Making Big Jumps

Photos: Belize 2013

afton_romero — Fri, 31 May 2013 13:13:00 GMT

SUU nursing and ISL

Day one

afton_romero — Fri, 31 May 2013 12:20:00 GMT

Hola everyone!

We made it down here safe and sound. Don't worry within 30 seconds of being within the country I broke a rule by taking picture at the airport. Haha! This country is beautiful and so are the people. The only thing I'm not fond of is the humidity so far. It's at 85% with occasional rainstorms. The company ISL has treated us so well so far. I am very impressed with their expertise and kindness. They never make you feel dumb or our of place if you don't understand or know something. And the food they make us is so delicious and made just right to help us cool down for the evening. Our first day we ha lunch on te seaside then drove two hours west to San Ignacio. It's only 7 miles from the border of Guatemala. Our hotel very spacious and clean. Great views from the top of the hill and out into the country side. After settling in we went to the city center to visit a museum and see what the people are like in the area. My favorite part was walking through the city and farmers market. I was a kid in a candy store browsing through all the wild and foreign fruits and vegetables. Cenaid's is the restaurant we will be frequenting throughout the week. We had chicken, pico de gallo, salad, shrimp, and rice and beans. I absolutely loved all of it. I'm pretty sure everyone crashed when we got back around 7pm. I ended up hanging out on a bench watching the lightening storms off in the distance. Nights are very enjoyable and the weather cools down along with the humidity. Orientation starts tomorrow on what are duties will be throughout the week and we get to meet the doctors. Hoping the rain stops so that we can tube the caves on Wednesday. Adios!

Gallery: Bratwurst and Pretzels

afton_romero — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:24:00 GMT

Berlin, Munich, Fussen

Prague, Berlin, Munich, Neuswenchstein

afton_romero — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:20:00 GMT

So Prague was amazing and so beautiful. We got a chance to stay with one of Corys friends named Jirik. He was so nice to take strangers into his home and show us around especially the food. We ate so much food i thought i was going to throw up. But it was amazing to see the castle and stand on Charles Bridge at night to get the perfect picturesque photo. The day time was crazy trying to get around Prague because there were so many tourists there. So we rented a bike and explored the town and castle that day. The bike was a nice rest for our feet and a great way to get around. After Prague we left for Berlin and Berlin was so full of life there. Of course their history plays a huge role in how Berlin is shaped today, but a lot of people say that Berlin is like our New York City back home. Our first day there was quiet since we were tired and restless from travelling so much. So we walked around for a few hours, grabbed some Thai food, and went and watched Harry Potter. Harry Potter not so great and it bugged me that we had an intermisson right after the commercials for food that they came around and sold to you and then another one in the middle of the movie. Come on get on with the show!! But the next day we did a walking tour and bike tour of Berlin. About 9hrs of touring but it was amazing to visit jewish memorials, checkpoint charlie, the berlin wall, parliment, the huge park (thats their central park), reisberg, hitler's bunker, and many other world war II and holocaust spots. A great way to see so much of Berlin in just one day but i loved everything we saw and ate, including the not so great bratwurst from the beer garden. Berlin is definitly a liberal city as they are the 3rd largest gay friendly city in the world. We saw a lot of couples there. Down in Munich were staying with Rob's friend Andrea who is great and has showed us a lot of cool local places. We went to a local beer garden and i had a great brat and saurkraut. The saukraut is so good because i don't even like it at home. But we explored a concentration camp called Dauchau which was very touching. I had a hard time going into the gas chambers because it literally made me sick. What these people went through was horrific and hopefully the world will never have something like this again. The history is so rich in Germany and best of all a lot of it is free to show that they are trying to rid themselves of the ugly past. On a lighter note we went to Neuswenchstein Castle yesterday and it was beautiful... The mountains and lakes surronding the area were so picturesque. And the castle was one of a kind with intricate paintings and gold-brass furniture everywhere. Because Rob was itching to get on the lake we rented a row boat and he loved it. I think this could be another favoirte place on my list so far. Definitly check out my pictures and you'll see what i mean. But probably on to austria to visit kitzbuhel but I hope all are doing well and i'm keeping my aunt jackie in my prayers.

