Travel, travel, travel

Well, as it turns out, health care is super cheap down here ($4 for a lab test and $15ish for a doctor's visit) but medicine is suuuper expensive. 4 cipro for Q140=more than $3/pill and 2 anti-parasitics for Q150. If it weren't for the high cost of the meds, I wouldn't send in my insurance forms because it would cost almost as much to send the mail! Felt better almost instantly after taking the meds and was ready for some work and traveling.

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I was in great shape and I got to do some more work with the groomer at Huellas here in Antigua: this work consisted of blow drying and picking at about 50 ticks off of one giant yellow lab and blowing fleas off of another. Needless to say, I was pretty itchy all day.
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Sadly, Honey was having complications that landed her in the ER the day before she was due to fly out for a Guatemalan getaway. Making the best of the situation, Lauren and I went unaccompanied on the trip doing out best to take pictures of everything so Honey could feel like she were there. We started with a luxurious night at the Westin Camino Real in Guatemala City.

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After exploring the mall and food joints, we went back to the hotel to live the ritzy life for a night.

We even went as far as to consume a strawberry smoothie at the pool and...we charged it to the room!

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We especially enjoyed the 'heavenly' dual shower head and we spread out in the giant cloud-like beds to watch the movie channel and fall asleep in the cool air conditioned room.

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Reluctant to leave the hotel at 5:00AM, we were excited to start our whirlwind tour of the ancient ruins at Tikal. Much to Lauren's dismay, we hopped on a puddle-jumper plane for the half hour flight to Flores International Airport.

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In Flores, we met up with our tour guide who shuttled our group into the buses headed for The Tikal Inn where we got checked in and immediately headed off for a 4 hour tour of the Tikal ruins.

Having known nearly nothing about Mayan history, I gained a lot of knowledge about the constructions and lifestyles of the ancient Mayans who inhabited Tikal from around 600B.C. to 800A.D. The restored ruins of Tikal were once the home to religious temples, pyramids, and acropoli where noblemen lived. Much of Tikal still lays buried and eroded but universities and other organizations are slowly working to uncover and restore the ancient ruins. Climbing up a 70m ruin, Temple IV, was quite exhausting and we were all ready for lunch.

After lunch, we had a relaxing afternoon in the pool followed by a silent, starry night when all of the generators are turned off and all you can hear are the cicadas, birds, and monkeys.

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On Sunday, I again awoke in the wee hours of the morning to see the sunrise and go on the 'mananero tour' where we would see spider monkeys, howler monkeys, purple parrots, toucans, a raccoon-like creature, a guinea pig-like creature, and some native plants that are used for food, textiles, and traditional healing. The guide even told me of a leaf that is supposed to help dissolve kidney stones when it's boiled into a tea.

We also saw an all-spice tree which smells incredible and made a really great syrup for the pancakes we ate for breakfast afterwards. Although the morning was cloudy, the view from atop Temple IV (yes, climbed the tallest temple in Tikal a second time) in the morning was breath-taking as the mist slowly rose from the top of the canopy.

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We also learned about a game of life or death (in the most literal sense) where, depending on the celebration, either the winner or the loser would be sacrificed to the gods or to hell, respectively. This game was sometimes played on the mini-month of the Mayan calendar (after 18 months of 20 days, they would have an extra month of 5 days to finish off the 365 days in a year) when they would go to neighboring villages, capture a ruler and bring him back to 'play with him' for a few days then sacrifice him. Contrary to popular belief, the residents of Tikal only performed human sacrifices on 'special occasions' like the beginning of the rainy season. While we were on the subject of life and death, I tried to get some insider knowledge on the end of the Mayan calendar (12/12/2012) but the guide had no solid answers other than to say that it's the end of the long count of 5125 years (8/11/3114-12/12/2012) and that the Great Cycle should start over.

