San Salvador, El Salvador. That is where this blog entry comes to you from. Today is Saturday and this is how I got here......I left Maya Pedal yesterday and stayed the night in Antigua and left early this morning to begin the 2 day voyage through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and to my final destination of Managua, Nicaragua. My brother comes into Nicaragua to meet me on Tuesday so the time came that I had to leave Maya Pedal and close one chapter of this journey and open a new one.
But before I take this blog journey out of Guatemala, let me tell you how I spent my last few days. First off, I went to visit Maximon. Who is Maximon? Well....I wish I really knew, and even around Itzapa if you ask 5 people, you will get 5 different answers...but here is a shot at who I think he is. He is a kind of Saint, a deity from Mayan times named Mam I think, who they then made into a Saint....and he has something to do with Saint Simon...as he is sometimes called San Simon. He also gas something to do with Judus Iscariot, but obviously Mam existed before those guys so he is a mixture I think. He is the kind of guy that has a good side and a bad side, and you definitely want to be on his good side. Anyway, the Catholic church does not recognize him, and he is quite controversial. His temple is in Itzapa and so I went there. At the temple there were lots of shamans doing rituals. They say that Maximon is a very human saint, so he likes the things humans like....alcohol, cigarettes, cigars...so that is what people bring him as offerings. The shamans were burning piles of candles, flowers, cigars, alcohol, sand, wood, all kinds of stuff and chanting over them. They were also smoking cigars. It was really quite a sight. I was mostly an observer, but I did do what everyone told me to do and bring him an offering. I took him some cigars and placed them at his feet as I made my wish. I wont tell what it was but it was a pretty good cigar so hopefully I came out on his good side.
On my way out of Itzapa, I was riding on a bus that was loaded down with people. There were 3 people to every seat and the aisles were full of people standing. It was pretty hot and I was getting a little grouchy when I heard the bus driver yell ¨ladies and gentleman please if you could do me a favor and duck down, we are passing the police, thank you¨, and everyone standing up in the aisles ducks down and squats. So apparently, it is illegal to have people standing on the busses, which is pretty much hilarious because almost every bus I have ever been on in Central America has had people standing in the aisles. So, anyway, I was surprised and looked at the woman sitting next to me and we both started laughing. And I wasnt grumpy anymore.
So, it was sad to leave Maya Pedal and I left feeling like I was so blessed to have found such a great place and get to hang out there for three weeks. My final reflections on my time spent there are that I had a rare and beautiful amount of time alone to read and think and look a walls and sunsets, and also that I was stretched and learned to do new things and I am proud of myself. I also leave feeling peacefully happy that there are cool, small, innovative local organizations out there doing incredible and cutting edge development work. For my last day, Johanna the secretary took me to the nearby city of Chimaltenango and we ate pizza...a real treat. We exchanged hugs and commitments to keep in touch and I hope I can keep up my end of the deal, I sure want to.
So today I spent 10 hours in transit, first 2 hours in a shuttle through Guatemala City and then 6 hours on a bus into El Salvador. Right now I am in the hotel and I have to say, I have only seen about a 3 block area of San Salvador, but it is the ritziest thing I have seen south of the Alamo. I got in at dark and didnt want to venture too far but I did make it to the nearby Sheraton Hotel to use the ATM and ate dinner at the Pizza Hut down the road...pretty snazzy, but just like in the US, despite being so famous, Pizza Hut actually sucks.
So today has been the day of surprisingly good songs being played on the radio. So far I have heard ¨Ïll be missing you¨ by Puff Daddy, ¨Can I hold You For A While¨ by Tracy Chapman, and ¨What I Got¨ by Sublime¨. Cool eh?
Ok so this is it I guess...next time I write I will be in Managua...yay! Managua feels somewhat like a second home to me, if feels great to be going back. Hasta Luego!
Bree
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
I´m too tired from writing this blog and downloading pictures to think of a title.
So here is a new blog! And once again, I am beginning a blog by apologizing that it has been so long since I have written. It´s not necessarily that I haven’t felt like writing a blog, but I have been passing most days pretty similarly to the days before, so no new ground-breaking news. I have been volunteering at Maya Pedal for about 2 weeks now. Right now (Sunday) I am in Antigua Guatemala, a nearby touristy colonial city where I came to pass the weekend reading in coffee shops, looking at people and pricey souvenirs, sitting in the church, watching bad Ben Afleck movies, and internetting. Im back to work tomorrow morning.
I must say I am so glad I came here to Maya Pedal and it has surely been one of the highlights of any travel I have done so far. Each day I wake up early and start working on bikes. Once I was here for a few days and got enough skills under my belt to work somewhat independently I have really loved working on bikes. Maya Pedal gets old busted bike donations from the US and Canada, and most of the sales here are of refurbished bicycles for transportation. We also do some repairs for people that stop by with their bikes. So that kind of stuff is what I do. Maya Pedal also makes machines but I don’t do much of that….although I have gotten to try my hand at cutting metal with a big electric saw, and welding a bit too. I mostly leave the machines to Carlos, the technician because that is intense stuff. It is really cool to see someone who is so good at what they do, and to see what a little human ingenuity can do toward making such cool machines. So far I have seen bike powered blenders, corn dehuskers, corn grinders (for tortillas), peanut de-shellers, water pumps (up to 100 meters depth!), clothes washers, yay! If you´ll permit me for a moment…I´ll go on a soapbox about why pedal power rules!
1) First, pedal power is very cost efficient, the input is just human power which costs nothing, the machines are extremely durable with little to no repair costs 2) Pedal power is energy efficient. Now this goes a long way…I mean you aren’t bringing in energy from an outside substance to run these machines and there is no pollutants given off from the machines´ work. 3) With pedal power there is a more direct human connection to the product. You know the process it goes through, you know how it arrived in its´ final state…..as opposed to electric washing machines for example, where although you may use it everyday for your whole life, you never really know what goes on in that mysterious machine after you push the button. 4) Pedal power machines are available to people with limited access to electricity, and of course to those as well who have access to electricity, but find it advantageous to limit their usage. So that is a little bit about why I thik bike powered machines are awesome. Yay.
