NOE bug

It's our second full day here and my have we been busy!  I'm a little mixed up on days given the fact that we left at midnight on Monday, had a 4 hour flight to Houston, a 3 hour layover, a 2 hour flight to Toluca and then a 3 hour drive to Morelia.  Then we had about a 2 hour rest and were off to NOE for the evening to meet The Dream Team and eat some of the best tacos in the world... tacos al pastores!  Don't even try to order them in the states.  They're on the menu, but not even close to the same.

Then we broke off into small groups and 1:1 for a little spanish conversation with The Dream Team.  No, The Dream Team isn't the popular basketball team of the 90s, but rather the group of advanced english students at NOE that will be coming to Portland this summer for a month.  I met with Marco, my little mexican brother.  I first met Marco 2 years ago when I came down.  He was one of the first Morelians I came to know and my has he come far. 

He barely said 2 words to me 2 years ago the first time we met and was extremely shy with his English.  On Tuesday we could have talked forever.  He was conversing fluidly telling me how his dream of going to Portland is finally coming true and just how much the NOE center means to him.  He's 20 now and works at the NOE center helping with computer class and all of the tech equipment while going to university and finishing up his english classes.  He is the epitome of what NOE stands for and exemplifies why this place is oh so special!

Coming down here is addicting!  It's been fun watching the newcomers in our group be forever impressed upon by NOE.  Some of them came down with a little trepidation and after only 2 days have come to understand and love NOE.  Their eyes light up as they talk with the students and in the evenings as we reflect on our day.  They've caught the NOE bug I caught two years ago that I still have shaken!  ... and don't plan on shaking anytime soon!  :)

Oh Mexico!

And so begins a new series of blog entries.... I'm headed off to Mexico this time!  At this moment I've taken a pause from running around frantically trying to remember everything I'll realize I later forgot so I can appreciate the moment and the journey ahead.  

This is a relatively quick trip, only a week, to a place very near and dear to my heart... Morelia, Michoacan, home to a wonderful non-profit called NOE www.noeinternational.com.  It's a trip nonetheless, that I couldn't pass up, even though I tried.

When I heard my friends Chris and Carolyn were putting together another small missions trip to NOE, I immediately told them I was in.  But then I thought of the busy spring and summer ahead and the fact that I wouldn't be able to go for longer than a week and thought, "nah, I'll wait till I can get away a little longer," so I told them I'd decided not to go.  They must have known I wasn't totally convinced because both Chris and Carolyn independently sent me updates as they made travel arrangements which made me rethink my 2nd original decision.  With a little encouragement from Evin and some desperate need for a little soul food, I was in... and here we are--- already!  Ahhh!

What will I be doing you ask... I'll be spending my days and evenings at Centro NOE, an incredibly spirited and special place, reconnecting with friends from 2 years ago, practicing English with the kids (and some adults) that attend NOE and hopefully practicing a little spanish too --- but more on all that later!

This couldn't have come at a better or worse time given all that's going on, but it's the worse part that makes it all the more important because there's nothing like changing the scenery and getting outside of your world to put some good perspective on things.

Unpause... continue panicking......

MIA (missing in action)

It's been nearly two weeks since my last post.  I didn't intend to completely neglect my blog or mean to leave you all hanging, but things got busy and I didn't have much time for internet cafes.  It happens....  

I spent my last week in Antigua sick with a sinus infection.  Thankfully, antibiotics are pretty easy to come by and Alice & Guillermo took good care of me.  I'm talking warm soup and tea with honey delivered to my room multiple times.  Ahhh, the kindness of others  They were incredibly good to me.

By the time Evin got there, I was through the worst of it and so began our adventure together....  I'm not sure the anticipation of his arrival could have been any greater.  It was like waiting for Christmas morning when I was 8 years old.  The 5 weeks apart flew by until about 3 days before he got there and then time seemed to freeze.

The night of his arrival happened to be the climax of the independence celebration and Guatemala welcomed him with open arms.  I've never been in a foreign country for their independence day, but I may just start planning vacations around it.  It somehow brings out the best in people.  

In Guatemala, they celebrate with a variety of activities for an entire week and conclude with a night of groups running through the streets carrying torches.  Some groups run short distances and others run for miles and miles.  It's a bit like the carrying of the Olympic torch.  Running on dark highways carrying torches isn't the safest thing in the world, but it's cool to see nonetheless.  I really hadn't thought of the danger of it until Kristin, the occupational therapist that happens to specialize in burn care, pointed it out.  Thanks Kristin.  

On the last day of the celebration, tons of school bands filled the streets of Antigua.  There were multiple parades and it sounded like Drumline most of the day.  There was a great energy the entire day and we couldn't help but put a little bounce in our step to the beat!

