Hello everyone, it's been awhile since I last updated this thing, so I figured I would do it now. So what is new in my life...
Well, I'm still in school and we only have 3 more days left!!! It's so crazy how time is just flying by and I'm not even sure as to where the time has went. It's been fun and I really like my teacher. She seems to be more challenging than my previous teacher from last session and she's getting me to talk more, which is better for my Spanish.
But the results that are in is that I have 3 things wrong with me inside my body...
The first being that I have an intestinal infection, which is basically just a lot of bad bacteria inside of my intestine.
The second being that I have gerardia, (I think that's how it's spelled) which is basically another bacteria inside of me that is caused by eating something that isn't cooked well or drinking some water from here. I haven't really done either, so I'm not really sure where these infections came from. But nonetheless, I have them.
And the third and final thing that is wrong inside of me is that I have anemia, which means that I just have low iron in my blood. I'm not sure where this came from because I've been taking vitamins. But I still have it.
Yep, I'm falling apart ;)
So I found all of this out by giving a sample of blood yesterday and then getting the results and then after that we went to Doctora Miara in Jojotenango, where she read my results and listened to my "symptoms" and diagnosed me with these things. So now I have 2 pills to take 2 times a day and then after I finish these pills, one is for 3 days and the other is for 5 days. Then I have some powder to mix with water to build my immune system back up because these pills are going to kill both the good bacteria and the bad bacteria in my stomach. And then after I finish this, I have anemia pills to take for 1 month. How fun, right?
So this is the new news that's going on with me. And my teacher informed me today that I've been tired lately because when a person has low iron in their blood, they are often more tired. So I don't have a lot of energy, but eventually it'll get better and don't worry all of you because my teacher is constantly asking me what I've had to eat...she seems to be taking care of me :)
So other than that, I'm buried in homework and dreading a final on Friday. But I'm looking forward to moving back to Magdalena, which we are doing on Sunday at about 3:00 in the afternoon. So I think that covers it all.
Drop me a line and let me know how all of you are doing!!
Love you and miss you all!!!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Eventful day number, well, I forgot how many eventful days since I’ve been here, but this one I definitely won’t forget this one...
Saturday we woke up really early...why you may ask...
Well, let me tell you
We were to meet in Central Park at 6:30 for an hour or more bus ride to a volcano. Once we were at the bottom, or more like a part of the way up, we piled out of the van and started climbing with 2 trusty guides. The first part wasn’t too bad because we were able to climb in a path that had some what been made for us. However, it was all uphill, so that was a bit challenging for me and also because we were changing altitudes relatively quick. So breathing was a little difficult as well.
Soon we started exiting out of the trees and grassy area and we began to run into volcanic rock, that was once lava but had dried over into black, lava rock. Then we began to climb into total volcanic rock/sand. About 5 years or more, Pacaya, the volcano, had erupted and had deposited a whole bunch of lava further down the volcano. So we began choosing our footsteps very carefully because some of the hard lava would shift underneath your feet. The amazing thing was that the lava rock was still hot or warm. In spots our guide started a fire by moving a branch around in some rocks. I never thought that that lava would still be hot enough to start a fire, but it was. We climbed over those rocks for probably 30 minutes and then we encountered....
Yes, believe it or not, real, live, moving lava.
We were probably within 5 feet of that lava!! It was amazing, but it was also really hot! And it was somewhat windy, so the wind blew the hot air towards us, which made it even hotter. Let me tell you, my feet were so warm. Oh and you’ll never guess what the boys from our group brought....that’s right, marshmallows. We ate marshmallows that were roasted over lava. It was amazing! After about 10 or 20 minutes near the lava, we began to make our way back down the volcano.
This was a new challenge in itself because you were moving downwards and had to still choose your footsteps carefully. There were about 5 people, if not more, who ended up cutting their ankles on the rocks because they were sharp. Me, well, I thought I was going to fall to my death a couple times, but nope, I survived with just a blister on my ankle that ended up bleeding a lot. But I’m fine.
So we managed to get off the rock and went to find some shade where we could eat our lunches. After lunch we climbed back down the path to the bottom, which was really quite nasty at this point because they had horses that could take someone a distance if they couldn’t make it up the first part. Well, the horses left their trademark on the path. So not only did you have to control yourself from running down the hill, but you also had to watch out for the presents from the horses. I won’t lie, I experienced a close encounter with one of those presents. I almost fell once and it was almost into one of those lovely surprises, but luckily I caught myself...