Last week a mother came into the shop while was the only one there and inquired about a bike for her 10 year old daughter. I showed her the collection of old bikes and explained we could fix any of them up for her daughter. She went away excited as we have a lot of descent bikes for little girls. I was alsp excited about the chance to fix up a bike for a little girl…something I have wanted to do since I got here. You see, here in Guatemala the majority of the population are indigenous people and they have beautiful traditional dress. The womens´ dress includes a long tightly wrapped ankle-length skirt. And this skirt my friends, is a very practical and good reason why women don’t ride bikes here. Also, it is kind of customary that only men ride bikes so even among women who are not indigenous, you don´t see many riding bikes. So anyway, I was excited when this lady came in and so I hope she returns and I can rebuild her a bike!
So the other 2 volunters that were here at Maya Pedal, George and Ola (married) left last week. Now it is just me in the the shop which is cool, I am just learning the art of being content while being alone. I read, I walk around, I cook, I set little tasks for myself. Today for instance is Sunday so I have a whole day of free time. This morning when I woke up I thought of all the things I was going to do; eat breakfast, walk around, sit in the church, have a hot chocolate, write in my journal, write a blog, have a coffee, eat lunch, read my book, read an interesting national geographic article I found in the hostel, eat dinner, go to bed exhausted after such a long day. So the speed is a little different here…and Im enjoying it. I am also entering into full planning mode as my brother Zak meets me in Managua in 11 days. We are going to hike volcanoes, swim in lakes, tour coffee farms, hike mountains, look at revolutionary sights, drink hot corn drinks, eat animals in their full forms, talk with Gloria, canoe, play cards by candlelight…..Im so excited I cant think about it too much or I´ll pee on myself. New topic.
Books read so far: Autobiography of Malcolm X, Autobiography of Rigoberta Menchu, and currently: The Invisible Man
Among all this excitement and good times, I did cry yesterday. I was sitting quietly looking at a beautiful lake when a lady walked by selling beautiful tapestries and I made the mistake of asking how much one was, although I had no intention of buying it. She replied that it was 250 quetzales…..about $35. I said they were beautiful but no thank you….and then this lady stayed there for at least 10 minutes, trying to sell this tapestry to me….it went a little something like this......
´´250 quetzalsis too much? Well Ill give you a better price…230, take it for 230. For you I will give a good price, 230 too much? Alright 220. Hand made you see, by me, it is my work, see the little birds, the volcano, for you 215…a good price. Come on lady, I haven’t sold anything all day….all day and nothing.´´
This went on until she was down to 70 quetzals, almost a third of her original price. It was a fair price for the tapestry, but just didn’t want the damn thing and I am on a budget and cant be buying tapestries all the time. So finally she gave up and walked away and I bursted out crying. I guess I just needed the release. We were both frustrated.
I must say I am so glad I came here to Maya Pedal and it has surely been one of the highlights of any travel I have done so far. Each day I wake up early and start working on bikes. Once I was here for a few days and got enough skills under my belt to work somewhat independently I have really loved working on bikes. Maya Pedal gets old busted bike donations from the US and Canada, and most of the sales here are of refurbished bicycles for transportation. We also do some repairs for people that stop by with their bikes. So that kind of stuff is what I do. Maya Pedal also makes machines but I don’t do much of that….although I have gotten to try my hand at cutting metal with a big electric saw, and welding a bit too. I mostly leave the machines to Carlos, the technician because that is intense stuff. It is really cool to see someone who is so good at what they do, and to see what a little human ingenuity can do toward making such cool machines. So far I have seen bike powered blenders, corn dehuskers, corn grinders (for tortillas), peanut de-shellers, water pumps (up to 100 meters depth!), clothes washers, yay! If you´ll permit me for a moment…I´ll go on a soapbox about why pedal power rules!
1) First, pedal power is very cost efficient, the input is just human power which costs nothing, the machines are extremely durable with little to no repair costs 2) Pedal power is energy efficient. Now this goes a long way…I mean you aren’t bringing in energy from an outside substance to run these machines and there is no pollutants given off from the machines´ work. 3) With pedal power there is a more direct human connection to the product. You know the process it goes through, you know how it arrived in its´ final state…..as opposed to electric washing machines for example, where although you may use it everyday for your whole life, you never really know what goes on in that mysterious machine after you push the button. 4) Pedal power machines are available to people with limited access to electricity, and of course to those as well who have access to electricity, but find it advantageous to limit their usage. So that is a little bit about why I thik bike powered machines are awesome. Yay.
Last week a mother came into the shop while was the only one there and inquired about a bike for her 10 year old daughter. I showed her the collection of old bikes and explained we could fix any of them up for her daughter. She went away excited as we have a lot of descent bikes for little girls. I was alsp excited about the chance to fix up a bike for a little girl…something I have wanted to do since I got here. You see, here in Guatemala the majority of the population are indigenous people and they have beautiful traditional dress. The womens´ dress includes a long tightly wrapped ankle-length skirt. And this skirt my friends, is a very practical and good reason why women don’t ride bikes here. Also, it is kind of customary that only men ride bikes so even among women who are not indigenous, you don´t see many riding bikes. So anyway, I was excited when this lady came in and so I hope she returns and I can rebuild her a bike!
