Peace OUT!

unbloggable

soyeldustin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:21:00 GMT

i guess theres something i ought explain. im getting a little tired of blogging, i feel like most the stories are getting to be the same thing, and the really important, interesting stuff is impossible to describe. i cant sit here in an internet cafe and explain a personality, the mentality of a nation, the beauty of scuba diving, or the kind of conversations you have with like minded people. I wish it were easier, but it isnt. Sitting around with locals and learning some mayan phrases while watching the sunset isnt describable in words. sure i could tell you whats said, but only the experience carries sentiment. Having an intellectual local explain to me, in my second language, the tragic history of his nation, something he experienced first hand, in honest tone, completely ignoring the fact that these events were more or less orchestrated by my own government... i dont know how to put these sort of things into words... its undescribable

i do know what i can put into words: more americans need to travel, and travel for a long time. there is unspeakable value in even beginning to understand another way of life. theres more to the world than must see tv... and soon enough westernization will have conquered it all. all the same fastfood restraunts are here. people watch our television programs, watch our movies. a culture is so firmly based on its pop media, and if american media sneaks its way everywhere, whats going to happen? look where we are. greed has almost become an instinct for some people. even this is another thing theres no way i can simply explain in the amount of time im willing to sit here and type. but its strange. and im not sure that i like the fact that everyone here knows about Lil Wayne and pro wrestling and jackass. it's ugly. people dance to the mindless american club songs here. of course, most dont know what they mean, but they can still sing the chorus. and sure, their own pop music is just as cheesy... (not to demean latin music, i prefer the radio here... and i guess i dont understand the complicated stuff anyways...))

just another longwinded aimless ADD rant that i dont really know why im saying or what it means or anything like that.

thats why ive been so lazy about this...

and its only gonna get worse.

ps: no i dont actually think westernization will turn the world into some strange monoculture... well, i dont think monoculture is a word, but you get the picture...

back to guatemala... mitchell!

soyeldustin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 07:18:00 GMT

i dont know if ill ever finish that last message. the blogging thing hasnt been high on my list of priorities here...

Left Utila, ferry back to La Ceiba. On the boat I met a girl who was going to San Pedro Sula that afternoon, and decided to head with her, just to make a little progress on the ridiculously long bus ride. Made it to Sula and decided to find a cheaper bus. I ran across a night bus to the capital. Perfect, no hostel charge, easy transport. Paid my ticket and asked when it left. 2am. Great. This more or less meant 5 hours of waiting in a bus terminal. Luckily there were a couple of gringas hanging around, we took a cab to dinner, and killed a bunch of time in this nice mexican restaurant.

That night bus was about as exciting as could be expected.

In the morning, we were driving over the border, when one of the other passangers asked for a cigarette. It was my last one so I just let him have the rest. When I got to Guatemala City, I asked him where he thought was a good place to hang around waiting for my friends to show up at the airport. He said the best place would be the nice mall in Zona Viva, and mentioned his cab had to pass that way anyhow, and since I helped him out earlier, hed just let me hop in. yeah karma.

Killed time. Killed more time. Time almost killed me, theres almost nothing im comfortable doing in guatemala city with my backpack passport and wallet on me. So I sat in a swanky cafe, and did nothing. At all.

Met mitchell at the airport, and we hopped on another nightbus to Tikal. When I went to sleep i folded up the arms of the seats, and layed across 3 open seats. In the middle of the night, I woke up with someone's jacket draped over my feet. I didnt want them to wake up with some gringo feet wrapped in their jacket, So i kicked it off onto the floor. He just picked it back up, and put the jacket on my feet. I thought you should hear about that. Not something that would happen in the states. I was grateful though, they overdid the AC on that ride and my feet were cold...

Got to flores, cool hostel. I havent been disapointed with a hostel yet... Tikal was waaay cool. Cant describe these sort of things well in text, though. That afternoon we took a boat tour of the lake, and I kept forgetting mitch doesnt understand spanish. The tour guide was real informative. Told us about the underground animal trade, where to find monkeys, how to tell a good coconut. He drove us around the lake for 2 hours, then he took us up to a 'lookout,' which would better be described as a treehouse with a good view. It was in his friend's back yard, but the guy gave us coconuts and we watched the sunset.

ate dinner. spent the next day on a bus. ended up in the most beautiful place Ive ever been.

ill blog about semuc champey later. right now im going tubing.

certified.

soyeldustin — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:40:00 GMT

Ya! Certified diver!!

Courses went well. Over the last few days Ive seen some real cool fish, dove a shipwreck, went to the craziest party Ive ever seen, and wasted a lot of money on street food. I like Utila alright, but this isnt the vacation im looking for. This island has no culture besides party and dive. The locals arent even that friendly... it's kinda common for kids to throw rocks at you. However, today I went exploring with Brad and a guy from Hawaii. We saw some sweet lizards, walked down a volcanic rock beack, and found a real cool cave.

We heard about a really cool cave, about a 45 minute walk from our hostel. More like 2 hours. We followed a dirt road out of the city, and strolled down a beach. It didnt look to swimmable.

im waay to tired to write this. check back later and maybe i will finish it.

long story short: we found the cave. at first it looked like a hole in the ground, but we kept going, and eventually it opened up into this huge room with a crystal clear natural pool in it. waaay beautiful!

Bus, Pool Poachin, Utila-la

soyeldustin — Sat, 7 Mar 2009 12:31:00 GMT

13 hours on a bus, it almost wasn't worth it.

Actually, the bus ride was cool. I made friends with a Honduran chick, drove through a cloud forest or two, ate some pizza... not too much to complain about. We got to La Ceiba around 630, checked into a hotel around 8. La Ceiba is a coastal Honduran town with the reputation of a party town. Neither Brad nor I really had much energy to go out by this time, though. We did however poach a pool. At about 10;30, we went on a walk down the beach, and saw a real luxury lookin hotel with a nice pool. We were talking about swimming that day but the ocean didnt seem like the best idea at the moment. So we hopped the little fence (Brad mentioned the rule that if its not over waist high, its not really forbidden...)and got down to our skivvies. We managed to swim for a while before we saw a hotel employee come out. As soon as we saw him we got out and ran away, which probly gave away the fact that we werent staying at that hotel. He chased us to the edge of the property and swore at us alot.

