A week ago, my friend Katie visited me down here in Guatemala (hence the long, long break in blogging; blame her). As I waited for her to arrive at the airport, I was still torn between taking her to Monterrico, a place I'd already visited, or trying some place new in Semuc Champey. The only problem with Semuc Champey is that it is 12 hours by bus away from Xela. In the end, I decided we could brave it and caught a bus to Lanquin and Semuc Champey. This was a great decision.
Instead of dealing wih a bunch of 'chicken buses' and the uneasiness that comes with my terrible Spanish, we elected to pay a little bit extra for a tour. The tour provided everything - transportation, food, a guide, entrance to all the sites - plus it made for a completely mindless day aka no worrying about when the buses come and go, etc. The first stop on the tour: K'anba Caves.
I have no pictures from these caves and there is a good reason for this - in order to enter these caves, one must swim (actually swim) and about 50% of the tour consists of swimming. And when I say swimming, I mean swimming while holding a candle, your only source of light in these pitch black caves. These caves were absolutely amazing. Throughout the tour I kept thinking 'This is the coolest thing ever!' About 30 minutes into the caves, our guide stops us and tells us "Climb up this rock face. Then jump into that pool 15 feet below that you can't really see." Ok, yeah that sounds safe. Yet, despite my hatred for heights, Katie and I both managed to do it. And we lived! Our blind faith in a Guatemalan tour guide wa rewarded. We left the caves, adrenaline at a all time high ready for the next part of the day.
After a horrific 30 minute hike that neither Katie nor I enjoyed we finally made it Semuc Champey!
These naturally formed limestone pools are crystal clear, deep enough to jump into, warm enough to spend the whole day in, and full of little fish that love to nibble at your legs. As Katie swam off and practiced her synchronized swimming moves, I took the time to just relax and marvel at the beauty that surrounded me. The place was so tranquil and perfect (minus the howler monkeys off in the jungle). I can honestly say that of all the things I’ve seen in Guatemala, this was the one that will least likely be topped. Breath taking.
Our guide pulled us away after a few hours and we headed back to our amazing hostel, Zepher Hostel, in Lanquin. Happy Hour followed and with a little liquid courage, we checked out another group of caves, Las Grutas de Lanquin. These caves are famous for the bat show that it puts on during sunset every night, where thousands of bats leave the cave to go feast. The sun had set and Katie and I were just about ready to call it a batless night when the mouth of las grutas filled up with these little fliers. Insane! We stood at the entrance with a few other gringos and marveled at the bats that swarmed us as the left for the night.
One Guatemalan tour guide claimed that if you eat one hundred bats, you develop the ability to fly. I decided that I’d pass and be earth bound for the rest of my years.
This was one day of Katie’s stay in Guatemala. The rest of the trip, while fantastic, was full of things that I’ve done before – Lake Atitlan, Xela, Antigua – and there is no need to blog about the fun that was had in these places. But I know Katie had fun, as did I. Guatemala never ceases to amaze me with new things and old things alike. I’m so grateful that I got to travel with my friend and take my mind away from work for a while. However, work is back so I prepare myself for the uncomfortable sweatiness that is the Campo.
It’s pretty easy to see the difference. The first house (top picture) is owned by a family that has 9 children and at least 10 people living in the house at a time. It’s sufficient to cover heads during rain and provide space for eating, sleeping, and storage. The second house has 3 children and a total 5 people living there, including Don Cirilo, the house owner.
At 36, Don Cirilo already has an amazing family with his wife. But when he needed a bigger and better place, he somehow ended up in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. I’m not aware of what means he took to get to the States, but he ended up busing tables for 2 years in a Mexican restaurant. One would assume that at best he made minimum wage although it likely was less. Cirilo returned to his family two years later, and was able to afford to build a nice house, mostly funded by his trip to the States.
What’s interesting about this case is just how far a poor paying job in America will go south of its’ borders. Cirilo likely could not have been able to pay rent in Boston suburb with his wages in Massachusetts, but back in Guatemala, he owns one of the nicer houses in his town. This is why people still risk their lives and come to America by any means possible; they dream of owning a better house, providing a better education for their children, or buying more land to farm on. Instead of sleeping on wooden plank beds that are built above a dirt floor, one can build a cement house, with real mattresses, a TV, and a refrigerator.
I’m not advocating illegal entry to the States. My point is that one must try to understand why people do what they do and these housing differences are a simple illustration to see why people come to America at all costs.
That's all I got for now. I promise promise promise that I will get up some new photos on the blog and a well thought out and written post early this coming week.