So the other 2 volunters that were here at Maya Pedal, George and Ola (married) left last week. Now it is just me in the the shop which is cool, I am just learning the art of being content while being alone. I read, I walk around, I cook, I set little tasks for myself. Today for instance is Sunday so I have a whole day of free time. This morning when I woke up I thought of all the things I was going to do; eat breakfast, walk around, sit in the church, have a hot chocolate, write in my journal, write a blog, have a coffee, eat lunch, read my book, read an interesting national geographic article I found in the hostel, eat dinner, go to bed exhausted after such a long day. So the speed is a little different here…and Im enjoying it. I am also entering into full planning mode as my brother Zak meets me in Managua in 11 days. We are going to hike volcanoes, swim in lakes, tour coffee farms, hike mountains, look at revolutionary sights, drink hot corn drinks, eat animals in their full forms, talk with Gloria, canoe, play cards by candlelight…..Im so excited I cant think about it too much or I´ll pee on myself. New topic.
Books read so far: Autobiography of Malcolm X, Autobiography of Rigoberta Menchu, and currently: The Invisible Man
Among all this excitement and good times, I did cry yesterday. I was sitting quietly looking at a beautiful lake when a lady walked by selling beautiful tapestries and I made the mistake of asking how much one was, although I had no intention of buying it. She replied that it was 250 quetzales…..about $35. I said they were beautiful but no thank you….and then this lady stayed there for at least 10 minutes, trying to sell this tapestry to me….it went a little something like this......
´´250 quetzalsis too much? Well Ill give you a better price…230, take it for 230. For you I will give a good price, 230 too much? Alright 220. Hand made you see, by me, it is my work, see the little birds, the volcano, for you 215…a good price. Come on lady, I haven’t sold anything all day….all day and nothing.´´
This went on until she was down to 70 quetzals, almost a third of her original price. It was a fair price for the tapestry, but just didn’t want the damn thing and I am on a budget and cant be buying tapestries all the time. So finally she gave up and walked away and I bursted out crying. I guess I just needed the release. We were both frustrated.
So I think this is it for now....all the blogging and picture downloading my little mind can take. Ill be checking email regularly (hint hint) so drop me a note. BYE!
Bree
Monday, May 28, 2007
Fire Fire
Monday Monday, so I just finished a nice day of work beginning a new week here at Maya Pedal. I got to Maya Pedal last Thursday I think and so I worked Friday and Saturday (half day) and then headed out to nearby colonial city of Antigua to be a tourist for the weekend...I figured 36 hours was too long to entertain myself in the bicycle shop so off I went. I spent most of Saturday afternoon looking at other tourists and walking around admiring the city, watching a movie, taking it easy in coffee shops, etc. etc. On Sunday I signed up for a tour group to hike nearby volcano Pacaya. We left at 2pm and took a minibus to the volcano where it was a 3km hike up and some awesome volcanic action at the top.
After signing up for the tour, I asked the tour guide if it would be alright to hike in my sandals and he told me absoultely not. So, I decided to get some more opinions and asked the other tourists in the hostel who had done it....and their response was that my sandals absolutely would not make it. You see, this is an active volcano, and supposedly very high up it got really hot and very sharp with the volcanic rock and my feet would burn and sandals rip into shreds.
So what is a girl to do who has only got one pair of shoes and a tight budget? So I headed to the market....where I triumphed victorious and emerged with a six dollar pair of knock off high-top converse all-stars....ready to tackle that damn hot sharp volcano.
So the volcano was awesome, once to the top, we could feel the heat pouring out and smell the sulphur (sp?) as well. Once to the volcanic part it was very difficult to walk as the only footing was very sharp volcanic rock that was hot as crap. There was lava rushing down the volcano and I was a little on edge to be honest, especially once my all-stars started melting and my feet starting burning. But I made it off with time to spare and ready for the hike back down. All together it was a beautiful hike and a nice relaxed weekend. I even got to do the hike with some nice people from Korea, Israel, France, Argentina and New Jersey. I did a little shopping and bought some luxury items to bring back to San Andres for the week....ketchup, mustard and coffee.
So today the work at Maya Pedal was very exciting as well. I finished building my first bike, although I had much help and guidance from the other volunteer George, and nevermind that when the kid came to pick it up Carlos (runs the shop) had to take the whole bottom-bracket apart because I had put something in backwards....nonetheless, a victory. Then this afternoon, I got to try my hand at welding as someone ordered a tricycle. I am not sure how welding helmets are supposed to work but I found it very difficult that I couldn´t see anything at all with the helmet on until the torch was shooting fire everywhere. The way the helmet works is that everything is black in the little window, and then once the fire starts, everything lights up and you can see what you are welding. I know the helmet is supposed to protect your eyes from the light...but wouldn´t it be more efficient if you could see to begin with so you knew what you were lighting on fire? I asked Carlos why the helmet was so dark, and he said it was because there were no batteries....so maybe batteries would fix this problem. Anyway, so I welded this afternoon and was super stoked about that and glad to be building a tricycle. (Just so you know....this is no kiddy tricycle, this is an industrial tricycle, for carrying loads of stuff....just to clarify)
So this is most of the action from these parts. I am half-way finished with the autobiography of Malcolm X which is so far very interesting although he has been a hustler in Harlem for about 200 pages at this point. Today on the bus ride home I heard some Brian Adams which also lifted my spirits and reminded me of another reason I am lucky to be an American, no matter how far from home we are, our music is alwasy very close by. So before I go I´ll leave you with perhaps the most impressionable sight of the weekend.....as the bus was pulling out of the station to bring me back to San Andres for the week, I spotted a young women running for a bus balancing a huge basket of about 15 pineapples on top of her head, with a baby strapped to her back, and doing it all in high heels......whatta woman
lata!
After signing up for the tour, I asked the tour guide if it would be alright to hike in my sandals and he told me absoultely not. So, I decided to get some more opinions and asked the other tourists in the hostel who had done it....and their response was that my sandals absolutely would not make it. You see, this is an active volcano, and supposedly very high up it got really hot and very sharp with the volcanic rock and my feet would burn and sandals rip into shreds.
So what is a girl to do who has only got one pair of shoes and a tight budget? So I headed to the market....where I triumphed victorious and emerged with a six dollar pair of knock off high-top converse all-stars....ready to tackle that damn hot sharp volcano.
