from Vancouver. We will hopefully hook up with them again along the way. I will miss our games of monopoly cards and thier sweet jumping off cliff moves! I can't believe how many expats live here! Almost every gringo (stomach) friendly establishment is run by either an irishperson, canadian, american or brit it seems. There is this strip of restaurants and travel agents that's fondly called gringo alley and I went for a walk there by myself to get some bus tickets and the heckling was ridiculous. Girls can't even walk around without someone yelling "hey chicka!" and what the hell is that supposed to mean anyways? what am i going to do turn around and be like "oh hey! you wanted to talk to me or something" or "i think that you are a much cooler person now that you have yelled at me! lets be friends!". Lauren's friend Leah is here in San Pedro making jewelry out of forks. They also make some pretty sweet jewelry out of thier money! One Quetzal earings! They bend them so that they are convex shaped and then drill a hole in the top and attach an earing piece. I'm not sure our money would look very nice bent and made into earings but its a cool idea.
So time seems to be going faster and faster. I can't believe its already the 8th and I only have like 3 months left of our trip. Tonight is our last night in San Pedro. We booked a bus tomorrow morning at 8:15 to Antigua and we will spend a couple nights there checking out the city. Our plans really do change daily. Today was the best lazy day. Started out with breakfast at our favourite spot for coffee and then a beer on the docks and then poutine and cocktails by the pool at La Pescina (Quebecois owned). The sad part of leaving is that we have to say goodbye to Lauren and Dustin our pals from Vancouver. We will hopefully hook up with them again along the way. I will miss our games of monopoly cards and thier sweet jumping off cliff moves! I can't believe how many expats live here! Almost every gringo (stomach) friendly establishment is run by either an irishperson, canadian, american or brit it seems. There is this strip of restaurants and travel agents that's fondly called gringo alley and I went for a walk there by myself to get some bus tickets and the heckling was ridiculous. Girls can't even walk around without someone yelling "hey chicka!" and what the hell is that supposed to mean anyways? what am i going to do turn around and be like "oh hey! you wanted to talk to me or something" or "i think that you are a much cooler person now that you have yelled at me! lets be friends!". Lauren's friend Leah is here in San Pedro making jewelry out of forks. They also make some pretty sweet jewelry out of thier money! One Quetzal earings! They bend them so that they are convex shaped and then drill a hole in the top and attach an earing piece. I'm not sure our money would look very nice bent and made into earings but its a cool idea.
Friday, February 4, 2011
School Schmool!
February 3, 2011
Checked into the Corizon Maya Spanish School last Sunday. Our bungalow is pretty self sufficient. We've got a fridge and a stove and our own bathroom. It makes you feel right at home when you can make yourself some lunch or a cup of tea. We've done classes now for almost two weeks and it seems like learning spanish is getting harder instead of easier. Conversing with my instructor is very broken and most of the verbs I use aren't conjugated properly but she seems to get the idea about what I'm trying to say. We had a discussion yesterday about how women in Guatemala have babies and what they feed them and about high blood pressure in pregnancy. It was crazy that I could even understand her let alone find the right words to get my point across. My maestra had her first baby 4 years ago and had to have a c-section at 7 months because they couldn't control her blood pressure. She said that the doctor gave her special formula to feed the baby because she was premature, and that breast milk wasn`t good for fattening up premies. Its strange because even premies in Canada are fed breast milk if at all possible. In all the little tiendas here they sell formula and advertise for it a lot. I told her in Canada we only breast feed if you can because it is best for the baby and she didn`t seem to agree. Next week I am taking off from classes. I`m tired of homework and 4 hours of class every morning (rough hey?) I think I'm going to pick up an excersize book and do some self study and practice with people in town. Chad wants to take another week of classes here, The room is super comfortable so I don't mind and the beach here at the lake is lovely. After next week's classes are over its off to Tikal to see some ruins that rival Machu Picchu suposedly but are not as studied. After Tikal we are going to Belize! yay for English! a nice little break from all the Spanish, hope we don't forget any though.
Just got back from the beach. Went for a swim and just soaked up the surroundings. A volcano behind me, a crystal clear lake and mountains in front of me. Birds of all kinds and a little nina getting scrubbed down in the lake by her mom and wailing the whole time! She hates getting her hair shampood just as much as some little girls at home! First the mom and the oldest daughter washed all thier clothes on a rock in the water with a bar of soap and scrubbed the hell out of them. The littlest gitl who looked about 3 helped too! She washed her own clothes she was wearing. Then comes bath time. The mom and the oldest daughter got down to their shorts and scrubbed thier skin like they were never going to bath again. After they finished they put on the clean dry clothes they brought with them. There was a little boy about 4 or 5 there too but he didnt have to help wash the clothes or even have a bath. He tromped around saying things like "mi brazos esta fuerto!" or something of the sort meaning he has strong arms and they should look at him. In the vegetable field just up from the beach there were some older boys around 12 or so carrying big jugs of water from the lake and watering vegetables. All in all very productive day! breakfast, class, lunch, beach, nap, supper, sleep and repeat!
Checked into the Corizon Maya Spanish School last Sunday. Our bungalow is pretty self sufficient. We've got a fridge and a stove and our own bathroom. It makes you feel right at home when you can make yourself some lunch or a cup of tea. We've done classes now for almost two weeks and it seems like learning spanish is getting harder instead of easier. Conversing with my instructor is very broken and most of the verbs I use aren't conjugated properly but she seems to get the idea about what I'm trying to say. We had a discussion yesterday about how women in Guatemala have babies and what they feed them and about high blood pressure in pregnancy. It was crazy that I could even understand her let alone find the right words to get my point across. My maestra had her first baby 4 years ago and had to have a c-section at 7 months because they couldn't control her blood pressure. She said that the doctor gave her special formula to feed the baby because she was premature, and that breast milk wasn`t good for fattening up premies. Its strange because even premies in Canada are fed breast milk if at all possible. In all the little tiendas here they sell formula and advertise for it a lot. I told her in Canada we only breast feed if you can because it is best for the baby and she didn`t seem to agree. Next week I am taking off from classes. I`m tired of homework and 4 hours of class every morning (rough hey?) I think I'm going to pick up an excersize book and do some self study and practice with people in town. Chad wants to take another week of classes here, The room is super comfortable so I don't mind and the beach here at the lake is lovely. After next week's classes are over its off to Tikal to see some ruins that rival Machu Picchu suposedly but are not as studied. After Tikal we are going to Belize! yay for English! a nice little break from all the Spanish, hope we don't forget any though.
Just got back from the beach. Went for a swim and just soaked up the surroundings. A volcano behind me, a crystal clear lake and mountains in front of me. Birds of all kinds and a little nina getting scrubbed down in the lake by her mom and wailing the whole time! She hates getting her hair shampood just as much as some little girls at home! First the mom and the oldest daughter washed all thier clothes on a rock in the water with a bar of soap and scrubbed the hell out of them. The littlest gitl who looked about 3 helped too! She washed her own clothes she was wearing. Then comes bath time. The mom and the oldest daughter got down to their shorts and scrubbed thier skin like they were never going to bath again. After they finished they put on the clean dry clothes they brought with them. There was a little boy about 4 or 5 there too but he didnt have to help wash the clothes or even have a bath. He tromped around saying things like "mi brazos esta fuerto!" or something of the sort meaning he has strong arms and they should look at him. In the vegetable field just up from the beach there were some older boys around 12 or so carrying big jugs of water from the lake and watering vegetables. All in all very productive day! breakfast, class, lunch, beach, nap, supper, sleep and repeat!
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