Out with a bang!

Our last week wrapped up as planned with me relaxing and enjoying our two-story apartment and Michelle finishing up a last week of 7 hour per day classes.

My enjoyment turned out to be planning on how to set up the property if we were to buy it- a common Will fantasy. With a solar shower, composting toilet, green house, rainwater tanks, solar panels, grey water system, and of course- super garden. This is especially fun when you have as much sun for energy and growing coupled with land and home prices in the 20K range.

I had learned from Dave that anyone could own land here without being a resident and that it was sometimes easier to just renew your visa every 3 months rather than complete the lengthy bureaucratic citizenship process. It was only important to make sure you talk to neighbors about the parcel in question and use a lawyer to complete the deal. Like anything there have been stories of non-owners selling land to unsuspecting people not able or willing to do their due diligence. But other than that it was pretty straightforward except…

Another interesting note about land that we learned is that as it was passed from generation to generation it was usually split up equally which by today has left most pieces of property extremely small, some as small as 1 x 25 meters. What would comprise a normal full sized city lot might be 3-4 properties… so you can imagine what acquiring a small farm might take depending on the location. Most of the owners also don’t have any paperwork and it is printed for the first time at the bank at the time of the sale.

On Tuesday night we went out after dinner to a predominantly gringo bar on the corner where we first arrived in San Pedro. It was rumored to play newer American flicks so we gave it a shot. It was already a second floor bar overlooking the streets and there indeed was the hidden luxury of a small movie screen and projector on the third floor next to a pool table and a bunch of movable bench seats and tables. It was a wonderfully quaint experience with the 5-6 people that showed up to watch the latest X-Men and Paul the next night… Yes we went back! It was the type of experience that reinforced the notion that we could live in such a place.

Thursday Michelle left class half a day early so we could do our biggest excursion since coming to Guatemala- Tikal! We packed up almost everything leaving room for presents and cacao beans… (3 minus pounds of them…. And counting :) )… and dashed toward our final chicken bus ride to Guatemala city (aka. The city or just Guate Guate Guate per the chicken bus assistant).

We were dropped off in zone 2 in a heavy market area where we could see huge piles of fruits and vegetables suspiciously similar to the ones found in most of the area markets… some of the foods like the 2” diameter foot long carrots we had suspected were not grown locally and definitely were made with industrial fertilizers.

*A sad side note: As many developing nations Guatemala has unfortunately become a dumping ground for products and materials that do not meet health and environmental standards in “developed” nations. This has resulted in the rural populations of the area utilizing extra toxic fertilizers and pesticides for the majority of their own food leading to increased infertility, birth defects and miscarriages. This was especially sad to see amongst a people so rooted in agriculture they believe humans were formed out of corn dough in the 4th world. They now almost exclusively plant GMO corn with common names like H1, H3, etc. GBA.

We essentially hopped from bus to taxi and were taken straight to our first choice of tour bus lines ADN. The bus was scheduled to leave at 9pm and arrive in Flores far to the north near the Mexico border at 6am. This arrangement allowed us to pay half what we would have through a guide agency from San Pedro and one quarter what we would have paid if we were to take the small plane offered in the city.

So… at 6am we groggily got off the bus, though it was somewhere around 2am that I awoke in my thin jacket in a full sweat as we had truly descended into the jungle. As always drivers and hotel salesmen practically mounted us to win our attention. But buy this time we had become much better at fending them off and simply walking to an open space, setting our stuff down, taking a breath and deciding what to do.

Seeing that we were in no mood for shenanigans a man approached us calmly and said he offered an economy hotel with a price that matched. This turned out to also be the same person we scheduled our rides to and from the park with. We quickly dropped our stuff off in the hotel, packed our daypacks and jumped back in the van with the other 3 people going to that day.

On the 45-minute drive out of Flores we stopped and picked up a young lady who turned out to be a private guide and eventually the other couple and us decided to split the cost for her services.

After arriving at Tikal we set out on a hike through the trails, which turned out to run every which way and made us glad we had chosen a guide because she knew exactly which ones to take to get the best views of the main ruins.