Well, we all reached the bottom in one piece, with just some scratches, nothing horrible. And then we made the hour or hour and a half trek back to Antigua. We all fell asleep on the way back because we were so tired.
When we got back to our houses, we all found lovely surprises on our ankles and toes...lots and lots of dirt. Overall, it was a really unique and fun experience that I’ll never forget.
Oh and then Sunday night we were able to go to Fernando’s house, our leader, and eat pizza. There was a group of us who went over to his house before and help make the pizzas. Now you may be thinking, pizza big deal? Well, actually yes, I don’t remember the last time I ate pizza. It’s not too common here. And it was amazing pizza and it was fun to help make the pizzas also. So it was a full weekend, but enjoyable also. I think that just about covers all of it.
I have language school for this week and then next week and then we move to Magdalena again for 3 weeks and then 3 days in Guatemala City and then home...it’s gonna go fast. So now it’s time to focus on making the most out of everyday that I’m here.
Love you and miss you all!!!
Saturday we woke up really early...why you may ask...
Well, let me tell you
We were to meet in Central Park at 6:30 for an hour or more bus ride to a volcano. Once we were at the bottom, or more like a part of the way up, we piled out of the van and started climbing with 2 trusty guides. The first part wasn’t too bad because we were able to climb in a path that had some what been made for us. However, it was all uphill, so that was a bit challenging for me and also because we were changing altitudes relatively quick. So breathing was a little difficult as well.
Soon we started exiting out of the trees and grassy area and we began to run into volcanic rock, that was once lava but had dried over into black, lava rock. Then we began to climb into total volcanic rock/sand. About 5 years or more, Pacaya, the volcano, had erupted and had deposited a whole bunch of lava further down the volcano. So we began choosing our footsteps very carefully because some of the hard lava would shift underneath your feet. The amazing thing was that the lava rock was still hot or warm. In spots our guide started a fire by moving a branch around in some rocks. I never thought that that lava would still be hot enough to start a fire, but it was. We climbed over those rocks for probably 30 minutes and then we encountered....
Yes, believe it or not, real, live, moving lava.
We were probably within 5 feet of that lava!! It was amazing, but it was also really hot! And it was somewhat windy, so the wind blew the hot air towards us, which made it even hotter. Let me tell you, my feet were so warm. Oh and you’ll never guess what the boys from our group brought....that’s right, marshmallows. We ate marshmallows that were roasted over lava. It was amazing! After about 10 or 20 minutes near the lava, we began to make our way back down the volcano.
This was a new challenge in itself because you were moving downwards and had to still choose your footsteps carefully. There were about 5 people, if not more, who ended up cutting their ankles on the rocks because they were sharp. Me, well, I thought I was going to fall to my death a couple times, but nope, I survived with just a blister on my ankle that ended up bleeding a lot. But I’m fine.So we managed to get off the rock and went to find some shade where we could eat our lunches. After lunch we climbed back down the path to the bottom, which was really quite nasty at this point because they had horses that could take someone a distance if they couldn’t make it up the first part. Well, the horses left their trademark on the path. So not only did you have to control yourself from running down the hill, but you also had to watch out for the presents from the horses. I won’t lie, I experienced a close encounter with one of those presents. I almost fell once and it was almost into one of those lovely surprises, but luckily I caught myself...
Well, we all reached the bottom in one piece, with just some scratches, nothing horrible. And then we made the hour or hour and a half trek back to Antigua. We all fell asleep on the way back because we were so tired.
When we got back to our houses, we all found lovely surprises on our ankles and toes...lots and lots of dirt. Overall, it was a really unique and fun experience that I’ll never forget.
Oh and then Sunday night we were able to go to Fernando’s house, our leader, and eat pizza. There was a group of us who went over to his house before and help make the pizzas. Now you may be thinking, pizza big deal? Well, actually yes, I don’t remember the last time I ate pizza. It’s not too common here. And it was amazing pizza and it was fun to help make the pizzas also. So it was a full weekend, but enjoyable also. I think that just about covers all of it.
I have language school for this week and then next week and then we move to Magdalena again for 3 weeks and then 3 days in Guatemala City and then home...it’s gonna go fast. So now it’s time to focus on making the most out of everyday that I’m here.