In the morning, a boat to utila!! I got S O A K E D on the boat. It was a pretty choppy ride, and I really didnt pay any attention to the splashes until one got me. whatever.

Utila is very different than expected. It really is paradise. Palms everywhere. Hot. Cool travelers all over. But, unfortunately, there isnt much local culture. It really gets drowned by the tourism/diving industry. And the people here are creole! its some crazy english that you cant even tell is english until a couple days on the island. It really seems like a different language at first. When we arrived, all the dive shops try to get you to dive with them, and its kindof insane. You're barraged with fliers just walking off the dock. It was alright because it did give you a good idea of what was around, but the first few seconds of utila are hectic. One of the dive shops took us out to their caye and let gave us a tour of the shop, then let us use their snorkeling gear until the next boat back to Utila came. It was way fun! I saw the craziest jellyfish, ever.

Got a room in a cool hostel. Took it easy again.

This morning we walked all around the island, I saw a bunch of radical lizards and walked through a jungle. then we chilled on these volcanic rocks and ate lunch. Fresh pineapple, avocado, bananas, tortilla chips, PBJs and of course coconut milk. We actually got a little lost in the forest, but thankfully a bunch of local kids came running by, and pointed us toward town.

Friday is supposed to be the big party night here in town. Ima goin out right about now.

Tomorrow I start scuba trainig!!! wish me luck!

outa xela!

soyeldustin — Wed, 4 Mar 2009 12:39:00 GMT

Today I left Xela. So long to seeing Santa Maria from anywhere, anytime. So long to volunteering with Nuevos Horizontes. Im going to miss those rowdy little kids! Im gonna miss the awesome traveler scene (kinda.) Xela is a great place to meet people from all over the world (like the brits who gave me a free underwater camera!), great place to go out dancing. On the other hand, im not going to miss the climate. Xela is about as cold as it gets down here in Central America.

I got up at 6:30 and ran out the door. I had to get up early to go meet Brad. I was running a bit late, but it ended up being OK because I got to the park and waited for about 20 minutes for my travel buddy. He didnt show up so I went and got a breakfast at mcdonalds. (im sticking by my word, its somehow better down here...)

I munched my breakfast in about 30 seconds. I dont know how some mornings i cant stand the thought of eating anything but yogurt, and others I can scarf down a grease biscuit and fried potatoes. Not to mention the coffee. Ive been drinking loads of coffee here. We got to the bus station and got thrown right on a bus. The ayudantes (Bus helpers) are like vultures. You can hardly set foot within a block of Terminal Minerva without one of them grabbing your bag and yelling GUATE GUATE GUATE! We boarded the bus and we were off! Finally out of Xela... i was getting a bit antsy.

Uneventful ride, except for the fact we saw a burnt out car on the side of the road. Nothing but charred metal. Otherwise, same old chicken bus driving way too fast on scary mountain roads. The ride was really quick today, too. Sometimes its nice when you get a really ballsy driver. We made it from Xela to Capital in 4 hours flat. We were expecting 5&1/2. When we got out in the capital, we were once again swarmed by taxi drivers. The first one we followed lead us to a grey mitsubishi with no kind of markings on it. He was offering a cheap ride, but it seemed like a bad idea. He just had his car, it didnt even say taxi. And judging by the car he didnt need to be doing taxi work.

Brad and I took another taxi to our hotel, and just relaxed a bit. The busses here are nerve wracking, they can really wear you out. Plus I had the McTummy and needed to take a nap. Once we were tired of being lazy, we decided to take a taxi to the bus company to get our tickets to La Ceiba (port for utila.) What we didnt think of was the fact we were going to need our passports. a q40 taxi ride to get shut down. So we went out for lunch in a pretty typical comedor, and decided it would be best to walk back. It was a distance, but Guatemala City seems a lot less sketchy today than it did a month and a half ago. Plus it was the middle of a beautiful day, and it just seemed like a good idea. It was enjoyable to get a more personal look at this city. I may have judged it wrong at first. But im not going to go walking around tonight, thats for sure. Ramen Noodles for dinner.

Tomorrow morning; Wake up at 4am and get on a bus to LA CEIBA! im gonna learn to breathe under water! and we even got a nice bus, with a bathroom and AC and snacks! welcome back to the lap of luxury!

im quite excited.

whats newish?? (videos at bottom)

soyeldustin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:36:00 GMT

ive been slacking on this, sorry.

Whats new: On valentines day I met a girl in the park who was bumming out because she had nothing to do, and it was such a great day to have something to do. I was in the same situation, so we went out and had some drinks and danced some salsa. She said i was good but i know she was lying. Ive danced salsa maybe twice, and I only really know like 4 moves. So after a while we just went to this bridge and watched traffic and drank wine. Ever since we've been hanging out almost every day. She has an eerie resemblance to Somadee, and her friends say we will make beautiful children... which makes me want to run to Honduras, which, I will do! ( i really love the freedom of traveling! )

Im going to go to Utila, Honduras. I met a cool kid from minneapolis, and we just think it sounds like a good plan. Its more or less a party island with some good scuba diving. Its not as good as Roatan or the other bay island (which i can never remember the name of...) but its about a third the price. So we are going there to learn to do some scuba diving, and relax on the beach. Its cold in Xela (well not for Minnesotans, but for central america, its friggin freeeezing.) and we are more or less done with it. Not to mention Ive been in Xela for like a month plus now and im getting restless.

Im done with language school. My spanish is pretty good, I mean it has to be, I have a novia that cant speak any english. Language school was really cool but I wish I couldve paid week by week. Cus my school didn't let me take a week off, and I think my greymatter was more or less saturated the last week. Everyday I just needed to get out of there QUICK! I dont know if I learned anything. Just copied a bunch of notes notes notes. I need a bit of time to sit and just soak up the knowledge. But yeah, I learned a lot during the other weeks. Its pretty rad speaking another language. It just makes me want to learn another! All the new phrases and little cool ways of saying things. It kinda made me appreciate how unique my own language is anyway. And especially the way I speak it. English has so much more flexibility and slang than guatemalan spanish. Its funny meeting germans or swiss people or the rare guatemalan that speaks english. Everyone says im hard to understand. ''The english speak so proper! and they annunciate!'' too bad.