For you followers in the Seattle (including Tacoma and Port Orchard) and Portland areas, I was curious if anyone knew of any places that do rotating art/photography, like coffee shops or restaurants? I'm hoping to get some of my photos hung and displayed for sale when I return and I need to start inquiring soon. Email (dcfranz22@gmail.com) or Facebook any suggestions/ideas. Thanks everyone!
At least twice a year in the soccer world, FC Barcelona plays Real Madrid FC in what is called "El Clásico". The two storied teams have one of the longest running and intense rivalries in all of sports, dating back to 1902 and being contested 240 times (with three more matches against eachother in the next month alone).
One thing you learn about living in a soccer crazy country like Guatemala is that you are either a Barca fan or a Real fan. Example: Here's an interaction I had recently:
Guatemalan friend - "Who's your favorite Spanish team?"
Me - "Oh, I like Valencia."
Guatemalan friend - "No, no who's your favorite Spanish team."
Me - "Uh...Valencia...?"
Guatemalan friend - "What? No. I mean, Spanish team. Barca or Real?"
Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of either club but gun to my head, I'd go Barcelona any day. So with my brain not always thinking about soccer, I was unaware that El Clásico was on Saturday and I decided to take a walk with a few friends up to the local market and mall for lunch and to run a few errands. On the hike up there, nearly every other person I passed was wearing either a Barca or Real jersey (I'm not exaggerating. Literally, every other person). It dawns on me what is happening and I realize that I should try to find a TV to check the score when I could. This was not an issue...
The mall was in shut-down mode. Shoppers, workers, cooks, animals in the pet store... all watching Ronaldo vs. Messi. The scene was unreal. The food court was completely full of people taking breaks from work (I mean, some of these workers had closed their stores to watch the game).
We snagged a standing spot and checked out the action just in time to see a foul in the box and Ronaldo drive home a penalty kick to tie the game 1-1.
As the game ended, wild applause from both sides of fans (it was pretty evenly split, maybe a few more Barca fans) and within 3 minutes the food court was desserted. The whole scene was insane and I learned a valuable lesson: never forget what day El Clásico is when living in Central America. Today, they play again in La Copa del Rey. This time I'll be ready, rooting for Barca and arriving early enough to get a seat.
Delish looking right? Any guesses of where it was grown?
I'm oddly proud of the fact that Washington produces the best apples in the world, and also very sad to think about the craziness that is a Washington apple in a country that has an economy based so much on agriculture. But either way... WASHINGTON!!! I definitely smelled the apple, hoping to get a wiff of the Cascades, salmon, and Safeco Field. Alas, no luck. Still, nice to see a bit of home so far away.
A few things to get to this fine Xelan morning...For those of you who have a profile on Facebook, check out some pics I posted on Semilla Nueva's profile. There is a 'Best of Field Work' and a 'Urban Garden.'
For those of you who are Facebook-less, there are some pictures of mine up on Semilla Nueva's blog right now, joining a great story about the urban garden my friend Sam wrote while he was here.
I'm off to take pictures of Xela, as I realized that I have hardly any and I need to take a few. There is some exciting news that I will announce in the coming weeks while details are worked out but let's just say that if you live in the Seattle area during the winter months, there is a good possiblity that you'll see some of my photos floating around in a gallery or two. I'll keep you updated. Until then, here's a couple of photos to hold you over...
However when I arrived in Guatemala, one of the first things that was pointed out to me was this store that 'is like Goodwill but AMAZING!' I've always found Goodwill to be hit or miss - you can find some cool tee shirts in there, but its so few and far between, its hardly worth it. So I was hesitant to believe such hype. I was so so wrong.
MEGAPACA! The world's most awesome shopping place ever. My first venture into Megapaca had me so overwhelmed - 'how can this be 24 cents?' and 'why are there H&M jackets here?' - I left with only one shirt that didn't really fit and I only wear it when I'm working on the coast. Yet, I returned a week or so later and with a clearer head, I dug through all the racks and racks of clothes, finding deal after deal.
Basically what happens is that Megapaca buys clothing from retailers and Goodwill by the pound, then resells everything for super cheap. I mean, think about it: they spend $2 on a pound of clothing that inclues 2 jeans and 5 t shirts. They can then sell one pair of jeans for $5 and already be up profits-wise. This is a fantastic deal for Megapaca and for the consumer (aka Gringos from the States!).
Here is a little taste of what I've bought down here in Megapaca -
The baseball shirts are both from the late 80s, which I guess if you went into Buffalo Exchange you'd pay atleast $5 for. The button up shirt would be around $30 in Urban Outfitters or H&M. And the jeans... best deal ever. They had the tags still on from Zumiez - normally around $40. The socks I don't know how much they would be normally but let's say about $10 for soccer socks and $2 for 'themed' regular socks. So a total of around $80 worth of clothes for only $13.50. Blows my mind.