Love you and miss you all!!!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
So last week, well, there’s a lot to talk about since then and some of it is a little complicated to explain, but I shall try...
Well, I came back from my trip on Monday, last Monday that is. And I was really tired, so I didn’t do anything that night. So for me, Tuesday started the processions and all that “Semana Santa” or “Holy Week” entails.
Since Guatemala is mainly a Catholic region, they have a lot of traditions that come with it. One tradition that is common in Antigua is to have processions, which are like parades, only with out the candy and the floats and all that. People go to the church and pay for a spot to walk in the procession. They pay more or less Q40 which is about $5 to be able to carry in the procession. Everyone has a turn and a certain number as to when they will be able to carry. The people carry an “anda,” which is basically another word for a float, more or less. I don’t think it really translates into English. The andas have different figurines on top of the life of Jesus, especially the last week that he was living. So the processions leave from either a church in Antigua or from a pueblo outside of Antigua and they then come to Antigua carrying the anda on their shoulders. They then walk around Antigua with the anda and there is one anda for the men and the other is for the women. The anda that the women carry has the Virgin Mary on it as a figurine. Each time they have a procession the scene of Mary and of Jesus changed. Many of the processions were for adults but they also had one for kids or teenagers, who were also able to then participate in the carrying. The majority of the time, the men wore purple robes and the women wore black clothing. However, on Good Friday, the men and women wore black symbolizing the death of Jesus. I’m not quite sure where this tradition of carrying a heavy thing one their shoulders started from and what it symbolizes, but I think that it symbolizes the weight of their sins, and it is part of their duty to feel somewhat of what Jesus felt when he went to the cross. I’m not sure if this is the exact symbolism, but this is what I make it out to be. Following the anda is a band playing music and then the anda of the Virgin Mary follows that.
Another tradition that goes along with this is building “alfombras” or carpets or rugs. At the beginning of the week it was more common to see people building alfombras out of flowers, vegetables or fruits. But near the end of the week it was more common to see alfombras made out of dyed saw dust. They would build the alfombras for the people carrying the anda to walk over. So to me, it sort of resembled Palm Sunday when people laid down their coats or palm branches for Jesus to walk over. People put hours of work into these alfombras only for them to be walked over a ruined within minutes. The ones made out of flowers, fruit or verduras were easier to make and often done by free hand. However, the ones made out of the colored saw dust was a different story. People would cut molds out of card board, like flowers or other things and then they fill the holes in with different colors of saw dust. Ah, this is somewhat confusing to explain, so I’m trying my best...
The carpets turn out to be these magnificent pieces of work that you would’ve never thought would be possible to make out of saw dust. Ashley and Becky, 2 people in my group, were invited by their family to help make an alfombra Thursday night into Friday, which is a big deal because it’s mainly a family sort of tradition. They started working about 9:30 or 10 at night and finished the next morning at about 6 or 6:30, just before the procession arrived in front of their house. The end result was beautiful.
I only obtained about 4 hours of sleep Thursday night into Friday because we were walking around, watching all the alfombras being made and then I woke up early and went to watch the procession at Becky and Ashley’s house. After the procession went by I went back to sleep for a couple hours and then got a message that I was able to go help Becky and Ashley’s family build another, smaller alfombra at their house because there was going to be another procession going by their house. So Kristin, Alicia (my professor who was staying at my house), and a granddaughter of my host mom went over to their house to help build the alfombra. It was interesting to watch the whole process and then actually help with it. It was kind of sad to see our work to be walked over and trampled in less than 2 minutes, but it was an experience I won’t forget.
By Friday I had made friends with some of the grandchildren of my host mom because they were there all week. Thanks to Alicia, we had a game to play, Uno. It turned out that some of the grandsons and their fathers, as well as Jose, who works in the house, were going to be in the procession. So Alicia and I found out where this procession was going through and we went to find them. We were doubtful because there were a lot of people in that procession and they would have been walking for many hours...however, we had success. We ended up seeing them and trying to take pictures of them walking in their robes. However, it was really dark, so my pictures didn’t turn out to well. But luckily we were able to get a picture of some of them before they left the house. So that was exciting to see people that we knew walking in the procession.