Tikal was one of the larger Mayan cities with parts of it dating to around 500 B.C. It was in thick jungle 20 odd km away from the main water source the large lake Petén Itza. They had constructed an intricate canal and holding pond system that was still essentially functional today, though parts of it had been paved around the public parking/mall area.

As we walked down a gravel path we saw oscillated turkeys unafraid of people like peacocks in a zoo. We stopped at the species of tree the Maya most considered to resemble the great Tree of Life with the canopy representing the heavens (13), the trunk the earth, and the roots the underworlds (9). The tree was massive and beautiful with all sorts of epiphytes growing from its branches.

As we left the gravel path for the dirt we had our first monkey encounter! A family of spider monkeys swung from limb to limb over the path and to another tree with more food.

We made our way up an old clay road called the white road, which held the feet of the Maya so long ago. I was fascinated by how most of the dirt and wood surfaces underneath were so slick. It made sense since it was so humid you would sweat standing still, but all rocks and dirt had almost a mossy slickness that was very peculiar. Anyway, the path we took popped us out into a site called the Acropolis.

From this point we could see the top of Temple V high above the forest to the left and to the right – a taste of the main event- Temple I, the Jaguar Temple. We wound our way through the Central Acropolis peaking around and then stopped at a ledge that overlooked the great plaza.

Our guide then told us to take our time and explore the great plaza with both Temples I, II, and the North Acropolis. After we took pictures in front of the main temple we climbed up some very steep flights of stairs to the main landing of temple II:

The views were amazing!

Here’s a link to a map of the city:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mayaruins.com/tikal/Tikal_map2.gif&imgrefurl=http://mayaruins.com/tikal/Tikal_map.html&h=597&w=866&sz=67&tbnid=m8kt2RXl72VNkM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=131&prev=/search%3Fq=tikal+map%26tbm=isch%26tbo=u&zoom=1&q=tikal

After this we wandered by temple III, which was built atop a high mound ascending so steeply you would have to climb with your hands.

As we made our way to a spot in the thick jungle where we could get a view of it our guide was continuously showing us the flora and fauna that were so crucial to the forest dwelling people. There were palm like plants with spines used for blood sacrifices, another with leaves to chew to snake bites, another that when chewed had a numbing effect, and another that we knew. Our host in San Pedro had some very wonderful flour made out of a nut called Ramon in Spanish and ujushte among others in May. It is small, hazelnut sized, and has a soft fruit like thin outer skin. Fresh we found it was very disappointing, but once dried it takes on an incredible chocolate like flavor and when used in banana bread…. Mmmmm.

The next site was called The Plaza of the Lost World, a pre-classic Mayan part of town, which had a mounded temple, which was built on top of each new generation. It was lined up with another much smaller mound so that each year at either the equinox or the solstice the sun would sit directly on top of the temple and light up the other mound. Their understanding of celestial time was eerily spot on.

After finding a crazy gigantic spider we climbed up Temple IV, the tallest in the city at around 70 meters. It was quite a climb, again up wooden stairs. Some of the rock they used seems similar to sand stone and when touched can fall off in your hand as I experienced; truly ancient. There were obviously other rocks strong enough to support the massive structures, but what was also incredible is where they got the rock from. There were no cliffs around, essentially just flattish jungle with a small creek here and there. They essentially mined the rock by digging down! Talk about determination! They found layers of this chalky sandstone and would cut blocks out for building.

The top of temple IV was the best view of the city currently (temple I is off limits). Standing there you could see the tops of temples I, II, III, V, the big mound who’s name I don’t remember… It must have been so exhilarating to work lifetimes to finally reach a point about the jungle canopy where you felt this overwhelming sensation of openness; of perspective. What a great vantage point to practice rituals and ceremonies.

The jungle was hot enough let alone sitting above the tree line shade free… So we didn’t stay too long. We climbed back down and walked back to the great plaza as our time with our guide had expired. We sat down with the other couple in the middle of the plaza under a tree to eat lunch and nap.

Oh yeah! We heard and then saw howler monkeys too! A hair raising yowl that sounded more like a big cat.