Here are some other things to look at to compare Guate prices to States prices -
This list can go on for days. Things are cheaper here. I'm not saying that it makes Guatemala better than the USA but I'm saying its cheaper to live here. Especially with Megapaca in my life.
I wake up at 4:30am, already feeling like this was going to be a rough day. After a short micro bus ride, we make it to the base of Santa Maria. As we walk to the first path, we see a giant Coca-Cola stage and banners. Apparently there is a gaint hike/race up the mountain planned that day and we would have to wait for another hour and a half and pay Q200 ($24). The gaurd refuses to make an exception for us and insists on the Q200. This sounds like a terrible idea but what else are we going to do? I didn't get up at 4:30am to not get up the mountain.
Luckily our bus driver found a random Guatemalan woman who knew a back way that would take us further up the trail. Under the cover of fog, we follow our sherpa into the fields and mist. We find ourselves back on the main trail only 50 yards away from the security gaurd with a shotgun. After a nervous 5 more minutes, we are safely further up the mountain away from armed Guatemalans.
The hike takes us nearly 5 hours to get near the top. While Brenda and Agnethe are full of spirit and energy, Geralda and I are taking it easy, creeping up the mountains at a nice, slower pace. It was rough and 3 days later, I'm still hurting, but once we reached the top, it made all the pain and sweating completely worth it.
The view was fantastic. The clouds hindered our ability to see some of the other mountains but sitting on the rocks, feeling above everything... purely amazing. We ate lunch and took pictures and treked back down the mountain. The trip back down took another 4 hours or so. This part was WAY more difficult due to the dusty trails and it was almost like skiing down the mountain. I might have fallen a few times...
A hard day of hiking, my first mountain climbed, sherpas, shotguns - only in Guatemala.
The main brewery is Cerveceria Centro Americana, or better known as Gallo. They are the Budweiser of Guatemalan beer. Their makes Gallo, Victoria, and Moza. Gallo is mostly sold in liters for about $2, depending on where you buy it. Advertised as a pale lager (think Coors Light, PBR, Bud Light, etc.) it's cheap, gross, and full of chemicals. The chemicals is only a guess because no matter how little one drinks, it gives you a pretty funky hangover the next day, even after on ly one beer. Moza, made by the same brewery, is a 'dark bock' (it's even spelled 'bier' on the label - it must be German!) but it tastes just like a Gallo with food coloring to make it look different. There is Moza Gold, which tends to have some flavor and after you sip it, you can tell that there is something to it, just barely. Its a little pricier but worth it if you wanna drink something resembling beer. 
While spending time in Port-au-Prince, I had the chance to meet and talk with a guy named Bryn Mooser. I've mentioned him before on the blog, so my long time readers probably recognize the name. He and a friend have spent a large amount of time working in Haiti, shooting footage for their website and documentary that they were putting together. I recently was forwarded this video put together by Bryn and his friend, showing their attempt at the first Little League team in Haiti. The idea is a bit whacky in comparison to what Haitians really need, but its a good idea to give kids an outlet for fun, away from the horrors that fill their daily lives. Plus, its a beautifully crafted clip.
We ride around in the back of pickup trucks, going way too fast and ignoring way too many laws of the road.
Because we ignor such laws, sometimes things on our cars break. Like the brakes. Luckily Brooke and Darren are all that are man and fixed it (kinda) while parked in a McDonald's in Guatemala City.
We also have fun after work. Long trips can be stressful at times so we make sure to take a break here and there.
Yes, this is a mattress in a shed. With seed bags. We slept here. When I say 'slept,' I mean I laid there for 9 hours and didn't sleep. I hate this shed.
That's my general 'internship/volunteering' overview. Things are nice cause it differs day to day and by time June comes, the look of my job will be completely different than it is right now.
Ok... blog #1 for today - done. More to come!
This is Lisa. She is excited to be saving the kid from falling off the fence. I enjoy this picture.
This is Emelie and me. Me, sporting my new jersey. Emelie, balloning my head. Xelaju won 1-0 for those who care. Pretty spectacular game/adventure.
Due to the fact that there really isn't sushi grade fish down here, we made veggie, canned tuna, and teriyaki chicken rolls.
I've made rolls before but Mikiko wanted me to try to make inside out rolls - where the rice is on the outside. Harder but when its done, its looks so cool.
Here is Mikiko teaching Brenda, who doesn't like sushi, how to make rolls. I think Brenda ended up liking what she made.
The finished product.
The table after all the hardwork. We ate like kings, er... emperors that night!