By the end of the week, I had probably seen over 75% of the processions, which is a lot, because there were usually 2 or more everyday. With that came the smell of incense that people walk in front of the andas with. They wave incense in front of the andas to more or less “consecrate” the area that the procession will walk through. Sometimes it wasn’t bad, but on Good Friday, it was really bad. There were a lot of people with incense and you could hardly see across the street because it was so thick. So by the end of the week, I was ready to be done smelling it.
Saturday was just a chilaxin’ day. But there was another procession that I ended up going to. I saw it go by the Catedral, which is right in front of Central Park. This was interesting to see because there was lots of incense and was just for the Virgin Mary and over 75% of the people were holding candles, so it was like a vigil. It was gorgeous to see, and sadly enough, I can say that my camera didn’t take very decent pictures of this :( But it’ll be a memory that I won’t forget.
Then came Easter Sunday or “Pascua.” This isn’t celebrated that much here in Guatemala. A lot of the people focus more on the suffering of Jesus. However, there was a procession on Sunday that started from Hermano Pedro, the hospital/church that I volunteer at. This was exciting, even though I didn’t see it leave the church. It was exciting that such a joyous and happy procession was leaving one of the most hopeless places of Antigua. To me this says something about the ministry of Hermano Pedro. To me, it means that some of the people that work with the patients and the church do have hope and there is a chance for the patients of Hermano Pedro. This procession had happy music, men and women were carrying the same anda and no one was in any sort of specific robes or clothing. It was a happy and alegre festival, which was fun to watch.
So I think this somewhat covers what I had witnessed last week, or at least I hope it explains Semana Santa. I’m not sure if I hit it all or if I explained it really well. It’s something that one has to experience for themselves. So I hope the pictures fill it in a little more too. There were definitely more people here than I ever thought could fit into one city, so life was crazy, but fun. I was able to spend more time with people from my group because we didn’t have school or anything, so it was a nice break.
Well, I came back from my trip on Monday, last Monday that is. And I was really tired, so I didn’t do anything that night. So for me, Tuesday started the processions and all that “Semana Santa” or “Holy Week” entails.
Since Guatemala is mainly a Catholic region, they have a lot of traditions that come with it. One tradition that is common in Antigua is to have processions, which are like parades, only with out the candy and the floats and all that. People go to the church and pay for a spot to walk in the procession. They pay more or less Q40 which is about $5 to be able to carry in the procession. Everyone has a turn and a certain number as to when they will be able to carry. The people carry an “anda,” which is basically another word for a float, more or less. I don’t think it really translates into English. The andas have different figurines on top of the life of Jesus, especially the last week that he was living. So the processions leave from either a church in Antigua or from a pueblo outside of Antigua and they then come to Antigua carrying the anda on their shoulders. They then walk around Antigua with the anda and there is one anda for the men and the other is for the women. The anda that the women carry has the Virgin Mary on it as a figurine. Each time they have a procession the scene of Mary and of Jesus changed. Many of the processions were for adults but they also had one for kids or teenagers, who were also able to then participate in the carrying. The majority of the time, the men wore purple robes and the women wore black clothing. However, on Good Friday, the men and women wore black symbolizing the death of Jesus. I’m not quite sure where this tradition of carrying a heavy thing one their shoulders started from and what it symbolizes, but I think that it symbolizes the weight of their sins, and it is part of their duty to feel somewhat of what Jesus felt when he went to the cross. I’m not sure if this is the exact symbolism, but this is what I make it out to be. Following the anda is a band playing music and then the anda of the Virgin Mary follows that.
Another tradition that goes along with this is building “alfombras” or carpets or rugs. At the beginning of the week it was more common to see people building alfombras out of flowers, vegetables or fruits. But near the end of the week it was more common to see alfombras made out of dyed saw dust. They would build the alfombras for the people carrying the anda to walk over. So to me, it sort of resembled Palm Sunday when people laid down their coats or palm branches for Jesus to walk over. People put hours of work into these alfombras only for them to be walked over a ruined within minutes. The ones made out of flowers, fruit or verduras were easier to make and often done by free hand. However, the ones made out of the colored saw dust was a different story. People would cut molds out of card board, like flowers or other things and then they fill the holes in with different colors of saw dust. Ah, this is somewhat confusing to explain, so I’m trying my best...