Gallery: Vienna, Austria

afton_romero — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:47:00 GMT

Very quick trip

Gallery: Budapest, Hungary

afton_romero — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:32:00 GMT

Gallery: Slovenia

afton_romero — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:26:00 GMT

Maribor

Gallery: Czech Republic

afton_romero — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:26:00 GMT

Prague

Budapest, Hungary

afton_romero — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:25:00 GMT

So we left Vienna yesterday and i really enjoyed it. Slovenia was really fun and very pretty. i definitley enjoyed the food and slow pace of the trip since we were always on the go in italy. The food was so good and i never appreciated meat soo much. Vienna was really fun since we visited an armour and coats museum that had awesome pieces of knight armour and weapons. We were lucky to hit a film festival going on in the city and got a chance to catch a few films. i wish sundance was setup like how it was, open and free. But we loved the indian curry we tried at the festival. Budapest is so hot and kicking my butt. i can't handle the humidity. But we visited a castle and a few other buildings but i have no clue what they were called but they were just pretty. Tomorrow hopefully a salt cave and mineral bath but will see. Then its off to Prague.

Gallery: Italy

afton_romero — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:36:00 GMT

Florence, Cinque Terre, Venice

Italy

afton_romero — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 22:08:00 GMT

Italy was amazing and i'm not just talking about the guys. We worked our way up from Bari, Italy all the way up to Venice. Southern Italy was so warm and beautiful along the coast. Crystal clear blue water and nice rocky cliffs. My favorite spots were Amalfi coast and Cinque Terre. They were both small cities where you definitley got to know how the locals live. One of the best hostels we stayed in was in cinque terre where we had to climb over a 100 steep steps to get to our rooms. It sucks when you have an extra 20-30lbs on your back. What a workout especially for the buttocks. But the view from the hostel was spectacular with the village and coast right out your window. It was awesome to hike through they're National Park along the coast and walk through the 5 towns along the trail. Definitley worth the walk through the hot humid weather. The beach was amazing with warm water and nice soft sand. Florence was a blur since we got hardly any sleep but i did enjoy hanging out with a few italian guys at a local bar and visiting the statue of David. Rome was an amazing city. We pretty much walked the whole city in one day. The sites and bust of the city was crazy. The Vatican was even more spectacular inside and out. It was a definite history lesson right in front of me everyday. My favorite part of Rome was the Colosseum and fountains at night. We just left Venice and are now headed to Slovenia. I'll miss Italy but on to new adventures

Italy

afton_romero — Sun, 5 Jul 2009 07:57:00 GMT

So Italy is amazing!! Everything is so beautiful and they are much friendlier than the Greeks. Even the port town of Bari was fun and exciting to visit. I got to expereience Gelato for the first time there and loved it. Then we went to Naples which was dirty and dangerous so we jetted out to Salerno in southen Italy. I wish we could have stayed longer because i fell in love with this Italian guy there in Amalfi. If you have a chance to visit Amalfi i highly recommend it. Now i'm in Rome and my feet hurt from walking all day. But i got to see the colosseum, panthenon, and many piazzas and cathedrals. Next up Vatican City

Santorini

afton_romero — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:30:00 GMT

Santorini has been amazing. I quite like it much better than Athens and the people are so nice and helpful here. Definitley check out the sunset pictures we took in Oia. It's was quite worth it to travel to the other side of the island and watch the sunset. Hundreds of people flock to Oia just for the sunset . We rode a scoote all around the island and hit Red Beach, Kamari Beach, and Fira (the captial). It was so fun riding the scooter everywhere and driving like a Greek (which is crazy driviing). But we went snorkeling today and went out the other night for my birthday. It was kind of dead and no one dances which is all i wanted to do. But i here Sunday gets crazier so will see. Now it's off to Italy!

Gallery: Greece So Far

afton_romero — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:50:00 GMT

Market and Acropolis

Athens

afton_romero — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:04:00 GMT

So i'm in Athens, Greece now and the place is so beautiful from the sky. Not so much from the ground. It's very dirty and almost every building is tagged with graffiti. It has been a long day since we having been travelling since Monday morning and did not arrive until 1pm. Thank goodness we got our luggage because we were worried the whole time that it wouldn't show up from our two connecting flights. We did meet some nice girls from Colombia who were very nice and helped us find our hotel since we are staying at the same Marriot. It was good that they did otherwise the girl from the information station would have had us going in circles. Were headed to see the partheneon tomorrow and Acropolis. I'll try to post pictures soon becaue i forgot my cord. Remember i'm 8 hours ahead of Utah in case you try and reach me by Skype. Love ya all.

Gallery: Italy

afton_romero — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:28:00 GMT

Backpacking Europe