The 100-hour bus ride.

Hola, todos, and happy mid-September! It seems like a lot more than two weeks since I wrote my last post; school has started for everyone back in the States, Guatemala celebrated their Independence Day, and I have spent nearly 100 hours traveling on a bus to experience the cultures and sites of several countries.

Enjoying some fresh coconut juice from a road-side stand on the bus ride! 

I started up Spanish class again yesterday, which was a big (but welcomed) change from all of the English-speaking I got used to in Belize. I have a new maestra, Sheny, and absolutely love her. She is a petite, older woman that has a ton of stories and opinions on just about everything. I think this week is going to be a lot of talking, which is fine by me! We start learning ‘subjunctive’ this week, which is generally thought of as one of the most difficult parts of the language. Here goes!

It is difficult to pick a starting point for everything that has gone on the past couple of weeks, so I will start with a Sparknotes version:

I finished up my time in Mexico, and then took a bus back to Xela where I had a few minutes to eat lunch, re-pack, and head out to Belize. I spent the last week traveling to Belize, Tikal and Rio Dulce with some friends from my group and had an amazing time. Now, I’m back in Xela, slowing down a bit, and gearing up for volunteering to start next week.

Scuba diving in Belize - all ready to dive! 

Belize was a big change from Guatemala: a lot more tourists, English as the national language, and, of course, the ocean! We spent most of our time on a beautiful island, Ambergris Caye. I ignored the more rational part of myself that has some reservations about deep waters (sorry, mom) and tried scuba diving for the first time. Wow! After some training in shallow waters, our guide took us out to the Belize Barrier Reef, which is second only to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. I saw more fish (and turtles, sting rays, sharks…) up-close than I ever thought I would, and the colors were unbelievable.

After a few short days in Belize, we made our way to the Mayan ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, but not without a few hiccups along the way to keep things interesting (including our bus breaking down in Belize and having to get towed to the border). As far as Tikal goes, I think this picture says more than I could in several paragraphs:

Mayan ruins among the jungle at Tikal from the top of Temple IV, the highest ruin.

We spent the last couple days of our free week in Rio Dulce, Guatemala. The only way to get to our hotel was by boat, and the isolation made it a great place to relax after a lot of traveling. One of my favorite parts of Rio Dulce was the cascadas (waterfalls) a short drive from town: it was a small lake of cold water with steaming-hot water from hot springs pouring into it from the waterfalls. I think I sat under the waterfalls for close to half an hour – it was a fix for the hot shower (with good water pressure) that I have been missing!

Mayan cave tubing during our last day in Belize.

We traveled back to Xela on Friday, the day before Independence Day. This ended up being both really cool and a big hassle…Guatemalans have the tradition of running with torches from all corners of the country to the larger cities, and we got to see dozens of groups participate. However, they run in the middle of the roads, holding up traffic for miles. It took twice as long to get back as we were expecting, but it was definitely a fun/interesting trip!

The last few days in Xela have been muy alegre (very cheerful/exciting), in large part because Xela is home to the largest feria (fair) in Central America. So cool! I watched a straight 45-minutes worth of fireworks in central park on Friday night and checked out the fair and a parade on Saturday. Guatemalans definitely know how to party – the fair is open until at least 2 or 3 AM every night, for two weeks.

My host siblings and I at their crepe stand at the Xela feria!

One of my greatest realizations in the last couple weeks has been just how much Xela has become my home. I was surprised at how much relief I felt walking into my room after two weeks on the road, and how much I had missed my host family and traditional Guatemalan food. That got me thinking a lot about the concepts of home and family. Rather than having my feelings of home and family detract from the incredible strongholds I have been blessed with in the States, I feel like I am expanding my family and adding another unique home to my life. The more I think about it, the more powerful and fulfilling this feeling becomes. They always say that home is where the heart is, and I think there is a lot of truth to that; the heart can be in many places at once.

And with that, here goes another week. Hasta pronto. ¡Te extraño mucho!

Paz,

Nico