The carpets turn out to be these magnificent pieces of work that you would’ve never thought would be possible to make out of saw dust. Ashley and Becky, 2 people in my group, were invited by their family to help make an alfombra Thursday night into Friday, which is a big deal because it’s mainly a family sort of tradition. They started working about 9:30 or 10 at night and finished the next morning at about 6 or 6:30, just before the procession arrived in front of their house. The end result was beautiful.
I only obtained about 4 hours of sleep Thursday night into Friday because we were walking around, watching all the alfombras being made and then I woke up early and went to watch the procession at Becky and Ashley’s house. After the procession went by I went back to sleep for a couple hours and then got a message that I was able to go help Becky and Ashley’s family build another, smaller alfombra at their house because there was going to be another procession going by their house. So Kristin, Alicia (my professor who was staying at my house), and a granddaughter of my host mom went over to their house to help build the alfombra. It was interesting to watch the whole process and then actually help with it. It was kind of sad to see our work to be walked over and trampled in less than 2 minutes, but it was an experience I won’t forget.
This is just another alfombra that I really liked.
By Friday I had made friends with some of the grandchildren of my host mom because they were there all week. Thanks to Alicia, we had a game to play, Uno. It turned out that some of the grandsons and their fathers, as well as Jose, who works in the house, were going to be in the procession. So Alicia and I found out where this procession was going through and we went to find them. We were doubtful because there were a lot of people in that procession and they would have been walking for many hours...however, we had success. We ended up seeing them and trying to take pictures of them walking in their robes. However, it was really dark, so my pictures didn’t turn out to well. But luckily we were able to get a picture of some of them before they left the house. So that was exciting to see people that we knew walking in the procession.
By the end of the week, I had probably seen over 75% of the processions, which is a lot, because there were usually 2 or more everyday. With that came the smell of incense that people walk in front of the andas with. They wave incense in front of the andas to more or less “consecrate” the area that the procession will walk through. Sometimes it wasn’t bad, but on Good Friday, it was really bad. There were a lot of people with incense and you could hardly see across the street because it was so thick. So by the end of the week, I was ready to be done smelling it.
Saturday was just a chilaxin’ day. But there was another procession that I ended up going to. I saw it go by the Catedral, which is right in front of Central Park. This was interesting to see because there was lots of incense and was just for the Virgin Mary and over 75% of the people were holding candles, so it was like a vigil. It was gorgeous to see, and sadly enough, I can say that my camera didn’t take very decent pictures of this :( But it’ll be a memory that I won’t forget.
Then came Easter Sunday or “Pascua.” This isn’t celebrated that much here in Guatemala. A lot of the people focus more on the suffering of Jesus. However, there was a procession on Sunday that started from Hermano Pedro, the hospital/church that I volunteer at. This was exciting, even though I didn’t see it leave the church. It was exciting that such a joyous and happy procession was leaving one of the most hopeless places of Antigua. To me this says something about the ministry of Hermano Pedro. To me, it means that some of the people that work with the patients and the church do have hope and there is a chance for the patients of Hermano Pedro. This procession had happy music, men and women were carrying the same anda and no one was in any sort of specific robes or clothing. It was a happy and alegre festival, which was fun to watch.
So I think this somewhat covers what I had witnessed last week, or at least I hope it explains Semana Santa. I’m not sure if I hit it all or if I explained it really well. It’s something that one has to experience for themselves. So I hope the pictures fill it in a little more too. There were definitely more people here than I ever thought could fit into one city, so life was crazy, but fun. I was able to spend more time with people from my group because we didn’t have school or anything, so it was a nice break.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Rio Dulce and Livingston
So this past weekend I went to the Caribbean. It was an amazing time. There were just 4 of us who went, so it was nice and calm.
On Saturday we left at 7:00 in the morning and drove there till about 2 or so. We were able to go explore in some ruins, that reminded me of Tikal. Unfortunately, I only have one picture of the ruins because my camera chip is missing in action. I’m not quite sure where it went to, but it’s ok, because I had my other pictures on my computer. Hopefully it’ll turn up. Luckily I had another chip so I could take more pictures.
And then we drove by a banana farm or finca is what we call it. We drove by where the chiquita banana finca is so that was cool. It was really warm, we weren’t even walking anywhere and we were sweating. Pretty nasty.
Then we drove for about 30 more minutes and arrived in Rio Dulce. Then we got into a boat and received a small boat tour of some of the Rio Dulce, which translates to “Sweet River.” Then we went to explore a castle named Castillo de San Felipe. We only had 30 minutes to explore, so I’m pretty sure we didn’t get to see the whole area, but it was still fun to see the castle and some areas as to where the pirates slept and what kind of conditions they lived in.