So ive been volunteering with an organization called nuevos horizontes. Its a shelter for battered women/ orphanage for their children. they also do a great job finding work and housing for the women once they are ready to leave the house. On friday night they threw a benefit party. It was super fun. Dancing, Costumes, etcetc. I had a great time. I was working as bartender til 11 and mingled til about one thirty. When I woke up on Saturday, Im not sure if it was the abundance of information in my head or the fact that i was bartending the night before, but I had a gnarly headache. I felt the urge to get out, so I hopped a chicken bus to the lake.

I heard a couple people talking about visiting san pedro a few days earlier, so i got on a boat to get there. And i got RIPPED OFF. I forgot all about asking locals before i went to the dock. Someone stopped me half a block before the dock and asked where i wanted to go (he wasnt a boat driver, he was a tour operator. that shoulda been the first sign!) and told me it was q35 to go to san pedro. Nothing is q35, so i told him it was a joke and walked away. he said ''no, wait! i can help you out for 25.'' Ok great, sounds alright lets go right?? We get to the dock and as soon as i set foot on the dock, the driver of the boat that was taking me told me he could take me for 20 (which means 15 if your spanish is good enough to bargain). Thanks tour operater! I paid 5q for a walking companion down the boardwalk! Oh well, to put things in perspective, it was only like 50 cents. but still!

So I got to San Pedro and walked around a bit. Its a really pretty city, but Im not sure Im really into the whole atmosphere. Theres a lot of people that consider themselves hippys because they have long hair and do drugs and are currently not in the US. A friend explained it well. Theres hippys that really understand things like peace and love and not taking more than you need, and there are people who try to build their image out of these morals. And ironically enough they come off sorta cocky. But the town of San Pedro is really beautiful. And the environment is super calm and was perfect for laying around reading a book. Even though its really touristy. I met a girl from California down on the beach who has been teaching in San Marcos for a couple months. We sat around and chatted. Then I think I made her mad cus I was saying that we should more or less accept the fact that we are expected to pay more for things like clothing and rides etc., because without the tourist money many people wouldnt be making a living. She said it was bullshit, and that all people should be treated fairly. I guess it depends on your idea of fair, right??

Ran into a kid from Minnesota, and we ended up hanging out all night. Ate some SUPER good street food (grilled chicken leg, refried frijoles, guacamole, hot tortillas) for q8. Went out and watched the football (aka soccer) game, and had a long night.

highlight!!: This lady set off these candle lanterns hot air balloon thingys that flew WAAY up into the air! I have no idea where she got them but I want to know! SO cool! I think the lantern made it over the mountains!

The morning: I think all that homework and studying really got to me. Headache still hasnt left. Boat to santiago, bought some tortillas for breakfast but ended up giving most of them to a blind guy. Wanted to visit San Lucas Toliman again, so I hopped on a pickup. Pretty cool seeing the longterm volunteers again. I plan to stay there once the money starts to run real low. I just feel very at home in that town. Oh yeah and I ate another delicious meal! (i only ate once on sunday, but it was well worth the wait.) Took the hottest, longest shower Ive had here. Its funny how much you miss the simple pleasures. Like hot showers. I really miss being able to take long, hot showers. alot. seriously. Afterwards I went and checked out panajachel. Its pretty cool but you can hardly do anything without being offered a handwoven scarf. I did buy a cool knife, which im yet to use. I think ill go buy some unsliced bread...

Got back to xela and got a pocket watch! for 50q! ive always wanted a pocket watch! then stayed in the worst hotel ive ever been in. it was either super grimey or overly swank, because i didnt start looking til like 930. and i wasnt gonna shell out the dough for hotel bonifaz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtRUL-y9ppE&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUIVRe5--H8&feature=channel

probly not the most interesting videos youve seen. its how you get around lake atitlan.

so

soyeldustin — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:04:00 GMT

yeah i added more photos of xela, sorry to most but i figured some of you would get a kick out of guatemalan grafiti. especially the one that says ''the fuckers''

Santa Maria, The Highest Kid in Quetzaltenango, The Fuentes

soyeldustin — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 05:30:00 GMT

WED 11pm. Went to a hostel called Casa Argentina with a backpack full of sweaters. I heard it would be cold. I figured, hey, Im Minnesotan, guatemalans don´t know cold. Yeah I was wrong. But we´ll get to that later. An organization called Quetzaltrekkers runs out of Casa A. They run a full moon hike up the second highest volcano in Guatemala. After a dinner of delicious vegetable soup and home made bread, we piled into the backs of 3 pickups and left. Ive said it before, but I really love the feeling of riding in the back of a pickup through a Guatemalan mountain range. After about 30 or 40 minutes, we arrived at the base of Santa Maria. We could hardly see anything but the outline, moon and stars.

We started trekking up, and after around half an hour, our guide said she couldnt find the right path, so we just stayed put. I was grateful for this, because I was already getting really tired. This gave me a chance to get to know some of the other hikers. Xela really attracts an interesting group, so that was a lot of fun. When the rest of the group arrived, we found the right path and continued up. We stopped about an hour later and had some granola and social time. This is where we got our first real view of what we were in for. The mountain didnt look any smaller, at all. The guides told us we were in for about 2 to 3.5 more hours of intense switchbacks. Thats basically a steep trail winding left right left right left right up hill. And so on and so on and so on, until finally I thought I saw the top. But I was wrong, we just had to walk through a cloud. At this point, I was really getting tired, and the way it was structured you didnt have to stay with the same group, you just couldnt go behind the last person in the group (who was one of the guides.) So I slowed down, and walked alone through a volcanic cloud forest at 330 in the morning. Probly the coolest thing ive ever done.

