From the highest peak in Central America

So I started this blog entry on Wednesday and its now Sunday. Not sure how that happened but here it goes!

Last weekend, Katie, Makenzie and I went with our friend Aaron from Colegio Americano and his wife Ali who works at the US Embassy to travel across Guatemala in order to hike the highest peak in Central American, Volcan Tamujulco. We started the 6 hour drive with little idea of how the weekend would go but with lots of excitement about trying something completely new. We stopped in a town called Xela for lunch and had THE most delicious Indian food I have ever tasted. Katie and I discussed how much Indian food fits our lifestyle with plenty of vegetarian options, lots of spices, and the lack of necessity to eat with silverware.

Anyway, we made it to a town called Tejutla where Aaron and Ali's friend in the Peace Corps, Matt, was living. We played Settlers of Catan, ate yucky pizza, and talked the night away until it was time for us to retire to the only hotel in the entire town which was also the highest building in the entire town. It was Q. 100 for the night for Mak, Kate and I to stay in a room with tiger bed spreads and a super cool view. The next morning we made breakfast of french toast and fruit at Matt and his wife Meli's house with Jaron, another totally sweet Peace Corps volunteer from Arizona, packed our things and headed for the volcano.

Listos!

The hike itself was surprisingly not that difficult. Considering it was my first hike since the time I thought I was going to die from being hit by a ridiculous rock, I was quite pleased with myself for not losing the ability to hike and the love of hiking. The most difficult part of the entire climb was the sheer fact that the air was literally thinning with each step as we summited around 14,000 ft. Luckily, it was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done with landscapes of rolling foothills, refreshing vegetation as far as the eye could see, volcanoes surrounding the volcano we were already on, and big huge turds randomly placed throughout the trail. Seriously, some of the biggest poo I have ever seen was on the highest peak in Central America. Where did it come from? I know some of you obnoxious readers are guessing it was me but my best guess is either the horses that some lame-o's rode to get to the top... or it was Makenzie. Who knows.

We set up camp at a little site just below the summit, made some bread, beans, cheese and tomato sandwiches, and went to bed at 7:30. Ha! Kate, Mak and I shared my tiny, two-person tent which meant we were very warm all night but also very uncomfortable. I was actually pretty relieved to get the 4:00am wake-up call to start the hike to the summit. We put on our headlamps and started climbing single-file to our final destination (dun, dun, DUN!).

I wish I were talented enough at writing to truly explain to you all what we saw when we reached the top but I haven't really been able to put it in words. I could tell you it was a jaw-dropping, incredibly humbling, intensely inspiring site; but really none of those comments would do it justice. All I can really fairly assess is how it made me feel to be standing on something that felt bigger than life itself, something that has been part of Guatemala for thousands of years. I felt completely convicted that where life is taking me is meaningful, if not to anyone else, to me. Breathing in that freezing cold air may have been messing with my brain cells a bit but it sure made me appreciate it all. Guatemala has taught me more in the last four months than I could have ever expected and even though there is so much about life that I cannot control or anticipate, I still couldn't help but smile at all the beauty, both physical and emotional, that I've been fortunate enough to find myself surrounded by. I'm pretty sure that some days I cannot even really comprehend just how beautiful life is but on this day, while standing on top of the world, I think I got it.

Behind me is the Guatemalan volcano chain. To the right is the Pacific Ocean. In front is Mexico. To the left is the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Below me is 13,845 feet of awesomeness.

The trek back down the volcano was stranger than fiction because one moment we were freezing cold and not sure if we would ever regain the feeling in our feet and the next minute we needed to stop to shed off several layers of clothing because we were sweating so profusely. We made it down and after some celebratory high-fives, heart-felt goodbyes, and a quick meal to refuel, we started the long, traffic-filled drive home. That night, my Guatemalan bed never felt so good, the altitude in the city felt like nothing at all, and one of my life goals was crossed off the list.

This week in school was a short, fun one with plenty of new experiences to add to my teaching repertoire. We had parent-teacher conferences from 1-4pm on Wednesday and then a few more throughout the rest of the week. Naturally, I was pretty nervous to meet with the parents for fear they would admit their lack of confidence in me in teaching their children everything (I think) they need to know to be productive members of society. Fortunately, this wasn't the case at all. I got a lot of reassuring compliments and had parents supporting my ideas as to how to help their students reach their goals and even had a parent tell me that their daughter "googled" me, found out I dove in college and now wants me to teach her how to dive. By 4pm that afternoon, I felt like the happiest teacher on earth. I always say that my students come first but I won't lie, it was very encouraging to learn that their parents have faith in me too.

This Friday was Miss Nancy, the third grade Spanish teacher's, graduation from her Master's degree program. She invited Ashley, Leslie, Walter, Lissbeth (technology teacher), Vero (first grade Spanish teacher), and myself to her grad party which was nothing like the backyard BBG with a Costco cake you'd picture in the United States. This party had attendees wearing floor length gowns, a dance floor with a DJ, a fully-stocked buffet, a Mariachi band, and the happiest Nancy I have ever seen. We toasted to Nancy's success, ate awesome Guatemalan food, and danced until one in the morning. I loved to see that Guatemalan's truly know how to celebrate their hard work and good fortune and appreciate the ones who helped them get where they are. Ashley and I laughed about how the party was nothing like we had expected but it was 192,456,234 times better.

Getting our Macarena on at Nancy's grad party

Mario's band!

On Saturday we took an evening trip to Antigua to watch our salsa instructor and fellow Inter teacher, Mario, sing at a Cuban club called Sabor Cubano. We had been meaning to get down there to support Mario for weeks now and were so thankful we finally did it. Mario is in a band with his super adorable wife and they are just as talented at singing as they are at dancing. I got to practice my dancing skills with a super sweet 70-year-old man named Salvador and an incredibly uncoordinated 15-year-old boy named Jesus (HAY-SEUSS, not the real Jesus though I bet the real Jesus was a MUCH better dancer than this kid). We laughed about how Salvador has now become our new Antigua grandfather and Jesus probably thought I was his age and was really hoping Mario and his band would play some Boyz to Men so we could slow dance Jr. High style. We stayed at a hostel for Q. 60 which included breakfast (that's about $8 USD) and then headed home this morning. We bummed around for the rest of the day with a ultimate frisbee break thrown in somewhere in there and now I'm here, finally finishing this darned entry. Hopefully it has caught you up and you're becoming increasingly more convinced that Guatemala is where's its at and you should totally come visit asap (HINT, HINT!)

Sharing my dance partners with Makenzie and Aubrey

Buenas noches!