My eternal quest for a hobby: April 2005

Back in Guatemala City

Got here around 3 pm. Went for $2 lunch (got soup, chicken and rice,
milk and dessert - $2!) Then went for a short walk with Pat before a
torrential downpour happened. First rain of the year. We got
absolutely soaked before we decided we could not go any further as
there was a river where the street used to be. We caught a cab and Pat
forgot to tell him that we were going to Zone 2 - so he started taking
off in a different direction, but eventually we got home. Now we're
just hanging out at Gaby's dad's. Cyp wants to order in Campero
(Guatemala's answer to KFC). He's been wanting it ever since we got
here and Gaby made the mistake of telling him that Guatemalans love it
so much they take it back to the States with them on the plane.

Guatemala City is pretty grim - did I already say that? People love it
here though so there must be some charm that I'm not seeing. Pat says
Gaby likes it because of the bustle.

Anyway, last night here - plane at noon tomorrow so hopefully we will
be back tomorrow night.

So we went to San Pedro on the Lake

o we went to San Pedro on the lake. We ended up taking the roundabout
route by mistake. Stopped in every little town on the way which turned
out to be quite interesting , they were very beautiful little spots.
Finally got to San Pedro and got out. Wandered down the street a ways,
went to a small beach. There was a girl there that wanted us to take
her picture. She had been swimming and didn´t have anything on except
a towel. I was a little paranoid and said no thanks, don´t want to.
She seemed highly offended. Went back to the boat dock and had food at
Nick´s. A little worried as after we sat down we noticed that everyone
else was at the restaurant across the street. hmm. Food was very
cheap. Full chicken dinner for $3. Rum and coke for $0.80. Very strong
rum and coke, of course i had to get another, asked for a weaker one
but didn´t seem to get it. I guess rum is cheaper than coke. Was
slightly worried about them getting us drunk to rob us but didn´t
happen. Bought some carrot bread from a local and then got chewed out
by another little girl who accused us as having earlier told her that
we would buy it from her. Gaby tells us that this is a common
strategy. It was kinda a weird little town. We hightailed it back to
the boat and out of there.

Tonight should be another rousing game of settlers....

Now we're in Panajachel

Pronounced Panahachel. It was once a hippy hangout, then the civil war
hit and now it´s slowly becoming a hippy hangout again. We took a
mercedes minivan here yesterday, pretty good driver. Only $10 each
which is pretty good but apparently exhorbedent in their terms. Things
are pretty cheap here. Panajachel is on lake Atilan, supposedly
beautiful, but there is such a strong haze that we can´t see the
volcanoes that ring the lake. Pat was not feeling too hot yesterday
but is much better now, but will probably still go visit a doctor. Cyp
is busily downloading mail onto his laptop and then we might take a
boatride across the lake. Skipped the famous market, Gaby was pretty
negative about it and I don´t really like markets too too much so
we´re just hanging out.

Tomorrow we´re taking the same minivan back to Guatemala. Did I
already mention that they do a lot of slash burning here, there is
always smoke in the air and those buses PIU.

Anyhoo, that´s it for now.

Almost Got Kilt by a Volcano

Today Cyp and I went on a mini tour. Took a minivan to Pacaya which is
an active volcano. Hiked up (took about 2 hours) and watched the
volcano puff and huff. There were about 30 people standing around the
top when it went bang and lots of big chunks came flying out. Everyone
started running. Of course, it wasn't such a good place to run.
Meanwhile the guides were yelling
"don't run - it's normal, normal"

It was pretty scary. Hopefully Cyp got some of it on film. We got up
at 5:30 to do this and of course there was nothing open and we didn't
have any food on us so we starved. German girl that had told us about
the tour took pity on stupid Canadians and gave us half her bun.
Apparently Cyp now gets to be boss for the rest of the summer.

To make up for it we went for yummy lunchos in a fairly swank place. I
had Dorado fish in mango sauce and Cyp had deelicious steak (it was
very good). Guatemalans tend to eat the biggest meal at noon and just
have snacks for dinner. Sam managed to clear out the place with his
yodeling. He's teething right now.

