Falling in love...

View of Xela from Mt. Baul

Although we didn’t have the smoothest of beginnings to Part Two of our adventure, neither Alex nor myself can deny the love we’re beginning to feel for Guatemala. With each passing day, we discover more and more perks to living in Xela. For example, we recently joined a decent gym with a monthly membership fee of 100 Quetzales, which equates to roughly $12.50 per month or $1.04 per visit. There are cheap, delicious coffees and chocolates available on every street corner and the hot, fresh tortillas are to die for. The indigenous people are incredibly pleasant and consistently offer warm smiles and welcoming greetings. Best of all, is the fact that we are snuggled deep in the heart of volcano country, meaning hiking trails are ubiquitous.

The town of Zunil 

By our second weekend here, we were both itching to leave the city in search for one of many hot springs hidden in surrounding villages. After climbing aboard a local, tricked-out old school bus we found ourselves speeding rapidly towards the outskirts of town and down a lush canyon surrounded by hundreds of acres of hillside farming land. Truckloads full of vibrantly colored vegetables blurred past my window as I soaked in sights of the Guatemalan countryside. Every five minutes or so the bus would stop, allowing swarms of elaborately dressed local woman to climb aboard.  Alex and I couldn’t get over our amazement at the women’s ability to balance objects on their heads – literally, they can balance anything from a folded up table-cloth, to a massive bag of produce to a brimming bucket of juice (and not spill a drop!) I want to get ESPN down here to broadcast competitions on who can carry the most weight or the trickiest object.  While I sit here and describe to you my amazement and try to portray the correct portrait of these women, I should also mention that I think it’s a pretty clever means of transporting objects. Think about all the times you spilled your coffee or dropped your bag when trying to open a door. Or when you had to take two loads of groceries from your car because you’re arms were full; the women here don’t have these issues!

Alex in the back of the the truck up to
 the springs - Zunil in the background

Soaking in the big, HOT pool

Fuentes Georginas

Anyways, after about an hour or so of riding the tricked-out school bus, we hopped off on the side of the road to a little town called Zunil. From here we talked to the owner of a Pick-Up truck who, for a “Gringo Price”, agreed to take us the half-an-hour ride up to the hot springs. Once again, Alex and I found our selves bumping along through lush, vegetable-rich terrain. Eventually the truck came to a halt at what some people reasonably argue are the most beautiful hot springs in all of Guatemala: Fuentes Georginas. As we wandered down the small path toward the hot springs, I found myself becoming more and more excited about our discovery. On one side of the path was a steep, fern laden mountainside and on the other were a handful of small, rustic cabins overlooking a forest-covered valley.  The trail ended at the lip of three beautiful, steaming pools nestled snugly amidst a dense, tropical landscape. Alex and I reserved one of the cabins and wasted no time settling in and unwinding in the heavenly hot water. We spent Saturday afternoon lounging in the pools talking to seasoned hot-springers, local Quetzaltecos and various world travelers and also mustered the energy to summit one of the nearby ridges.  The springs close to the public at seven o’clock at night, but cabin renters are free to use the pools around-the-clock. So, after a delicious steak dinner Alex and I, along with a large North Korean family, indulged in a moonlight soaking session.  Before long the heat of the water got the best of us, so we built a small fire our room’s chiminea and were quickly lulled to sleep by the hushed quietness of the mountains.

The restaurant at Fuentes Georginas

View from our cabin

As you may know, Sundays in Latin America are big “family–time” days.  Large groups of relatives join together, producing delicious barbeques, competitive games of soccer, elaborate picnics… you get the picture. So you can imagine what we woke up to on Sunday. We went to sleep on Saturday night in the serenity of the quite mountains and woke up on Sunday morning to masses of loud, excited Guatemalan families desperately rushing to being their day of rest and relaxation. Nonetheless, spending Sunday basking in the hot mountain sun, soaking our bones in steaming spring water and being entertained by pure Guatemalan culture was not a bad way to end the weekend.

Enjoying a spring-side dinner

My volunteer experience has changed immensely since the last time I wrote. While I enjoyed working at Proyecto Profamilia, I realized I wanted to have more of a hands-on volunteer job were I was thoroughly engrossed in the community and culture. So I took the leap and agreed to ten weeks of teaching English at a rural school on the outskirts of the city. Last Monday I introduced myself to seventy-two Guatemalan children as their new English teacher. School hours run from eight o'clock in the morning to a little after one o'clock in the afternoon and during that time I travel between the five different grade levels teaching Basic English.

Our family's dog - Mikey 

A few years ago, the community repeatedly asked the government for funding in order to build the school. After consistent refusals the community came together and raised enough money to build the school themselves. With this said, the “school” structure is as basic as it gets. The concrete building has five separate rooms but there are no closable doors and only open windowpanes, which makes for a terrible learning environment. Each grade holds fifteen to twenty six students ranging anywhere from ten-years-old to twenty-years-old and, considering that schooling in Guatemala is not mandatory, attendance (and paying attention) is optional. Again, this makes for a terrible learning environment; there are children who desperately want to learn, children who attend simply for something to fulfill their days and children who are there because their parents insist.

I will say, simply, that I absolutely love teaching these kids; the ability to gift someone with knowledge is beyond rewarding. On the other hand, now that I've finished my second week of volunteering, I can say that few things in my life have challenged me in the way that teaching English has. Not only am I required to speak in Spanish a majority of the time in order for students to understand English, but also the patience required is unimaginable. 

Alex with Volcán Santa Maria in the
background - the plume of smoke is
coming from an eruption from
 Vocán Santiaguito. 

I can’t wait to see how I'm changed by this volunteer experience and, most of all, I can’t wait to share with you the stories of my teaching adventures – there are sure to be some good ones.

Alex is continuing his volunteer work at the hospital and is having a great experience in third-world medicine. Every Tuesday is “Endoscopy Day” and Alex, after observing and discussing possible diagnoses with the doctor, has obtained the task of carrying patients in “twilight” to their wheel chairs. Considering the fact that he is nearly twice the size of the patients, this job is not only easy for him but is comical to the surgical staff – in particular the anesthesiologist, who jokes that Alex can pick up the patients with his pinky. 

Our Valentine's Day dinner

There are two major problems in the medical world in Guatemala. First, medicines are hard to come by here – not only are they expensive, but many capable and willing doctors lack the supplies needed to treat complications. The second problem deals with presence of extreme poverty. A majority of the population are agriculturalists that have a very low monthly income. If someone needs heart surgery, for example, and can’t afford it, some doctors require forms of payment like the deed to the patient’s house until they can pay off the surgery. If the payment isn’t made in two years or so, the house becomes property of the doctor. Fortunately, the gastroenterologist whom Alex is shadowing isn’t one of these types of doctors and has made quite the impression on Alex.  The doctor hardly makes any money working at Hospital Rodolfo Robles, but arrives day after day simply because he loves helping people. He’s truly concerned about the wellbeing of his patients and while he could be spending his time at a clinic with a low patient population and a higher income, he chooses to work where his skills are most needed – regardless if he only makes enough to fill his car’s gas tank. This volunteer experience has helped both Alex and I feel like we are putting forth our best humanitarian efforts and people like this gastroenterologist only add encouragement.

With one month of living in Guatemala behind us, Alex and I are just beginning to realize the possibilities of adventure this country has to offer. We’ve got volcanoes to climb, crater lakes to swim in, Pacific coast beaches on which to lounge and Mayan ruins to explore…. And that’s only the beginning.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for tales to come!