The timing ended up being perfect for Evin since I only had a couple of days to share Antigua with him and he got to bear witness to so much of the culture in a very short period of time.  We only had two full days of exploring in Antigua before moving on to Belize and we went until I literally couldn't walk or keep my eyes open by the end of the 2nd day.  I wish we would have had more time and would have liked to show him even more of Guatemala, but we made the best of the time we had.  

We covered a lot of ground and it'd be nearly impossible and a bit daunting to give you a play-by-play so I'll just share some of the highlights, like:

-The crazy rainstorm on the first day.  I saw a lot of rainstorms in Guatemala during my time there, but none were like this.  All of the sudden the sky just opened up.  The cobblestone streets turned to rivers within a matter of minutes.  We sought refuge in a nearby store, where we stayed for almost an hour waiting for the rain to taper off.  It ended up raining so hard that the roof in the store sprung waterfalls.

-Showing him the market that I loved so dearly.  His first day there happened to be one of the market days so we meandered through.

-Exploring a number of beautiful ruins in Antigua together.  I waited to do a lot of the tourist stuff until he got there so we could experience it for the first time together and I'm glad I did.  We saw some amazing ruins and it wouldn't have been the same experience if it was my second time.

-Introducing Evin to the great people I came to know in Antigua including Kristin, Dave, Sharon & Dwayne, Belinda and of course Alice and Guillermo!

-Finding our way to a neighborhood corn festival where I asked the Guatemalan Police if they'd take a picture with Evin.  They were flattered and even brought out the big guns and their serious faces.  Of course Evin was grinning from ear to ear!

-Buying our first piece of real art together.  I took Evin to a gallery where I had found a painting I really liked.  Of course it turned out that he didn't like it and I didn't like the one he liked so we decided that in order to buy a piece, we'd both have to really like it.  We found a piece we both loved and after taking a day to think about it decided to buy it.  Definitely beats a generic print from Ikea!

My all time favorite thing about our time in Antigua together was getting to share a place that had become very dear to my heart and witnessing Evin's first real cultural experience in another country.  He came to Guatemala somewhat reluctantly with the intention of seeing what I'd been up to the past 5 weeks.  Belize was for him and Guatemala was just going to be a blip on the radar.  On the second day in Antigua he was wishing we had more time because he loved it so much and couldn't stop singing it's praises to nearly everyone we met in Belize. (Thanks for keeping an open mind Ev)  

I think he's caught the travel bug... mission accomplished!

I'll post about our time in Belize within the next week.  It's time to get ready for work tomorrow.  Yep, that's right, after 7 weeks off, tomorrow is my first day back... Yikes!  Be gentle PGE :)

And so begins my 5th week...

Technically, my 5th week actually started on Friday which is incredibly difficult to believe.  It´s bittersweet really because it means that Evin will be here in no time, but it also means that my Guatemalan adventure is coming to an end.  It´s a funny thing to want something for so long, finally realize it and then to have it be over so quickly.  It´s definitely a time of reflection...

The seed of coming to Guatemala to learn Spanish was planted in my head long ago.  Almost 10 years ago to be exact.  I was 18 years old and a fresham in college at the University of Utah where I was taking a first-year spanish class.  I was visiting an art gallery for extra credit that had some spanish art on display and got to talking to the gallery owner.  He told me about some of his experiences backpacking through Central and South America and then proceeded to tell me about all of these spanish immersion schools that existed in places like Guatemala.  He said Guatemala was the place to go if you want to learn spanish and so here I am 10 years later.

The funny thing is that about two weeks after talking to the art gallery owner, I went out and bought a backpack and was set on using it to head down to Guatemala and learn spanish.  So what happened and why did it take me almost 10 years to get here?  Life happened... I got busy.  I got married,I bought a house, I finished school, I started a career, I bought a car, I got divorced, I decided it was time and here I am... finally!  Do I wish I would have come sooner?  I´m not sure about that.  I can´t help but believe that I´m here at exactly the time I was meant to be here.

Had I come sooner, it would have been a different experience and there´s no telling what that would have been.  It´s impossible to say whether it would have been better or worse.  I´m the happiest I could ever imagine being right now and for that I believe that this is the right time in the life I have and that´s what´s important!  

I´m thankful that I never forgot or discounted the fact that I wanted this trip.  I´m thankful to have had people encourage me along the way.  I´m thankful to have a job and a boss that allowed me the time off.  I´m thankful to my parents, Evin and all those who offered me kind words for getting me through the first few days of loneliness and I´m thankful for all of the great experiences I´ve had and the wonderful people I´ve come to know in the last 4 weeks.