About an hour later, I felt like I had to sit and take a long break, so I sat on a log and played Kalimba. Eventually I saw the people behind me coming up, and decided to wait for them. I joined there crew and we kept on. Eventually we got past the treeline. Once we got there, we all agreed it was time for another break. (Stamina is nonexistant at 3772 meters.) The landscape was amazing. Nothing but sand and rocks, and clouds below. It looked like an island on moon or something. As we were sitting there, We saw a bright light appear in the clouds a bit higher up. None of us knew what it was, and I swear to god it looked like a UFO. It turned out to be the guides headlamp. He took us to the spot where everyone was camped out, and said go ahead and rest, we had an hour and a half til sunrise. From there, you could see the embers in nearby Santiagito, and a forest fire burning on the other mountain. And the best view of the stars i have ever seen. I was a bit exhausted from the 4 hour hike up a mountain, so I went to unravel the ''sleeping bag'' I was given. As I took it out of the bag, I realized something was wrong. It was really thin. It seemed bigger than it should be. It should have been heavier. It just wasnt right. It was..

It was a tent.

Oh well, you gotta roll with the punches sometimes. I wrapped myself in it and took a nap for about an hour. Eventually the guides woke everyone up once you could see the sun was about to rise over the volcanoes to the east. About 20 minutes later, Santiaguito started to erupt. The guide was nice enough to explain a bit of slightly unsettling history. Santiagito used to be Santiago, until it blew up in the earliy 1900s. When this happened, it drained out the core of Santa Maria (which we were standing on.) Thus, Santa Maria is just a big hollow rock, and geologists think that some day, probly during an earthquake or eruption of santiagito, its all going to collapse. So we watched santiagito erupt (really just huge huge huge plumes of smoke coming from the top, werent close enough to see the magma flow.) Sat around and had breakfast, watched the sunrise, watched clouds roll in and out, typical stuff. I decided to climb around a bit, and make it to the actual highest point. It was pretty cool there being alone up there, at the top of the world, a few thousand miles closer to the sun than Id ever been before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duvDiVM3nO0

Uhh, we climbed down, i met a cool girl, and I think i might go stay with her in Utila in a couple weeks. Its a rad scuba diving island where you can get certified for wicked cheap. And the whalesharks are mating there now, so you can swim with the biggest fish on earth!

Got back, real sore, went to the fuentes. Cool journey, we rode the chicken bus to zunil, and from there hitchhiked in the back of a pickup to Fuentes Georginas. Its really rad hotsprings that they kinda turned into a huge hot swimming pool-bar-hotel. Its up in the couldforest, so theres all kinds of oversized super super strange looking foliage.

Relaxed, slept in the fountains, went back to xela, hung out with the twins for a bit, then i had to go bed. Id been up over 24 hours, having the raddest day of my life. Slept like a rock.

today... more or less typical. but i think i might have fleas. :(

Gallery: Volcan de Santa Maria, Fuentes Georginas

soyeldustin — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:54:00 GMT

the buckest day of my life

this is guate

soyeldustin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:27:00 GMT

So ive been here a while, and I more or less have to explain some things that Im not exactly sure anyone will care about..

Most people in guatemala dont use their tap water, they have to buy large jugs of purified water, which is just another cost of living that most families cant afford, and keeps them from exiting poverty. One problem with unpurified water is diarhea. This dehydrates you, and if all you have to rehydrate is more dirty water and a weakened immune system, well... so it goes. My friend Miles pointed out the fact american toilets are full of purified water. Interesting contrast, it just got me thinking. Most people here dont have hot showers. I dont think anyone owns a washing machine. Many families have their kids working in the streets rather than going to school. Upward mostion in the socio-economic spectrum is more or less impossible when your living relies on your kids selling candy and cigarettes in the park. This eliminates the childrens chance at an education, and the cycle continues. I was just at a restaurant, where the waiter stopped and ran to the kitchen after each order. At first, I thought she might just be new, and didnt think to write it down, or just kinda absent minded. But then I realised I was just kind of taking for granted the idea that most people can read and write. Literacy is a privilage and a gift. I really hope this doesnt come off as condescending, but by 5th grade, I was better educated than a handful of adults here. And the government has almost nothing to do with it. Theyve got no money. Ive read articles about police not getting paychecks. They are already payed horribly, and then the checks just kinda dont show up for a couple months. I do not blame them for extracting bribes from tourists, I may have mentioned this before but my savings account is more than the annual earnings of many families. More than triple that of those who are poor by guatemalan standards.The twins were telling me about their new job, and the great salary they were making. It was $10 for an 11 hour day. The wealthy children of a doctor consider .90 cents an hour a great wage here. And thats the kinda job you can only get if you are bilingual.

This is a country recovering from a civil war. The government (which many say is ran, more or less, by the US.) hasnt the money to inforce any laws. A simple bribe and you can get away with murder, literally. One of the locals i met said he heard the going rate in guatemala city was about 500q, and the police didnt see anything. Many people whove been here a while describe certain regions as near anarchy, but to me this is just praise for the people. I cant imagine what would happen in the US if it were the same story. Ive known people whove had guns pointed at them, and their pockets emptied. Ive heard storied of people being swooped up into a van, robbed of everything but their socks and underwear, and dropped off at the outskirts at 3am. They didnt even bother telling the police. I dont think the problem is evil people, its desperate people. I can hardly blame the robbers. It isnt moral, but what amounts to a few bucks for me could be a few meals for his starving family. Hungry people wont stay hungry for long. And robberies rarely rarely rarely turn violent. I lost a bank card and no one tried to use it. I met a girl at a bar that said she woke up in a random families house, and the mother said her son found her stumbling home drunk, probly drugged, around 10 at night. The girl thinks she was given a date rape drug, realized she was really fucked up, tried to walk home, couldnt find home, and more or less wandered the streets in great danger. And when a really pretty, stumbling drunk american girl came up to this guatemalan man (she said he was somewhere in his twenties) on a dark street in a dangerous town, he took her home, and laid her on the couch. She still had 150q in her pocket when she woke up.

My point is just dont take everything youve got for granted. And dont think im in paradise, or the most dangerous place on earth. This city´s got a highly polarized yin and yang kinda thing goin. Theives and nuns. Beggars and bankers. But im sure thats true everywhere on earth, i was just oblivious to it in minneapolis.

