Day 27 - Into The Underworld

I won't say that today was the best day of the trip, because I haven't dropped a twosie in a couple of days and have been suffering some painful abdominal cramping. However, my excretion problems aside, today was incredible.

Last night we all decided that we would fork out the $75US each and go to the ATM (Achtun Tenochlin Mechlam) caves. John and Judy (owners of Trek Stop) and Gemma had been talking up the caves as one of the best things to go do in Central America. So, going against my better judgement that was telling me to stay home and find ways to go number two, Haley and I went on the trip (more like journey). It started with a 6:30am wake up time, a two hour busride, and an hour hike through the jungle to reach the entrance to the caves.

We had two guides, Eduardo and Jose (I can't remember Jose's real name). Gemma said they were the best, and they didn't disappoint. They were both descendents of the Maya, as we would learn, and both gave us excellent background on the caves. We learned that National Geographic and the Discovery Channel had both filmed documentaries on this particular cave and numerous archeologists are still studying the cave today.

So at this point, I was trying to figure out what was so cool about these caves. I have been caving before, and while stalactites are cool and all, I wouldn't give them all the hype we had been receiving. No sooner had we reached the entrance to the cave then I realized why it was such a cool place. Before I get into details, I should further explain the trip to get there. We had to cross through two different rivers in our van before we headed out on foot. After parking the car, we had to cross two different rivers a grand total of three times through dense Central American jungle. The water was crystal clear and cool, which provided much needed relief from the relentless heat.

Okay, so we finally reach the entrance to the cave. There is this large hole in the river that we all dive into with all our clothes on and swim around in for a few minutes before devouring our sack lunches that we had drug through the rain forest. Then we were off to enter the cave.

The entrance to the cave was more or less a continuation of the large hole we had just been swimming in, so we literally had to swim a good distance into the cave before we were on solid ground. The solid ground did not last long as we plunged in and out of rapids in complete darkness except for our meager helmet lights. Our guide, Eduardo, did an excellent job of explaining different aspects of the cave and the Mayan culture, of which the caves played an important role. Apparently, the caves were very holy places for the Mayan peoples, who viewed them as a passageway into the underworld. They believe that the living must first pass through the underworld on their way to heaven.

In Mayan times, the only people who were permitted to enter the caves were the holy people, or Shamans, as our guide called them. As an entrance to the underworld, the caves were a place of sacrificial offerings. After hiking for a good hour through the caves, we climbed a steep rocky ledge, took off our shoes, and then set out on foot. As we walked along the path, gradually climbing higher up into the cave, we saw literally hundreds and hundreds of ceramic pottery littering the cave. Many of the pots had been calcified by the gentle trickle of running mineral water throughout the cave. Others had been brilliantly preserved as the cave remains a constant cool temperature and climate at all times. As we walked along the path, we literally had to watch where we stepped because our path was lined with pottery that was put there thousands of years ago by what is a now extinct culture. While it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life, I felt as though I was intruding on something holy, and the risk of ruining an artifact almost seemed not worth the price.

The ceramic pots were carried into the cave full of offerings. Often these was crops from their fields that they offered to the different gods. At other times, they sacrificed humans. This was often done to ask the gods for fertility or to plead with the gods to end a particularly severe draught. Just as many of the pots had been preserved by the calcium and mineral deposits in the cave, so too are many skeletal remains found in the cave. There were two different skulls we saw where the sacrificial victim was bludgeoned to death in the side of the head, and another nearly completely intact skeleton where a young girl was sacrificed by tearing her beating heart out of her chest in offering to the gods. It was so strange to get to close and personal to these people who died so many years ago. Again, it felt almost as though we shouldn't have been there.

It was an awesome and humbling experience at the same time, being able to see such an authentic site. We almost felt as archeologists must feel when they come across such a site.

In other news, I ended up taking some laxative that Nikki had on hand. Combined with way too many prunes and a diet coke, I paid a visit to Dr. BU tonight. Usually, it is not a good thing when you have to visit the good doctor, but tonight my friend, it was a welcomed event.

We also played a wicked game of "What If," which the group seems to be quite addicted to now. Haley and I are glad that we were able to introduce this game to the group. We also played a game called "I've Never," which totally ended up being about sex. It is supposed to be a drinking game where someone mentions something they have never done. If you have done it you have to take a drink. We substituted it with putting your hand on your head. Haley and I know our group much better now, after playing that game.

Day 26 - Speaking English

Today has been a great day. We had a simple travel day into Belize, where things are a little nicer and the people speak English. So what do I do as soon as we come into the country? Order a burrito in Spanish. Oops!

Our van drive today was only about three hours, so as soon as we settled into our eco-resort (called "Trek Stop") we ate lunch and headed out on the local river for an afternoon of tubing. They say it has been raining here for the past twelve days straight, so the water was really high. We were given the usual disclaimers, and instructed what to do in case we get dragged under the rapids. A couple of people were really scared of the rapids, but after our reassurances of how easy it was going to be they decided to join us. The rapids were much higher than usual which meant much better ride than usual, but instead of lasting 2.5 hours, it only lasted less than one hour.

During that hour we saw at least a dozen huge iguanas along the side of the river as well as a plethora of birds along the shores and in the trees. That is the way to enjoy the rain forest, in an inner tube floating down a river. Of course we didn't get pictures, but the memories will remain. I don't know if Haley and I will be able to return to Helen to go tubing after realizing tubing's full potential through Belizian rain forest.

Trek Stop, the place we are lodging at is incredible. It is set up as an environmentally friendly eco-resort, where you poo into a large hole, you shower in rain water that has been saved up in large basins, and you refill your existing water bottles instead of buying new plastic ones. The people who own it are also really cool. They remind me of my old D.O.D. teachers in Panama; free, laid back spirits who go out of their way to make you comfortable. They most remind me of Mrs. and Mr. Petersen. Mrs. Petersen was my calculus teacher in Panama and her husband taught biology at PCC (Panama Canal College). They had met in the peace core and by the time I had met them, they were older but just as cool and laid back as they had ever been. They had an infectious love for learning and inspired me in many ways, including my decision to study medicine.

John and Judy (the owners) also have an infectious love of learning that is apparent in their hands on eco-museum for children and adults alike. They are older, John with a thick beard, t-shirt, long pants, and rubber boots. He always has a pipe in his mouth. Judy has double pony-tailed hair, thick glasses, and a kind smile. It is just nice how accommodating they are.

Tonight we are going to eat an early dinner and fight off the jungle bugs as we try to go to bed early in preparation for our caving trip tomorrow. Apparently there is this cool river that flows through a large cave system. We will follow the river down until we reach a large room where the Mayan performed ceremonies including human sacrifice. They say there are Mayan bones laying around the room that we will be able to observe.