After resting for a good hour we wearily looked around for some of the next largest sites to see before we had to leave by 3pm to catch our ride. This is where temple V came in perfectly.

We wandered back through the formation Group G before calling it time and making our way to the parking lot.

As exhausted as we were it was a very worthwhile trip and we were glad we did it. Even though there were not informational signs as plentiful as Ixhimche we could still appreciate the grandeur that was ancient Tikal.

We drove back to Flores to spend that night and the next day until 8pm when we would catch yet another overnight bus back to the city.

And even though our “day” didn’t stop there, I’ll let Michelle wrap up the trip with one final blog. Here was one of our last morning in San Pedro!

A weekend adventure to Tecpan

As our last week rapidly approached we decided it would be best to go ahead and turn our trip into a more traditional vacation. So I chose to stop working in San Pablo and we made arrangements to move to San Pedro. Michelle found a great little apartment that has two floors and rents for about $85 a month. It is very basic, one large room, small combo bath, and an upstairs patio the same size as the main floor with a metal roof and open on two sides. We get a great view of the city (we can even barely see our old home in San Pablo) and more time in our day together.

It is so basic in fact, we don’t have a stove. I was challenged today to find ways to make good no-cook meals. Our favorite mainstay has been tortillas and avocados for lunches. With the market so close (5 minute walk) I was able to gather fresh tortillas, avocados, carrots, basil, sweet onions, garlic, tomatoes, cucumber, mini bananas, strawberries, and parmesan cheese for a little less than $7. Does anyone else want to move down here yet too? I made a cucumber/tomato/onion/garlic salad with olive oil and balsamic dressing.

Participating in the markets here is an experience I will always cherish. Such a different experience from Olympia. The market there is prim and proper, and quiet aside from the regularly scheduled musical performance. Here it's scattered, spread out on the ground, dirty and wonderful. There’s people shouting out prices left and right trying to get your attention. Not something I necessarily like, but it makes for a level of energy that is very unique. There’s smoke from fires and from cooking permeating everything along with the occasional rotten and foul. If there is ever a place that would make a person want to turn vegetarian (aside from our factory farms) it would have to be the meat sections of these markets. There is not a single thing that entices my appetite in the meat section!

This past weekend we decided to go to Iximche (ee-shim-chay)… that’s the best I can do; a small and close ancient Mayan city (Mayan ruins). It was recommended to us by Michelle’s teacher Luis who was born in the near by city of Tecpan.

Saturday morning we grabbed our weekend bags (the language school held our other bags) and caught a local bus comically referred to as chicken busses by gringos, but known by locals as the camioneta… These are old retired school busses outfitted with large diesel motors that make them very powerful. They are then painted up with all the colors of a peacock and sent into the frantic life of public bus-hood. Up until this point all we have known of them is that they drive very fast and emit lots of smoke. Michelle has been run off the road on her bike by one tearing around a corner at top speed, blasting its horn as a warning.

The particular camioneta we boarded was headed for Guatemala City and as it had already left San Pedro was VERY full by the time it arrived in San Pablo. So with my 20 lb. bursting backpack, travel guitar, umbrella and flip flops in hands I boarded the bus with Michelle behind me. I should have let her go first. The west coast in me said, “When you see six people in a seated position forming one continuous line across the bus the bus is full; stay where you are.” Ehhh. Wrong. The correct answer was, say “Perdon” repeatedly and push through to the single person space in between two 6 person lines. No matter your backpack and rump greeting complete strangers in the face. Good to meet you too! Oh, and you thought the bus would not be moving during this whole time? Wrong again. It barely missed a beat. The bus only stopped rolling for us to board because we were Gringos. But once our feet were on the deck and the driver’s assistant (the ayundante) had swung back in and we were off.

The young ayudante would ride with half of his body out of the always open door pulling the horn string for every person to be seen on the road asking if they wanted a ride. He would hop out, let them in, and if needed haul their wares in baskets up the ladder to the roof whistling as he started up, to let the driver know he could floor it. He would climb back down from the roof as we would swerve around switchback corners and climb in through the back door to squeeze through everyone and collect the new comer´s money.