And then we went to our hotel, which was like little cabins out on the river. 
The hotel had a pool and we ate dinner there because the hotel was on an island, so there was no where else to go to eat.
Then on Sunday, we had the grand boat tour. We left at 9 in the morning and got back at 5 in the evening, so it was a long day, but it was also a lot of fun. First we drove around and just saw some homes where people actually live on the river. Of course we didn’t go in them, but we saw them from the outside. Some were larger, some were smaller. As well as nicer and more poorer. We saw a lot of people who live on the river in their canoes that they make out of trees. Then we went to a bird sanctuary, which is just an area, a small island, where whole bunches of birds live.
Then we continued on a went to hot springs. The rocks of sulfur heat the water, so it was like a hot tub with out the bubbles. Then we went and looked through some caves in the same area. One cave hadn’t been explored yet, so we weren’t able to go into it and plus it was basically a vertical drop. However, our tour guide for the trip decided he wanted to go look a little more so he climbed down into it. When he came back up he was sweating real bad because the rocks were made of sulfur in the cave as well, so it heated the area up. After that we went to a school where the Indians of the area attend. They weren’t having school at the time because it’s semana santa or holy week, so they had a break. But in the school, which is fairly new, they are learning Spanish because their original language is quiche, which is somewhat like Spanish, only there’s a difference because it’s their native, Indian language. Then our guide talked to some people and led us through a corn field and down some slippery rocky path that was somewhat downhill. And if any of you know me, I can be an accident waiting to happen just walking, so I was pretty nervous about walking down this area. However, I managed to walk through it without falling or breaking anything. However there were several times where I was really close to falling. We eventually came to a stream or river where there was a small waterfall. However, when we got there, there was another group of people in front of us, but we didn’t follow them on this path. It turns out that there was a different, much easier path that they took. We came to the conclusion that the way we went was usually not part of the normal tour... So we left there and got back in the boat. We traveled down the river for a ways further. I feel like I’m forgetting something, but I’m not sure.
So eventually we arrived in Livingston. Or the Carribean. 
This town is full of African Americans because they were brought over from Africa to be slaves and once they gained their freedom, they just stayed in this place and never moved. 
So it was really interesting to hear these people talking Spanish because it was more like the Jamaicans talk, only in Spanish. We had about 3 hours to walk around the town and eat lunch. So of course we went to see the Carribean and then we walked around and ate and then left for our hotel. On the way back to our hotel I was pretty sure we were going to die once or twice because the waves were really choppy and weren’t easy for the driver to drive on. However, we made it back safe and no one was injured. From Livingston to R o Dulce it took us about 1 hour or a little more. So it was quite a journey. Then Sunday night we just hung out, talked, played cards, and went to bed because we were really tired.
Then Monday, we checked out at 11:30 and then there was some confusion. We thought the tour guide from the previous 2 days was supposed to take us back to mainland, but he never showed up at the right time. So someone from the hotel ended taking us back to mainland. Little did we know, this was how it was supposed to happen. We didn’t quite get this because the tour guide told us this in Spanish because he didn’t know English. So we were confused for awhile, but eventually we figured this out.
The drive back to Antigua took a lot longer than the ride there. Almost an hour and a half longer because of all the traffic that we encountered in Guatemala City. But we all made it back in one piece and no one was sea sick or anything like that. So overall, it was a really fun trip and I would like to go back one day, but we’ll see about that. So now, I have the rest of this week to do what ever I want because it’s Spring Break. Today was spent doing a lot of homework so I don’t have to worry about it later in the week. There’s a lot of processions and velaciones here this week, which I’ll be able to talk about later once I see what this all means.
Hope you’re all doing well!! I would love to here from you, whether that’s in an e-mail or through snail mail or through a package ;)
Love you and miss you all!!!
On Saturday we left at 7:00 in the morning and drove there till about 2 or so. We were able to go explore in some ruins, that reminded me of Tikal. Unfortunately, I only have one picture of the ruins because my camera chip is missing in action. I’m not quite sure where it went to, but it’s ok, because I had my other pictures on my computer. Hopefully it’ll turn up. Luckily I had another chip so I could take more pictures.