Day 25 - The Empire Strikes Back

After a 6:00am wake up time followed by an hour van ride, we arrived at one of the most amazing places I have ever been in my life. As soon as we entered the Mayan Ruins of Tikal, we knew we were in a different world. As we walked into the site, towering pillars of stone poked through the jungle canopy. As we reached the first small pyramid, the trees were alive with spider monkeys swinging on vines over our heads. They were everywhere!

I understand why Tikal gets all the hype we heard before coming on the trip. The site is huge, with many different building from many different generations of the Maya. The most amazing thing to me is all the mystery surrounding this ancient civilization. From their ball games, where the loser was sacrificed, to their gods, to the cause of their demise, there is much we have yet to learn about them. Unfortunately, massive looting from different sites has caused us to lose much of this information. Then there is that small fact that over 80% of Tikal still remains under large trees and mounds of dirt. Over thousands of years, the unrelenting jungle has completely overtaken Tikal and many other sites. We walked by mound after mound, which looked little more than a hill. I don't know how gigantic trees can grow on top of pyramids that are over 75 meters in the air, but when Tikal was discovered 50 years ago, the jungle had completely taken over.

Our guide, Eulogio (or Lojo, as he asked us to call him) was great. He was probably in his 50's and was very knowledgeable about the ruins and Mayan people in general. He was also very polite, as every time he saw us on the verge of doing something foolish would tell us: "I advise you, my friends, that you may want to be careful as you do that." At one point Brent challenged me to race to the top of one of the ruins. Unfortunately, Brent is very youthful and really wanted a challenge. I usually would have turned it down, but for some reason I caved. As we climbed the giant stone monument as fast as we could, I was thinking how dumb and dangerous it was; large vertical steps with no handrail. It was only later that I learned an American woman had died there only a few months ago when she fell down the stairs. (PS, I won by about a quarter of a step).

I should mention that while I really enjoyed Tikal, I felt pretty sick. Between chest congestion, a runny nose, and being unable to go number two, it was kind of hard to battle all the walking in the blazing sun. However, in such an amazing place, you kind of forget how bad you feel and become absorbed in Mayan legend.

Unfortunately, last night we all signed up to make tamales with another GAP group today after we returned from Tikal. I wouldn't have gone, except that we had already paid for the activity. After returning from Tikal, we had a small lunch and our group headed out on a boat to cross the lake to a small village, where our tamale mentor, Donia Gloria, was going to teach us the art of the tamale. Her house was meager and her kitchen wretched by US standards. There were pigs in the yard, wandering in and out of the outdoor kitchen. There were mangy dogs and chickens and small flies everywhere. As soon as we arrived, we got a sampling of some of the tamales Donia Gloria had already made. They were delicious. She then showed us how to put the tamales together, and we all had a go at it. Later we would learn that we are not very good at making tamales, as they all tasted horrible. But we had fun visiting her home, seeing how they live, and seeing the local tamale maker do her thing.

We had a great dinner tonight at Captain Tortugas, overlooking the lake as the sun set. The food was good, though it took over an hour and half before we all had our dinners. This gave us plenty of time to get to know each other a little better. We learned that there were other fans of the OC on the trip and collectively decided that nobody was going to miss Marissa after her untimely death by Volchuck. The topic turned to people we were not very fond of and I began the stories of Elder White on my mission. People always laugh at those stories of the Ex-Lax rice crispie treats, the habanero tasting, and the great water fight. Those were good times and I hate to say that the poor boy deserved all the mean pranks we played on him.

I also got the chance to talk to mom and dad. Apparently they decided last minute to take a week off and head out to Utah for family reunions. Now that they are empty nesters, they don't have all us kids to strap them down. They sounded as though they are in good spirits and enjoying themselves on vacation.

Day 24 - We Are Almost Done :-(

Today was a pretty laid back travel day. We were able to wake up late and catch the boat that took us to our van around 9:00. Luckily, we didn't have too long of a ride. We reached the small island of Flores around noon. It is from here that we will take a van tomorrow to go to the ruins at Tikal.

Flores is a cool little island on some 42 mile long lake in Guatemala. It is a really small island and every square inch is covered with some type of concrete, be it sidewalk, street, hotel, or restaurant. It doesn't feel too crowded, as I imagine this is the off season. After lunch, we dropped off our laundry and headed to a nice corner of the hotel to just relax and get caught up on blogging. Shannon, Amy, and Erin joined us and it was really nice doing nothing for once. At one point, Antonia came down to tell us about the construction workers up on the roof who were smoking pot, while singing along to "Eye Of The Tiger," which was blasting on their radios. I love central America.

Relaxing is both a good and bad thing. It gave me time to think about the real world. After reading my sister Maria's blog about yardwork, I got very unexcited about our vacation ending. Oh well, you can't live in paradise forever.

Day 23 - What If?

Today was a good day. I think we are all getting to that point in the trip where we are still really enjoying ourselves, but we are tired and don't need to overly exert ourselves every chance we get. We decided to lay fairly low and head out on a boat ride to visit some hot waterfalls. We first set out from our flooded dock at Tijax (pronounced Tee-hash) around 9:00. We rode past "bird island" on our little boat and got to see thousands of white and black birds crowd on some small island in the middle of the river (or lake?). We then went by some impressi9ve looking fortress the locals had built hundreds of years beforehand to ward off the invading Indians and Spaniards.

Once we arrive at the "finca," or farm, we wait around for a half hour for the tractor to come by that was going to take us to the waterfalls. Gemma had been to them before and assured us that they were worth going to, as the waterfalls were really warm and the pool below was nice and cold. So the tractor, old and worn down, pulled us behind in a cart that was even older and more worn down. The ride was bumpy and we all got to know each other a little better as we constantly flailed all over each other.

We were disappointed when we finally reached the waterfalls, as the recent rain had caused the river to ride and become quite muddy. Ready for a challenge, I started to climb the rocks on the opposite side of the falls (the side we hiked into) to find a good entrance point. Luckily, a local worker warned us of the dangers and probably saved me from doing something foolish. We showed us men (Andrew, Brent and I) how to safely enter the river (which involved diving blindly into the muddy water, against all our better judgment). We did so, swam against a strong current and finally reached the other side. We then hiked up a steep hill to get to the river that fed the waterfalls (the hot river). Once up there, we realized that it would not be as nice as we planned because the river smelled of rotten sulfur and was too small to do anything other than wade barefoot. So, we made our way back down. Some of the more adventuresome women in the group, decided that they wanted to give it a try. Shannon and Hanna did an exceptional job of fighting the current and were able to share in our disappointment with the sulfur water.

On the way back, a bird pooped on Haley's shoulder and Shannon's face. While Haley's was only on her shirt compared to Shannon, she was not able to wash it out and now has another nice souvenir in the form of a nice skid mark.

After getting back to the hotel, we all just shriveled like prunes the rest of the afternoon in the hotel pool. Because of the compromising shower/jungle situation at Tijax, we all counted this as our shower, figuring the chlorine would kill off most of the bacteria.

