My 3 weeks as a house-building volunteer started just over 2 weeks ago and I've been overwhelmed by the experience. We have so far completed 2 houses (1 of which I was here for from start to finish) in a little town called Santa Maria de Jesus, which is about 20 minutes outside Antigua up the slopes of Volcan Agua, via the back of a pick-up truck! I won't be here for the last day of the 3rd house which we are working on now, but to be honest I'm not sure I can take another goodbye from these beautiful, generous, [View Full Entry]

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Choco Crema de Maní Banano licuados con Leche de Soya y Fibra Motorcycle adventures. Cliff diving. Excursions to ancient ruins. Waterfalls, parties, hot springs, volcanoes. These are the things I feel expected to write about. But this is not my life right now. Sure, I hiked La Muela (a volcano-formed mountain with naturally-heated saunas built into the ground in the middle of no-where) twice in the last week. And Saturday and Sunday I took motorcycle rides to neighboring pueblos. Saturday I went to San Marcos, a 27 mile ride through the mountains with a beautiful valley overlook, and Sunda [View Full Entry]

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Hei og haa! Tenkte det var paa tide aa legge ut nytt blogg-innlegg trass i at det slett ikkje har skjedd noko spesielt i det siste. Men veit at iallfall familien min byrjar aa lure naar det ikkje kjem nye blogg-innlegg, saa eg faar vel heller berre pröve aa finne paa noko aa skrive :) Siste blogg-innlegg blei riktignok lagt ut i Antigua, men var skrive halvveis ut i opphaldet mitt i Miami. Enn saa lenge var ting bra, men SAA rasa idyllen. Eg og Odd Helge reiste til ein outlet-mall, og allerede i byrjinga merka eg at eg ikkje var [View Full Entry]

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Leaving Honduras turned out to be the best move I have made all trip. Just days after leaving the country´s president Zelaya was allowed back in and the country went into turmoil. Borders were closed, curfews were put back into place, and the possibility of having all human rights stripped were very real. None of this mattered to Natalie and I though because we were home free in the colonial city of Antigua. Cobblestone streets displayed under the large expanse of a big volcano with expenisve tourist shops on one side and cheap local markets on the other. It was almost [View Full Entry]

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Heres my last update from Guatemala. Im in el salvador now, but will tell of that next time: 1) Last weekend in Guatemala: Carnivals, Big dinners, and Soccer Games 2) Kids Day 1) Last weekend in Guatemala: Carnivals, Big Dinners, and Soccer Games Carnivals: A few quick notes here. First, I went on upside down amusement rides that cost $1.25. My first week here included independance day (most cenral american countries celebrate it on the same day). And Xela, my town, is the hub of the celebrations for much of guatemala, so naturally the carnival was in town. And, having worked [View Full Entry]

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1) Hiking: the bad ass way (moonlight, sunrises, and early morning light) 2) San Salvador: La Capital 1) Hiking: the bad ass way. The Thursday before I left guatemala i went on a midnight hike to climb Volcan Tajamulco, the highest point in Central America at 4220 m (13,845 feet). The key here is Midnight Full Moon hike, which means starting at 12 midnight and hiking by moon light to see sunrise from the peak. We left Xela at 10 pm and started the hike at 12:30 am Friday morning. Our goal was to make it to the summit (of central [View Full Entry]

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For travel journal click here: To view a photo in a larger size please click on it. [View Full Entry]

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A friend e-mailed to let me know that she wasn't automatically receiving my blog updates and would have to start checking manually. Nancy, I don't know if that was a subtle hint, but suffice it to say there wasn't a technical problem... Antigua Antigua is a beautiful and historical city in Guatemala. The streets are cobbled and the sidewalks run along the walls of the homes and businesses. It is amazing to see what lies beyond the walls in the city. Historically, a house would have been an entire square block, but these have since been divided into numerous homes and [View Full Entry]

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Alright peeps....sorry I´ve been none existant but internet access has been limited. So I left belize and went back into guatemala. Did my second border crossing..this one by foot. Took a bus to the Belizean Border...did the imigracion business, walked across a bridge and did the guatemalan imigracion business and then hoped on a shuttle to Las Flores. I ended up being the only person on the shuttle so I sat up front with the driver and practiced my spanish for a good 1.5 hours straight. He was a nice guy at first then he got a little creppy when he [View Full Entry]

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Die Sprachschule ist erstamlas vorbei. War echt ziemlich cool&lehrreich. Am vorletzten Tag in Xela, letzter Sprachschultag, haben wir Graduacion gehabt und haben zu diesen Anlass mit Lukas, einem Schweizer der auch in der Schule war, Kasnocken & Milchreis gemacht. Echt fein!!!!! Am Freitag haben wir dann zum Abschluss nochmals fuer unsere Familie gekocht....Schnitzel mit Petersil-Erdaepfel und Reis. Hab die Augen zugemacht beim Essen und mich gefuehlt wie Daheim.....traumhaftes Gaumenerlebnis ein Schnitzel in Guatemala. Am Abend sind wir dann mit unseren Schulkollegen nochmals weggegangen. Abe [View Full Entry]

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