So my last week or so in Xela was great, and consisted of primarily these things:
= Going to a natural sauna. The steam comes directly from the volcano underneath, and when you walk outside to escape the heat, an incredible view awaits you of clouds pouring over the mountains of this tiny mayan village.
= Ignacio Pèrez Borrel from Buena Vista Social Club performed in La Parranda (salsa/reggaeton club). It was amazing. Eventhough hes 70 he was leading the way on the drumming and percussion (i dont know if youve heard great salsa but the percussion is always in a crazy beat) and we all danced salsa right infront of him and his band (Buena Vista de Corazòn). I shook his hand and got a photo with him.
= My graduation from my spanish school (which id grown to love) was superfantastisch. The theme of the party was songs, so we all had to bring a spanish song to sing, but me and simon forgot and so had to dance on the table (these are the rules) to simons brilliant drum&bass/dubstep/techno music. Twas sad to leave my brilliant teacher (Willberth Gonzalez) also.
So Xela was incredible....i didnt know life could get that good.
On Sunday, lots of us from the school climbed Volcàn Santa Maria. it started well with all ten of us crammed into the back of a pick up (one guy was 6'8 tall) along mud roads. The volcano was a challenging trek and took us 3.5hours to get up, but the views were insane (and luckily simon(#2) brought cereal and milk power), and half way up we encountered a group of mayans praying loudly on the side of the volcano, moaning words in Quichè (a mayan language) and looking histerical.
In the afternoon me and simon danced salsa with the woman in the cafe and her friend.
So on monday i went to a small Quichè village in the mountains called Pachaj to help on a reforestation project. I wasnt really shore what to expect but it was incredible. i stayed with a local family who were rediculously nice and hospitable. They only spoke spanish (and Quichè) which was interesting, but actually it was easier than i thought. Què bueno. I stayed up there for 5 days and everyday i had tortillas and maiz tea (which tasted like something died in it, but ofcourse i had to pretend to like it. actually i quite liked it by the end). Also lots of mosh. Estela (the mother) taught me how to make tortillas and cook them on her fire/stove (for some reason mine tasted weird and were raw inside...).
There was no shower there, so everyday (without me asking) Estela heated up a pot of water on the fire which i had to pour over myself with a bowl. Along with the candle in the bathroom (well outside concrete shack), showering was a pretty weird experience.
They found it very hard to say the names Sue and Ralph, and were shocked when i told them i didnt believe in the devil.
Pachaj landscape is incredìble; surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and located literally at cloud level (clouds are constantly drifting through the village). Theres also fields of maiz everywhere.
The co-ordinator of the project, Elmando,(proyecto Chico Mendes)was such a great, inspirational man. the sunday before they planted 5000 trees on the local mountain, and there were 10000 waiting to go out. One day we trekked up the mountain (me, elmando, claudia (his daughter), daisy (fellow volunteer) and 100 school kids), each with 2 trees in hand (200 in total) and planted them on an area at the top where theres intense deforestation (which means more landslides, less nature and really bad water problems for the local communities).
Me and Daisy had a moment where we just thought- this is extremely random and incredible:- holding two trees, surrounded by 100 guatemalan kids, on top of a mountain-with insane views of volcanoes- in a crazy little guatemalan village.
I planted my own tree next to the project (called Simòn) like all the volunteers do.
There was also the most amazing lightning ive ever seen, and without rain or thunder.
Two more weird things:
-Everyone says adios (goodbye) rather than hola (hello)
- Before you leave the table (or floor) after eating you have to say Gracias to everyone, for which they reply Buen Provecho.
It was sad to leave my family here and Estela kept saying 'Yo voy estar muy triste' (im going to be very sad).
I came back from Pachaj to Xela for one night (incredibly good to see Simon, Aoife (irish girl), Willberth and my other friends and my family again) and partied before embarking the next moring on a 3 day hike to Lago de Atitlàn (i had 2 hours sleep). We had to carry big, heavy rucksacks full of food, clothes, sleeping bags/mats...everything we needed, and i think the first day of hiking (up steep mountains) was one of the hardest hikes ive ever done. It was rediculous though, the walk led us through mayan villages, up mountains, through cloud forests.
However there was a slight issue. Half was through day 1 a second tropical storm hit guatemala (Alex) and there was horrendous rain, bringing mudslides and making the trail impossible. So after spending the first night on the floor of a municipal building of a crazy small village somewhere between Xela and Atitlàn, the second day we got a ride in the back of a pickup to the next stop. The final day it wasnt raining in the morning so we hiked nearly to the last part to the lake. (see picture, as too hard to descibe the view awaiting us). but then the rain started again and we had to get a ride for the very last bit (which was also very dangerous, with landslides, the road crumbling away and rivers running everwhere), but finally we reached the lake (by tuktuk) and here we are in San Pedro La Laguna. The lakes very beautiful (actually a crater lake), surrounded by volcanoes and little villages.
The storms still over us so its impossible to do anything outside (but tomorrow we want to go kayaking), and tomorrow im going to the next village with a english girl (who lives in leeds and is going to bristol uni ironically).
Last night we all went to an amazing Isrealie restaurant, and the two isrealies (one of which is constantly playing brilliant bob dylan songs on guitar and harmonica) with us chose amazing hummus, falafals and pita bread.
Ive just realised ive only got 2months left so i want to go into honduras asap (to venture into some rainforest and get kidnapped by drug lords).
Until next time!
Simon x
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