That night at dinner, after a small mishap when ordering our food (they thought Haley had ordered two servings of tomato soup (yeah, we didn't get it either)) we played celebrity "who am I" and another intense game of "what if?" Both were a lot of fun as I was branded as a transvestite and Haley was accused of being in the adult entertainment industry in what ended up being the best game of "what if?" we have yet played.

Day 22 - Welcome To The Jungle

Traveling from Antigua to Rio Dulce today took us about 8 hours, which included a two hour stop at some Mayan ruins. Luckily, we were able to get a private van (actually, I don't even think there are chicken busses that run in this part of the country) with air conditioning, which really cut out on the heat. On the ride, I was able to read a good chunk of Isabel Allende's Zorro and watch a couple episodes of "The Office" on Haley's ipod ("The Fight," "The Fire," and "The Client"). With all that entertainment, I actually found the travel day to be quite enjoyable.

The Mayan ruins (Quirigua) we stopped at were pretty cool, though they were a little bit smaller than Copan and what will be Tikal. It was nice to not be overwhelmed by courtyard after courtyard of unbelievably large ruins. These were modest in size, but the attraction these offered was the preservation of the carvings. Apparently the limestone in this region (or is it sandstone?) was much harder than that at many other Mayan sites. As a result, there is very little wear and tear on the large statues that remain. The largest statue in the Mayan world is located here, and is a towering 35 meters (or was it feet?) and was quite impressive.

After hearing all the stories about Rio Dulce, we were all expecting the worse: Scorpions, being located miles from anywhere, horrible mozzies, and all the other expectations one would have when thinking of the jungle. This was definitely not the case. As we crossed a large bridge into Rio Dulce, Gemma (our tour leader) pointed to a place just off the shore, showing us where we would be staying. We thought we were going to be way out in the middle of nowhere, but it ended up being less than a 100 meter boat trip from a major Guatemalan town. It would end up that the bugs were quite normal and the place was quite enjoyable. Our hotel/lodge was called Tijax and because of the horrible flooding they had been experiencing over the past week was almost completely under water. All the huts are one stilts, and some did not make it. Luckily ours was spared, but we had to cross a narrow plank with all our bags (I had to carry two as a result of our shopping spree in Antigua). It was all quite exciting now that I didn't drop anything.

The best thing about our new lodgings in the swimming pool. It is a nice, clean pool, complete with two jetted tubs and plenty of room for our entire group. As soon as we dropped our bags and went over the next day's activities, we all jumped in. Shannon, Erin, Andrew, Nikki, Haley, and I all tried to form the letters G.A.P. in the water (the name of our tour group) in hopes they will feature the picture in the next GAP newsletter and give us a discount on our next trip. I was pretty impressed with how clearly we were able to make those water-words, but we'll have to stand by on whether or not the picture will ever be published.

One last cool thing about today. At dinner, Amy told us about this cool trick she picked up to find spiders. You take a flashlight, point it straight out from your forehead to correspond to your line of sight. Make sure the flashlight is on spotlight mode and shine the light on the ground (or in the trees, or anywhere you think you may find spiders). As you scan the area, you will undoubtedly see little sparkly lights shining back at you. As you follow these lights, you will find more spiders than you ever knew existed in your backyard, or the jungle for that matter. I thought Amy was fully of it at first, but when I gave it a go, she was right. It is really cool, I encourage you to try it out.

Side Note

It is now after 11:00pm on what I think is July 21st. I am sitting high up on a balcony in our hotel in Flores Guatemala. I have been spending the past couple hours chatting with you all online while updating my blogs (I am still a couple days away from being totally caught up, but I'm getting there). There are still lots of cars in the streets as well as a father and his sons playing soccer down below in the street. The air is clean and the people are happy. The Constipation has left and the BU has seemed to return, and I think I am coming down with a nasty cold. I am being eaten alive by mosquitos (or mossies as our friends on the other side of the atlantic call them). I couldn't be happier. Good night!

Day 21 - I'm On Fire!

So yesterday when they were asking who was gonna go on the volcano hike (that took place today) I totally was gonna bail out. It was going to involve another 5:30am wake up time and another 2 hour bus ride. On top of that, I was having another bout with the BU. This time, the BU was hitting me with a vengeance, and I think I blasted myself into the air a couple of times while on the porcelain crown (I am claiming artistic license on that one). However, with the promise of lava combined with the promise of it being a much easier hike than Maderas (see day 7's blog) I decided to take the plunge. I set the alarm and loaded up on the Biaxin XL (strong antibiotic).

5:45am did come pretty early (okay, I snoozed the 5:30). As I walked out the door, I longingly looked at Haley, still sleeping so comfortably in the bed. I couldn't believe I was doing another volcano hike. The bus ride did suck, as promised. After getting to the park and loading up on local bananas (which, by the way, are much better than in the states) and some cornnuts, we were off.

This hike was a walk in the park compared to Maderas. It was 3 kilometers instead of 5, and the we only went up in elevation about 500 meters instead of 1400. The weather was incredible. As we hiked through the clouds, we could see our breath the whole time and there was a nice wind keeping us cool. Then after a mere 1.5 hour hike, we reached this huge black lava rock field speckled with rivers of lava (see pictures). It was the most incredible thing I have ever seen today. We had the chance to go down and get mere feet away from the lava rivers and were able to snap a couple pictures. The rock that we were standing on actually had hot red lava underneath it that we could see. At one point, I even slipped off the rock and my foot got really close to the lava (it kinda freaked me out, but I am now laughing at it). The rock was so hot that when we dribbled water, it instantly vaporized and sizzled.

We took a bunch of great pictures, which I have already posted to my album (see link to right).

After some ice cream for lunch, a short nap, a shower, and some lunch, I got a chance to finally use the internet. It cost me 40 quetzales for an hour and 15 minutes, but my brain is too drained right now to figure out how much that is in US dollars. After interneting, we headed to yet another local artisan market and bought some really big items. I will not reveal one of them as it is a gift for one of you, but we did buy this really big wool rug (no, I am not kidding, it is huge). Our tour leader is gonna hate us when she sees how much crap we have bought and now have to carry.

About the market…I am so fed up with haggling, that today I was not going to play any games. Our giant rug was gonna cost us 550 quetzales, but I told the guy I had 200 to pay him and he could take it or leave it. He countered at 350, and I started to walk away. I ended up paying 220 for it which is I think about 28US. We were going to pay 100 buckaroos at Ikea for a similar one (I think the one we got is bigger). Then for the other item, I just ran around the market making an offer and walking off when it wasn't accepted. Finally, I found a taker and got a steal of a deal on it.

Tonight we are off to learn some salsa dancing. My hips don't really shake, so it should be good times. Hopefully somebody will get some embarrassing pictures to share with you all (I'm opting not to take my gigantic camera dancing).

Day 20 - Those Of Us With Genetically Modified Fins...