So the volcano was awesome, once to the top, we could feel the heat pouring out and smell the sulphur (sp?) as well. Once to the volcanic part it was very difficult to walk as the only footing was very sharp volcanic rock that was hot as crap. There was lava rushing down the volcano and I was a little on edge to be honest, especially once my all-stars started melting and my feet starting burning. But I made it off with time to spare and ready for the hike back down. All together it was a beautiful hike and a nice relaxed weekend. I even got to do the hike with some nice people from Korea, Israel, France, Argentina and New Jersey. I did a little shopping and bought some luxury items to bring back to San Andres for the week....ketchup, mustard and coffee.
So today the work at Maya Pedal was very exciting as well. I finished building my first bike, although I had much help and guidance from the other volunteer George, and nevermind that when the kid came to pick it up Carlos (runs the shop) had to take the whole bottom-bracket apart because I had put something in backwards....nonetheless, a victory. Then this afternoon, I got to try my hand at welding as someone ordered a tricycle. I am not sure how welding helmets are supposed to work but I found it very difficult that I couldn´t see anything at all with the helmet on until the torch was shooting fire everywhere. The way the helmet works is that everything is black in the little window, and then once the fire starts, everything lights up and you can see what you are welding. I know the helmet is supposed to protect your eyes from the light...but wouldn´t it be more efficient if you could see to begin with so you knew what you were lighting on fire? I asked Carlos why the helmet was so dark, and he said it was because there were no batteries....so maybe batteries would fix this problem. Anyway, so I welded this afternoon and was super stoked about that and glad to be building a tricycle. (Just so you know....this is no kiddy tricycle, this is an industrial tricycle, for carrying loads of stuff....just to clarify)
So this is most of the action from these parts. I am half-way finished with the autobiography of Malcolm X which is so far very interesting although he has been a hustler in Harlem for about 200 pages at this point. Today on the bus ride home I heard some Brian Adams which also lifted my spirits and reminded me of another reason I am lucky to be an American, no matter how far from home we are, our music is alwasy very close by. So before I go I´ll leave you with perhaps the most impressionable sight of the weekend.....as the bus was pulling out of the station to bring me back to San Andres for the week, I spotted a young women running for a bus balancing a huge basket of about 15 pineapples on top of her head, with a baby strapped to her back, and doing it all in high heels......whatta woman
lata!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Bicycles and International Friends...yay!!!!
So last time I wrote I had just finished a weekend in Chiapas, and after that, Jessica and Edwin and I passed a great Monday and played all day since it was Edwin´s birthday. We went to the movies and ate a great lunch with his family that consisted of more chicken dishes than I could imagine in one place....Edwins favorite food. We spent the night at Edwins family´s house and sat on the roof for hours drinking wine, talking about politics, life, telling jokes and enjoying our last night together. My wonderful friend Mckinley sent my package super fast and I got it on Monday, so I got up Tuesday morning at 6am and headed south to guatemala.
So today I am in Antigua Guatemala, and just had a great breakfast of coffee, scramled eggs, toast, potatoes and bacon....yumm. I am in good spirits and going on day three in Guatemala, so far it has been an adventure and let me tell you, Guatemala is a beautiful country and incredibly colorful. The womens clothing is so colorful, the landscape is so colorful and here in Antigua, even the buildings are colorful. I spent a long day on Tuesday leaving Tuxtla and Jessica at 6 am for the Guatemalan border. Once to the border, I crossed and waited two hours for a bus headed toward Xela. While at the border I met a really cool Belgian girl named Catarin and we stuck together for the rest of the day finding busses to Xela, finding out we were left off in a place that was not Xela, finding out how to get to Xela, and then finding a nice hostel in the evening. In the hostel I met a nice Israeli girl named Noa and she said she was going to Antigua the next day so I jumped along and Wed we spent on busses in route to Antigua. I will be leaving Antigua in about 3 hours.
So why am I going so fast in Guatemala? Well because I decided that I really wanted to get to Maya Pedal (the bicycle volunteer place) as early as possible so that if I really like it, I have the option of staying as long as I can. I talked to them on the phone yesterday and they sounded really positive, and I am really excited so I am heading out today to the town where Maya Pedal is, San Andres Itzapa, which as far as I can tell is super small...I cant find it on the map but I did see a bus yesterday with San Andres Itzapa written on it so I think thats a good bet.
So I dont know what internet will be like there...hopefully there will be a little internet cafe and ill update soon, telling of all the magical bike experiences i am having. Unfortunately, there will be no internet pictures but if you want to go to the maya pedal website maybe you can get an idea of what im doing...www.mayapedal.org
So, one thing I have been surprised by down here is how many travellers I have met who are on the road for a LONG time. Catarin the Belgian girl for instance, has been on the road for two months and will be travelling for a year....starting in mexico and ending in argentina. One of the british guys i met in the hostel lastnight started in mexico and has until december to end up in Peru. So...those of you that think I am crazy, compared to most people down here, I am an amateur.
So this is it for now....not too exciting of a blog entry but i will write more bicycle adventure packed entries later...love you!
Bree
So today I am in Antigua Guatemala, and just had a great breakfast of coffee, scramled eggs, toast, potatoes and bacon....yumm. I am in good spirits and going on day three in Guatemala, so far it has been an adventure and let me tell you, Guatemala is a beautiful country and incredibly colorful. The womens clothing is so colorful, the landscape is so colorful and here in Antigua, even the buildings are colorful. I spent a long day on Tuesday leaving Tuxtla and Jessica at 6 am for the Guatemalan border. Once to the border, I crossed and waited two hours for a bus headed toward Xela. While at the border I met a really cool Belgian girl named Catarin and we stuck together for the rest of the day finding busses to Xela, finding out we were left off in a place that was not Xela, finding out how to get to Xela, and then finding a nice hostel in the evening. In the hostel I met a nice Israeli girl named Noa and she said she was going to Antigua the next day so I jumped along and Wed we spent on busses in route to Antigua. I will be leaving Antigua in about 3 hours.
