miércoles, 1 de abril de 2009
disculpame
sábado, 7 de marzo de 2009
ay ay ay...tengo que jugar catch up
martes, 24 de febrero de 2009
Viento del mundo (el segundo parte)
We awoke before dawn to hike up some 90 switchbacks, 3.5 horas of invigorating work, to rest here, and watch el sol rise...
We then saw these things along our way...
Entonces nosotros dormimos, barely, on a dirt floor in an old barn in Canton Primero. Not so remarkable. But, oh what was to come...
La proxima mañana subimos a La Torre, the highest non volcanic peak in all of Central America. And from there we went down, en mi caso slid down, a Todos Santos de Las Cuchumatanes.
Estas son las vistas ví este dìa...
Los demàs salimos la proxima mañana para Xela, pero me quedè en Todos Santos por una semana de clases. Todos Santos es un pueblo de 3000 personas settled in a valley of the Cucuhumatans. Practically every person, inclye los hombres, wears traditional traje....beautiful traje. The colors they use here are stunning, deep purples and tealsand maroons. My Todos Santos madre weaved these brilliant textiles, so I was given the chance to see the process. The family also grew mushrooms, mi verdura favorita. And I can vouche that the papas here are the best in Guatemala.
I woke up todas las mañanas knowing I was in the mountains, not by memory or sight, but by a more abstract sense. And the feeling and sights in the middle of the night, being in Guatemala, in that valley, in those mountains, under that sky, rivaled some of the better ones in my life.
I will spare you the deatils of my first bout with a Guatemalan parasite, except that of course it was going to happen in a place with no more than an outhouse for a bathroom. Mi madre aqui was very madre like though and insisted I sweat it out in the chuj, which I did.
So this ends my two week trek through the Guatemalan highlands. I am not sure exactly how much ground I covered, but it is a really impressive and large number of kilometers. Again I leave you all with my unwavering love and best wishes and sincere anticipation to give you all loads de abrazos very soon.
lunes, 23 de febrero de 2009
Viento del mundo (parte uno)
Nebaj
We stayed the night in Nebaj at a hostel owned by a man named Don, a chain smoker and ex pat who has lived in Guatemala por 25 años. The name is Popis. You should stay there too if you get to Nebaj. He makes a great pesto and panqueque.
The next morning nos levantamos a las 6 and began the long walk. This is where we are heading, los Cuchumatanes...
We then landed here, Xecocon, where we would sleep in a building known as the community center. Many pueblos throughout the department of HueHue got together and created kind of an infrastructure to support tourism. Part of this is the community centers built to host both events and persons. Another thing I have to remark on here is the water, so clean. Clean enough to drink from the source. Es raro aquí.
Unfortunately I will have to leave you all hanging. This is a time consuming entry and I want to go play a bit. There is more to come soon. I love you all and am glad you like my stories and pictures. They are here for you like you are for me. xo
viernes, 6 de febrero de 2009
Una pieza de mi corazon
viernes, 30 de enero de 2009
Encima del mundo
Camionetas o chicken buses in gringo.
They are colorful, lively, blessed by our lord,
and los conductors son locos...all this for fifty
cents an hour.
We at the beginning...
Up there, way up there, is where we go....
Wild turkey, it did a dance!
On the way we saw...
Feet and flora at the top...
So, the deal is this...here where my feets are is our base camp. These feets are ones that have walked 7km uphill in very high alititudes. Era dificil, pero, las vistas eran...something else entirely. Despues de hicimos campamento, we climbed to the smaller of the peaks for the sunset....
I find it really hard to get an acurate portrayal of the sun setting on this camera, so I will spare you seeing the twenty attempts I made....it was gorgeous though.
Dinner was had, bed was made, and we slept....I also have no pictures to convey how very cold it was, below zero, celsius, but still worth it. The next morning we woke up early, 4am, and walked the 1km mas to the top, for the sunrise.
Here are the ten peaks under which Xela sits, and from which part of its name is derived
and here is the shadow of santa maria
So, Tajumulco was so good. I saw a since abandoned guerilla camp, but not very animals because said guerillas ate most of them during the guerra civíl. The volcano is also in need of many more trees, because the then military run government destroyed loads of them trying to eradicate the guerillas. I am becoming a student of guatemalan polictics here as well, thanks to my maestros.
The group I went with are called Quetzaltrekkers, where all the guides are volunteers and all the money goes to the kids. They just started a sister branch in Bolivia, so those of you who find yrself here or there, look into it. I am looking forward to a five day trek with them from Nebaj to Todos Santos, to see some seldom seen Guatemala and speak some beloved and bountiful spanish.
Still love Guatemala, learning loads, seeing loads, doing loads. Still love you all too, even more so. I think I may try to swing a couple of more weeks than originally planned here, but I will see you all so soon.