2 countries, 1 busride from hell, and a Black Jesus

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Dear Friends,

First off, the apostrophe on these spanish keyboards is replaced by this symbol { . So, I know my words will look a little funny, but I{m far too lazy to correct the way my fingers work.

Anyway! We returned from Honduras today. There are some ruins there that display some of the best carvings in the Mayan worlds. Everybody at the border crossing knows that people leave Guatemala for just a little while and come back, so the formalities are pretty straightforward. The ruins were fabulous. The site was filled with snadstone reliefs and heiroglyphics. We even splurged at split a guide with two women from Helsinki. The man{s knowledge of the place was in depth, though it didn{t really come across in the way he guided us. On the other hand, his sense of humor was fabulous, for instance, when he talked about how the Mayan empire reached its peak and then collapsed he told us Americans to ´´watch out.´´

We also saw the most visited central American patronage site, the Black Jesus of Esquipulas. He is said to have incredible healing power. As a testament, I woke up that morning with sulfur burps (according to the person who smelt them) (sulfur burps are a classic symptom of Giardia and stomach parasites) and after seeing that dark lord, they went away. Along with the many church goers - we went on sunday for mass - there were more cripples and disabled than you could imagine. We even saw a woman who{s daughter had a ´´leech twin,´´ a small, under developed second head growing from her actual head. As far as Lizzie and I know, these are incredibly rare, and only a little less rare in Central America. Please pardon my being frank, but the sight was truely horrific. The Black Jesus however, was fabulous. Taking the time to visit such a huge cultural center makes me feel as though I{m traveling for the right reasons.

I would also like to take some time to mention some wonderful things that I{ve experienced but failed to mention thus far. Like we traveled for four days with our cook from one of the hotels we stayed at. He came to us by accident, thinking he was going to have a romantic evening on his day off with another girl we were traveling with. When she turned him down, we decided to hangout anyway. He came with us to Tikal, as he had never been, and then made us dinner that night. Then, four days, 3 bus rides, and 700 kilometers later, we parted ways before getting on the Rio Dulce. He still owes us 8 dollars for a bus ride, and if he mails it to the address I gave him, he{ll seal the deal on the best story ever.

In retrospect, we have done quite well for ourselves, given neither of us have traveled like this, alone, before. We set out with only the most minimal planning and have still managed to find relatively safe fun and adventure everywhere we{ve been. We arrive home exactly a week from today. Thats 1:50 AM monday morning, for all you adoring fans who plan to meet us at the airport. We have two more diffinitive spots to hit before we leave, the black sand beach and turtle sanctuary, Monterrico, and then back to Quetzeltenango where we started. We may go to an area called the ´´Ixil Triangle´´ where the women still wear traditional ´´huipiles´´ and the textiles are unmatched, but those plans are far from definate.

Anyay, thanks again for all your support. You{ll probably hear from me twice more before I leave, so until I can find a computer again!

Love,
Carl

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