Offspring: the official sound of guatemalan independence day!

I am goldie locks and I found my just right!

Man so cool! I came to guatemala with no idea I was landing on election day or that independence day was two days later.additionally I chose to come to san pedro because it was the cheepest for language school, the classes were in a garden overlooking a huge lake and I saw a recommendation online, but I had no idea it would be such an amazing and perfect culture in my eyes.

I have fallen in love with the banana pancake trail and those who travel it, travelors are in constant community and I am considered high matnience so its like finding potential best friends everywhere.everyone lives in the moment, they live the life they want to live every moment and they don't let anything stop them.with that said I think I also took this trip with the hope of being more than just a travelor,i planned everything in the hope of building relationships with the people of the places I visit and learning about their lives and what real solutions would look like.its like god dropped san pedro in my lap and said "here, this is the life you want"

San pedro is like the perfect mix of both worlds.for example today was independence day.last night I stood on the balcony outside my room as hundreds of people ran down my street and around the center of the city over and over carrying poles with tin cans on fire attached to the top singing some sort of independence day anthem.after they finished they had a presentation in the town square/basketball court and ran around the town like ten more times.i saw this because I was walking home from hanging with travelors and literally ran into it needing no planning or arranging.at breakfast my family told me there was a parade and a music competition today so in the morning I asked my teacher if we could go to the parade and we did with only a few other gringos, all of whom were students and watched this amazing parade of kids wearing anything from jesus costumes to dresses made from dorito bags, marching bands with capes, and little boys with painted on mustashes.the dad in my family takes pictures of tourists when he travels because they are so uncommon in local centers. After school me and my roommates went to the basketball court for the competition and stood outside in the rain for 4 hours barely being able to see with literally the entire town and maybe 4 other gringos. One of my favorite bands played offspring "the kids aren't all right" and I think it is so much better as marching music, they also set off legit fireworks that exploded in they sky above as the marched and played around it. the whole court filled with smoke as the kept matching and you could see the reflection of the fireworks on the wet ground as they played,so cool!Later that night we went to hang out with some of my favorite travelors and I asked them what they had done for the holiday; they had mostly slept, hung at the hostel and eventually walked around town.i was like awesome, you see the cool statue in the park of st pedro? They were like no, where is that? And I realized how lucky and happy I was that I was able to be in the middle of so much local culture while also feeling so welcome with the traveling culture.i told them they had to see the rest of town and I would take them If they wanted, but they weren't sure about walking the hill;)

The worms and what they make

And one last Tur-duck-en

The hill!

My house is at the top and everything else is at the bottom, Good thing my bag only weighs 50lbs

Free range Tur-duck-en

Studying with a kindergartner

For the worms

Today we visited an organic coffee farm/processing plant, honey farm, composting facility and natural dye association.i was obviously super interested and learned so much about how to make fertilizer and I think it could definitely be possible for kids on a dump so that's super exciting and I learned so much about the difficulties of exporting fully produced coffee which was so interesting, its all about little farmers being connected,because otherwise you need a big plant to process enough coffee in the final stages of roasting and grinding to make enough to export.but I know much more now and when I talked to my spanish teacher about it she said an association across the lake introduced mushroom production and its super easy for busy woman that take care of the house as well, no training necessary, and an excellent export so I am looking into visiting them and learning about that, as it could be a great resource!

I got to ride in the back of a caged pick-up truck to the association, it was like the scene in the titanic where they go to front of the boat and spread their arms, so exhilarating, and exciting, and like the taxi of guat, sounds good to me.

San Pedro = Love

In central america central time seems to  mean any time you want.

My tab is my clock and it knows I'm in guatemala because it keeps changing my server or browser to spanish:( but after sleeping for 12 hours when I get up at 10am for breakfast I'm told my free breakfast is over because they are in their own time zone and it is really 11am, so I buy pasta for breakfast.ricardo did a great job and right on time my shuttle comes straight to the hostel and we drive 3.5 hours to san pedro.i ride next to the coolest person I have ever met and we arrive in the most beautiful town I have ever seen. Again my driver takes me right up to my destination and my host mother walks me to my new home. It is seriously nothing like I expected big and homey and she slowly explains everything to me in spanish,i think I understand like half of what she says but she is so patient and kind its like she is willing me to understand and I think its working. She has three daughters and no sons and with me she has three more temporary girls so her husband is the only guy but he is just like her patient and kind, they have the closest thing to an aura I have ever experienced, when you are here you just relax.the town is the same way all steep cobblestone roads overlooking a huge beautiful lake a 5 min walk away.one of the other temporary family members is here volunteering as a myan culture teacher, she speaks perfect spanish and english and acts happily as a home teacher, she is my kindered spirit lol.after an amazing dinner she walks us all around town to the"bars"that play movies and close at 11 and the churches that are constantly setting off fireworks, at night everyone, locals and gringos alike, just go outside and walk around town. I have more people bother me or make cat calls or anything in the states not once since I have been in san pedro have I heard anything uncomfortable, the most I have been made uncomfortable is today when like the oldest man in town who is like 90 years old, nearly blind and with only 4 teeth tricked me into kissing him on the lips. we were saying goodbye to him and he asked each of us to give him a kiss on the cheek which is normal but because he is almost blind he needs to hold your hands and then your face and he just turned mine towards his and kissed me, and did the same to my friendbut it was only playful and absolutely not perverse.i walked into the hostel and the owner recognized me from my less than 24 hours in antigua and said of course I could swim in the indoor pool anytime no problem I was a vip guest i could do anything I wanted at his hostel, everyone is friends with everyone. I love this place.