And then we drove by a banana farm or finca is what we call it. We drove by where the chiquita banana finca is so that was cool. It was really warm, we weren’t even walking anywhere and we were sweating. Pretty nasty.
Then we drove for about 30 more minutes and arrived in Rio Dulce. Then we got into a boat and received a small boat tour of some of the Rio Dulce, which translates to “Sweet River.” Then we went to explore a castle named Castillo de San Felipe. We only had 30 minutes to explore, so I’m pretty sure we didn’t get to see the whole area, but it was still fun to see the castle and some areas as to where the pirates slept and what kind of conditions they lived in.
And then we went to our hotel, which was like little cabins out on the river. 
The hotel had a pool and we ate dinner there because the hotel was on an island, so there was no where else to go to eat.
Then on Sunday, we had the grand boat tour. We left at 9 in the morning and got back at 5 in the evening, so it was a long day, but it was also a lot of fun. First we drove around and just saw some homes where people actually live on the river. Of course we didn’t go in them, but we saw them from the outside. Some were larger, some were smaller. As well as nicer and more poorer. We saw a lot of people who live on the river in their canoes that they make out of trees. Then we went to a bird sanctuary, which is just an area, a small island, where whole bunches of birds live.
Then we continued on a went to hot springs. The rocks of sulfur heat the water, so it was like a hot tub with out the bubbles. Then we went and looked through some caves in the same area. One cave hadn’t been explored yet, so we weren’t able to go into it and plus it was basically a vertical drop. However, our tour guide for the trip decided he wanted to go look a little more so he climbed down into it. When he came back up he was sweating real bad because the rocks were made of sulfur in the cave as well, so it heated the area up. After that we went to a school where the Indians of the area attend. They weren’t having school at the time because it’s semana santa or holy week, so they had a break. But in the school, which is fairly new, they are learning Spanish because their original language is quiche, which is somewhat like Spanish, only there’s a difference because it’s their native, Indian language. Then our guide talked to some people and led us through a corn field and down some slippery rocky path that was somewhat downhill. And if any of you know me, I can be an accident waiting to happen just walking, so I was pretty nervous about walking down this area. However, I managed to walk through it without falling or breaking anything. However there were several times where I was really close to falling. We eventually came to a stream or river where there was a small waterfall. However, when we got there, there was another group of people in front of us, but we didn’t follow them on this path. It turns out that there was a different, much easier path that they took. We came to the conclusion that the way we went was usually not part of the normal tour... So we left there and got back in the boat. We traveled down the river for a ways further. I feel like I’m forgetting something, but I’m not sure.
So eventually we arrived in Livingston. Or the Carribean. 
This town is full of African Americans because they were brought over from Africa to be slaves and once they gained their freedom, they just stayed in this place and never moved. 
So it was really interesting to hear these people talking Spanish because it was more like the Jamaicans talk, only in Spanish. We had about 3 hours to walk around the town and eat lunch. So of course we went to see the Carribean and then we walked around and ate and then left for our hotel. On the way back to our hotel I was pretty sure we were going to die once or twice because the waves were really choppy and weren’t easy for the driver to drive on. However, we made it back safe and no one was injured. From Livingston to R o Dulce it took us about 1 hour or a little more. So it was quite a journey. Then Sunday night we just hung out, talked, played cards, and went to bed because we were really tired.Then Monday, we checked out at 11:30 and then there was some confusion. We thought the tour guide from the previous 2 days was supposed to take us back to mainland, but he never showed up at the right time. So someone from the hotel ended taking us back to mainland. Little did we know, this was how it was supposed to happen. We didn’t quite get this because the tour guide told us this in Spanish because he didn’t know English. So we were confused for awhile, but eventually we figured this out.
The drive back to Antigua took a lot longer than the ride there. Almost an hour and a half longer because of all the traffic that we encountered in Guatemala City. But we all made it back in one piece and no one was sea sick or anything like that. So overall, it was a really fun trip and I would like to go back one day, but we’ll see about that. So now, I have the rest of this week to do what ever I want because it’s Spring Break. Today was spent doing a lot of homework so I don’t have to worry about it later in the week. There’s a lot of processions and velaciones here this week, which I’ll be able to talk about later once I see what this all means.
Hope you’re all doing well!! I would love to here from you, whether that’s in an e-mail or through snail mail or through a package ;)
Love you and miss you all!!!
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