WHERE IS MY TRAVELLING MOJO?..

Snow to humidity, English to Spanish, travelling with friends to travelling solo.
United States to Guatemala was a big shock.
Arriving into the country I felt very timid and apprehensive, after being looked after so well by amazing friends in Spain, Ireland and the States I was lost... where was my travelling mojo? I stuck to the safe touristy stuff in the first few days.. but since have fully embraced the amazing culture, opportunities and beauty of this country.

VOLCANOES
Their towering presence makes the many volcanoes a focal point of Guatemala. I hiked to the top of Pacaya, a volcano near the colonial town of Antigua. I had not given much thought to the elements of a volcano.. ie lava, and had taken it as a joke when people talked of toasting marshmallows in the lava. So there I was, last in the group (as usual) huffing and puffing, and facing this river of sluggish, boiling lava. The awesome guide took me by the hand and guided me across the bridge of lava, the ’safe’ rocks change every day as the river of lava moves. The experience is unbelievable, I was so so so terrified. The heat is incredible, your feet are burning and exposed exposes parts of skin are roasted. We walked across quickly but carefully to the other side, from where you can safely watch the river of lava as it slugs its way down the mountain before cooling into the fertile black rocks. So on this day I found out another personal fear; lava. I am not scared of heights, a little bit scared of water and apparently terrified of lava. Walking back across the river of lava was a leap of faith, staring down at the red hot lava under my feet.. WOW! The marshmallows certainly tasted good, although they did get charred very quickly.. Funny that!

KINDEGARTEN
After a couple of days of tourist activities and fun and a terrible hangover, I was ready for something a bit less superficial. I visited a Convent on the outskirts of Guatemala city, which I knew through a mutual friend in Australia. Thanks E! On the way their I had a great taxi driver who knew some English. He asked me what is that word… when Clark Kent = Superman. I replied “transforms“. He then asked me if I was transforming into a Nun. Hahahaha!

The Sisters in the convent run a kindergarten in the local neighbourhood, which is one of the poorest parts of the city. I spent the morning with the kids, primarily repeating over and over; “Cuidado” (caution)! Unfortunately my Spanish was soon defeated in the face of 50 children aged between 3 and 4 years!! I was so disappointed I could not understand them more. We had lots of fun singing the Hokey Pokey though! The 50 children are in one room, sitting at desks. The day starts with lego fun, then an arts and crafts activity, then breakfast is provided. After that is chaos as the children run around in a small concrete space whilst waiting for their parents. The Nuns were very welcoming and we had a good laugh together over lunch at my terrible Spanglish.

SPANISH SCHOOL
After my communication failures I decided to head to a school for me. There is lots of choice in Guatemala for fantastic language schools. I decided to make it more challenging and interesting and head to the remote village of Todos Santos, rather than staying in a city with the temptation of many English speaking tourists. Todos Santos is two hours north of Huehuetenango, in the most mountainous part of Guatemala.

The village is primarily Indigenous people, who speak the local Mam language as well as Spanish once they begin school. Their traditions are still strongly practised, which makes the town have a wonderful atmosphere. After all the conflict and attempts to destroy Indigenous culture which was such a core part of colonialism, its great to see a place with strong traditions. The dress is amazing!!! The men and boys wear red and white striped pants with black chaps (piece of material between the legs and around the waist) and a bright embroidered shirt with a straw boater hat. The women wear bright embroidered blouses and bright long skirts. I did not feel comfortable taking pictures of the people, so unfortunately you will just have to imagine it!
The school (HispanoMaya, highy recommended) arranged a homestay for me. I stayed with a Mam family, they have six children but only 4 were living there with them. There are three bedrooms in the family and I felt terrible taking one of them all to myself, until I asked and realised that they always share the other two bedrooms amongst the 8 of them as they prefer the company. I helped make tortillas (terribly) and loved the food each day, potatoes, tortillas, broth. It was very simple food but tasted so good because it was cooked over an open fire. The family had a gas burner and microwave downstairs, but hardly used it. The Mum preferred to cook over the fire, in a small wooden room up on the roof. I had read about the health problems caused by cooking over the fire for the millions of women around the world who have to, and have now seen (and felt) with my own eyes the effects.

International Women’s Day fell whilst I was there. There was a procession through the town of hundreds of women. Unfortunately I had travellers belly and was keeping close to a toilet all day so did not experience the day. I did however talk with my “Mum” ,ip[0u8]
8iki90 she said International Women’s Day is good as before the men would physically abuse the women, and now they do not because of the awareness raising of the importance of women. What a perspective!

HIKING INTO THE SKY
The school offers free hiking trips and I took advantage and went on two great trips during the week. One was to La Torres, the highest non-volcanic point in Central America!! It sounds more impressive than it is, as we are already so high up in Todos Santos. I was completely exhausted at the end but the views were totally worth it! We could see the peaks of five volcanoes in the distance, one which was actually exploding as we watched. It explodes every 40 minutes or so.

I will sign off now. Next blog will describe how I managed to get a job in a beautiful resort style hostel called El Retiro Lodge!

Also, in July my brother and I will be doing a volunteer project with Habitat fr Humanity. This s the link to details of the project;
http://www.habitat.org/cd/gv/participant/participant.aspx?pid=93334734
PLease visit my page for more information, and if you would like to make a donation towards eradicating poverty and homelessness in Bolivia, please don't hesitate!

Best wishes
Tricia Green