So why am I going so fast in Guatemala? Well because I decided that I really wanted to get to Maya Pedal (the bicycle volunteer place) as early as possible so that if I really like it, I have the option of staying as long as I can. I talked to them on the phone yesterday and they sounded really positive, and I am really excited so I am heading out today to the town where Maya Pedal is, San Andres Itzapa, which as far as I can tell is super small...I cant find it on the map but I did see a bus yesterday with San Andres Itzapa written on it so I think thats a good bet.
So I dont know what internet will be like there...hopefully there will be a little internet cafe and ill update soon, telling of all the magical bike experiences i am having. Unfortunately, there will be no internet pictures but if you want to go to the maya pedal website maybe you can get an idea of what im doing...www.mayapedal.org
So, one thing I have been surprised by down here is how many travellers I have met who are on the road for a LONG time. Catarin the Belgian girl for instance, has been on the road for two months and will be travelling for a year....starting in mexico and ending in argentina. One of the british guys i met in the hostel lastnight started in mexico and has until december to end up in Peru. So...those of you that think I am crazy, compared to most people down here, I am an amateur.
So this is it for now....not too exciting of a blog entry but i will write more bicycle adventure packed entries later...love you!
Bree
Monday, May 21, 2007
The Weekend Chiapan Stye
So today is Monday and I am checking email, washing clothes, calling my mom, reading tour books....all the detail kind of stuff to catch up after a big weekend. This weekend Jessica and I and her boyfriend Edwin went on a little excursion and had so much fun....here is what we did.
So Edwin has a car and we decided to go first to these secluded wonderful lagunas called Lagos de Colon. We drove about 3 hours through the awesome Chiapan landscape of sheep on the hillsides, rolling green-covered mountains, and family farms. We arrived at the lagunas and spent the afternoon jumping off of trees into the water, playing in waterfalls and swimming. The water of the lagunas was the purest and brightest blues I have ever seen....turquoise fresh water...ahhh.
So after the lagunas we headed to San Cristobol and spent the evening out on the town. We went to the local hipster bar and saw all the other dirty backpackers and drank mojitos and listened to good music...a fun time. On Sunday morning we decided to visit some of the smaller indigenous communities in the mountains.
So we headed to the communities and I have to say that this was one of the coolest things I have seen so far. These indigenous villages are very independent and while they welcome tourists to look around, they are pretty clear about who rules. I felt triple foreign in these villages which was cool. They spoke indigenous languages, wore traditional clothes and have very different customs. Also, they were very small....I mean some of the women were probably not four feet tall. We went into the main catholic church in the town and it was unlike anything I have ever seen. There were saints lining the walls and Jesus and John the Baptist and all the normal stuff, but then there was also pine straw allover the ground, people doing rituals with candles and coca-cola and live chickens (yes...live chickens...but alive for how long I dont know). It was wild, and awesome, and nice to be reminded how many new things there are out there.
I hope to go to Guatemala in the next couple of days. I am awaiting a package from my friend Mckinley of some stuff I left with her when I was in Mexico City....important stuff like my camera charger and glasses, dufus. Anyway, so if it gets here soon....ill be off soon, if not, then i wont be and may explore Chiapas more.
Yes Carrie, I am reading The Namesake and lastnight we watched the movie Seven Years in Tibet....truly good movie, and I recommend it.
Alright, this is it for now....peace!
So Edwin has a car and we decided to go first to these secluded wonderful lagunas called Lagos de Colon. We drove about 3 hours through the awesome Chiapan landscape of sheep on the hillsides, rolling green-covered mountains, and family farms. We arrived at the lagunas and spent the afternoon jumping off of trees into the water, playing in waterfalls and swimming. The water of the lagunas was the purest and brightest blues I have ever seen....turquoise fresh water...ahhh.
So after the lagunas we headed to San Cristobol and spent the evening out on the town. We went to the local hipster bar and saw all the other dirty backpackers and drank mojitos and listened to good music...a fun time. On Sunday morning we decided to visit some of the smaller indigenous communities in the mountains.
So we headed to the communities and I have to say that this was one of the coolest things I have seen so far. These indigenous villages are very independent and while they welcome tourists to look around, they are pretty clear about who rules. I felt triple foreign in these villages which was cool. They spoke indigenous languages, wore traditional clothes and have very different customs. Also, they were very small....I mean some of the women were probably not four feet tall. We went into the main catholic church in the town and it was unlike anything I have ever seen. There were saints lining the walls and Jesus and John the Baptist and all the normal stuff, but then there was also pine straw allover the ground, people doing rituals with candles and coca-cola and live chickens (yes...live chickens...but alive for how long I dont know). It was wild, and awesome, and nice to be reminded how many new things there are out there.
I hope to go to Guatemala in the next couple of days. I am awaiting a package from my friend Mckinley of some stuff I left with her when I was in Mexico City....important stuff like my camera charger and glasses, dufus. Anyway, so if it gets here soon....ill be off soon, if not, then i wont be and may explore Chiapas more.
Yes Carrie, I am reading The Namesake and lastnight we watched the movie Seven Years in Tibet....truly good movie, and I recommend it.
Alright, this is it for now....peace!
Friday, May 18, 2007
The trip so far
So it is time for another blog entry...I am on day ten of my current Central American adventure, tucked in an internet cafe in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico. Tuxtla is the capital of the state of Chiapas and is where my friend Jessica lives and works as an english teacher. Here is a quick recap so far.
For the first 5 days I was with my friend Mckinley, and we took Mexico City and nearby Cuernavaca by storm seeing old Aztec canals, Diego Rivera murals, a lost Chinese tourist, a duck in the city square (second biggest in the world), and other exciting things too. Mckinley headed north after 5 days to begin a new life and job in Guadalajara working for a tequila company and I headed south to see Jessica and continue on my eventual route which is mostly south.