It begins

if you want to see more just look on facebook its seems to be super hard to upload to the blog but no problem to facebook.

Un gato negro-good thing I know animals, colors, and numbers

Somehow we make it to the airport just 5 mins late, so early my time, and we start looking for a guy holding a board with my name on it. ricardo (couch surfer) talks to the shuttle drivers while I stand around looking lost and for my board, ricardo finds my shuttle but knows way more than i do and that even if I get to antigua I might not make it to san pedro my final destination because most shuttles have shut down for elections so he and the shuttle driver decide my fate and call the school and ricardo my savoir was right no shuttles will go to san pedro today so I have to stay in antigua. ricardo offers to drive me to antigua and get me set up there and even though I'm still a little worried about relying on someone I barely know I'm more worried about going to antigua on my own unable to communicate.so back in ricardos car I go.we stop at this awesome restaurant over looking antigua that has amazing sculptures everywhere and its this crazy mix of super classic marble sculptures and uber modern and kind of weird sculptures (pictures are coming,i just need to figure out a way to upload them) the food is super fancy and delicious and on top of it ricardo won't let me pay for anything so its free.afterwards we go to antigua and look for hostels and we find one he was told is gringo city (un gato negro), and it is. I feel like l walked into a hooka bar in boulder, bob marley is playing and the hostel worker has dread locks.ricardo has him show me around, then calls my shuttle and arranges them to pick me up directly at the hostel.i say goodbye to ricardo my life line and sleep for the first time in two days.

10th anniversary of 9/11 and election day in Guatemala

Started the day being told I looked like all those girls you see in the movies that go on vacation and get lost and then killed, "oh ya a horror film" but ended being coned to kiss a waiter/hostel worker on the cheek so I could eat my soup in the internet room, better right...?

So I get through customs with half an hour till my shuttle leaves, but i am meeting a stranger/internet friend (couch surfing) to tour the city for what should have been 3 hours if my flight got in at 6:30 instead of 10:30.like a champ and thanks to my sis emailing him at 3am he is right outside wearing bright red like he promised and when security asks me where I'm going I point him out and they say "oh a friend"and for a moment I think, am I making a huge mistake? He is very nice and we put my stuff in his car and I get in and now I'm thinking"shit too late now".we have half an hour till I need to be on a shuttle and are now driving away from the airport where it will be. thank goodness he is organized and a genuinely great person, he takes me to a nice grocery store since we don't have time for anything more and refuses to let me pay for anything.we head back towards the airport after a quick tour of the city but did I forget to mention not only have I been flying all day in memory of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 but its election day in guatemala which is a bit different than the US...

Problem 1. Increased security meaning even more young boys packing ak47s than the usual shit ton more than I'm used to

Problem 2.traffic is stopped outside voting stations, which happen to be on route to the airport

Problem 3.to be continued...

Fun fact or two about election day in guatemala: parking is free on this day only, Rigoberta who I'm working with is running for president, alcohol is not sold or consumed for two days so everyone can have a clear head when voting, oh and shuttles don't run.

Leaving on a jet plane pics

in the car

at the airport

Leaving on a jet plane or 4

so I guess I needed to ease into being alone in a foreign country, because before I even left the country I became a foreigner.my second and last layover in la started as good as any layover could following a 4 hour layover in salt lake. I got to my gate and could tell it was the right gate because I was quickly becoming a minority but out of pride I thought I hope I am the only female solo gringo on the flight that would make me feel brave. As the departure got closer all the other flights had left and the the announcements were in spanish only. No one around me spoke any english and I had no idea what was said that everyone else was reacting to. apparently the slight delay they told us about (in spanish) was actually a departure time of 3am instead of 12:30am and no internet so I can't tell anyone in guatemala I'll be three hours late, oh and I got my wish I am not only the only solo white female but the only gringo period. But with any foreign experience great lows come with great highs.everyone seemed to have noticed I was the only gringo too, tried without words to invite me to the crew and when I used the restroom a sweet older lady tried to speak with me and her daughter who knew perfect english followed. they had me sit with them and soon anyone who knew any english was asking me what my parents thought about me going to guatemala alone, teaching me to look poor and making sure I knew I was on the flight to guatemala city.3 became 4:30am and I was off with 6 hours till my shuttle left and a 5.5 hour flight...