Inside our school.
These are the tables each student sits at with their teacher for one on one lessons.
Beyond school... we (Kidissa, Kevin, Laura and I) took a much needed weekend trip to the beach in Monte Rico. Antigua (where we are going to school) is sort of in the south central part of Guatemala but still two and a half hours from the beach. My housemate (Stephanie) mentioned that she and two of her friends were headed to the beach so we too looked into it and took a shuttle provided by the school. The hotel we stayed at (El Delfin a.k.a The Dolphin) was more like a hostel so it was super cheap only like 9 dollars person. What it lacked in comfort (the bed was literally cement with a hard thin mattress) it made up for in the view, the people and the food.
Monte Rico is very much a tourist trap so we ran into a number of other Americans, Canadians/French, Germans and others. Over the years and places I've traveled I've definitely learned that we live in a small world and Monte Rico was no exception. There were two other gals at our hotel who are from Minnesota. One is a teacher in Minneapolis the other is from Sherburne (near Fairmont). To make it an even smaller world story... it turned out the massage therapist at the hotel (Martin) who is Guatemalan also lived in Sherburne for several years with his uncle during grade school.
On the shuttle to the hotel we met two other Americans (Dan and Theresa) that are med students. They are taking a year off before residency and will be working in El Salvador for 5 months. Laura who will be our nurse at the Finca (a.k.a. The Farm) is hoping to go visit them at some point and I too would like to go with. However, since they are only there for 5 months I have a feeling we won't have any time off before they finish.
So as I was saying the hotel had the most amazing view, people and food. It is right on the black sand (extremely hot on your feet) beach of the pacific. At first you think you are looking west but it is actually south. I realized this as the sun set to our right somewhat along the shore and did not set straight ahead on the horizon. It was really beautiful! I'll hopefully have posted pictures by the time you read this. Not only was the sunset beautiful but the sun was quite strong. Mom... no worries, Laura made sure we were all well taken care of as far as wearing sunscreen ; )
Even stronger than the sun though were the waves. I've been to both sides of the Atlantic before and the Pacific in San Francisco and never have I dealt with such strong waves. Swimming in the water is basically impossible and just stupid unless you are a local and a very strong swimmer who understands the ocean's temperament. You pretty much can only stand on the beach and when the waves come ashore is when you get soaked. If you're not careful though and bracing yourself it can easily sweep you out. The lifeguards were constantly reminding everyone not to go in very far. At one point the hotel's dog (Luna) went after a frisbee and couldn't doggy paddle back fast enough so one of the lifeguards had to rescue her.
Kevin, Laura, Dan, Theresa and I went running on the beach with one of the lifeguards and some of the local kids Saturday evening. Theresa and I quickly remembered how much we hate running. It worked out though because someone had to keep an eye on the local boys since they wanted to chase after every crab they saw no matter how close to the water it got and the waves would have easily taken the kids under.
Saturday night we went with a guide in search of sea turtles coming ashore. We never did find any despite walking for what felt like 5 kilometers. Walking that far (after running earlier) on sand is an incredible workout, but we all felt like we were going to die. On our way back to keep our minds off how far away the hotel was we sang Disney and Broadway songs. Strange yes, but fun and I think our guide got quite the kick out of it.
The next morning (after just 3 or 4 hours sleep) we got up at 4:30 to catch a boat tour on a local river/lake to see some of the many birds and other wildlife in the area. Unfortunately my camera battery died just as we got to the boats. We got back to the hotel after a couple hours just in time for breakfast.
That brings me to the awesome food! Basically every meal comes with frijoles (black refried beans) which are delicious. I brought myself to order shrimp tacos (for dinner Saturday) which were actually pretty good. A couple of the other gals ordered fish.... it was definitely fresh too. It was still intact, head tail and all. I'm not a fan of seafood particularly if it still looks like it should be alive. However, I did try it and it was the least fishy tasting fish I've ever had. I didn't necessarily like it, but it wasn't the typical icky fish taste.
After a breakfast of eggs and beans it was time for a massage on the beach. I hadn't planned to spend my own money on something extraneous like that but after walking for hours on the beach and sleeping on a cement bed I couldn't pass it up. Plus, I figure it's unlikely that I'll ever have a second chance for an hour massage on the beach for only $20.
The rest of the day was spent resting and studying Spanish with my teammates before catching our van back to the school.
Sunday night we made it back just after 6:30 and still had to find a Mass to go to. We knew there were a number of evening Masses but hadn't really planned ahead. Thankfully Kevin's Spanish skills are good enough that he was able to ask for directions and we got to a Mass in the middle of the homily. Having missed the readings we went over them back at my place after dinner.
Every afternoon the school offers a different activity. Since Laura and I take an additional 2 hours of language classes we don't always get to do the extra activities. Wednesday's activity is hiking up a nearby volcano! No worries... it's no longer active. We decided that we couldn't miss out on that so our teachers are coming with. There are 3 or 4 volcanoes that we can see from Antigua. They just look like small tree covered mountains. The one we are hiking is Volcano Picaya and it sounds like it's a smaller one that will take 2 hours up and 2 hours back down. I just hope it doesn't rain since it does almost every afternoon/night this time of year.
Monday night Laura, Kevin and I went to our first salsa & meringue lesson offered for free with the school. I took a cardio salsa class in college which helped a little bit. The class was pretty basic though so we all kept up okay.
I will hopefully get pictures uploaded in the coming days.
Make today your best day!
~ Katherine
Thanks for the update! It sounds like you're having an amazing time! I can't wait to see some more pictures. This is truly an experience of a lifetime. Can't wait to hear more!
ReplyDeleteBecky