I don’t know which was more scary, the roller coaster curves coming out of the mountains, or the 90 mph-high-way-car-dodging-and-then-slamming-on-the-brakes even to pick up one person who waved, then back on the road up to 90 passing the same cars. Wow! Luckily, but the time we had made it to the highway enough people had left for us to get our own seat and rearrange our stuff closer to us.

Two hours later… we reached the main crossroad to Tecpan and got off. We took a chance and refused the Tuc-tuc and pickup offers and started walking. We reached the town within a few minutes and soon found a hotel near the center of the city near a giant plaza and Catholic church with a market bustling all around. Before heading out to the ruins we quickly stopped in the market and found some fresh blue corn tortillas, avocados and strawberries along with some iodine from a pharmacy to sanitize them.

We had been told the walk from Tecpan to the ruins would be 15-20 minutes, this turned out to be an hour, but was beautiful and welcome exercise none the less. As soon as we reached the park we sat down on a little bluff and ate our simple lunch. It started to sprinkle so we put on our rain gear and before touring through the park.

Most of the signage was in Spanish so I left Michelle to read as I went around taking pictures. We wound our way through the old hand carved/placed/and sunken foundations and temples feeling a sense of awe.

There were administrative buildings, elite dwellings, temples, and a ball court. The temples and ball court were the most interesting to look at as all others were mostly stone foundations with the actual wooden structures long gone.

I had read about the their ball game, similar to basketball except they could not use their hands, only forearms and the such. They played for honor, with the winners or losers sacrificed for the gods, sometimes wars were decided this way. The court was much smaller than I had imagined.

Aside from that it was a very simple visit. Exciting in a serene type of way. It makes you feel very humble to be around something so old. I had read a book our host had prior to the visit “The Complete Idiots Guide to 2012” which was a good basic primer to Mayan civilization, but was more focused on the prophecy side. It was good to read before hand as I knew their temples were situated along energy lines to keep in balance the earth´s energy. They are theorized to be descendants from Atlantis (as are the Egyptians) and were rumored to be able to control the earths energy (light and sound vibrations) to move the massive rocks they used to build their pyramids. They even have temples at other sites where certain celestial alignments during the year make the sun light ascend/decend stairs in certain places marking certain events. All in all a great book and an even greater civilization, one which this paragraph can’t come close to doing justice. Read it!

We took a rest on another grassy spot, finished walking around the 10ish acre area and after a few hours walked out as it started to rain harder. We were fortunate enough to catch a Tuc-tuc back, turning it into a 15 minute return trip. We cleaned up in our well deserved HOT SHOWER (rare in these parts) upon return to the hotel and even indulged in a little TV.

The next morning we made the snap decision to walk around the market a little more before catching the bus back. This turned out to be a great choice as the market grew the more we walked. It was about 10x the size of the Chi Chi market if you can remember us writing about that. And much more native. The food selection was massive, and needless to say we loaded up. Always on the lookout I found a new fruit! Chico? It looks like a potato, skin similar to a kiwi without fur, and the consistency… of a Chermoya.. if you know what that is! It was slightly sweet, a little grainy and a hint of oily, I called it mayonisey, but I have an intense distaste for mayo and I liked this. Michelle did not like this characterization. Cool looking insides and like all the fruit was found, we kept the seeds!

As crazy as the ride to Tecpan was, the ride back was even better. The Sunday busses were few and far between so we caught one to another city and rode it to where we thought was going to be the ”cross roads” a giant hub of intersections, but it ended up taking us most of the way back to San Pedro. We then transferred to a smaller metro bus, then a pickup bed (20 people with 10 spots to spare!), then a tuc-tuc!

We got situated in our new apartment and had another wonderful Tin Tin dinner this time with an Argentinean Malbec

*A note about the people here. We had heard many a horror story before coming about the potential evils, though this area was one of the safer from bodily harm. We just wanted to share that it has been our experience that people have been very kind and helpful, even when they did not have to be. There were several situations this weekend where much could have been stolen from us and was not. I am very thankful and believe expectations and beliefs form reality and while I may not always be able to control mine I will endeavor to trust in the goodness of people first, no matter what. Ultimately , the reality is the danger in Guatemala is comparable to that of any US city, and with our wits and some trust, we have never felt unsafe.