I have to say, I do love Chiapas and think it is by far my favorite part of Mexico. I think it is only normal that I like it because it reminds me a lot of Kentucky, which I also love. Chiapas is the poorest state, it is mostly agricultural and rural, and also has incredible biodiversity and a breathtaking landscape. Yesterday I visited San Cristobol which was the center of the Zapatista uprising and has become somewhat famous for that. A few days ago we went on a boat ride through a nearby canyon and I saw cacti growing on the side of a mountain and a crocodile and also the site of where in the 1500´s the entire indigenous tribe of the Chiapa (sp?) jumped off a 1000 meter mountain and committed suicide so as not to be slaves to the Spanish. Intense eh?
Today here in Tuxtla we went to the zoo....which I will say was awesome....it features only animals native to Chiapas and it is set up kind of like a controlled wild habitat, so animals that will not eat you are just running around...rodents of all sizes, many birds, all kinds...just running around your feet and flying around your head. Of course the jaguars and 6 feet long crocodiles are a little more separate. thank god.
Jessica teaches from 7-9 in the morning and from 5-9 at night. This means we can play all day and I have the evenings to myself for a few hours while she teaches. Each night I have gone to the central park and watched live marimba bands and people dancing...it has been nice.
I have also had some time to read and I am reading a book about India by Jhumpa Lahiri (pulitzer prize winner) and have read some really interesting articles in national geographics Jess has lying around....articles about the Jamestown colony and introduction of invasive species, about oil companies in the Niger Delta, and one in depth but very informative article about heart surgery.
So in other backpacking news, I made the decision to spend a chunk of my time volunteering in Guatemala. My friend Shane recommended to me a very interesting organization called Maya Pedal that uses bicycles to empower local people. Much of what they do is repairing old bikes to give people for transportation, but they also do a lot of innovative work with bicycle powered machines like bicycle powered blenders and clothes washers etcetera to meet the needs of the community. I think I will spend about 2 weeks there but as the theme of this trip has been....i am open to changing that plan. I will probably head out of Mexico in the nest 5 days or so....we´l l see.
Sorry I cant put pictures on the blog right now...internet cafes leave much to be desired when it comes to downloading digital photos. I have access to internet pretty regularly so drop me a line and let me know whats up......hasta luego....baby
Bree
ps....here is something funny. In Spanish, the word ¨governor¨ is ¨gubernador¨so when Jessicas english students try to say governor, they translate it in their heads as ¨governator¨. They will be talking seriously about politics, and refer to someone as the governator. Jess told them there is only one of those...ha. I think that is hilarious....i hope you do too.
For the first 5 days I was with my friend Mckinley, and we took Mexico City and nearby Cuernavaca by storm seeing old Aztec canals, Diego Rivera murals, a lost Chinese tourist, a duck in the city square (second biggest in the world), and other exciting things too. Mckinley headed north after 5 days to begin a new life and job in Guadalajara working for a tequila company and I headed south to see Jessica and continue on my eventual route which is mostly south.
I have to say, I do love Chiapas and think it is by far my favorite part of Mexico. I think it is only normal that I like it because it reminds me a lot of Kentucky, which I also love. Chiapas is the poorest state, it is mostly agricultural and rural, and also has incredible biodiversity and a breathtaking landscape. Yesterday I visited San Cristobol which was the center of the Zapatista uprising and has become somewhat famous for that. A few days ago we went on a boat ride through a nearby canyon and I saw cacti growing on the side of a mountain and a crocodile and also the site of where in the 1500´s the entire indigenous tribe of the Chiapa (sp?) jumped off a 1000 meter mountain and committed suicide so as not to be slaves to the Spanish. Intense eh?
Today here in Tuxtla we went to the zoo....which I will say was awesome....it features only animals native to Chiapas and it is set up kind of like a controlled wild habitat, so animals that will not eat you are just running around...rodents of all sizes, many birds, all kinds...just running around your feet and flying around your head. Of course the jaguars and 6 feet long crocodiles are a little more separate. thank god.
Jessica teaches from 7-9 in the morning and from 5-9 at night. This means we can play all day and I have the evenings to myself for a few hours while she teaches. Each night I have gone to the central park and watched live marimba bands and people dancing...it has been nice.
I have also had some time to read and I am reading a book about India by Jhumpa Lahiri (pulitzer prize winner) and have read some really interesting articles in national geographics Jess has lying around....articles about the Jamestown colony and introduction of invasive species, about oil companies in the Niger Delta, and one in depth but very informative article about heart surgery.
So in other backpacking news, I made the decision to spend a chunk of my time volunteering in Guatemala. My friend Shane recommended to me a very interesting organization called Maya Pedal that uses bicycles to empower local people. Much of what they do is repairing old bikes to give people for transportation, but they also do a lot of innovative work with bicycle powered machines like bicycle powered blenders and clothes washers etcetera to meet the needs of the community. I think I will spend about 2 weeks there but as the theme of this trip has been....i am open to changing that plan. I will probably head out of Mexico in the nest 5 days or so....we´l l see.
Sorry I cant put pictures on the blog right now...internet cafes leave much to be desired when it comes to downloading digital photos. I have access to internet pretty regularly so drop me a line and let me know whats up......hasta luego....baby
Bree
ps....here is something funny. In Spanish, the word ¨governor¨ is ¨gubernador¨so when Jessicas english students try to say governor, they translate it in their heads as ¨governator¨. They will be talking seriously about politics, and refer to someone as the governator. Jess told them there is only one of those...ha. I think that is hilarious....i hope you do too.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
More Adventures of......La Pata Libre
So if you remember the little story I told about "La Pata Libre" when I came back from Nicaragua, then maybe you'll understand the title of this post. Here's a refresher in case we're at an impasse. I had a pet duck in Nicaragua, we bonded. We were going to eat the duck, but then it flew away, and I was secretly so happy and felt that possibly this was a sign for my life...that I was on the right track, although things were a little hairy there for a while. In Spanish "duck" is "pata"....so I am tackling life these days as La Pata Libre...in solidarity with my non-eaten Nicaraguan duck friend, and other ducks around the world.