I guess its important to say, also, that I dont want to paint a horrible picture of this place. Many of the young guatemalans Ive spoken to are in school for medicine or law or accounting. The people are incredibly sharp and many are well educated, well fed, and all around highly respectable and dignified human beings. Like I said, theres a light and a dark side. I think this place has great potential, and given the right circumstances, I could see Guatemala developing rapidly over the next 10 or 20 years.

Another quick note one the US, I was talking to the owner of a book store and he was explaining the US influence here. He described it as a rose of diplomacy. On the one hand, our military has a presence here, building roads and schools and genuinely helping the community. On the other hand, we´re flying black helicoptors around and burning marijuana/hemp fields, and pressuring the politicians into things like CAFTA. If you dont know about CAFTA, you probly should. Its the reason the wolrd buys most its chocolate from mexico, even though its all made in guatemala. Taxes are less in mexico, so even though most of the cocao is farmed in guatemala, and much of the chocolate itself is made here, the farmers and artisans see very very little of the profit, because mexico is the only buyer. And they export it cheaply, thanks to NAFTA. and so it goes. (CAFTA is about more than chocolate. It effects many industries, chocolate is simply the easiest to explain.)

I wish I had time to edit and fact check and grammar check and proof read and so on and so forth, but the internet is timed and charged here, and this cafe happens to be busy now. Sorry if this is poorly written, i just kinda had to say it. I hope you enjoyed my off the cuff political rant about this place.

on a lighter note, the twins and their family took Miles and I to a carnival! it was really fun and i posted pictures. The most notable part was a guatemalan ferris wheel (Rueda Chicago.) Theyre about 5x faster and people are about 1/2 as strapped in. (did that make sense??) Some kids were even doing flips in the cars! hah.

Tonight im climbing to the second tallest point in central america at 11 at night. We will drink cheap wine and watch the sun rise over xela, while santiaguito (a highly active volcano on the other side of santa maria, invisible to xela) erupts! you can see real live lava and huge smoke pillars! There will surely be pictuires.

and please, think twice the next time you deficate in drinking water. or read anything. You all have alot to be thankful for, even if you had a bad day.

Gallery: Feria de San Juan

soyeldustin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:21:00 GMT

a guatemalan carnival!

Gallery: the house, pizza, el baul

soyeldustin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 03:52:00 GMT

xela who??

soyeldustin — Sun, 8 Feb 2009 03:27:00 GMT

(authors note: im dead serious about this whole entry, it might sound exaggerated, but you think what you like.)

So, its february, and my name is officially in the credits of a magazine. I may only be the 'events intern,' but its there. honestly i dont even consider what i did 'work'. Uhh, the last week in xela has been pretty rad. I started meeting with a friend from NY and these two foxy guatemalan twins (no, seriously..) in the park evrey night, and we speak spanish for an hour, and english for an hour. I have no idea why they keep meeting with us (well maybee..) because their english is like better than ours. Ive mostly just been teaching them slang and obscure phrases like 'the club is dead tonight' 'i shot myself in the foot' etc.. They explain grammar and the occaisonal vocab word. I should mention theyre catholics with really strong beliefs and really cant stand drunks. We did get them to come see some music last night, but they wouldnt dance... poco a poco, ¡verdad?

Wednesday, two other travelers, my host brother, his cousins and I took advantage of his dads bread oven. We made two outrageously large pizzas.
Probly the best afternoon of my life. We walked around the markets of xela, buying fresh vegetables, meats, and a 1.5 pounds of cheese. then we went to the bakery, and Oscar made a huuuuge piece of dough, while miles, sara, and I fried vegetables and experemented with sauce: 3 cans of paste, about 4 or 5 tomatoes, a whole onion, whole garlic clove, whole jalapeño, (ñ is on the keyboard! thats the first and second time i ever got to use it!) a bunch of fresh basil and oregano, and some mystery spices that tasted like they belonged in there. Sara fried onion, red pepper, and more jalapeño and garlic. Oscar finished the dough, we put down all the ingredients above plus spinach and mushroom, and used the family's dads gigantic woodfire oven. The biggest 2 pizzas ive ever seen, no exageration! then miles and I went to meet the twins...

uhh the rest of the week was really cool but im not gonna keep describing meeting strangers in the park because it would take forever and is probly alot less interesting to you guys... oh yeah except these two.

One of these last few days, miles and I were sitting in the park doing some people watching, (guatemala is officially the people watching capital of the world, by the way.) when we saw a couple gringos walk by with homemade instruments. They took a seat and shared some chocolate icecream with fresh bananas. This guy had a banjo made out of a gas can and a junk fretboard, with a kazoo attatched. We sat and exchanged stories for a while, then I asked what brought them to Xela. The guy said they just came down for fun. They had interesting passtimes. the girl does acrobatics hanging from ribbons in trees, climbing around hanging upside down and doing poses the look more or less impossible. i have no idea what this is called... it was going on at bela sol, if anyone remembers, you should comment. The guy is a slackliner, juggler, and can rip a banjo and kazoo apart. He started going and a huge crowd circled us in the park. Then someone asked him to juggle, but the cops came and put a stop to that quickly. The cops here are kinda weird. They said someone could get hurt, and when the gringo asked where he could practice, they pointed out towards the mountains and said something no one understood. I guess these guys were practicing in the park one day, when they ran into a mexican traveling circus from guadalajara (no, seriously.) and will begin traveling with them soon. That night I ran into a group of girls from norway, who said there was firespinning tonight. When I showed up to los chocoyos, no one was inside, but someone was spinning fire poy on the stoop, and a girl was hula hooping. Honestly, this is more or less a typical day in Xela.

Hula Hoop girl just happened to be the editor of xelawho, and we discussed my next assignment, which was to interview this band that plays bi-weekly at ojalA. I think I talked about them in the first Xela entry. they play covers of american tunes.

Yeterday i went to thriftstores, and got a rad 80s outfit for an 80s benefit party tonight. it was under 10buxx! That night, Miles and I met with the twins and had a cup of coffee. It was probly one of the first really good cups ive had since getting here. Then, we met sara in the park and walked to Ojala. The twins actually came, which was really surprising to us, and even them probly. I tried to get them to dance to some of the more dancey type songs, but they werent having it. So...
I danced, and once the band finished, i interviewed them. Id describe it, but id rather just link the article once its published. Or post the whole thing whenever I write it, cus alots gotta get cut out for the magazine.