Ironically, now that I´ve written this post, I realized that I didn´t even bring the backpack that I bought 10 years ago specifically for this trip.  I have to admit, I brought a rolling suitcase... oh the shame!  I guess it just means I´ll have to take some more trips to make sure my backpack gets some good use in the coming years!

Please note, the weird spacing and hanging apostrophes are not due to my imcompetence, but do to the fact that I´m typing on a spanish keyboard where apostrophes aren´t apostrophes, they´re accent marks and I refuse to take the time to make the spacing perfect.

Less is more...

A phrase that we´ve all heard throughout life, often relating to less material things, less money, showing less skin, etc.  But less information when travelling, I wasn´t sure about that until this weekend when I set off for Semuc Champey with 4 friends I´ve met along the way.


We did something a little different this past weekend and didn´t book our trip through the school.  Instead we booked through a local travel agency.  The trip was half the price and we´d run into some others that had gone through the same agency and had a good time.  The difference was, through the school we knew exactly what we were getting and we were always given a detailed itinerary.  Through the agency, the only things we knew were to show up at 1:50 on Friday afternoon and request to stay in the hotel by Semuc Champey the second night.  From 1:50 on, adventure was just around the corner and I never knew what was happening until it was happening.

For example:

I had no idea the five of us were going to be dropped in the middle of nowhere in the mountains near Lanquin where we were left at a rustic cabin by ourselves for the night.

I had no idea that we were going to encounter a gargantuan spider in one of the rooms and a 3-4 inch scorpian on the wall in the other of the said, rustic cabin.  Thankfully, neither were in my room and we had an experienced scorpian-killer on hand (nod to Kristin).  However, it was enough to make me pull my bed from the wall and make a conscious effort to sleep with my mouth closed for the night.

I had no idea that the following morning I´d be piling onto a motorbike, Guatemalan-style, sandwiched between the driver and Kristin with my backpack strapped to the front of the driver´s chest.  Did I mention we were on a dirt road....

Okay, I have to admit, I did know that we´d be riding in the back of a caged 4x4 to get to Semuc Champey.  What I didn´t know was that we would randomly pick-up locals along the way and I´d get pistol whipped in the face by a low hanging branch and have my sunglasses, that I didn´t even realize had flown off my face, returned to me by a local in the back.  I also didn´t know that we´d be driving through some of the most beautiful parts of Guatemala on such a beautiful day... amazing!

I didn´t know that when they said we were going for a hike, it would be one of the steepest and most slippery hikes I´d done and I´d be sweating like crazy by the top.

I didn´t know that when the guide said we were going to go explore some more of the natural pools of Semuc Champey, we´d have to jump off a rock to get to them.

I certainly didn´t know that exploring the caves at Semuc Champey would mean holding a candle while we walk and swim through the freezing cold water, climb up/down sketch rope ladders, crawl through waterfalls holding a rope with water pounding on us, slide down a rock into a pool of water below, etc. etc. (By the way, this cave exploring never would have flown in the US without harnesses and helmets).

I didn´t know that we´d wake up Sunday morning at 4:30am and wait by the side of the road for an hour for our ride that never came.

Here´s the thing, I didn´t know much on the trip and I wouldn´t have had it any other way.  Had I known what some of the activities entailed, I probably would have been more hesistant to do them or would have booked the ´safer´trip through the school.  Had I booked through the school, I never would have stayed in a cool hostel at the entrance to Samuc Champey (amazing place by the way) where we met and played cards with people from all over the world. I would have missed out on the adventure of not knowing what would happen next, which looking back, made the trip.  I would have also missed out on the comraderie that comes with going through this experience with others who are in the same boat.  You don´t know what´s going on, you´re a little scared at times and you´re definitely outside of your comfort zone, but you survive.  This past weekend is what travel is all about!

Another week already!

I have to start this entry out the same as the last, I can´t believe my second week has come to an end and I´m already well into my third week.  I´m afraid I´ve gotten behind and have somewhat avoided writing because the task of writing about everything I´ve done thus far is daunting.  With that said, I think I´ll skip ahead to now because well, I can... It is my blog afterall and recounting every detail of each of my trips and days sounds like a bit of a bore for readers and an impossible task for me.  They certainly weren´t boring to experience but I don´t think you need a play-by-play.  Instead I´ll share high (and a couple) low points.

Let´s start with the trip to Tikal, Rio Dulce & Livingston .  I scaled ancient mayan temples with howler monkeys claiming their territory in the distance, hiked through the jungle, rode standing up in the back of an old pick-up truck through the afro-caribe town of Livingston with 15 germans, saw the biggest spider I could ever imagine (in my bungalow), spent approx. 25 hours in a van, drank fresh coconut water, and spent the whole weekend in layers of sweat, deet and sunblock.

