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To maximize time we decided to suck it up and endure a 15 hour adventure that took us from Belize City across the border and then into Flores. At Flores we switched buses to an overnight bus that took us down to Guatamala
city. I can´t say that it was a restful night of sleep, but we saved on accommodation for the night and got to where we needed to be. (The rough plan is to get south and work our way back up) They played a crappy Disney
movie "The Princess Diaries" which i actually watched in its entirety. The only gem in the whole film came in a small piece of advice given from one character to another: "The brave may not live long, but the fearful don´t
live at all."
Little did i know i´d be savoring that later.
So from Guatemala city (early morning arrival) we took a chicken bus (old school buses turned into local transport) to a small city called Antigua. Its cute......cobblestone streets, colonial architecture and surrounded by
volcanoes. Max and smitty spent yesterday morning roaming around while i caught up on some much needed rest. They came back
around 1 in the afternoon and informed me that we´d be hiking up to one of the volcanoes. I
thought that it sounded cool so i hopped on. The hike up was pleasant. The air is suprisingly cool here and the dusty trail led us through farmland and jungle. At what i thought was the end of the hike we reached a beautiful
vista that took in the whole scope of the volcano and its lava pit. From our grassy knoll we could see lava trickling down the side of the mountain.....and i thought that that would be the end of it. Truthfully i
may have been ok with that. But then our guide motioned us onward and off he went into the black field of volcanic rock directly towards the streaming lava.
Climbing on volcanic rock is somewhat akin to walking in a field full of packing peanuts made of pummus stone. There are few strong holds and the rock is sharp. Smitty was in flip flops and max and i had our hiking sandals on, which led to some scrapes and cuts. I can´t really understand why i followed the group towards the lava when everything
in my being was telling me to run the other way. While hiking towards it, every now and again a burst of hot air would rise up from under our feet....sending my heart racing and adrenaline pumping. There isn´t a sense of stability
hiking on lava that may have dried just last week, towards more that´s rolling down the hill. And then that stupid quote from the princess diaries came to my head....."The brave may not live long, but the fearful don´t live
at all".........and it made me go forward.
Although let´s be honest. I was scared out of my gourd. Every time the volcano would rumble or thunder would sound in the far distance i would prepare to bolt.....and then i´d look back at the lava field of pummus peanuts and realize that should something happen i wouldn´t be able to bolt.
And another thing is that i don´t at all consider myself brave because when it comes down to it i am a giant wuss. I hate being scared. I hate the feeling of adrenaline, but yet i find myself doing things like heading towards the mouth of a volcano and going to countries that
are mildly unstable. And most of the time i am cursing myself for putting myself in
the situation at hand and wondering what the hell i´m doing......it´s weird.
There was a small moment though that felt like a bit of a breakthrough. There was a 10 year old girl hiking behind me and i was helping her get across the rocks. Her mom had stayed back at the grassy knoll. The girl was scared, as was i.......but i found that she was looking to me for signs of fear and something in me told me i had to be strong for her. Even though in my brain i was metaphorically soiling my drawers, i had to save face for her and tell her not to worry about it, things would be fine...yadda yadda.
And somehow that act of being strong for someone else, made me feel a bit stronger and braver myself. I guess it´s kinda how i project motherhood will be. I thought that was sort of neat.
Anyway i have blabbered for way to long. I don´t know where we´re going but max is here now so i gotta run.
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