Una Aventura Chapina

La Tierra de Los Chapines 

The hike to Volcan Pacaya

Once again, we were packed like sardines in the bus. Shoulder to Shoulder from one window to the next. This is a feeling I have come to know very well during my two years in El Salvador. Well, it is no different in Guatemala. The bus from 4 Caminos to Chimal was packed with music blaring and the ayudante (the guy that charges and helps the passengers board the bus) yelling and running back and forth on the top of the bus. Typical bus ride.

I wanted to sleep, but the road was too windy. So I did my best to close my eyes and not get sick.

The radio was blaring "Have you Ever seen the Rain?" by Creedence, and I thought to myself how strangely, that song represents my Peace Corps experience.

Rain falling down on a Sunny Day. 

There are very few days that go 100% well. Zero projects that have turned out the way they were planned. 

And no matter how sunny the day, it ends in rain.

A young woman got on the bus at some point, and sat next to me. She was really beautiful and I guessed about my age, or a little younger. At some point she fell asleep and her head rested gently on my shoulder. The first time this happened to me 2 years ago, I was weirded out. I tried to wiggle out from underneath the awkwardly intimate encounter with a stranger. But this time, was different. I was overcome by the urge to make her bus ride more comfortable. I wanted to comfort her and let her sleep on my shoulder as long as she pleased. I wanted her to feel safe. She awoke once around a particularly violent curve in the road and seemed embarrassed that she was sleeping on the white girl's shoulder, but I gave her an assuring smile, and she went right back to sleep, right where she had been. 

As I left Guatemala, I felt that it was the beginning of me leaving Peace Corps, and Latin America.

I cried, and I wondered what I will do without this world.

Antigua

We spent NYE in Antigua, by we I mean me and about 20 other PC-ES Volunteers + about 20 PC-G Volunteers... What a great way to bring in the new year

Calle del Arco... where we rang in the New Year

Going out for NYE PC-G and PC-ES united for the pre-party

Some one gave us their baby to take a picture... it was pretty awesome

Cerro de La Cruz, overlooking Antigua

Volcán Pacaya

The hike was quick and painless, but once we made it to the top i got tough. The wind was blowing incredibly hard, I thought I would fall off the mountain. I sat down near a spot where some warm air currents were coming up out of the rock ot warm myself up, and tore the seat of my pants off... (Which were then repaired for the equivalent of $1 by a woman at my hostel). 

On top of Volcan Pacaya

On our way down, we were cursing the wind, we were ready to get down, when out of the clouds appeared the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. The guide said that the wind was not normal, but because of it we got to see the sunset that is usually obscured by the clouds around the Volcano.

It took my breathe away.

The Sunset from Volcan Pacaya

Lake Atitlán/ Panajachel/ Santiago Atitlán 

As our micro took the long windy road from Sololá to Panajachel, I had no idea what was awaiting me. At some point we turned a corner and the lake and three volcanoes came into view. I wanted to cry. It was breathtaking. At those moments, I am in awe that our creator can create such beauty. I felt small, and humbled. I spent the next day admiring the scenery and haggling with Mayan Women over art and jewelry.

Lake Atitlan, Panajachel

The boat ride to Santiago Atitlán

The cross outside the church in Santiago Atitlán

A store where they sell all of the beautiful fabric woven in the villages of the Western Highlands.

The Macadamia Farm

Just outside of Antigua, a man from San Francisco settled down and married a Guatemalan woman. They started a Macadamia movement and now promote Macadamia production and consumption throughout Guatemalan villages. The crop provides a sustainable income as well as a healthy diet for Mayan communities with scarce resources.  

They also have a restaurant with Macadamia Nut pancakes. 

Macadamia Nut Flour + Macadamia Nut Butter + Blueberry Puree + Local Honey + Fresh Fruit

=

Deliciosa

HueHue & Kati's Site

Visiting Kathy Lee was incredible. It is really quite amazing that 7 years after I graduated from Placer High School, and last saw Kathy (or Kati, as all refer to her in Guatemala), that we would meet on a mountain in Guatemala. When Kati as applying for Peace Corps, she reached out to me as I had been in El Salvador for a year already. I was able to giver some advice and tell her about my experience. A few short months later, she was assigned to the neighboring country of Guatemala. I finally made it out to visit, and she was a great host. It was so wonderful to get to know her world. And to have beans around the stove with her host family (the tummy ache was more than worth it).

Kati, why are there noodles in my beans? 

El Mirador where we could see all of Huehuetenango 

Cali girls kickin it above Huehue
Chico, L.A., Auburn, Newcastle

If only I had a picture of what we did after El Mirador. We drove up the mountain a bit further until we came to a plateau. Along the side of the road we stop at an unassuming comedor, restaurant. We went for the tortillas con queso y chocolate, we didn't even look at the menu.

As I sat there eating the best tortillas con queso in all of Guatemala, and sipping my hot chocolate from a clay mug, my heart felt full and my spirit warm. 

This is Latin America. 

These are the things I will miss. All the things I never took pictures of because the moment was more important. 

Kati in her site... Santiago Chimaltenango
A pueblo of 5,000 in the middle of no where on the side of a mountain

My new friends, I even got them to smile! 

While waiting for our ride, these kids asked me to play a game with them... it was called La Bayena or The Whale
I tried not to take offense to the fact that I was assigned the part of the whale.... :)

How quickly kids can capture you heart. Pure happiness.

Just to remind us that we are never far from home, even in the middle of a mountain community in Guatemala, a woman is tejiar-ing (weaving) and above her is a sign for the tienda. Take Note.

Welcome to the Tienda California

No matter where you go, there you are.