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Also, when we entered on Sunday, we were not permitted to enter the main plaza because the President of Guatemala flew in on his helicopter to visit the historical Mayan village for the International Day of the World's Indigenous People and to partake in some Mayan rituals (http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20090810/pais/109924/...the Mayan tour guide belives that Colom's expressed interest in Mayan shamanism is a purely political move since he was not raised Mayan and only 'practices' when it's conveneint).

(notice the prez's helicopter)

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After the quick weekend trip to Tikal, Lauren and I spent Monday and Tuesday in Spanish classes and planning our trips for the rest of the week. Since I was planning on Honey's trip, I had already 'taken the week off' so Lauren and I decided we wanted to travel to Monterrico and Panajachel.
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We headed off to Monterrico early on Wednesday morning and tried to convert to relaxed beach mode. However, in the midst of planning, I went to get an ear piercing which requires almost an hour's worth of maintenance each day and will keep me out of the ocean and pools for a couple of months. It was Lauren's first time ever to the Pacific and she was quite surprised to learn about the strength of the waves and the undertow. Also, it was a black sand beach making it nearly impossible to walk on the sand without burning the soles of your feet. Thus, we spent most of our time lazing in the hammocks and Adirondack chairs of our hotel, Johnny's Place.

Since it is impossible for me to 'chill and do nothing', I spent most of my time falling asleep while studying genetics. Laying in a hammock trying to attain the same nearly comatose state as everyone else at Johnny's I realized that people love to relax at the beach because it makes them feel free. On the contrary, I felt oddly restrained by the freedom, like it was inhibiting me from doing something productive, like I wasn't being useful.

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There's never a shortage of food or dogs in this country for a animal loving vegetarian!

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Monterrico is also known for it's sea turtle reserve (sea turtle=tortuga or parlama) that takes in and hatches the turtle eggs then releases the tortugitas to the sea after 5 days of hand-feeding fish. Since turtle eggs are a delicacy in Guatemala, they used to be hunted by humans who would sell them to the cities for Q30/dozen...each turtle can lay up to 12 dozen twice a year. There is now a law stating that all gathered eggs need to be taken to the hatchery which has helped the decline in the turtle population. However, the eggs are also sought out by hungry dogs and birds so these tours help to save the eggs before they get eaten or sold.

Immediately when we got off the bus, we were approached by men telling us about the reserve and offering turtle tours in the afternoon. Throughout the morning, we were approached by men over and over again until we went for a walk and booked the trip at the 'eco-tourism office'.

Still not actually sure who was fake and who was actually certified since they all had 'identification' and only one was obviously falsified. The tour was supposed to offer us a 3 hour walk on the beach in search of turtles laying eggs.at which time we would be able to take pictures and catch the eggs to take to the hatchery. We also bought into the morning tour through the mangroves to see birds and iguanas and the sunrise.

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Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show of the night time turtle walk because we saw zero turtles. I did enjoy a nice three hour conversation with the guide in Spanish though. (He sold us the tour by saying that he could speak some English for Lauren...he didn't speak ANY.) But, he was raised in Monterrico and has experience as a fisherman, construction worker, farmer, and now a tour guide who likes to 'help teach the tourists Spanish' (his excuse for not being willing to speak in English with Lauren...not the only time we heard this one). Also learned that the turtles usually come in around 1/2 hour before the moon rises (around 10PM) but if they don't come in, that means that they will wait on the other side of the waves until around 1 or 2 AM (the case on our tour night). We walked up and down the beach 4 times for a total of 3 hours and about 5km in the heavy night. We saw lots of cangrejos (crabs) and had a really beautiful view of the stars.

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Heading back to our room we realized that the heat of the day did not break with the sun and we asked for air in our room. Paying an extra $10, a man plugged in the unit and we cranked it down for the night...unfortunately the rooves are just thatched palms which aren't exactly attached to the walls so most of cool air escaped before cooling the musty room (one great step toward advancing global warming, I know).

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We got up at 5A to meet for our morning tour. On the way to the office to meet, we encountered a pack of dogs blocking the road that...are just a little more intimidating in the middle of the night...so we walked around on the beach instead of the main road.