So.....we have ducks of our own. A month or so ago, Ben decided he wanted ducks. He wanted them for eggs...so he researched and got the perfect kind of duck...Khaki Campbell's. They are good layers, they dont fly much and are altogether very chill, like us. So we ordered them in the mail, and a week ago we got a call from the post office saying our ducks were in....so we went and got 5 little beautiful day old birds, brought them home, rigged up a cage in the kitchen, and that is where they are to this day. The photos are of their firest day in the backyard and the cage in the house. They are growing so fast and spend about half of their lives sleeping, and the other half split between several activities which include trying to swim in the water bowl and knocking it over, pooping, peeping, eating, and looking cute.
So all is coming full circle in this blog entry. We have ducks of our own....and the Central American part is being revisited as well. Yes, as I am typing this, I am waiting for Ben to get home so he can take me to Louisville where I will spend the night and then fly out tomorrow for Mexico City. I will spend 2 months travelling around, ending up in Nicaragua and seeing many things between Mexico City and Managua, Nicaragua. My little brother Zak will meet me for my last few weeks and we will frolic around Nicaragua like happy little ducks and I will show him everything I loved and we will find new things to love together. I am super stoked.
Then I am back to Lexington in August to start my new wonderful job at Kentucky Refugee Ministries organizing adult education, literacy, cultural orientation, job placement, international form-filling out...and lots of other exciting things. For the first time in a while, I will say I have a bit of a plan.
So I will be updating this more regularly now that I have more stories to tell and since many of you will have limited ways of getting ahold of me. Love you much,
Bree
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Firsts
A week of firsts.
First time I have seen a real gun shoot an animal in the back of the head
First time I have watched someone go through the process of rupturing an appendix
First time I have tried to chop wood
I'll explain….in order.
So the status on the goat that I talked about in my last entry is that she did not recover, the calf died, and so we had to put her to sleep. John and Julia and Ben and I went down to check on her this weekend and she wasn't doing well, couldn't walk and was delirious. So in their expert opinions, John and Julia decided to put her out of her misery. So, I acted like I wasn't freaked out when John took a well-aimed shot and sent her on to more pleasant times in goat heaven. Afterwards I acted like I was checking out something in the distance…but really I shed a tear for that little goat. After John shot her, Julia did an autopsy and tried to discover what exactly went wrong. Her suspicion that another calf might be inside was unfounded, but we did find an extremely large bladder which I suspect meant she had some sort of infection. I can sympathize because I'm prone to bladder infections as well. If only I had known, I could have shared some of my wealth of cranberry drinking products.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Rainy Day Blabber
So I forgot to post this picture earlier...kind of hilairous huh? It's from a few weeks ago in Colorado. I never claimed I was the most experienced skiier on the course that day...but I will say I was the most fashionable.
Welp...can't say that I have too much to say, but it's been raining for about 8 hours and I just finished complaining to my mom on the phone about how bored I am....and she scolded me for not writing on the blog. She was right...so I'm gonna take this opportunity to blabber. Thanks for reading.
I finished reading a cool book that I am ready to recommend to anybody ready to learn about something they probably know nothing about. Enough suspense? Okay...the book is called All the Shah's Men. It's about the US-backed covert coup and overthrow of the Iranian prime minister Mossadegh in the 1950's. Now it may sound like a relatively particular situation that you could go on with your life without knowing the details of. But....the things is, this book explains so much about the current situation in Iran and the middle east and why there seems to be a lack of understanding between middle eastern and western cultures. It sheds light on how extremist governments have come to power in Iran and other developing countries and why the US is not viewed as the friendly giant. Anyway...it's good.
Ummm...also I want to make a general call to see if anyone would like to travel in Central America any time between immediately and May. Even as little time as a week is welcomed. I am stirring the idea of going back to the Nicaraguan area since I have some unfinished travelling business and a free airline ticket. Any takers?
So something I am learning out here on the ranch is how brutal nature is. It's true...and it's something that really has to be experienced to be understood. Today Julia went to check on the goats and she found a mother-goat giving birth to an infant. It was pouring down rain and the process wasn't going so well. The kid had been stuck with only its head outside of the mother for a long time (maybe hours) and its head was swollen to almost twice the normal size. It's eyes were swollen shut and the tongue swollen and hanging out of its mouth. Julia pulled the kid out and later John and Ben went back and carried the mother and kid to a drier area under some trees. Picture this...Ben with the adult slung over his shoulders and John with the kid in one hand and the placenta in the other. The mother was "completely stressed out" according to Ben and seemed to have another kid inside of her that will probably come soon. We'll see if the shade of the trees will help things pan out in favor of the baby and mother both. Julia's the real goat expert though and she didn't seem too optimistic. Nature can be cruel....but I guess that's the way it has to be. Yesterday we found one of the dogs chewing on an aborted deer fetus. Hmm.
So on a lighter note.....I ate a whole box of graham crackers today in one setting. I had forgotten how good they are.
Alright....I gotta run, I have to pretend like I am helping to cook dinner. Mostly that consists of moving things around in the kitchen while other people cook. It's not easy being this smooth.
Bree
Thursday, February 01, 2007
If you don't try hard in school you may become a gondola singer in Las Vegas
It's blog time again. There's so much to catch up on, as an unusual amount of stuff has happened in the last few weeks. Currently. Ben and I are in northern California, right outside of the city of Ukiah on the ranch with our friends John and Julia. Last time I wrote we were in Colorado and so I'll catch you up on what happened since then.