We started the day with a boat taxi ride to breakfast at Café Mundo. Lake Atitlan is even more incredible as you ride a boat around it. Surrounded by sheer cliffs and volcanoes, you get the feeling that you truly are in another world. On the cliffs, there are patches of farmland where crops are actually growing on cliffs that must be at least 60 degrees steep. I have no idea how the crops are able to grow much less how the farmers were able to plant them there.

The breakfast restaurant was a resort built right on the side of the cliffs. I took some pictures of the restaurant from the boat and some of Haley lying in a hammock overlooking the lake and volcanoes.

After breakfast, we visited the small towns of San Pedro and then Santiago. In San Pedro we took some pictures of some of the local women bathing and washing their laundry in the lake. It was such a foreign scene that we all stood there watching them (don't worry, they were clothed) for a couple minutes before we were off to explore more of the island.

Santiago was a little more interesting and alive than San Pedro. When we got off the boat, we were attacked by some of the local boys who urged us to visit the house of Moshimon, the local patron saint. Gemma told us that it was local thing to do: Visit the Saint, and pay make an offering to him in the form of cigarettes and alcohol. So we decided to pay the boys a couple of quetzales and follow them to Moshimon's house. It ended up being a bunch of drunk (and/or high) dudes in this small house sitting behind this small midget statue of the town's patron saint. It was definitely a strange, if not stupid, scene. Apparently, it used to be a very important belief in the town, but since the influx of tourists it has become more of an excuse for the town drunks to get free booze money.

After Moshimon, we headed into town to take some more pictures (I was done with shopping). After walking for a while, I stopped in the middle of the market to take an overall picture of the hustle and bustle. As I did so, an older lady who was sitting on the side of the street selling some fruit started to hit my leg with her can telling me that I had to pay. I asked her who she thought I should pay the money to. She answered that I should pay the people I was taking pictures of. I tried to explain how that would be quite impossible seeing as I had just taken a picture of a couple hundred people, but after seeing the anger in her eyes, I decided to just walk away. After all, that whack of her cane didn't feel all that good.

Having learned my lesson, I ended up paying a couple of the older ladies a quetzal each for a picture. I guess they need to make some money somehow, why not as models? My favorite is of an older lady, not bigger than a normal 5 year old in the US, selling bananas.

After returning from the boat ride, Amy and I decided to hit a taco stand that the two of us had fallen in love with on the trip (Haley went back for a quick nap at the hotel before heading back to Antigua). While there, a small girl was quite relentless in asking for money, our lunch, or anything else we had to offer. Down here, the local vendors and beggars (often the same person) will come up to you in a restaurant and pester you to no end. I can't believe that the workers don't chase them off, but I guess that's just the way they do it. Anyway, this little girl spent most of our lunch with her hand touching my arm asking me to give her some money. This may sound like a touching story, but it was quite the opposite as the girl was quite demanding and got angry when we told her no.

On the ride home, we got a private van and got to listen to CCR. It was good fun.

I should mention that Erin and Nikki got really sick yesterday and had to head back to Antigua to seek medical attention. It ended up that Erin spent the night in the hospital taking IV antibiotics and 5 liters of fluid to replace her dehydration and combat the parasites that had infected her. We are still not sure what happened to Nikki, but she remain somewhat ill (though not as bad as Erin was). Tonight I have also come down with round two of the BU. We'll see how this one goes down.

At night, we celebrated Hanna's birthday by eating pizza at our hotel, listening to some tunes on my computer (once again reminded of how I don't have any good party music), and playing a wicked game of "What If?" My favorite question/answer combo of the evening was "What if a hurricane came along and wiped us all out to sea?" My answer was "then those of us with genetically modified fins would have the upper hand." I am still laughing at my response (though I am the only one doing so).

This ended up being a long entry for what was a long day.

Day 19 - Chichi

Today started out with another sweet chicken bus ride. Our destination? The markets at Chichicastenango, or Chichi as all the locals call it. It is a huge local market for both tourists and locals alike. It is the ultimate market for finding the best bargains. Haley and I went with one goal: Start and finish all our shopping for the trip. We didn't achieve that goal, but we sure gave it a good try.

One of the things we were going to do down here was buy some things to decorate our new house. Today we bought a large wooden Mayan sun, a Tapestry with the Mayan calendar, a nice table runner and some matching placemats, a couple t-shirts (I have kind of been collecting them down here), and a bunch of other stuff I can't think of right now. I spent the entire day dealing prices with different vendors. Every time, it was the same story: "Pasen adelante!" and "Cual es su mejor precio?" Which means, "come in," and "what is your best price?" Every vendor says the same thing, and every vendor chases you down the street offering a lower price after you tell him "too high" and start to walk off. It is kind of fun, though the whole game drives Haley insane. I did find some nice aviator sunglasses for about 3 bucks (you can see them in the photo gallery (follow link at right))

At the end of the day, we opted to take the chicken bus back from the market instead of a private van. We lucked out in that this bus ride actually came with actual chickens. A family of four sat down next to me and we talked the entire ride home. They lived a couple hours away from the market and a couple times a month they go to market to purchase some baby chickens. They then take them home, raise them, and then return to the market to sell them. They were so interested in where we come from. The father couldn't believe that we have come from so many different corners of the world to a place where the locals have never even seen the coast that is probably not more than 60 miles away. I was really glad that I spoke Spanish, because you could tell that even though they always go to the market, they are never able to speak to the tourists that are all around them.

While riding the chicken bus, an egg actually fell from the baggage rack onto Andrew and Amy who were sitting at the very back of the bus. The funny thing was that it was Amy's birthday. They got soaked in nasty raw egg.

On our way home from the bus, we found a little stand that was selling these amazing stone/seashell Mayan masks. They are the size of a person's head and are quite heavy. They dude was asking around 300 quetzales (like $40US). Though I was interested, I decided that was too much and started to walk off. The vendor then shouted after me, offering to trade the mask for my watch. Now, even though I bought my watch over 3 years ago on clearance from K-Mart, I am quite fond of it. Just before the trip I bought a brand new watchband especially for Central America. Though the trade was obviously a good one, I decided to walk away.

Later on in the day, I began to regret my decision and on our way to dinner, I paid the guy a visit. Recognizing me and that I had come back, he realized that he now had the upper hand. I ended up trading my clearance K-mart watch for an incredible Mayan mask that I will probably keep forever. I'd say it was an excellent trade, though not being able to tell the time is driving me nuts!

Haley and I ended the evening drinking the most incredible hot chocolate on the dock of a restaurant overlooking the incredible Lake Atitlan. Good, full day.

Day 18 - Chicken Bus Surfing

Today we had the chance to ride on real chicken busses. We were some of the first to get on and so we actually had seats. It is amazing to me to see how many people can cram on those busses. They seat three to a seat, which makes for six on a row. Add on top of that people standing the entire way down the isle, and then add to that the very large man going down the isle collecting money from everyone. I don't know how the fat man fit down the isle in between all the passengers, but they all got really friendly with each other in the process. At one point some guy's package was resting on my shoulder. That wasn't cool.