The sunrise was really colorful as it came up over the forest.

The morning tour was in a 'lancha' through a stagnant river/lagoon/swamp filled with mangrove trees and aquatic plants.

*We were a little nervous to see this man (and others) scooping water out of his boat.*

We saw a few herons and the guide (again using the excuse that he wanted to 'teach us Spanish') explained the uses for the different kinds of mangrove trees. The boat ride was incredible even though we didn't see any iguanas or tropical birds. We did however see gigantic spiders...see if you can find him...

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We tried to relax more and eat breakfast (it's hard to want to eat when you're so hot...). We were downing the licuados with fruit, juices, ginger, and mint. We were pretty excited to catch the bus back to Antigua and waited at the stop for a couple of hours hoping that the bus would come with air conditioning (it came but did not have air conditioning). The ride home was enjoyable talking to other travelers and anticipating the cool Antigua night.

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Then..we got back on Thursday night just in time to meet Rory and his friends, Jackie (left) and Sofia (right), from the city. Rory is heading home to Ireland tomorrow after a 7 month volunteering position as CasaSito's water project coordinator. We are all really sad to see him go but we had a great time last night.

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Lauren and I went this morning to plan one final travel adventure before we get back to the real volunteering business next week. We're going to Lago Atitlan for the weekend and will hopefully meet up with Cible, a friend we met in Tikal who just finished her residency and is hanging out in Guatemala taking Spanish classes, volunteering at clinics, and traveling before heading out to the real working world.

Don't drink the water!

I know, I know....don't drink the water, ask for 'sin hielo', check to be sure the fruits and veggies have been rinsed with 'agua pura,' and don't eat anything off the street. Well, I must say my pride has been hurt the past few days since I have had my first ever stomach illness in a foreign country. To my defense...everyone does it and I have never been overly careful south of the border...but I really have not been careful for my first 2 weeks in the country and I'm sure my immune system has had enough.

I'm fairly sure we, Health in Action, taught the children of Samox San Lucas, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala that they should brush their teeth with purified water. Eating mango from stands in the market nearly every day probably doesn't help...especially that fruit cup that tasted like alcohol because the pineapple and strawberries had already started to ferment. Additionally, eating immense amounts of food every day for the entire weekend, whether they were healthy vegetables or the sweet local desserts at the music festival, was probably not the best idea. With the amount of food I ate at the music festival, I was probably statistically doomed to eat at least one disease carrying food.

Anyway...Lauren and I are both sick and headed off to the clinica in the morning. Good thing I got that travellers' insurance!

This week wasn't just a day at the beach...

Ok, so it did START with a day at the beach but the remainder of the week was filled with much music festival preparation and the festival itself!

On Sunday we loaded up early and headed out to Sipacate, a beautiful black sand beach only reachable by lancha.

We spent the day lounging around, boogie boarding, playing frisbee and volleyball, and soaking up the sun.

We made it back to Antigua just in time for a budget meal at a little illegal Japanese restaraunt that only serves 20 people every Sunday night. Once they have sold 20 tickets, they close up shop. The food is made 2 servings at a time so serving 12 people took a little time but the wait was worth it!
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After a stress-relieving day at the beach, we jumped right back into music festival mode with a 2 hour long Monday morning meeting to assess our progress and get in the zone for the week. We met up with a man named Brooks who works for a men's magazine in the States and is willing to do some major publicity work for CasaSito, starting with an article on the festival!

As the Music Festival Volunteer Coordinator, my week was spattered with email after email trying to recruit volunteers to help with advertising. (This is more difficult that you would think considering we had 30ish volunteers on the email list but many had to work on other volunteer projects during the day.) Also in charge of advertising, much of the week involved lots and lots of walking around Antigua. My trusty sidekick, Lorenz, and I talked to employees at almost every store, travel agency, and hotel on the west side of Antigua. We let them know about the festival and asked to post 'afiches' and leave mini 'afiches' to pass out to their clients. "Somos de la organizacion CasaSito y tenemos un festival de muscia este fin de semana en Santiago Zamora...blah blah blah...podemos colocar este afiche aqui en la puerta?"