After Colorado and hanging out with Maggie we headed west and made some stops in Utah. We visited Arches National Park where we were both blown away by the beauty of the landscape. I am putting up some pictures and all of the ones with the rich red landscape and arches (hence the name) were taken there. We knew Utah was going to be a bit like another planet, I myself was a little worried about being brain-washed into marrying a man with several wives and trailers, but Utah turned out to also have the landscape of another planet. There were extreme red cliffs and deep caverns and jetting rock mountains. After that, we drove farther west and stayed a night in Zion National Park. Zion blew our minds as well and we saw interesting wildlife like moose and hiked around without seeing any other hikers. We decided that despite the cold temps, winter is the time to see national parks because you have the whole place to yourself. In Zion, Ben was itching to camp and against my better judgement we pitched the tent and slept out in the 10 degrees. I almost burnt my face off as I was trying to get myself as close to the fire as possible. I actually thought about barbecuing myself because it seemed to be the only option for warming up. But anyway, I made it through the frigid night (although when I woke up my hat and sleeping bag had frost on them). It was truly beautiful. So, Utah gets two thumbs up. And I think they would be pleased…because two is better than one.
Ben has an aunt and uncle that live in Los Angeles so we made that our next destination. From Zion we headed southwest and passed through Las Vegas. Ben wanted to blast through, but as we got closer, the excitement inside of me kept building and we agreed to stop for a couple hours. We did a crash course through the Venetian and Cesar's Palace and the Belagio. Vegas is truly the weirdest place on earth….actually, I don't think it is really on this earth. We had a lot of fun laughing at Vegas….one of the most hilarious sites was the man whose job it is to ride around on the fake canal around the Venetian Casino and sing opera songs. We bet a dollar and won two cents…so we were in an out of Vegas and only out 98 cents.
We got into Los Angeles and for two days Ben's aunt and uncle rolled out the red carpet. His aunt Judy showed us all around and we got to see so much including little Ethiopia, the University of Southern California, the farmer's market, Venice beach (fully equipped with men in speedo's working out on the beachside gym at muscle beach), went out for dinner and drinks in Pasadena and got stuck in a LA-style hour and a half traffic jam. After all that big city excitement, we were off from LA and headed north toward the ranch. We camped a couple of nights on the beaches and made tuna and soup on the back of Ben's pickup truck in downtown Santa Cruz as people with purple hair and leg warmers gave us frightened looksa. We made it to the ranch last Friday.
So what are we doing? Well here's the long and short of it. Our friends John and Julia are living in northern California on a ranch that is owned by Julia's family. The property is 4,000 acres and includes rolling hills (more like small mountains really) and lakes and redwood forests. John and Julia have taken over managing the property which is a huge job and are also starting their own goat business. So Ben and I have been lending our hands and learning about the goating and ranching life. One of the most stretching experiences was the morning new went horseback riding. I have been horseback riding several time in my life…but it has always been on a trail and with a horse that lives in a barn. John and Julia's horses run wild on their 4,000 acres and so we went out on the four-wheelers to "catch" the horses before we could ride them. I was a little uncomfortable and John kept telling me "just be calm and confident and they will respect you." I spent most of the afternoon trying to fake that I was calm and confident but in the end I'm pretty sure the horse wasn't fooled. It was good that they gave me the senior citizen 25 year old horse that was too old to try any games with me.
So usually we work during the day and eat wonderful food and read books and magazines at night. Julia makes cheese and the dairy products flow like water here. John has some homemade beer and sauerkraut that we munch on and Ben has reintroduced us all to the wonderful world of grits. I finished reading a wonderful book recommended by my mom called Angela's Ashes and have been reading lots of John and Julia's collections of the New Yorker magazine and listening to internet broadcasts of NPR. Maybe all that politics is having an affect on me since lastnight I had a dream that I pushed George Bush into a pool and then said some things to him that I can't really repeat but had something to do with how I envisioned his conversation going with Saint Peter at the pearly gates. I'm thinking about working on one of the democratic candidates' campaign and I haven’t narrowed down who it will be yet…but I'm leaning pretty heavily toward Barack Obama. What do you think?
So hopefully that gives you a bit of an idea what I've been up to. I'll put some pictures up on shutterfly that document some of our trip. We haven't really taken any pictures of our time here at the ranch, but I hope to do that soon and put them up as well. As for how long I am staying, I really have no idea. Ben and I are both planning to stay until we feel like moving on….so we'll see when that is.
So this is it for now….let me know what's going on with you all, and until next time, I'll be herding goats and bathing inconsistently.
With love
Bree
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Cali-for-ni-a
west-coast, WATCHOUT!!!
It's true....Ben and Bree are conquering the west-coast. We headed out of Lexington on Monday with the Mazda truck, a new $65 topper, and an unknown route and an unknown day of arrival at our final destination of Mendecino California. Ben has some friends who live on a goat ranch in northern California and so we had to ask ourselves, is there anything we could be doing with our lives right now that sounds any better than playing with goats? The answer was definitely a no...so we are California bound. We passed through St. Louis, and Kansas at record speed and have spent the last day and a half with our friend Maggie in Breckinridge, Colorado. In St. Louis, we didn't want to pay the $5 to park at the arch, so we did a "rolling stop" and snapped individual pictures with the arch behind us, and we were back on the road. Once you reach Kansas, you actually enter another time dimension where you feel that each passing hour may actually be an eternity. There were several roadside attractions advertised including the birth place of Bob Dole and Arlen Specter, the "world's largest prairie dog", a "36 inch live donkey", a "giant van gogh painting", to name a few. Maybe we are losers...but we decided the most exciting part of Kansas was actually the continental breakfast at the Holiday Inn. (I'm talking waffles, fruit loops, boiled eggs...)
Anyway, so we got to Breckinridge Colorado and have been hanging out and loving the scenery and freezing our arses off. We went cross-country skiing yesterday and are recouping today. I think we're headed to Moab Utah tomorrow. Hope all is well....give us a call! Ben's cell is 502-389-8982 and I dont have one. Peace!
Bree and Ben (although Ben had nothing to do with this post)
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