Speaking of the chicken busses, there is this guy that handles all the luggage for people (including boxes of vegetables, cloths, and livestock). He runs all over the top of the bus, loading crates while the bus is driving down the road at full speed. I imagine it is a lot like those Indiana Jones scenes where he is on a train, battling the Nazis, running around almost falling off at every turn.

On the nicer of the two busses that we rode today, I had a chance to talk to some of the new people on this leg of the journey. Antonia and Shannon have spent the past two months traveling across Europe and are finishing their journey here in Central America. Talking to them about Europe has gotten me excited to travel there sometime, but I still have to convince Haley. It may be more of a technical problem, seeing as she doesn't know what her job situation will be next summer. I always thought of Europe as really expensive, but apparently you can get by cheaply if you visit the right countries (like the Eastern Block nations). Many of the people on our trip are world travelers, including Amy who has been traveling non-stop for the past 6 years or so. Hearing about places like Tailand, China, and Africa have given me the travel bug and can't wait for our next adventure.

It has been interesting on this trip to get to know so many people from so many different places. We all basically have the same beliefs, with some subtle differences in political orientations. It is also interesting how people view America. Though some may not love us, we really are the world's only remaining superpower, and it is interesting to see what others think of us. Many in the group are disgusted at our going into Iraq after the UN didn't give us their blessing, saying we made a mockery of them. I countered that they made a mockery of themselves when they never backed their warnings to Iraq. Fun Stuff.

On an entirely different note, we are now in Panajachel, a couple hours from Antigua. The small tourist town is very nice, on the shores of Lake Atitlan high up in the mountains of Guatemala. It is cooler here (a welcome change from most of the trip), and the air is very clean (as opposed to Antigua, where there is thick smog). Our hotel is about a ten minute walk from where the bus dropped us off. All the roads on the way to our hotel are lined by street vendors, begging to sell us their souvenirs. We did end up buying a couple things, not because we need them, but because the people are so desperate to make a sale. They begin by almost making you enter their shops, at which point they pull out all their goods asking you to name your best price. At one point, we were looking at masks and decided that we didn't want it. They the guy kept lowering his price as we walked away, starting at 200 quetzales, and as we walked further and further away, he ended up at 60 quetzales at which point we just gave in and bought the mask for about $8US.

Day 17 - The Mayan Sun

Today marks the first day of the second leg of our journey. The first two weeks were the Volcano Trail, and these last two will be the Mayan Sun. Peter, Martin, and Olga were only signed up for the first trip, and today we welcomed Brent, Antonia, and Sullim (or something like that). Brent is an American fresh out of high school, and the latter two are Aussies, and I don't know much about them yet. The Aussies are really taking over this trip, seeing as there are now 5 Aussies, 1 South African, 2 Scottish, 4 American, and a Finnish. They all talk funny.

The town of Antigua is really cool. Today was especially nice because we purposely didn't plan a thing the entire day. We woke up late, met a group for breakfast around 10:00am, dropped off some laundry, and then bummed around town all day. We dropped into a Jade museum (apparently the Mayans were really big into Jade, and Guatemala has a huge mine for the stuff), did a little shopping around town (I bought a nice Jack Bauer satchel, or manbag, if you will), and then did a little internet. I was still unable to post my writings, but in a couple days I will make a big push to do so.

I did, however, sit out in a courtyard outside of the internet place and catch up a little on my blogging. These courtyards are much like Grenada and are so peaceful. They have tables in an outdoor courtyard, with plants and shops all around. It is small, intimate, and very relaxing.

After bumming around all day, we all wanted to go to a local dinner and a movie place, except they were all booked. So we ended up at some random restaurant/bar above a shop. It was really good times, as the group relived every funny moment for the new people from the past two weeks. We have only been here 17 days and are already reminiscing. I am sure the new people were very bored by the end of the evening, but the rest of us were entertained. I am not sure if the stories on Peter will ever end on this trip, but they always provide a good laugh for all.

The dinner also brought embarrassing story hour, where we all had a good laugh at each other. Haley told of the time when we were just starting to date each other and I dropped off flowers for her at her house. I was supposed to get out of the house before she got home, but I ended up being caught in the house when she walked in the house. Her roommate had seen here coming and hid me in the closet. When Haley saw the flowers and who they were from, the started jumping for joy and saying very nice things about me. I knew at that moment I had her in the bag. Haley presented the story in a very funny way and we all had a good laugh.

I shared the story about the time I farted on accident in the testing center at BYU and couldn't stop laughing for ten minutes. That catapulted the conversation into fartland and we all had a couple more good laughs. I think this second leg of the journey is going to be very fun and perhaps a little trying as we are going to be spending some quality time in the jungle with some proper sized bugs.

Day 16 - To The Temple

After our 11-hour roadie yesterday, we woke up at the crack of dawn once again to go exploring. On today's docket? The Copan Ruins. They were quite incredible. Hopefully I was able to take a couple pictures that captured the beauty of the place. We were the first to arrive (at 7:55am) and got to see some of the temples before the crowds, the heat, and the bad midday lighting (for pictures) arrived. When we first entered the site, it opens up into a huge field with a couple pyramid temples at either end. They say the large field was a field where they played a game with a ball. They also said that the ball they used may have been a human head, though they are not quite sure. They are sure that there was a human sacrifice at the end of the game, though. There were a ton of altars all around the ruins where I suppose they performed all kinds of sacrifices.

Though our group of 12 all went to the ruins together, the rest of the group moved much faster than Haley and I. We hung back and after the first field of ruins we were on our own. I can't imagine how the first people to discover it in recent memory felt when they stumbled upon it around 100 years ago, if I remember correctly. I would know more if we had taken a tour, but at an extra 15 bucks a person, we decided to wait until Tikal to get the guide (those ruins are much bigger and supposedly much more impressive.

Please check out the pictures, as I once again will not be able to describe the grandeur of the place. It is very cool.

Later on today, we drove into Guatemala. The trip got started on the wrong foot when the van we all loaded into started making this horribly loud metal on metal clanking noise. For some reason, the driver thought that maybe the noise would go away if he kept on driving. So, he just revved the engine faster and faster, at which point the noise became louder and more violent (the entire van shook). After finally admitting defeat, the driver pulled over and we rounded up a couple more vans to replace the broken one. I guess the transmission had gone out or something.

The van drive was long (about 6 hours), but I was able to finish a book I started yesterday. It was "The Summons," by John Grisham. I remember mom had mentioned something about it the last time I saw her, and I thought I would check it out. Haley had actually picked up the book way back in La Fortuna, Costa Rica on that rainy day (see entry for day 3). We are at that point in the trip where I am now bored looking out the window for 10 hours a day, so I have been reading non-stop in the vans and buses.

