When on the road there is always a need to get balance between living in the moment, recording the journey, sharing with others, time for reflection and moments to get more engaged in places along the way (as well as I am sure numerous other possibilities). I haven´t written on here in a while; my attentions have been balanced elsewhere.
So now I sit down with a small amount of attention for blogging and find myself with the dilemma of whether to write from where I am right now, or in order to keep some sort of record of the journey so far. Do I primarily want a record of where I have been or how I am feeling at the moment? Is this for me to re-read, or are there actually family and friends occasionally dropping by to see where on earth I am?
So...
I travelled with friends (from home) from Flores/ Tikal to Lanquin/ Semuc Champey, which is a beautiful and reasonably remote national park region in central Guatemala. We stayed in a hostel in Lanquin that though pretty felt somewhat detached from the town and I felt a little like being a tourist on a conveyor belt. However our feelings towards the more detached sense of the town was not helped by my friends having their laptop and wallet stolen (probably by our bus driver). The area itself was stunning and the guide we went with the next day was really nice and gave us a good introduction to the caves (no health and safety requirements here as we went in to caves where we had to swim and climb and scramble, with flipflops tied on with string, no helmets and candles! A lot of fun and a couple stubbed toes). Then we did a short tube down the river and jumped into the river from a big swing. We then hiked up a steep hill to a viewpoint where you get the classic stunning view over the actual ´Semuc Champey´which apparently means something like, the river which goes under the earth. The fast flowing river goes through a cave/ tunnel which goes under an area of limestone which has pools fed from separate springs. They feed a series of pools that tumble into each other through a series of small waterfalls. You can swim from one to the other and the sun even came out while we were there lighting the clear turquoise of the pools.
I went with Zand and Ada to Antigua where I volunteered with them at 'Los Patojos' for their last week there. It was a quiet week as the kids/ young people they work with were registering to restart the next week. However as I have very little Spanish it was probably a little easier to be mostly painting walls and some logos and helping sort the library. Antigua is a very pretty city and I spent most of the mornings in town, wandering or reading or journalling in one of the many nice cafes or coffeeshops in town.
My plans took me on to Xela (Quetzaltenango) on Saturday. I took the easy option of a shuttle which dropped me to the hostel I wanted to stay in. It was a nice way to arrive in a new city at dusk. Sunday morning I wandered around zona 1 getting my bearings and a sense of the city. It felt a little like wandering Belfast on a Sunday in that a lot was not open until the afternoon, however I also got some sense of the place. I headed back to the cemetry after I was informed that Sunday was the day to do that, as families head there often with picnics. I took several pics (which I will upload later). The cemeteries here really are more picturesque than at home. Not only are they built more extravagantly and on top of each other, but they are also brightly painted and interesting to look at.
I headed to my Spanish school at 2, as I had arranged on the phone. However the person who had told me on Friday that there was space for me was incorrect. Fortunately as I stood there an email came through from someone who cancelled studying this week, so I was in! I am studying at a school called PLQ, which as well as being a cooperative language school is involved in supporting local projects and raising political awareness. This means that as well as arranging trips to local sights there are trips to interesting projects and regular conferences about local & regional political and social issues. It has been interesting. They also have a good library so I am reading 'Bitter Fruit', a recommended book about the CIA supported coup, which I hadn't been able to afford in the bookshop in Antigua. This is a beautiful country to travel in, but I am also concerned & interested to learn more about both the history and the current political situation. I would prefer not to be just a totally ignorant gringo passing through.
Spanish classes started yesterday. I have found that my two evening classes at Queens a couple years ago were more useful than I had thought, however I am still very much a beginner. Today was conjugating basic verbs and learning a few more useful words, both nouns and how, why, because, when...... Remembering them all is a little more challenging but I am really enjoying it so far. I am also living with a lovely family, just a mum and her 9 year old daughter. So that gives me the opportunity to practice my language 'skills'!
So I guess I went for the recording my trip option. Further reflections and art and collections will continue in my journal and I will no doubt share more here later!
And that is enough typing on a keyboard with half the letters missing. I am not the best touch typist in the world!!
Hasta Luego
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