Feeling a little sentimental after our last group excursion of our Guatemala 2010 Study Abroad. This trip was definitely a fantastic way to bring the trip to a close. We traveled first to Rio Dulce, Guatemala. After a few hours of classes in the morning and a ten hour bus ride, we had the pleasure of taking a boat to our hotel La Tortugal, right on the river. We had a nice dinner there (I ate the mandarin chicken salad and a licuado, so good). Sleeping was really nice since I was staying in a cabin that was like a porch, with only screens and a thatched roof. The fun part was that it rained most of the night, pretty hard to. So some of us got a little wet, but it was great listening to the wildlife when we went to sleep, and then to wake up to hear the rain.
For once we were able to sleep in the next day and have a nice relaxing breakfast. Then we went down the river to the ruins of the Castillo de San Felipe, where we had a tour of the castle ruins then went swimming with the locals in the river. After we left we went to a restaurant to eat lunch, which took two hours for them to serve our food, and it wasn’t even anything too exciting. Then we had a nice boat ride scenic tour of Rio Dulce, along the jungle and through a canyon to a hot springs where we went swimming for a little while. Then to arrive a little later at our hotel in Livingston, which is right on the water where Rio Dulce connects with the Caribbean. Our hotel rooms were like simple little cabins with two beds and lots of cockroaches. We went out for dinner at a nice restaurant on the water, and I tried a special dish that is only made in the Livingston area, with fish, shrimp, crab, coconut milk, and plantains – so good. The rest of the night we relaxed in the hammocks on the dock, talked, and stared at the stars.
Early departure the next morning for the island of Flores. Once there we took a hike through the jungle where we saw and heard howling monkeys! They are so loud and sound really scary, but they are so little! After our walk we went swimming in the lake then returned to our hotel to get ready for dinner. We had dinner on our own and scoped out a cute little restaurant where the food was good, not too expensive, and it was 2 for 1 happy hour! Later we went to a café called Las Puertas to see a singer/songwriter from Mexico, Jose Bernardo, perform. The best part yet is that John told him that I like to sing and play, so before he finished playing he asked me to come up and play a song, so I played three songs for the few people that were there. It was great! My first experience performing in which I introduced myself in Spanish (hopefully I’ll have more of those someday).
At one of my regular cafes right now where a few of my Guatemalan friends work, El Infinito, and something that really strikes me is that people here really take the time to stop and see how I am doing. It’s not that typical “oh hey, how are you?” as the person passes and doesn’t even turn around. Here it’s different, we greet each other with a kiss on the cheek and look each other in the eyes and ask each other how we really are, and then we both respond, honestly. This is something that I will really miss.
Sincerity, in all of their love, care, actions, and in every word they speak. Saying goodbye today to my family and those of others, I truly felt a pure and heartfelt care. At least 4 times I was told that I will always have a home here in Guatemala if I come back – which I am really hoping to do. Right now I am sitting in our hostel Guate City, the “Airport Hotel,” and this entire day I feel as though I am in a transition phase. The hard part of leaving teachers, friends, families, and my new “family” of everyone in our group is over, and now we are still in Guate, but I am not with my family or friends at home. I just said goodbye to a lot of people, but will soon be greeting many.
This past week has been kind of a blur, but I successfully went out every night. Starting on Sunday of last week we went out for dinner at a little meat comedor with Ronaldo. He was leaving early so he couldn’t come to our graduation – so sad. So that was great, then we went for one last stop at Micky D’s in central park. Monday night a bunch of us hung out at Smoothies Rum then I went out with Rach, Steph, John, and his friend Sam who was visiting to King and Queen then finished up in the empty Aguile, drinking Sam Libres – so good. Tuesday night we chilled at Ojala for a while. Wednesday night we went to celebrate John’s acceptance into an Indian fellowship program by going to Sabor de India, Pool and Beer and La Parranda. Thursday was our graduation at Celas Maya. It was a really great night. The theme was Guatemalan holidays, and the teachers had it all decorated with traditional decorations, candles, and they served us all sorts of yummy typical food. It was raining and chilly of course, but that was alright. We all gave a little speech when we received our diplomas, I spoke a few words, read a poem I wrote in Spanish, and sang one of my songs. Everyone really liked it – a few of the teachers made me play the next day during break in the garden by the fountain when John brought out his guitar. Anyway, after the dinner/ceremony was done, they cranked up the music and we danced for a while, then a few of the teachers and us went to La Parranda, Ojala, and Aguile.