So, on to the book. It is the third fastest read I have ever done (after the Pelican Brief and A Time To Kill--just a coincidence that they are by the same author). I can't believe that I read it so fast, especially, because the book was mediocre to okay at best. But Grisham's style is very easy flowing and the read is very smooth. I used to love Grisham, but haven't read anything of his in over 12 years. I don't think I'll read too many more in the future.

So we are now in Antigua, Guatemala, and the city looks amazing. It is very similar to Grenada, in the colonial style. The difference is that we are much higher up, the power and water works, and the country is a little more stable. It is also a bigger city, with many more souvenir shops. I think we may brake the bank in this city…especially because their ATM's are actually working.

Day 15 - Short Entry

So, right now I am in a hotel room in Copan, Honduras. We left Roatan early this morning at 5:45 and got into town around 5:00 tonight. What a long travel day. It consisted of a van, and ferry, and two buses (and a 15 minute walk). It is kind of strange taking a roadie every other day, and not everybody is cut out for it. Good old peter is one of those people and if he complains about travel one more time, we'll all go crazy. Luckily he leaves in two days…he won't be missed.

My blogging has definitely dwindled as of late. Roatan was an incredible island, where we played hard and rested equally as hard. I will have to write about our deep sea fishing, our snorkeling, and our awesome barbeque. I am sure those will end up being days 13 and 14. I have a couple good stories to share about the island boys ripping us off at our barbeque, the difficulty we had one night in finding food, and the drunken stupor some of our party found themselves in.

Day 14 - Fish On

Early start (5:45), The BU, Drinking and boating (lots and lots of cuba libras), swearing like a sailor (I now understand the phrase), 6 tuna, haley chumming the water (leaving early), snorkeling, waiting till 9 to eat our tuna (latin america time), michelle getting some!

I cannot believe we had another early start today! I am supposed to be on vacation. I guess it is my own fault for wanting to do a little deep sea fishing. The last time we went, we had dual 80hp motors on a really nice fishing vessel. This time, we had Martin in his little 15ft, 40hp weenie-mobile. Martin was all decked out in his island gear, complete with cutoff shorts and a doo-rag. We were also accompanied by Arthur, the guy who picked us up in his van when we got off the ferry in Roatan.

I should mention that this marks the first day that Haley and I have come down with BU on this trip. We both know that it was bound to happen eventually, we were just hoping we could continue to put it off. After a thorough cleaning of our bowels, a nice pepto/antibiotic cocktail, we were off.

Okay, so back to our fishing trip. All went well at first. We started catching all kinds of tuna right away, and we thought we were gonna have an amazing fishing day. Then it got kinda slow, which turned our attentions to both our BU and for Haley, it gave her time to remember how seasick she gets in boats (or vans or busses, for that matter). Haley went and sat in the back of the boat, where things only got worse when she turned the color of her grey-green jacket. She then chummed the water and ended up feeling much better. However, the BU got the best of her, and we dropped her off at the hotel.

Don't feel too bad for Haley though. She was on the boat when we caught all our fish and didn't have to endure the following three hours of getting skunked. Luckily, we caught 6 tuna, weighing between 5 and 10lbs, which would end up being plenty for our whole group and the strangers who wanted a free meal.

While we were being skunked, we did have a couple bites. Arthur was manning the poles and each time we didn't catch a fish he would let out a string of obscenities that would make prisoners cringe. I now understand why it is called cussing like a sailor. Arthur was also funny because he kept downing the rum (or ron, as they call it) in his "Cuba Libras." That combined with a couple beers made for a very tipsy first mate, which may help explain the anger in his eyes each time we weren't able to land a fish. I couldn't believe it when we finally made it to shore and Arthur went to fetch his van to pick up some more tourists. Maybe he wasn't in the best shape to be driving. Oh, and who drinks rum at 6:00 in the morning, anyway? It reminds me of the bumper sticker we saw in Puerto Rico that read "Rum, it's not only for breakfast."

Later that night, we had the most incredible fish feast as well all partook of that incredibly fresh tuna. We had a local restaurant marinade the fish in a little lime juice and local spices and let me tell you, I have never eaten anything better. Fresh fish is amazing. Of course, we have to wait a couple hours after Martin and Arthur, who said they would be there at 6:30 with the fish and grill didn't show up until after 9:00. But it was well worth the wait. The BBQ went nicely, with one of our group going off into the dark with Arthur (I won't reveal any names), and Martin getting nice and high on some ganja. It is definitely a different world here than I am used to, but Haley and I are definitely enjoying ourselves.

Day 13 - Life's A Beach

Today was pure heaven. We woke up late and got some breakfast at a place just down the road from our hotel. Then we rented a water taxi to take us to West Bay beach on the west end of the island.

The snorkeling was really good. At one point we even saw a barracuda that was staring back at us with this horrible looking scowl on its face. They have these huge teeth and the thing was as big as my thigh and as long as my leg. We quickly left that area. But there was a lot of coral with all types of fish. Though I have yet to visit the Atlanta Aquarium, I am sure it is nothing compared to the real thing.

Then stupid Peter (see day 11) was there, stepping all over the coral and swimming in his underwear. Something about a perverted old man swimming in his underwear just wasn't right. He kept swimming up behind the girls pretending to look at coral. Lucky for him, I didn't know this until they were talking about it later on.

It was really hot out there in the sun, but it couldn't get any better. We (Amy, Haley, Andrew, and I) took a walk on the beach and finally settled in a little cabana and ordered sodas (and beer for some). It was heaven as the waves crashed on the while sand, the baby blue sky melting into the aquamarine ocean. The call the Caribbean paradise for a reason, I guess.

The only bad thing to happen at our day in the sun was that Haley had to use a public restroom while we were on our walk. Of course we were barefoot. Nothing like having to walk into a Central American public bathroom barefoot. No strange foot fungi have started growing yet, but stay tuned…

Oh, one other thing before we wrap this up. After spending the day in the sun, we met for drinks at one of the cabanas by our hotel. We all had a good time as we listened to my limited music collection on the computer, did a little karaoke, and many of the group had some healthy servings of alcohol. We'll, we had such a good time that we nearly missed dinner. By the time we made it into town, all the kitchens had closed shop for the night. We literally went to 5 or 6 different bars/restaurants and had given up when somebody finally found somewhere to get some food. We were starving after a light lunch and all that sun!

Day 12 - The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

On to Roatan in the Bay Islands off Honduras. Right now, I am on the buses we voted yesterday to take (it really is day 12, unlike a couple of my previous posts which were done on the day after). I am glad we went bus, because we actually have room to stretch our legs and even get a little sleep. Sure there is no music and no AC, but it is a beautiful day and with the windows open it isn't even hot.

Honduras has been an interesting country to drive through. As we crossed the border into the country, Haley and I were reminded of the Apalachian mountains with pine trees all around a very mountainous region. The city we stayed in, Comayagua, was surrounded by mountains on all sides and when we woke up the mountains were drizzled with clouds. It was cool, but I think we are all ready for Roatan. It is supposed to have incredible beaches and good food.