We look forward to next weekend, we have one last pretty exciting trip in the works! Thanks for reading our adventures! A storms rollin’ in, gotta batton down the hatches!

Maximon etc...

This weekend we had a hodgepodge of small things to do that made for a busy weekend. We decided to stay around San Pedro, and try to rest and relax a bit, since every weekend has be adventuresome and every week busy with building, gardening, cooking and studying. It turned out to be a great way to spend a weekend.

On Saturday Will and I decided to walk to San Pedro for some exercise. I have been riding Dave's bike everyday to classes, and the route seems to get shorter every time. This cuts out the need to wait around for a lancha, flag down a tuc-tuc or kayac alone. Bike riding on the streets here is like mountain biking an easy to medium trail on Moscow Mountain. It's a great deal of fun, but takes lots of concentration, since there are vehicles and potholes to avoid. Anyhow, the walk over is approximately 6 kilometers and an enjoyable time. Everyone we pass is friendly with an "hola, buenos dias" which we happily return. In spite of getting in shape by climbing the volcano, biking, and walking up and down Dave's near vertical property, we were worn out by the walk over there. We sat down in our favorite little cafe, so Will could get on the internet and I could study for my nursing boards. After a few hours, we headed back to San Pedro via lancha.

We arrived in San Pedro to a gorgeous afternoon. Will relaxed while I did the laundry. The pic below is of Will a few weeks back at the pila, cleaning our clothes. Lake water is piped in and filtered for our drinking water, but laundry and showers are done without filtration. It goes without saying that laundry takes a good deal more time than it does with a washing machine, but I think my arms are getting stronger, which is always a bonus. Anyway, I was listening to some Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, which passes the time pleasantly.

After laundry, we watched Juana, a local woman who works for Dave kill the rooster (at Dave's request). Dave had the rooster because he was hoping the hens would have some chicks, but it turned out the chickens he got were very aggressive and not very productive layers. Instead of keeping a gallo around, he decided it would be better to eat it for lunch. So, we learned from Juana as she built a fire outside to boil water, and killed the chicken with hardly a blink.

After that event, Will and I relaxed some more and then got ready for a nice dinner out. We had heard rumors of a rad Japanese restaurant in San Marcos and our curiosity got the best of us. Our friends, Ryan and Brandi are living in Japan for two years (!) and we figured we could feel a bit connected with them in our travels if we tried the Japanese cuisine Guatemala had to offer. After following specific directions from Dave to a hidden location we arrived at a welcoming space called Allala. The ambience was calming and comfortable, if a bit dilapidated (I have always found dilapidated charming and appealing.) We perused the menus and ordered, then admired the decorations and ambience of the space. We ordered some sake to go with dinner, a rarity here in the land of cervezas whose quality matches Budweiser. The meal was increible. Filling and delicious. And after dinner, a complimentary portion of cheesecake with a scoop of ice cream was served and solidified our recommendation... this place is fabulous! We left the restaurant stuffed, promising to bring leftover containers for our next visit, so we could avoid wasting the food without being so full. And promising to remember to bring our camera next time (whoops, I forgot it!)

On Sunday, Will and I decided we needed to walk to San Pedro again. After another beautiful, friendly morning walk, we arrived at the Santiago muelle with the intention of heading to Santiago for the afternoon. The lanchera there tried to charge us 100Q each (200Q total; about $30) for the short ride. After little discussion, Will and I decided the fare was too high and we would better spend our money at a few great restaurants for dinner than a trip to Santiago. We started to leave, and the lanchero stopped us. Suddenly, he could offer us a price of 70Q to cover both of us. The reduced fare was about what we expected to pay, and so we were back on track to head to Santiago once again.