Tonight: Futbol! Xelaju VS Zacapa!! Its the first professional sporting event where i can enjoy a frosty brew. Then, the benefit party. GGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Oh, I dont know if i mentioned, but I lost my bank card, and its arrived again since then, so dont worry. Its kinda a good thing cus ive really only spent like 215 since I came here. (3 weeks, 3 days today.)

the shoes on the other foot.

soyeldustin — Mon, 2 Feb 2009 10:21:00 GMT

Today i went to a family gathering with the rojas. Probly one of the funniest experiences of my life. I was the only white person in the room, and i probly understood about 25% of what was said at the table. No one else spoke any english. As awkward as the situation should have been, it was really fun at the same time. I kinda just had to write about this, cus I havent had the chance to tell anyone about it in english. It was a totally surreal situation. Ive never been the ONLY white person in the room for a couple of hours, and couldnt really express myself fully.

ahh inexplicable situation. quite an experience. i feel like i would learn alot more spanish being in that situation more often. its almost disapointing how easy it is to find english speakers here in xela. but i know id say the opposite if it were opposite

wendy you dont need to say anything

ojala/baul 2

soyeldustin — Sun, 1 Feb 2009 09:38:00 GMT

1-30 Woke up to an awesome breakfast. I figure I should say something about it. We usually have mosh (hot milk+cornflakes) with a fried egg, toast and sometimes either a steamed plantain or black beans. And coffee. lots of coffee. Its been a big change waking up at 7 every day, but im kinda getting used to it. After breakfast, I go and study spanish grammar for four hours. Then lunch with the family. Then I usually roam around xela til dinner time.

Tonight after dinner, I met up with a girl Oregon and this dude from upstate new york. We went and got a pint of whiskey for $3 and drank it on a bridge over the street... pretty rad. Roamed some more, got another pint, ha, and then we walked up to this bar called Ojalá. Its pretty much the gringo hangout in xela, but I really like it there. The DJs were these two dudes that run an internet cafe down the block. The bar was full of real cool travelers from all around the place. Good music, fun dancing, etc etc. I stayed there til about 1 in the morning, and took a taxi home. I got high bucked, but I guess its a real bad idea to walk home drunk and white at 1am in this city. There are alot of rumors floating around of people getting stuck up against walls. Last night Sara told me about one of the tour guides she had, he was walking home at about 3 when a van rolled up, swooped him in, stole his clothes, watch, money, basically anything of value, and dropped him off on the outskirts without in his underwear. That in mind, i gladly payed Q20 for a 7 block ride.

About 5 hours later, Josue woke me up to go climb a mountain. At first I wanted to say no, but.. i figured i could hack it. Im super glad I came. Josue, his cousin alex, one of their friends and I all walked to the ourtskirts of the city, and found a path up the mountain. Super cool hike and views. Eventually we found a ¨shortcut¨ that were these super steep hills with phone wires tied to a tree at the top, so they were somewhat easy to climb. It probly took us an hour to get up after we got out of the city. The whole way was awesome nature and cool views. They told me some of the local folklore. Theres a little man in an oversized sombrero, who will appear infront of you on the hill late at night, and you have to know some password or pay a toll or something, or he´ll curse you. Theres also a ghostwoman who roams the hills at night crying ¨mis hijos!!¨ (my kids.) Also, Elves. Anyway, we get to the top, and they ask me if i can do monkey bars... I dunno why they didnt think id be able to, cus i can totally skip like 3 bars inbetween. suckas. Then we climbed up the statue thing. Its way more than 20-40 feet. its like 20-40 meters. From the top, youre just over the treeline. I took photos, its super rad, will post soon. We got down and hit up these concrete slides on the other side of the park. Waaay fun. These slides arent really for kids. You fly down them, super super fast. Then, we went and checked out the lookout for a while, and went back down.

When I got back, the oldest sister and mom sorta grilled me about coming home at one. They said they could tell by my footsteps I was drunk. Oops. I dont think theyre really mad or anything, but the whole family is straight-edge, so it made for awkward lunch conversation. (sitting at the table with a 7 year old, talking about what I drank and who I danced with at the clubs, whether or not I smoke weed, etc etc.)

Tonight, Ill take it easy. Im going to mass at 630 on sunday.

The Rojas

soyeldustin — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:44:00 GMT

So I´ve started language school, and moved in with a guatemalan family. The Something-Rojas. Super friendly, animated, funny, and super catholic family. Sergio is the dad, he owns a breadshop and we always have this kinda spongy, sweet bread with our meals. The mom is catalina or carolina (theyre pronounced about the same and I still dont know exactly.) Super good cook, nice lady, but I get the evil eye from her time to time. Gaby is the oldest daughter, 20ish? Josue is their son, 17. Youngest daughter is dulce (spanish for sweet,) super funny little girl. When I first arrived only Josue was there cus the rest of the family was at mass. After mass, The dad piled all the kids plus an assortment of cousins, neighbors, and possibly passerbys into their 2 door 1990 civic. (definitely not hating on the car, its got character and comfortably seats 8 somehow.) We drove up the mountain to a park called Baul. Its a super cool park, distinctly guatemalan. Theres these huge concrete slides, you have to sit on cardboard to slow you down, otherwise you go too fast and land in the woods at the bottom. All the metal slides are rusted through at some spot, or way too wobbly to trust. Theres this huge faux-ancient statue in the middle of the park of the mayan tecun figure. Its about 20-40 feet high. At the back, its brick, and after about 15 feet theres just ladder rungs. At the top of this hill, theres a lookout from which you can see all of xela. We stood around the park exchanging really basic simple and kinda awkward spanish. We returned to the most delicious lunch ive had since getting to guatemala. Ribs, rice, potatoes, some kind of shredded vegetables, fresh squeezed vegetable juice, tamalitoes. basically all the meals here are way good.