I just remembered a funny side note. The driving here is horribly bad. People pass going uphill when you can't see what coming, around blind curves, and generally whenever they feel like it. Naturally, those of our group that are not used to driving in Latin America really flipped out yesterday on our van drive to the hotel. Every time our driver passed somebody, many in the van protested and told the driver not to go. Gemma told him to ignore them, especially because the driver is one of the best they know. When we got to the hotel, Gemma and Michelle (and me, for that matter) explained to everyone that is how they drive here. The van is actually much safer than the buses we are also riding on, and that driver in particular was one of the safer ones we will use while we are down here. They still felt like the driver was putting their lives at undue risk and were upset. They better get used to it as we still have 3 weeks left.

So we have arrived now in our tropical Caribbean paradise. Roatan is definitely the relaxation we deserve after all the craziness in Nicaragua. Our hotel is amazing, complete with warm water, air-con (that's what all the Europeans call air conditioning), cable TV, comes with a huge room and a king size bed. Yeah, we're gonna like this place. I wouldn’t mind just kicking it in our room the whole time if I didn't know what was waiting us just outside our place: beautiful, pristine Caribbean beaches.

Day 11 - Trouble In Paradise

Peter…Uggh!

Most of our group is awesome. We all get along really well and have had a lot of good laughs together. Most are younger people looking to travel the world. We have been experiencing a lot of different things down here together and have really bonded. This is with the exception on one person…Peter. You may remember him from a previous blog entry where I had mentioned he had a dream that he was Whitney Houston. I don't know what that means.

His son, Martin, is awesome. He is a 16 year old boy who is out to see the world and have some good times. He had originally planned a trip with his mother to Peru, when his dad wanted to also plan a trip and they decided to join us on this one (the parents are divorced). So along comes Peter to join us. He is about 50 years old, 5'10", and has a nice pot belly and graying hair. Since we arrived 12 days ago, he has worn the same shirt every day. I was not going to blog negatively about anybody on the trip, but his behavior is worth talking about…

About a week ago, I made the comment to Haley that Peter was looking to find a woman of the night. From the start, he developed this habit of getting smashed drunk and wandering off alone at night. Haley thought that was absurd and quickly dismissed the idea. Then one night when we were in Grenada, Andrew and Amy went out late at night to get some drinks at a local bar. After a while they saw Peter enter the bar and were about to say hi to him when a younger, cute blonde walks in behind him. They proceed to a booth where Peter is kissing her on the arm and being very friendly.

The next night, we had dinner around 7:00 at a bar across the street from our hotel. Drinking heavily, Peter became friendly with all the females on the trip. He kissed Clair's foot when she was showing everyone her new shoes. He grabbed Erin's butt when he was asking how her day went (she was sure to tell him very clearly that was not appropriate). He was stroking Michelle's arm when she walked by, when she very deliberately removed that hand and placed it on the table. Peter was completely sauced by 7:30, when he walked off (without paying his tab) into the streets. We didn't see him until the next day when we saw him with the largest hickey I have ever seen on his neck. Peter had a good time apparently. Our entire group is very upset that he (or anybody) would act this way, but ESPECIALLY in front of your 16 year old son. He is such a wanker!

A little later on the day of the hickey, Haley and I were coming down from the hotel room to meet some friends on our way to the swimming pool at a neighboring hotel. Peter then accosted me on the steps to tell me there was an emergency and that I needed to find Gemma to let her know. I told him I didn't know where she was and he then insisted that I help him out and come look at the problem first hand. My interest was piqued and I followed him to the hallway outside his room. Apparently, he had flushed some toilet paper down the crapper (though we have been advised again and again that we can't or the toilet would back up) and it had totally backed up into his room. Luckily, Martin had left his stuff on the bed, but Peter had left it on the ground and his bags were covered in crap (literally). It was pretty nasty, but I was left thinking about Elves and the Justice of the Unicorns (King of the Hill). When we later asked Martin about it, he just laughed and laughed and laughed. It is obvious that Martin feels some animosity towards his father, which is both sad and understandable.

Then yesterday, while we were traveling to Comayagua (today is 7/9/2006) we ran into some more problems. We all had chose to use local transportation as described in our trip itinerary instead of paying an extra $15 each for a private van. This had ticked Peter off slightly, but he seem to understand that is what we had signed up for and some people wanted to get the experience and save some money. So after a van ride, a border crossing, a chicken bus, and another van we arrived at what was the nicest hotel of the trip so far (though it was in the most dangerous city, so we didn't really leave it except for dinner and a quick run to the supermarket). At dinner, our guide gave us the option again of hiring a private van (in fact, they have kind of been pushing private vans on us for a lot of the trip because Michelle (the tour leader in training that is learning the ropes from Gemma) has a strong preference for them). Peter was all for the van, but after a very good experience that day on local transportation, we didn't want to cough up an extra $10 each. At this point, Peter went over the edge. He really wants a private van and argued the entire night with both the guides and members of our group. He feels that we are getting ripped off on the tour because he paid $650 for the 2-week trip (he's only going halfway) and figures that the trip only costs GAP $300-$400 per person. He kept telling the guides they should cough up the money and pay for the van themselves. We tried to tell him that the rest of us really value the guides and all the arranging of travel and hotels they do for us. We wouldn't have any idea what we were doing without them and are very grateful for their knowledge of the countries and activities to do while in them. He's just really messed up and the whole group (sadly, including his son) is annoyed with him. Enough of that-it is off my chest now.

Day 10 - Where am I?

So, right now I am on a bus (not a chicken bus, but we did briefly ride on one earlier today) traveling to Roatan via Comayagua, Honduras. I thought I would write a little more on Granada. My last entry was a bit negative because I wrote about Nicaraguan politics and problems. Now that I have that out of the way, Grenada (and all of Nicaragua) was incredible.

The city of Grenada is made up of colonial buildings that line all the streets. They are very colorful, fairly tall, and all have the red tile roofs. The most amazing thing about these buildings is the courtyards in the middle of them. There is the main building, and then huge open areas exposed to the elements. Many of the homes and stores only have three walls and then open up to the courtyard. When I was talking to a lady on the street, I learned that you could easily buy one of these huge homes for less than $30,000US. After all the problems we experienced in Grenada, I'm not sure who would want to do that, but if you had power and water and a better government, I would be tempted (but then the price would be just a tad more).

Being a major city in a really poor country, many of the buildings were in ruins. In fact one of the houses next to our hotel had a wall cave in on the second day we were there. When we walked by it, we saw a downed power line and a load of rubble in the street. One of the mornings I was there, I went out at 6:00 am to take pictures of the city. Please check them out to get a better feel for Grenada.

One of the days in Grenada, we went out on the "Masaya Volcano Tour," where we saw an active volcano, went to a local artisan market, and went to a dormant volcano crater lake. Our tour guide, Bosco, was really cool. He definitely knew his stuff and worked to please our group. At all the destinations we went to, he got special favors for us, including a small hike into a lava cave where the local Indians used to choose the virgin women and children to sacrifice to the gods (really). He also told us much of the history and current political situation that I wrote about in my last entry.