We arrived in Santiago with the idea to go visit Maximon, a local saint. We made friends with a man from Taiwan on the boat, who was also determined to find Maximon. The difference between us and our friend Josh was that he was unafraid to ask every person he met where to find the somewhat elusive saint. We followed him eagerly, but stayed too shy to ask around. We benefitted a great deal from Josh's efforts and found Maximon quickly. There we witnessed a prayer and short ceremony which included serving the icon liquor and lighting/ashing cigarettes for him. We paid to take a photo of him and after a few moments admiring we collected ourselves and headed off in search of lunch.

We had a great lunch at the first place with reasonable prices and watched the Real Madrid v. Barcelona futbol match. It was an exciting game and a mediocre lunch. We meandered down to the lancha with plenty of time to turn in our return ticket and catch the 330 lancha to San Pedro. In San Pedro we stopped in to buy chocobananos for a yummy treat, and headed up to central San Pedro for a ride in the back of a pick-up to San Juan. We climbed down in San Juan and walked back to San Pablo, to round out our walking weekend. Dinner at Dave's was the gallo boiled with vegetables, tasty, if a bit tough (he was old for a meat bird.)

We slept well Sunday night, which brings us to today. Nothing too exciting happened. Will continues to work on the tree house with Dave. I rode my bike to San Pedro and met up with a friend from Oly for a great, if short, chat and walk. On my way home, I was sailing down an awesome hill when I realized how fast I was going. I hit the brakes a bit too fast and sailed right over my handlebars, my body and the bike doing an almost complete rotation. Not complete enough to avoid a big bruise in my knee and forehead, and impressive scrapes on my elbow and hip. A crowd of incredibly kind people encircled me, and helped me get my bearings while I limped, embarrassed, to the side of the road. We all inspected my injuries and I was advised to drink my water, and wash my wounds. Everyone was so kind and concerned. After a suitable recovery time, I was ready to carefully edge my way back home, and optimistically got back on the bike. The crowd was skeptical, but I insisted, and off I went, slowly, with caution, as I was also advised (ten cuidado!). When I got to San Juan, I popped into a store for some ice and realized riding back was probably a bit too challenging with my aches and scrapes. I got a tuc-tuc to take me and the bike to San Pablo, and then made my way along the lake to Dave's. I got appropriate sympathy and further inspections of my wounds from Will. At this point I had changed from frazzled and fatigued to amused and proud, and Dave generously indulged my good humor. Will, I think was a bit too concerned to laugh it off at first, but after shared some stories of his own crashes and recoveries over dinner. I've got a bump on my forehead that would make my nephews (shout out to Max and Pax) proud, and a limp that has convinced me to hail a tuc-tuc to class tomorrow morning.

That's all for now. I should get to my homework and then to sleep, I think I'll be sore tomorrow. Until next time...

The Volcano... Round two!

Once again we scheduled with a guide only this time we requested the regular 6 am start time. We had been watching the weather to try to plan for a rainless and cloudless day.

I traveled over to San Pedro on Saturday night to meet up with Michelle after class to go to our now ritual Tin Tin dinners. After devouring incredible dishes of Pad Thai and Gado Gado we got to bed early in preparation for the event. And an event it was!

At six we met with our guide and started walking out of town. Most guides, we had heard, would go to the small trouble of getting a tuc-tuc for everyone and saving the 45 minute walk UP to the park entrance. Almost everywhere is up or down here, unless of course you are going sideways :) This proved to be a slight frustration because we were already concerned about making the entire hike as it was said to be extremely strenuous. I was especially dismayed since we chose to wear our five finger toe shoes and the entire start was on pavement and cobble stone. After a good half hour of frustration and complaning :) we made it to the entrance where we took a break at the park entrance with informational signs boasting of the wonders to ensue. One such chart for example showed common plant life, another animals, another birds. No there are no Quetzals in this neck of the woods as they have all been flushed out of their environment. Darn. Our guide reported there were still a few leopards and pumas, but he had only seen one cross the path in front of a tour once.