Started spanish class, its pretty cool. It gets rough hammering four hours of grammar and not being able to speak a word of english (i think my teacher understands it but just pretends he doesnt, cus i made him laugh the other day but the joke was in english.) My teachers pretty cool, he has a metal band that mostly does metallica songs. Aparrently, guatemalan music isnt popular in guatemala. he says no one gets famous off original tracks/music. Im really settling into xela its cool.

The other night, i drove around with the family looking for somewhere to buy a rose at 930 at night. (cus dulce remembers all of a sudden she needs one for school) We ended up at the graveyard, which happen to be pretty much the most colorful thing in whatever guatemalan town your in. Afterwards, we went to central park and got some salvadorian food i cant rememer the name of. basically fresh fried tortilla chips with beef cheese onions and tomatoes all together. It was a good time, and im starting to break the communication barrier with the family. Its really cool getting to know them.

Yesterday i went to Zunil. Tiny dirty little town up in the mountains, known throughout central america for its huge carrots. According to the guy i went with, they grow so big cus of all the fertilizer runoff in the nearby river. Theres a dump by the river too, and in the dump are huge vulturesque raven type birds... their heads are probly waist high on me. In Zunil, theres a creepy old dilapidated church. Its full of these christian statue/doll things in glass cases. I have trouble describing them. The jesus one was super strange. A Bloody jesus doll in a glass case chillin with a bunch of light bulbs...

Last night I went to karaoke at the local coffee shop and had a brew. Really fun time. I sang Lean On Me with a group of fellow whiteys, and Suzie Q solo. I figured suzie q is super simple, and wouldnt be tough, but the simplicity kinda messed me up. I forgot when to say what, and tried to do it without looking at the screen. Big mistake, kinda. But the point of karaoke is kinda to suck at it, right?

Walking in the door at 1145 smelling of smoke and beer kinda got me an evil look. Tomorrow I walk to Baul with the family, hopefully this will redeem some brownie points. If not, 630 mass at the church??

uhh im starting to forget//not want to journal every night, and the days are starting to blend, im getting used to life here. sorry no dates. i probly forgot some stuff too. tough luck

Gallery: xela

soyeldustin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:45:00 GMT

city!

holy xela! (´´shay-luh´´)

soyeldustin — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:15:00 GMT

1.22.09- Woke up, and had to get my 2nd rabies shot... I hate dogs now.

We got on a chicken bus, and rode it around the lake. More spectacular views. About 4 hours of uncomfortable busses, finally we´re way way up in the mountains. We drove through a couple layers of clouds, saw distant volcanos with peaks poking out of the fluff. The outskirts of xela are really grimey. I started to worry about where I was taking myself, but as soon as we got downtown, my fears were calmed. Xela´s an awesome city, with super cool architecture and an awesome central park. (Not to mention: McDonalds! Where aren´t you, ronald??)

Checked into our hostel, its super cool. A real old building with the highest ceilings ive ever seen. Its also a spanish school, so during the day the courtyard has other students in it. I met a cool dude named max from upstate NY. My rooms at the top of the stairs, just a little nook with a bed and a shelf. I dont really know anyone else yet, so I just sat in my perch and played some music.

1.23.09- Today I got to meet my host family. I got really lucky. They have a super nice house! Even better than mine in the states, with a rooftop patio that has an awesome view of the city and surrounding mountains. They seemed nice, but theres kind of a language gap, so we didnt have a whole lot to say to each other. The husband runs a bakery, and there were a bunch of super tasty looking loaves of bread on the table. Im really excited to move in. This afternoon, I went to meet the editor of the paper I´m doing some work for. Apparently, its like a one man show. Cynthia is the head, a really friendly and fun lady. We went to a coffee shop on the corner, and I ate falafel for the first time. 1st assignment (and the only one until the end of Feb.) was to go around to all the local bars and ask about upcoming concerts and special events. Luckily I´d met another language school kid earlier yesterday. We roamed the night streets together, and I let him do most the talking when we were in the bars. Without him, i wouldve made an ass of myself and Xelawho. ( www.xelawho.com ) It was a lot of fun, even though a couple clubs totally blew us off, or couldnt understand what the hell we wanted to know. The last club we went to was by far the coolest. Ojala, ran by an australian and spanish couple, is pretty much the gringo/trendy guatemalan bar. They had a live band playing covers of american tunes. (velvet underground, whitestripes, ghostbusters theme, that sex&candy song...) We sat down and ordered the house special beer. When the owner served us, he explained that its a homebrew, technically illegal for him to sell, hah! Delicious brew, though. I sat around and chatted with the bartender, a cool lady from colorado, here for a few months between schools. Max and I left around 11, cus the streets arent too safe for tourists after then. SLEEP!

1.24.09- Not much to say about today, more roaming and photo taking. Good times. Hit up Guatemalan McDonalds. Its better here, the fries are real potatoes, but the mcnuggs were a little... something. cant quite put my finger on it. My aunt goes home tomorrow. Shes really not too excited to leave me here. I went to this club for a jazz show that was supposed to happen, but the band didnt show. I guess thats not super uncommon because the staff didnt seem surprised or apologetic. Tomorrow I move in with my host family!! EXCITING!

Notice: Anyone who wants to visit, can definitely come. Im in spanish school for the next month, so anytime after that, youll have a guide with some skillzzz. Email me.

soyeldustin@hotmail, yo.

arrival, chicken busses, San Lucas y El Lago

soyeldustin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:15:00 GMT

1-16-09. Quit my job and got on a plane for central america. Little nervous, really excited. Landed in Guatemala City and went straight to our hotel. (Couldnt really go out. There´s about 10 murders a day in guatemala city, and the distance between somewhere safe and somewhere dangerous is usually no more than a couple blocks.) We had a beatiful hotel with a really friendly (and cute!) staff. Wendy went straight to bed, but I couldnt sleep. I bought a beer (I later found out they charged me about twice the going rate) and sat on the balcony to drink it. Not a very eventful night.

1-17-09: Chicken busses.

