So part 2 of Guatemala is still being written in Guatemala, I've fallen in love with this place and it's very hard to leave!!!

I have finally left ARCAS not before leaving and returning to several times as mentioned in my last blog entry. It's an amazing place with amazing people and experiences, but some experiences are not so awesome. On a daily basis we were s*** on, s*** on by monkeys, parrots or other birds, its such a common occurrence you become very nonchalant about it and also start to recognise quite easily what animal has shat on you!

So many things we said there sound normal but to say them back in the real world would be weird, such as 'I'm waiting for everyone to finish their cages so that I can put the crocodile in the sink!'

Also we went through phases of bugs, we had a case of flees so we had to fumigate all the rooms, we then had yellow flies which would bite a good chunk out of you and lastly my best friend, the mosquito. I've been scratching myself raw with mosquito bites so have to keep cutting my nails off. However the most interesting thing I have been stung by so far is a scorpion. Yes, I sat on it and it stung me twice in the ass!! I think the most comical part of it was my remedy to the situation which was to tell everyone I was just going to 'walk it off', which was fine until my butt cheek went numb and I also had some weird dreams that night.

Its good work at the project, lots of manual labour, scrubbing, cleaning, carrying rocks and sand for the constructions of buildings, I've accumulated blisters all over my hands from scrubbing so much and drawn blood on many other tasks as well. I find myself to be quite accident prone, which wouldn't surprise a lot of my friends!!

It's not all work though and we had some great times on our down time, playing s*** head for the dishes, watching movies, talking utter bollox (I seem quite adept at this) and on sunny days we headed to the dock for some swimming and fishing. Not been so successful with the fishing but had been successful in not being eaten by a crocodile in the lake! There were also a few nights of heading to the nearest village and going drinking. This would be in people's houses who set up their garden to have a drinking area and they just serve you beer. This would normally turn into drinking games and ordering so much beer which would cost so little it was crazy, a bottle of beer will cost about 55p!! I went to a thrift shop to buy some new tops as my ones were rotting and I got 5 tops for about £3.50!!

Despite everything being cheap I've had a few issues with money here, I've had a cash machine take money off my card and not actually give me the cash and now I have had my purse stolen. All inconveniences that piss me off royally at the time, as its more of a nuisance to sort out, but as brought to my attention, it could be a lot worse, I could be alone or have lost a limb (which Tal has first dibs on!!)

So I fell in love with ARCAS in Flores so much that I decided not to go to the coastal project, because the sea turtle season was over and I just enjoyed being where I was so much, I've made some amazing friends along the way, people I am now travelling with and also people I will be meeting again along the way. The world is a big place but also small enough to see the faces you want to again. I have made so many new friends over the months that I think that every new place I go to, I will have old faces to meet up with again!

So as my friends and family will know, I do not speak any Spanish at all. I couldn't even count, so I decided to head to Spanish School in San Andres for a week. This involves staying with a host family who speak no English and going to school for 4 hours a day. The village I went to was brilliant as there was hardly any tourists, they were a rare sight and you get a great feel of community from the villages, something I feel we lack back at home. The family I was staying with and the people I met along the way have been so accommodating considering I couldn't speak any Spanish, but they would help me as much as possible, speak slowly, wait for me to find the word in my phrase book. They live a simple lifestyle which seems so much richer than ours. They don't have much running water and if they do have water its only cold, they just fill a bucket of water for showers or washing dishes, there is no internet, all the houses are clean and open to everyone to come in and hang out together, the kids all play outside or hang out at each other's houses.

Everyone in the village were so friendly but I feel they are laughing at me a lot, which is fine considering me and the other guy from Germany were pretty much the only tourists there and we were both as bad as each other at Spanish.

The kids are great, after school we would go swimming as its so hot and too hot to wander around so we would head to the lake near a football pitch to swim and practice our Spanish, the local kids all come to laugh and talk to us as well, we had one boy called Ronaldo write about himself in Spanish in Chris's book so that we could translate it and try and learn from it, he was very patient and a really nice lad. They are all super friendly and it was really peaceful there.

Going back to school is hard work, but day by day I was learning a bit more, I find it easier to read Spanish than actually speak it, but at least I am understanding more and more, just need to remember all the words, it's so hard, I feel like a small child learning to speak again!!

I really want to come back to central America after I have studied even more Spanish so that I can fully appreciate all the countries, I could easily stay at ARCAS forever and can see how people end up staying for ages as it's such an awesome place and a worthwhile cause, I would and will come back here in the future. I recommend it to everyone and miss it already!

So out of all the amazing people I met, I found a few who were crazy enough to join me on my travels around Guatemala and maybe also Honduras. I am travelling with Steph from Canada, who thank god for me, speaks perfect Spanish and Tal and Shacka from Israel, they are all so easy to be around and have the same sick and twisted minds as myself, its already led to some funny stories and experiences and I am so chuffed I have met these guys.

So again, a repeating theme in my travels so far is to start a bus journey or a trip with a stinking hangover. Steph and I had left the project Friday afternoon to book our hostel for Lanquin and get some laundry done and the rest of the ARCAS crew met us in the evening. It started off civilised with a few beers and card playing and ended in playing giant jenga with silly dares and shots of tequila! So you can imagine that the next day's bus ride was more than uncomfortable.

The main way to get around Guatemala is by bus, but the roads are so badly maintained that the journeys everywhere take forever and are so bumpy that you head butt the window or the person beside you on quite a few occasions, but the scenery up to Lanquin was amazing and the 8 hour bus journey was more than worth it.

Lanquin and Semuc Champey is like paradise, we are staying in a hostel right by the river and its made up of loads of little huts all over, we stayed the first few nights in a loft room and the last night in a 4 bed dorm, a lovely place that so nice to chill out at.

The first day there we ended up swimming in the river, which was a good laugh as the current is so strong that it's a struggle to get back to where you started, but great for tubing with a beer in hand, which of course we partook in! The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing around and enjoying the area.

The next day we took a guided tour to Semuc Champey, the bus journey itself there was a great laugh. Bus is a loose term, we had to get in the back of the truck and stand and hold on for dear life as we went full pelt up and down these mountains, and I really wished I had been wearing my sports bra! So first of all we went into the caves with only candles, following our guide through the water and into the darkness, climbing up into holes with ropes, sliding through holes that had turned into natural slides into deep water, climbing up the rocks and diving in from crazy heights, it was exhilarating, nothing like this would be done back home without a life vest, helmet and clear guided paths. It was such an experience, got the adrenaline going. We went on a massive rope swing and again took part in a bit of tubing. We then hiked up to be able to see Semuc Champey from above to take some pictures and then back down to go swimming in all the pools, which again involved lots of sliding around, falling over, jumping in and generally a lot of laughing at each other. Was an awesome day in a beautiful place with outstanding people!

So this was the day I had my purse stolen so we decided to stay the next day as well, just to chill out and use the internet so that I could try and sort my life out before moving on to Antigua tomorrow.

I am also currently trying to postpone my flights to Honduras so that I can go and explore Guatemala some more, give myself an extra week, so fingers crossed that works out.

So onto the next part of the adventure, Antigua and beyond where we will hopefully be meeting more familiar faces!