We trotted off to the trail bringing up the rear as the oldest of four other hikers and the guide. The two leading the pack were young energetic europeans who after the halfway point just went on ahead. The other couple were younger Germans who had been living in Nicaragua for 5 months. They matched our endurance level better and became our trail friends. The trail wound down and around farm patches of the various staples grown here for local consumption. Coffee, beans, and of course corn. We finally got to see some coffee fruits that had turned red- the time when they are picked, husked, and dried for roasting. We even grabbed a few to taste. The outer fruit was sweet and the coffee "beans" were a little slimy. We didn't feel any caffeine effect from the fruit.

After crossing a large dry stone flash flood river bed we said good bye to the last of the long segments of horizontal path. From then on every time we would see a 10 foot section of flat land we would rejoice. We have hiked pretty strenuous trails before, granted they have been few and far between, so much so that we haven't really carried the physical benefits that they give far, but still... We've hiked Mildred lakes and the Putvin Trail in Olympic National Forest both of which have elevation gains of roughly 2,000 feet over 5 or so miles with full 30-40lb packs. Those were hard, and injury inducing. This we could not have done with those packs. We estimated roughly a 8 mile round trip, but the elevation gain was at least double anything we have ever done prior. Step after step, break after break after 4+ hours of climbing dirt stairs we made it to the main event.

We could not have timed the trip better. Almost every day the mountain top has at least a small disc of clouds around the top, but this time it was perfectly clear. From the top you could see almost the entire lake if it did not somewhat wrap around the volcano. We saw Santiago, normally hidden from our sight, shown here.

Digging out our snack lunches we found some shade under the most weathered of mountain top trees and imagined what it would be like to weather one of the regular miraculous thunderstorms from such a vantage point. After eating the guide and other two couples were ready to go... we were a little surprised after all the effort, but had prepared to bid everyone good bye and do the climb justice by enjoying the treat to ourselves. For me this mostly consisted of sleeping in the sun, for Michelle taking flattering pictures of me sleeping in the sun...

The piles of rocks we made our beds was on a narrow ridge, the edges of which fell down into the jungle 50 ft below before sloping significantly. Our backs faced the crater of the old volcano, long since overgrown by the jungle and too large and covered to feel like a "normal" crater.

While it was wonderful to have the "hardest" behind us and the downhill started out easy, it unfortunately did not stay that way :) By the half way point we were hard to rouse from our lying breaks and became delirious with sillyness and light headed. Foot pains started around hour 6, but fortunately by the time we reached the park entrance a tuc-tuc was there waiting for us. Then it was just a matter of playing good tourist/bad tourist to barter down to the fair price and catch our ride to the city center.

Its amazing how a ten minute tuc ride downhill could tide such a physical depletion while we walked the market for food. We picked up apples and a cut coconut w/straw and some good oatmeal raisin cookies at the gringo healthfood store. We even felt up to getting our puppies on Dave´s farm 10 pounds of food. I wasn't up to carry one of the 100 lb bags...

We made our way back to the hotel and crashed for a few hours before heading to our Tin Tin and Choco Bananos for a well deserved treat.

This morning after sleeping in we decided to save a visit to Santiago for another weekend and caught up on some reading, internet, and relaxing. We took the boat back around noon after a nice omelet lunch and cleaned up! We're not exactly sure what we'll be doing next weekend, but as for the week its Michelle school and Will tree house.

Tratamos Subrir el Volcan San Pedro

Last week, Will and I decided we were going to climb the San Pedro Volcano. We are living here at 5,000ft, and the volcano, as reported by Dave, is 10,000ft. It's a common trip for tourists to take, and normally, a guide is advised, since there are a few forks in the trail with no signage. We often look over at the volcano from Dave's property and have notice the clouds at the summit most commonly accumulate around 9 or 10 am. We got some advice to climb the volcano early, (it's about a 3-4 hour hike to the top) to catch the sunrise and the view without the clouds. So, with an adventurous spirit, I walked into a travel agency and fumbled my way into an agreement to hire a guide to bring us up the volcano at 3am. Will and I stayed in a hotel, Joya del Sol, after salsa on Wednesday night, so we wouldn't have to make our way from San Pablo so early in the morning. By the way, I am getting good at bargaining- one night in this hotel is a little more than $4 for both of us. The woman at the agancy assured me the guide would pick us up outside of the hotel at 3am. I suspected the guide may be late, but still, Will and I ate a big dinner (at Tin-Tin, an awesome restaurant) after salsa, and tried to get to bed early.