We were trying to offer for the travel agents to make a tour out of the music festival by organizing and charging for a shuttle since the festival was held about 25 minutes outside of Antigua. Most of them are too lazy to design any tours because the hundreds of travel agents in Antigua all share the same tours and packages. By the time the weekend came, we'd exhausted our supply of flyers 5 times over and had to keep copying more so the weekend volunteers would be able to recruit more people to get on the free shuttle out to Santiago Zamora.
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On Thursday we got the volunteers together for a dinner/drinks at Kafka and went out for ladies night again at La Sala (which means I have officially attended every La Sala ladies night since I got here...also meaning I'm getting pretty good at this salsa thing...or not).
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Lauren finally arrive on Friday afternoon after a loooong delay in Ft. Lauderdale. No time for settling in, we had to go say bye to Jill (a CasaSito English teacher) on her 21st birthday and her last night in Guatemala.
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We put the volunteers to work all day Saturday blowing up 300 balloons, making posters, cutting up streamers, and picking up the endless amounts of trash along the road between San Antonio (where the chicken bus ends) and Santiago Zamora (where the festival was held).

Lauren and I took a group of students from GlobeMed at Loyola out to dinner on Friday night, recruited them to volunteer at the festival, and learned about their CasaSito project in Primavera Ixcan where they taught clinic staff how to properly sterilize equipment and the procedure rooms.
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Sunday, the day of the festival, turned out to be a beautiful day (the audience got to use their umbrellas for shade rather than rain protection!).

With no major disasters and no rain at all, the happy visitors spent the day listening to children singing for first place which would land them a keyboard and Q5000, second place which raked in Q3000 and a guitar, or one of the three participation places which still got them Q1000 and a guitar. All of the groups also got a pink or army styled backpacks and a book of songs from the Yale Alumni Chorus (the sponsors of the event). The home team won the big prize and were quite thrilled at that.

After the children sang festival attendees got a preview of the Yale Alumni Chorus which would be performing a free concert again in Monday night.

Then there were three local bands: a marimba...the group with the most difficult equipment to move, Las Estrellas...only two of the three chicas could come but they really tried to get the audience moving with some salsa and poppy music, and Non Plus...the group of high school boys that...well, sounded like a group of high school boys.

Meanwhile, everyone had the opportunity to shop around at the organization booths which were advertising their work and selling jewelry, art, and other cositas for fundraising. The women of Santioguito had worked full force for weeks to produce textiles of every style and color for the festival.

Other families from around the community came together to keep everyone at the event happy by making and selling all kinds of food from fruit to local desserts to traditional tostadas and crazy corn (which comes loaded with a 3-day supply worth of salt, ketchup, mayo, and parmesean cheese to taste).

Other entertainment included 'gigantes' (stilt people), 'tambores' (drum and flute players to announce the festival), facepainting, and 'hula-hulas.' The 'gigantes' and 'tambores' were hired by the women of Santioguito (the womens' association that organized the festival) to make the festival 'official'. Our volunteers enjoyed spending the day painting CasaSito logos and rainbows on the faces of every child at the festival.

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No slowing down now! The first two days of August set the precedent...this is guaranteed to be a busy month. With Lauren here, this week we're going to tour some of the CasaSito projects this week and start working on one, check out Animal AWARE (so we can send her home with a new furry friend), perhaps get some piercings. Next week, Honey will be here so the days will be packed with Tikal, Lago Atitlan, y mucho mas. The week after will be more project working and preparation for the EGL trip and, for the final week in August, we will be in Xela working on the radio center construction with EGL. Finally, in September, I will be able to breathe but that also means that all of the excitement that August is bound to bring will be over. In Spetember though, I will make a trip or three up to Samox San Lucas to move forward with Health in Action's relationship building and community assessment within the community!