I'm going to be a TV star!

That's right. Guatemalan Television has a new image and it's called called Pablo! Well, not exactly, but I will be on TV tomorrow night on Guatemala's biggest TV station. I am staring in a TV show that airs on Wednesday night and this Wednesday is my debut! Well, that's not entirely true either. But I will be on TV! You see, it all happened on an adventure to the Mayan ruins of Tikal.....

After a 14 hour bus ride with many stops along the way, including awakening to some people authoritatively instructing us to get off the bus. I thought for sure that I was being mugged, but I was so tired that I didn't care! " Take the stuff, just make it fast so I can get back to sleep" was all I thought. Apparently they were fruit inspectors and only took some tangerines from a buddy. We arrived at the island town of Flores where life seemed absolutely dead---this due to the fact that we arrived at 6am and everyone was still slumbering. After finding a small hotel we jumped into a minibus for another hour or so to head up to Tikal.

Tikal is pretty much amazing. It is the massive Mayan ruins located in the northern jungles of Guatemala and is as humid as can be with all the heat to match it. Now when I say jungle, it's not like the jungle, it is the jungle. I realized this after seeing a bunch of toucans fly by, a ton of monkeys try to poop on me, and couple other creatures like Juan the tarantula and a snake we named Pablo. The pyramids are enormous and give quite a stunning view over the jungle canopy.

After tooling around on the pyramids and sweating about 14 gallons of sweat, we headed back to our island paradise of Flores for a nice cool and clean shower. It wasn't until we returned to Antigua that we discovered all the water used on the island was pumped strait out of the lake! No wonder why one of us got sick! But I'm getting off track. Back to TV....

So our final night there we went a restaurant on the water---literally on the water! It rested on top of two long docks tied together, and with a chill band playing in the background, it made quite the location. I enjoyed a glass of wine while gazing at the beautiful stars overheard and playing a card game. It was just about then when a bus pulled up and out jumped a trendy dressed woman and a TV crew. She asked us if we wanted to go to a party on a boat with free food and drinks while she filmed a scene for an upcoming show. We quickly agreed and headed to the boat. However, the "boat" was merely the end of the dock with a 15 horse motor strapped onto it! We all got on, they untied the dock, and gave it a shove. Immediately back half of the boat sunk about three feet plunging the motor entirely under water! After redistributing the weight, we continued on our entirely free, hour-long party boat touring around the lake as we simply kicked it for the cameras. Small dingys circled the boat with camera crews getting the 360 degree matrix shot while other cameras took care of the rest.

And that's how I became a Guatemalan star.....

Climbing the Volcano and Vacation at the Lago

I feel as though I am acclimatizing to Guatemalan culture. Antigua is a very international town with students, travelers, and residence from around the world taking advantage of this beautiful land. All around the town are farms, most notably those harvesting that legal drug called coffee. Not only that, be Antigua is where Starbucks gets most of their coffee beans. Needless to say, the coffee aint too shabby!

On Wednesday, myself and some other gringos hopped on a late night bus taking us from Antigua to Volcan Picaya: one of the active volcanoes in the area. Why climb it in the night? Well, because the lava is brighter--and that was exactly our goal: to see lava. (A note to my parents: you may not want to read the next couple paragraphs---it may worry you.....). And so we rode in van through Guatemala City up into the hills of Picaya. Supposedly it was "safe," but we all knew it could be a little dangerous. A few days later I met a man who was beat up and robbed on the same trail. As we rode through the dusty roads, I looked next to our guide and noticed a long metal shaft lying on the ground next to him. With a grin I whispered to the lady next to me, "...it almost looks like a gun." Sure enough, when we arrived at the trail head our guide pulled out the shiniest shotgun I've ever seen. Apparently he'd been up this trail before....

We climbed for two hours up the side of this mountain slowly watching the sky melt from black to orange as we crept closer and closer to summit. One of the guides picked up some rocks from the ground and handed the to me; they were still roasting hot so I quickly handed them to a friend to hold... We made our way onto the warm lava rocks and soon noticed spots of bright orange buried beneath our feet every here and there. Another fifteen minutes brought us over a hill where we could see the lava. Not only was there some lava, but it was a huge river, about 50 feet wide slowly making its decent from the crater! We walked closer and closer until we stood about 20 feet from this glorious sight. It felt as though we were in a sauna. We watched the "river bank" crumble away every now and again allowing some lava to cascade toward us. I don't know how to explain how marvelous it is to watch huge boulders melt into liquid as they floated by. I've never seen a rock float before! When we first arrived, the lava moved ever so slowly, but by the time we left it was moving pretty good (and by that, I mean perhaps two miles per hour!). Just before we were ready to head back our guides shouted from the distance, "Venga, venga" so we all jumped to our feet to see what they discovered. They found a "safe" path to get within 3 feet of the lava. I was the second person to get there. I climbed the embankment and gazed at the liquid heat roll by so close I could touch it. In fact, it so close that we couldn't look at it for any longer than 10 seconds since the heat was so intense. I admit, I was so carried away by the excitement that I failed to notice that the embankment I had been watching erode was now the very one I was standing next to. I thank the Lord that I made it away safely with an amazing experience, but it was one of the more foolish things I've ever done!

Classes got old fast! Not to say that I dislike studying or even my classes, but they took up my entire day (8-4). I dropped down to an easier schedule (8-1) which allows me to have more time to study and have fun (and to update my blog a bit). I'm looking forward to classes this week, especially because I have a new professora who I get along with great!