Friday I went to class for a little while just because. I did go to my last day of yoga also. I forgot to mention that last week Kevin had told me that I should really think about becoming an instructor; he also said that if I was sticking around longer I could take over a few classes – wow, that means a lot. He is super good at what he does, and really knows what he is talking about, so hearing that from him was really surprising to me.
Friday evening a bunch of us girls went with our maestros Julia and Carolina out to Café de Luna (a really cute café very well-known for their chocolate drinks, I got a chocolate moka). After that we headed to Smoothies, to drink some mojitos and we met up with John, and Nora’s mom came out with us too. From there we went to Ojala, and I was absolutely drained so we chilled there for a while, then I hit the hay.
Saturday morning we made a last trip to La Democracia. I bought some underwear, sandals, and vegetables. I made a really yummy bean, tomato and avocado salsa/salad for lunch for my family. It was sad though because their dog, Corredor disappeared that morning, they were guessing that someone stole it. So they were all distraught, and I felt a little uncomfortable because I didn’t know what to do. In the afternoon I finished and sent in my paper for my last class, which marked the official end of my junior year – kinda scary. So I think that technically makes me a senior now!!??
My host mom, Karla, made a yummy shrimp lemon pasta for our special dinner on Saturday night. I gave them my card, the picture I printed off of us to put in their picture frame I gave them at the beginning of my stay, and a bottle of honey I bought in San Lucas. A little later those of us left in Xela went to Casa Babylon to drink, chat and chill for a while. Everyone was a little tense from packing and knowing what will come the next day. After that we went to a place right by Infinito for a live concert (this was a pretty cool place, it was a bummer we hadn’t discovered it before). Had a few cobra libres there, and then headed to Aguile one last time.
Up bright and early Sunday morning for our bus which left at 7:30 from our gate. Everyone was a mess of tears and emotions when we were saying our goodbyes. Then we all started balling when we were driving away – it was pretty funny looking back on it, a van full of 8 emotion-filled girls.
We made it to our hostel, the Airport Inn, literally right across from the airport, and were there to relax for the rest of the day. We watched a few movies, slept a little, relaxed, ordered pizza for dinner, and crashed for the night. Then only to the airport to attempt our flight out. Well we ended up waiting about two six hours for a flight that never happened. It was cancelled and they gave us vouchers to “the nicest hotel in Guatemala City” and two meal tickets. We were so frustrated at that point. First of all, they didn’t tell us right away that it was cancelled; they only told us it would be delayed. Then when they announced it was cancelled, we waited in line for over two hours trying to figure out what to do to get our flight changed, receiving absolutely no help, they finally sent us to pick up our luggage and go back to the check-in counter. We then waited there for over an hour while they changed our flights. It seemed like they really didn’t know what to do, what to do with us, or how to deal with the situation which was very frustrating. Then we seemed to have run-ins with unfriendly workers which is never a pleasant experience.
Sigh, then finally we took our shuttle to a hotel which was elegantly nice. In fact, a little too nice for Guatemala it seems. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very nice luxury to have a full, all inclusive stay at a hotel for a night, but we did feel that it was a bit over the top, especially after all that we have witnessed and experienced while we have been here. But we fully took advantage of our free services.
We went down to the dining room for our “lunch” even though it was 6 pm. I ate ceviche and drank orange juice and coffee. We made a friend, Adam, who was travelling by himself so he joined us to eat and chat for a while. Another lady came and talked with us for a while, sharing about her volunteer experience here with a mission group from her church (we made lots of friends who were stranded with us). Then we returned to our rooms to shower and relax, then back down for dinner, which was a buffet of course. I had some fish and a nice mixture of salad, then lots of fruit and some interesting desserts/tarts. Back to our room once again, for a nice relaxing movie of Alice in Wonderland, and some Chamomile tea.
And that brings me to now where we are once again waiting for our flight, which should be taking off soon…
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