Woke up around 5:30. Havent been up that early in about 6 years. Went to the bus station and had breakfast. It was a cup of weak coffee (they sell all the good stuff to america) and a bean and cheese sandwich (much better than expected.) Basically, this is how the busses work. Theyre refurbished school busses from the US painted with crazy designs and jam-packed with locals. Our bus had a huge jesus mural and ´Cristo se Amo´(christ loves you/i love jesus... not sure) painted on the side. Theres a driver, and two helpers. the first helper hangs out the bus and yells where its going the whole time. The second helper jumps out and throws peoples bags on top. We take the bus up into the mountains. The scenery is impossible to describe. It must be seen. Will add photos soon... We had to change busses in some small dirty town outside lake atitlan. It was difficult to find the right bus because all the drivers kept telling us they were going there, even though the bus sign said they werent. Eventually a local pointed out the right one, and we boarded. Unfortunately, the ride too about 3 hours more than it should have because there was a lot of road work on the highway. Kids kept hopping on to sell candy and fruits. I got a super tasty batch of pineapple chunks. Eventually we arrived in Panajachel (on lake atitlan.) I cant really describe the cities. Theyre like small towns in the US only more dirty, busy, beautiful, interesting, and friendly. Anyone is happy to talk to you, usually because they´re selling something. More busses and more busses until finally we reach our destination: San Lucas Toliman.

San Lucas is a beatiful small town beneath two huge volcanoes. There is an interesting mix of traditional mayans and modern guatemalans here. It´s not uncommon to see a woman in hand woven clothing carrying a basket of laundry on top of her head as a young man whips by on a motorcycle covered in blue LED lights. We ate dinner at the church where my aunt volunteered 7 years ago. Theres a bunch of groups from minneapolis here (winter break programs, volunteers, church groups.) and a handful of cool kids my age. I was walking around when one of the stray dogs on the street started growling at me. I just walked away. Bad Idea. It grabbed my leg and drew blood. Everyone at the church asked why i didnt scare it off when it started growling by saying ¨Ch'Ch'Ch'Ch'Ch.¨ Wish I woulda known sooner. The first local I met was a funny older lady named marta. She was really friendly and spoke a little english. Between the two of us, we were able to hold a good conversation. She took me out to see San Maximon. He´s a cigar smoking saint. You can make an offering of tobacco or booze, and it will bring you good luck. She invited me over to her house where we watched some soccer, and i drank a beer. Afterwards I went up to the cantina for one of the volunteers birthdays. I met a cool dude named casey who is from wisconsin.

1-18-09 Today we took a boat tour of the lake. Really really cool. On board, I met a cool girl that goes to st thomas. we walked around Santiago de Atitlan together and checked out the markets. Then had lunch in a small restraunt (waay delicious authentic food. I had beef tacos with fried onions and peppers,) then we got back on the boat, and chilled on a beach on the other side of the lake. We met a crazy hippy lady (probly european and very very very high on something other than weed) who gave us rocks and told us her name was ¨la tierra, la agua, y la sol.¨ She was kinda weirding me out so i went and climbed a tree. When we went back to san lucas. My aunt introduced me to one of the women in town who she had helped alot in the past, and we were invited into her home. She sold me an awesome hand-woven scarf for q125, about $17. Then dinner, then bed, but I couldnt sleep, so I got up to have a cigarette. I met a cool guy named eduardo, hes the night clerk at our hostel. We sat around talking for a while (in spanish only.) I told him I was bummed cus I wanted a good view of the stars but everyone at the parish said it was dangerous to go up the hills or by the lake at night. Eduardo just lauged and said, it´s not really dangerous, that´s just where all the trouble is. (It´s a small town, so kids dont have anywhere to party except dark areas just a little out of town.) He convinced me we had nothing to worry about, and we went down by the water. The lake is amazing at night. The mountains are sillhoutted against the starry sky, the water laps at the dock, but theres almost no other noise. We saw a shooting star, and eduardo explained that means someone just died. We talked about constellations... Apparently no one knows the big dipper in central america, and orions belt represents the 3 wise men. I talked about wanting to climb a volcano and he invited me to do so with him and some friends on saturday. Unfortunately I was going to Xela before then, but I think i´ll come back to San Lucas before I leave guatemala. Who could resist camping atop a volcano and watching the moon rise with a group of locals?

1-19-09 Woke up, went to the doctor for a rabies shot. She told me it would be about a 20 minute wait. 2 1/2 hours later, I was still waiting. I guess this is typical for guatemala. After the shot, I went and hand mixed cement to help build the new basketball court in town. It´s about as hard as it sounds... but I just gotta say it aint easy. After lunch I went and talked with the mayan vendors down by the dock. Theyre a pretty friendly group, even though we hardly understand each other. On the way to dinner, I met a guy from Xela. He seemed real cool and told me to call him as soon as I made it to the city. Then Dinner. Afterwards, the group from St Thomas had a group discussion with this english man about the education system in guatemala. Most kids barely finish jr high. Highschool is pretty similar to college in the US. Afterwards I went to the hotel and drank a beer on the stoop and played kalimba. A group of local kids came up and just stared at me. I offered it to them and they went nuts. Sat around with a bunch of kids and listened to them play hectic music for like an hour. Afterward, I went to the gringo bar and found the other college group, thoroughly hammered, dancing to a tupac song. Not really what I expected from guatemala, but I had fun with them.

1-20-09 Woke up, went to market for socks and shaving cream. Socks were easy enough but I spent an hour walking around looking for shaving cream before someone told me no one here can afford it, and to just use soap... Walking back to the hotel I spotted a sweet pair of shoes in the market. I needed some new kicks anyway, so I bargained with the man for a while, and got them for q90. (about $12?) Tonight i went to the bar again, but got bored with the gustavis kids, so I sat at the bar and joked with the bartender as well as I could.

1-21-09 Woke up to a spanish polka version of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Went and hopped in a pickup to santiago. I have some cool photos of this to post later. Looked for a friend in the volunteer kids library. Somehow, I found the library and the friend. We went and checked out a really cool church over the town. In the church there was a memorial for a pastor who was assassinated during the civil war. Bullet holes and bloodstains still on the floor, it was a heavy room. The rest of the day was rather uneventful, except i sat and talked with eduardo a bit more. He´s pretty fun.

tomorrow: Xela

Gallery: san lucas and el lago

soyeldustin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:25:00 GMT

volcanoes!