This past weekend I went to a beautiful lake called Lago Atitlan. We took off Friday afternoon right after class and were the only three people in our van! After the 3 hour bus ride to the lake we caught the last boat of the night to take us to our hotel. We squeezed into the boat with about 20 Guatemalans packed in like sardines. About 20 minutes later and way to much intimate contact with absolute strangers we arrived at our hotel: Casa Del Mundo. Although in the states we couldn't rent out the cheapest motel room, for the same money we found ourselves at a luxurious and quaint resort perched on the side of the cliffs and surrounded by deep tropical vegetation. I awoke in one of the most pristine places I've ever been. Would looked off our balcony across the lake to the three massive volcanoes and the 12 villages resting on the lake (named after the 12 disciples). After a morning swim, we headed to four towns. San Marcos: the "religious community" of Atitlan. We expected to see many churches and perhaps a monastery or mission in this village, but instead we found only one small church and a plethora of message therapists. San Pedro: the "hippy community." Within 30 seconds of arriving we were offered weed---that's right, the good old marijuana! I thought about buying some just to say that I had, but the druggies we befriended beat me to it. Santiago: the "idol worshipping community." Virtually this entire town worships a small statue of a little dude smoking a cigarette! Absolutely hilarious and pathetic. From their we made our way to the city: Panajachel. However, en route it started a torrential down-pour. I loved it. Apparently we aren't quite out of rainy season yet so it can dump every day at 1:30. We jumped out of the boat and in the 45 seconds it to us to find a restaurant, we were soaked. We thought it'd let up. We hoped it would. They said it would. But it didn't. Kinda like they said the last boat of the day was at 6. Apparently that wasn't true either. So we had to rent a private boat to take us to our secluded hotel. We made our way across the lake as the rains poured and the lightening lit up the sky. I didn't think it was too safe, but it was the only option. And our captain said it would be fine. I didn't believe him. I prayed God's mercy would guide us there safely, and He did.

Now I am sitting in a small Y-WAM coffee shop putting off my studies and waiting for the rain to stop. This upcoming weekend I have three days off so we might head down to the beach or to the Mayan ruins in Tikal or perhaps to El Salvador. Who knows. My stomach is feeling a little funny right now for the first time since being here. Not bad, eh?

The Christian community is a conglomerate of believers from all over the world and all different backgrounds. It is refreshing to see believers in coming together in unity. We want to. We have to. There is no other way. This is a rather dark place with so many evils. And socially, there are so many orphans. I heard someone say that about 75% of the population is children. I don't know if that is exactly accurate, but it does demonstrate the sad situation here.

That's all for now. Ciao!

So far, SOOOOO good!

It all began Sunday--the start of yet another adventure. My mother dropped me off at the airport early in the morning, and as I walked to my gate with a backpack containing my few possessions, a grin once again crept over my face. Like a pirate finding a hidden treasure chest but unsure of its contents, I was also ready to score some pirate booty. This situation is becoming familiar to me yet the peculiar excitement and thrill still caries my ambition. For some reason, I love stepping into situations where I know no one and no one knows me. And my time here thus far is proving this true yet again. 

 

Before I go on, the highlight of the flight was definitely landing in Guatemala as we made our way strait through a lightning storm! It was awesome!

 

Two flights and 12 hours later I was walking through customs in Guatemala City (which by the way very well may have been the easiest customs to ever go through). It was only as I was exiting the airport when I realized I was a bit ill prepared: I knew I was suppose to go to Antigua but I had no clue where that was, where my host family lived, what their names were, what their phone number was, and what my school´s number was. All I knew was that I was suppose to meet some guy holding a sign with my name on it.

 

I quickly spotted my name on a sign and the man brought me to his van and proceeded to drive me through the back streets of Guatemala city. Oh how the memories flooded my mind. All the trash beside the streets, the cement houses with massive steel bars on all the windows, the stray dogs, the crazy drivers, and of course, the unforgetable aroma.

 

An hour later, I arrived in Antigua. My driver shook my hand, rang the bell and left me standing on the street on one side of a huge concrete wall. I had no clue who would greet me in a few moments, but I knew I was stuck with whoever it was and wherever they lived. Was this going to be a mud hut? Was I going to share my room with some strange person or animal?... Perhaps this was all a bad idea; perhaps I shouldn´t have come at all. The door opened and I stepped in to the other side of the massive wall. A kind woman greeted me in Spanish and I started digging deep into that abyss somewhere in the extremities of my cranium where my limited Spanish is stored. `Hola, me llamo Pablo`---it had begun!

 

She kindly brought me into her home and it was as though I stepped out of the third world country I just entered and into some paradise. The beautifully tiled floor, the 25 ft vaulted ceilings, the electricity---this wasn´t going to be so bad! A little golden retriever named Dulce welcomed me in as I met the whole family: a boy and three adorable little girls.

 

My room was a surprise too. A good size room with those vaulted ceilings, a beautiful view with flowers growing right outside my window, a large bed I almost fit in, and cable TV (in both English and Spanish). I am ashamed to confess that I went through ALL the channels three times trying to find ABC in hopes that I could catch Lost on Wednesday......pathetic, I know.

 

This morning after breakfast I made the half mile walk to school where I began my first day! I met my professora who is wonderful and who I will be studying with for the rest of the week. I spoke Spanish with her for six hours today and needless to say my brain is fried! The school has a great courtyard where we study and it´s very nice to study outside in the sunshine---speaking of which, it is actually warm here. Perhaps I should mention that my past five months in Alaska yielded only 19 days of sunshine and thus, this direct sunlight is a much welcomed sight. I was starting to doubt whether it even existed anymore.....

 

Well, I must head off to la cena. Thanks for reading. Hopefully my thoughts will be more coherent next time.....ciao!