As a side note our guide, Bosco, has an uncle in the US Army whom the family has not heard from in a number of years. He was wondering if I had a number he could call to find out information on where he is and what he is doing. I told him I would try to find something out. If any of the family has a number or web site where you can track down military personnel, please let me know and I will pass it on to Bosco.

Yesterday (I am writing this on day 11, 7/8/2006), I visited the local market in Grenada. Man, talk about your ghetto, Latin America market! There were literally miles of stands selling everything from bananas, to t-shirts (I picked up a Che Guevara one), to women's underwear (quite a bit of underwear, they must go through it really fast). It was incredibly crowded, and the entire time we were down there, I didn't see another white person (other than Erin and Andrew, who I went down with). While at the market, Haley spent 5 bucks on a half-hour massage.

Not to end on a bad note, but I have to get this story in about these incredibly annoying children we came across. After the market, Erin, Andrew, and I went down to the town square to play cards and have a Coke. After we sat down, three small girls, with ages between 4 and 8, came to us selling hair bands and to ask for money. When we said no, they started haggling us. At first it was just asking for money over and over again. Then it escalated to touching our arms. Then it became begging for my mango I had just bought. They when I refused them, it the oldest of the three took my mango and started tossing it around. Then when we ignored her, she gave it back. Then they started going around our table, calling us idiots and tapping us on the head. I then asked if they wanted to look and act like little babies and if their parents didn't teach them better than that. This offended the oldest and they walked away.

So, we got our cards out to play a little, thinking we were okay. A couple minutes into our game, the oldest one again got up the courage to haggle us a little more. They slipped up behind us and started bopping us on the head once again. I thought that for sure someone of their culture would stop them and make them sit down. I was now considering smacking them. It was ridiculous. I then called them babies once again and told them to get out of our faces. They left and I thought we were over our problems, so we again started to play cards. Sitting next to a stand, we decided to order our cokes. When we did so, the lady told us they didn't have any cokes, right as she was bringing some sodas out to another couple in the park. So, we didn't order anything and went on with our game. Then a couple minutes later, the couple that was able to order the sodas told us that the vendor was really mad at us and wanted us to leave. When we looked over at the vendor, we saw the most incredibly foul scowl on her face. She was staring us down with a look of death as she stabbed her knife into a block of ice to break it up. It was the most profoundly absurd experience of my life, and we have no idea what we did to anger the woman. We are almost sure there was no relationship between the girls that were bugging us and the scowling lady. We tried to order something from her, and when she didn't have anything for us, we figured it was a public park (which it was) and played cards. I still have no idea what was going on, but we are still laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

Day 9 - A Country On the Brink Of Collapse

In my last entry I wrote of the incredibly nice banks they have here. After today, I know a little more on why the banks are so nice.

In Nicaragua, everyone speaks of the corruption, poverty, and revolution. On three separate occasions, I was told how Nicaragua was the second poorest country in the Americas, then in the northern hemisphere, and then in the world (the fish kept getting bigger). I don't know what the ranking on poverty in the world truly is, but I do know that Nicaragua is an incredibly poor country. Everywhere you go, you are reminded of this. With the revolution in recent memory, people are both wary of the government and uncertain of the future. This was all compounded by the power situation. The day we arrived in Grenada marked the first of many planned power outages throughout the city (and country). It turns out that Nicaragua's power runs on petrol-based electricity generators. With the recent rise in world gas prices, the cost of electricity went up overnight. As a result, the people simply don't have money to adjust to the shocks in prices. Power bills went unpaid and as a result Spain is shutting off the power to the country on a regular basis.

You may be wondering where Spain comes into the picture here. Well, I'm not really clear on the history on this country, but I will share what I do know. Spain has a long history with the rich families of Nicaragua. They had a part in the revolution and during the war they looted many of Nicaragua's national treasures, including the biggest and most exquisite of petroglyphs from Ometepe island (see one of them in the pictures from Ometepe). In Nicaragua, there is one rich family that rules above all others (to include the political process and country itself). Recently, this family sold off 60% of the country's power to Spain. Historically, when the power companies bill's weren't being paid and they shut off the power, people would riot in the streets until they turned the power back on. However, the rich families have found a way to avoid the problems of rioting, by selling the energy off. Now when the pwer goes out, the people can riot, but the problem is being caused by people in a far off land, and they have no way to fight back.

The gas situation has been much less problematic for the country because they don't really use cars and trucks. In fact right now I am on a bus heading to my next destination, and the four lane highway we are riding on has a car to bike ratio of about 1:3. Picture a fairly regular American four lane, and now picture hundreds of bikes riding along with you.

There is so much about the history of this country that I would like to learn. It is intriguing to me to see all the corruption in the government firsthand. Nicaragua gets billions of dollars from dozens of foreign countries every year, but a very small percentage of that money actually goes to the people. Last year, the government made it mandatory for all children in Nicaragua to go to school. However with a 74% unemployment rate and no infrastructure, there were over 1,000,000 children last year that did not attend school. I don't know what the answer is to the problem, but there is definitely a problem. Education is the answer to solving the countries problems, but how do you educate a country that has no roads, no houses, and an upper class that steals all your aid money?

Nicaragua has elected three presidents since the revolution and things have been going alright as far as democracy goes. There is another election coming up and people are pessimistic and worried. There are 4 candidates for president with one clear leader in the polls. This candidate (whose name I cannot remember) is pro tourist, anti-corruption, and a man of the people. The only problem is that this candidate died a couple days ago of a heart attack. He has been replaced, but the people are wary of the unknown candidate. Many people who were going to vote are now unsure of who to vote for. The fear in the country, is that the party of the bad guys in the revolution (not sure which one) will again rise to power because their supporters will definitely get out the vote, but the uncertain people will stay home. This is the point where the bad guys could very well give the power back to Ortega, whom the US spent a lot of effort to oust in the 80's (he was recently released from jail).

Did I mention that we went like two and a half days without water??? In the sweltering heat, it was quite miserable. The power pumps the water throughout the country, and without power, we also had no water. No water meant no laundry. Trying to pack light, Haley and I did not bring large wardrobes. While we were assured that we didn't stink, we could smell the mildew, sweat and who knows what else. Finally, on the 6th of July, the water came on at 3:00 in the afternoon and we dropped off some laundry. We actually got it back at 8:00 that night without incident (except for Andrew who nearly had a heart attack when his clothes were missing--luckily we found she had simply placed them in someone else's bag).

So, the banks are also owned by the same family that owns the entire country, and as a result, they are the only ones in town with electricity and air conditioning (and money--hmmm, a bank?). That is why the banks are so nice. It just shows the disparity between the rich and the poor.

Enough of the problems of this country. Next entry, I will have to be more positive (because it is an amazing place and Haley and I are having a great time).