Blogs from Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 101

All is well. Greetings from Xela! My host family is very nice and helpful. They speak a few words of English and the youngest boy studies English in school so his fatherf told me to speak English to him - but he does not understand very much yet. I got last last night walking home (trying to) from a dance at the school. I made one wrong turn. But it was warm by our standards and eventually one of thge scvhool staff found me and took me back! I feel very foolish not being able to say what I want and will learn much more and have more fun once I can say a bit more in Spanish. The father of my family says in two weeks I will be able to talk - we'll see! ... read more

Instead of backtracking the same route I took to get here, I have decided to join my Israeli buddy Philip on his journey through the Western Highlands. Little did we know, the road that carves it's way through the mountains to the west of Coban is made of dirt, gravel and full of curves. We both arose early (5:30am) and got to Coban 5 hours before the shuttle actually left for the west. We used this time to run errands and to take an hour tour of a local coffee manufacturing company (Finca Santa Margarita). The only tour that we could fit into our schedule was the one given in Spanish. It was tough for me, but Philip has his Spanish down. The tour was interesting. We got to see the different stages of coffee production ... read more

On Wednesday after class, I caught a boat across the lake to Panajachel to meet up with one of my father’s best friends Woody Woodson. Woody started a non-profit organization called Vine International, which does mission work in Guatemala. Vine International sets up transportation, warehouses, and distributes medical supplies to missionaries, clinics and orphanages throughout Guatemala. The organization’s work does not stop there, but this is it’s primary focus. This particular mission trip consisted of Vine International and Wheels for the World combining their resources and manpower to provide medical, dental and wheel chair resources to communities across Guatemala. The week long trip was wrapping up when I arrived, but I got the pleasure of meeting the participants and hear their stories. Woody took me around and introduced me to dif... read more

Noin, vihdoinkin paasin Lago de Atitlanin rannalle San Pedroon, alkuperainen suunnitelma oli paasta tanne perjantaina, mutta.. eei ihan onnistunut. Floresista etelaan on siis kaksi reittia, Rio Dulcen ja tasaisen maan kautta 8-10h, tai sitten suoraan etelaan, vuoristoteita pitkin. El Rematessa, keskiviikkona, paivana ennen suunniteltua lahtoa eteen pomppasi engelsmanni Paul, joka on kulkenut autolla USA:sta Meksikon ja Belizen lapi Guatemalaan. Paul oli myos menossa Lago de Atitlanille, joten paatimme kaikki yhdessa, mina, Nate, Rachel ja Paul, matkustaa autolla etelaan ja samalla kayda katsomassa Semuc Champeyn vesiputoukset ym. Ensimmaisena paivana matka kulki varsin mutkattomasti, aina Lanquiniin ja Semuc Champeyyn johtavaan risteykseen asti. Karttaan tie oli merkitty ihan mukavan nakoisena, hyvakuntoisena tiena, mutta totuus rupesi paljastumaan siina vaiheessa, kun 30 km:n matkaan ol... read more

Hello again everyone! It was good to hear from a lot of you after my last posting. As for the question some had of my health, well, I must say I feel great. The cold is slowly wearing off, but there is still an abnormal amount of mucus present. I also wanted to note that all of the detailed bits of information, such as people's names, prices, distances, etc., are mainly for my future benefit, so bare with me. With that said, let's continue. After a week of living lake side, I finally decided to take on the volcano that looms over the town of San Pedro in order to capture a different view of my surroundings. Volcan San Pedro reaches to an elevation of 3,020m (meters not feet), for all of my American amigos that ... read more