That's about it for today - Pat's gone back to the hotel with Sam to
sleep and Cyp, Gaby and I are wandering around. Antigua is a bit
strange because it completely shuts down at about 8 pm (much to my
delight, but not Cyp's). We are told it is unwise to walk around if
there is no one else around. We also had armed guards on our volcano
hike. hmm. Lots of guns here.

Ok that's it for now.

Now we're in Antigua

Hi

Cyp´s getting a haircut and I´m using the net. pretty good multitasking.

We took a cab here from Guatemala city yesterday morning. It was an
entertaining ride. We first had to go to the taxi stand so our driver
could pay to rent his cab for the day (he picked us up first because
he didn´t want to lose such a good fare). Then we were supposed to
stop for breakfast on the way (Pat, Gaby´s dad and Sam went in a
different car) but we got lost so we just drove straight to Antigua.
Finally got here and to our hotel around 11. We left Pat and the kid
and went to grab something to eat.

Wandered around the rest of the day looking at buildings what not.
This morning had breakfast and great cappucinos, went to a ruined
nunnery and now Cyp´s getting a haircut.

We´re going to meet up with Gaby and Pat again shortly (Gaby´s doing
research at the archives and Pat is back at the hotel for Sam´s nap).
Probably head out for lunch. Basically that is what we do, wander for
a bit then eat. Antigua is very lovely 'nice to wander through the
town.

talk to ya later.

Arriving in Guatemala City

The flights were fine. We ended up sitting together on the first
flight to Houston; In fact got excellent seats as we got the emergency
row. On the Houston to Guatemala leg we got upgraded to first class
which was amazing! There was quite a bit of tubelence, but it didn't
even bother me that much.

Tonight we're staying at Gaby's dad's house and tomorrow we're off to
Antigua. It will probably be a slow start.

There is quite a bit of pollution in the city. You can see the air -
Pat says this is a good day.

Where next

So after getting thoroughly soaked at the beach, we decided to drive to Astoria (about 20 miles away) where we were staying. On our way, we drove by Seaside and horrors of horrors an outlet mall has sprung up since the last time I was down that way. Of course we stopped. Got some running gear for cheap cheap. It's no wonder the world's ecosystems are dying. Sigh
By the time we got out of the outlet mall it was dark and we were still wet and I had to pee (I'd had to pee since the Sitka Spruce). Pregnant friend had used the Johnny on the Spots at the Sitka Spruce but her description of them made me decide to hold it. Driving into Astoria from Seaside way, we went over a low long bridge and entered a traffic circle (traffic circle in a town of 10,000) and continued on a bit. We could see our hotel on the left so I decided to turn left. Pregnant friend in the back of the car was noting the the road signs and stating things like "Llaco, Washington - what's that?" I ignored her and proceeded to turn left. Next thing I know we're on a bridge. And not just any bridge. The longest continuous three-span through truss in the world http://www.oldoregon.com/Pages/AstoriaBridge.html and we're heading out of oregon and into Washington. That was a very long detour - I'm just glad they removed the toll in 1993.

Finally made it to our motel and after unpacking headed to dinner. Of course Cyp wanted to go out again but we were lame again and went back to the motel. We did stop at the local gas station though and picked up some beer - must say, the gas station did see to be the most hopping place in town - suppose we could have left Cyp there to drink his beer in the parking lot.

Apparently there was a minor hurricane that night - as an aside we had been watching the weather on the news and I've never seen a weathercast quite like it - the weatherperson was describing the weather like it was the end of the world. I can see Michael Moore's point about how the American media tries to terrify the American public. Anyway, Cyp did say that he hadn't heard wind like that in a long time, but I slept blissfully throught it. Woke up the next morning and dragged Cyp out for a run so he could try out his new running gear. We ran along the Columbia River. Astoria has spruced up their boardwalk and it was quite lovely. I've decided that going for a run in new towns is a really good way to see those towns.

ok - run out of steam, more to come later.