At 230 we weren't ready to face the alarm, but we pulled ourselves out of bed, and quickly ate granola for breakfast. We locked our room, and waited on the street for the guide. It was quiet, which was rare in San Pedro. Normally there is music blasting, preachers preaching, dogs barking, roosters crowing, bombas booming, among other sounds; there is pretty much noise at all times. This quiet hour Will and I joked that we should be asleep, if only to take advantage of the peace. At 330, I was still expecting the guide to come. I called the agency and left a message in (limited) Spanish that we were waiting. We waited longer. At 400, I called again, not really expecting an answer, but hoping to let them know we were still waiting. We waited longer. Will keeping me from getting too angry by making me laugh and enjoying the quietude. Every motor we heard induced us to turn our heads, but none were for us. We discussed whether we thought "buenas noches" (good night) or "buenos dias" (good morning) was a more appropriate greeting for the rare person who passed. Finally, at 5am (yes, folks, we were optimistic, or delusional, enough to wait for 2 hours) we went back to the hotel to sleep.

After a catching up on our sleep, we woke up refreshed and ready for our day. We ate a small second breakfast, and studied a bit. I returned to the agency, ready to stand outside and tell every potential customer what happened if my money wasn't returned. Turns out I didn't need to argue at all. The agent was very apologetic, and gave my my deposit back, along with a free pound of coffee. I did not reshedule, since we still need to figure out when we can go again. I had class at 1pm, and so after shopping and a nice lunch with Will, went to school. We stayed in San Pedro again that night, this time to hang out with some of our school friends who were leaving town Friday. Altogether is was a fun few days, though disappointing that the trip fell through. We'll have to see what time we decide to leave next time!

This weekend we stayed at Dave's helping out around the property, and relaxing when we could. We bottled beer on Saturday, which was fun. We have made homemade mead before, so it was cool to see the differences and similarities. Sunday was a slow day of gardening for Michelle, with Will and Dave cleaning out and fixing one of the water tanks. Until next time...

¡FRUTAS!

Um this is a bit tardy but better late than never :)

The fruits here are awesome. The pie you saw in the post last week was made from a fruit Dave refers to as a "cherry." We've had fun when they were coming on strong: making pie, crisps, and even a delicious cake. The coolest part about baking down here is using the solar oven. We had a huge batch of amazing bananas ripen. We had to work hard to get through them before they all rotted. We made a few loaves of banana bread in the solar oven (also shown in the last post). The solar oven can get as hot at 350 degrees (F)! Perfect for baking bread in. We're tried some new fruits, too, like the pitalla; it's absolutely beautiful, but rather bland. It's got almost no flavor (or at least the one that we tried.) Granadina was sweet and tart and tasty. Of course, we are familiar with plantains, which we fry and eat with cream, another favorite treat. And we had lychee fruit, grown on the coast, available at the Chichi market. It was sweet, but not as sweet as the canned kind we have tried in the States. Altogether we are in awe of the subtropic weather producing so much fruit in the winter (which is the season we are in here). Ok, here are the long-awaited lists. Thanks everyone for posting. (Papaya, I am still waiting for your contribution.)

Will (cheater)
Berries (Boysenberries, Blueberries, Strawberries)
Mangos
Asian Pear
Kiwi
Pineapple
Cherries (Bing, Rainer)
Cantelope
Avacado
Apples
Grapes (Red Table & Old fashioned varities)
Tomatoes :P

Michelle
Blueberries
Mangos
Peaches
Strawberries
Bananas
Bing cherries
Cherimoya
Avocados
Coffee
Chocolate

Homework

Thanks to all who posted on the homework assignment! I promise to post the lists for Will and I tomorrow! Here is a little teaser to get you through the day:









Also, I am keeping track of those of you who have completed your homework... I may need to start calling comeone ¨banana¨ if we dont hear from her soon!

One more note, I cannot find the apostrophe on this keyboard, so Ill have to live without today :)

Michelle