Last weekend we went to the Pacific Coast town of Monterrico.  It was relaxed in comparison to the last weekend, but fantastic in it´s own way.  I´m now known by a girl I met from San Diego as Tortuga (turtle) Girl because every time I talked about them she said my face lit up.  My love of sea turtles goes back to a report I wrote in 5th grade and reignited 10 years ago in Hawaii on a sea turtle covered beach.  They´re incredible creatures and Monterrico didn´t let me down.  After walking for almost two hours on the beach in the dark, we finally came across the tracks of a sea turtle and had the opportunity of seeing her lay her eggs and venture back into the see.  I have pictures to prove it.  The rest of the weekend consisted of a lot of sitting and talking with people I met on the trip, quizzing each other on spanish, hammocks, cards, loosing a very expensive flashlight to the Pacific and a little bit of indigestion.  Oh, and I can´t forget the layers of sweat, deet and sunblock!

All in all it´s been a great couple weeks and time is flying by.  It´s a double-edged sword because I can´t wait for Evin to join me down here and at the same time am afraid it´s going to be over before I know it.  It´s hard to describe life down here, but it´s been pretty amazing.!

It´s been especially fun to get to know people and see my relationships with my teacher, Carolina, and with Guillermo and Alice (homestay family) develop.  I´ve met some pretty fantastic people so far.  In fact, Carolina and I just had one of the funnest lessons we´ve had as we joked about exes, sex and our love of food and Guillermo, Alice and I are headed for pedicures tomorrow.

Here´s to another week of great experiences! 

Settling in...

I can´t believe it´s been over a week since my last entry.  I kept meaning to write, but this is the first time I´ve sat down at an actual computer and so much has happened that typing from my iphone would have been painful.  It seemed that everytime I wanted to head to an internet shop hay mucha lluvia (it was raining a lot - a common expression here in Antigua during the rainy season) and I didn´t want to go outside.  You´re probably asking yourself, "Isn´t she from Portland?", but trust me on this one, it´s not the same here.  I literally understand the expression, when it rains it pours, because in Antigua, it really does.

Anyhow, enough of that.  I´ve settled in quite well and am really enjoying myself now.  School is going really well and I think my spanish is coming along.  It still takes a lot of effort to speak, but I get by and I´m understanding more and more each day.  In fact, at lunch, Alice and Guillermo were just saying how I hablo bastante español y entiendo mucho.  Translation: I speak enough spanish and understand a lot.  They say I´m well on my way to earning my spanish diploma.  They´re joking of course because there´s no diploma to be had, but it´s nice to hear since I have no idea how my spanish actually comes across.

I´ve been participating in some afternoon activities with the school.  Last Tuesday, I took a salsa class.  I really like to salsa and would go again today if it wasn´t for the arrogant instructor that was kind of jerk and who I think was making fun of me to my face, but was speaking so fast that I couldn´t understand him.  Unfortunate, because I love latin dance. Don´t get me wrong, I can laugh at myself with the best of them, it just didn´t feel all that great in this circumstance.  Don´t fear, I didn´t let it get me down and have plenty of other things to keep my busy....

Last week, I toured La Casa Santo Domingo, a beatiful old monastery turned nicest hotel and museum in Antigua, I got dressed up in traditional Guatemalan dress and got married, had a baby and took a weekend trip to one of the most interesting places in Guatemala, the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal.

The last few things in that list deserve a little more explanation....

I didn´t really get married and have a baby.  The school had an afternoon trip to an idigenous village named San Antonio Aguas Calientes, just outside of Antigua.  There, me and three other students visited the cooperative home of four idigenous families that are working to preserve traditional Mayan customs, crafts, dress and way of life.  A few Mayan women explained how they weave the beautiful crafts they make and then dressed us up and took us through a typical wedding celebration.  They were then quick to strap a baby to my back quickly after the wedding which, I think is a pretty accurate picture of how it works.  I don´t say that to judge, only to reflect a cultural difference.  Mayans typically marry between the ages of 18 and 20 (used to be 15) and often times have many children.  After the celebration, we made tortillas, ate Pepián (a traditional guatamalteco stew) - delicioso - and ground coffee by hand.  It was really interesting and a nice difference from the touristy streets of Antigua.

The more I think about it, the trip to Tikal deserves it´s own separate entry so I think I´ll save that for a little later.

This week I´m not doing as many activities with the school and am working on building some courage to venture out on my own in a little less structured way.  I was talking with a guy and his 16-year-old daughter who have been travelling Mexico and Guatemala for the past three weeks and I think they´ve convinced me to be a litttle more adventurous.  I´m thinking I´ll take a spin on the chicken buses, correction - transporto publico :)

Hasta próxima...