Rocking that *International* Paradise

All in all, the beach weekend for Steph’s birthday was pretty standard as beach weekends go.  Plenty of sun, relaxation, good conversation, and waves.  But there were a few things that made this weekend worth telling about.  The first was my introduction to the yellow slime phenomenon of Guatemala/the Paredon Surf House (where we stayed).  We’re not sure what this yellow slime on the water is, exactly—some sort of pollution surely—but every now and then a patch of it would show up on the ocean water and we’d exit the waves to wait for it to wash down the shore.  I don’t know how to explain it—other than icky yellow foam and bubbles floating on the water.  Thankfully, it was not always present, and for the most part we were able to enjoy the water and the waves.  The beach at Paredon is great because unlike at places like Monterrico, the current is controlled enough that you can usually go into the ocean without fearing for your life.  I s...

Yesterday was a change for me, coming from a school where Valentine’s Day is (for some undisclosed reason) a taboo holiday, to a school where it is celebrated in force.  At my old school, students would bring in valentines and presents for each other, but after homeroom in the morning, the chocolates and teddy bears and flowers had to disappear into lockers…or they’d be confiscated.  It was a covert celebration each year.  At my new school, students are encouraged to come out of uniform—wearing red or pink.  Student government sells roses all day (since they grow all year round here, they’re cheaper—students could buy a dozen for $7.)  Kids brought in goodies for each other (and their teachers!) At morning recess, there was a special tiendita (snack counter) where the APM (PTA equivalent) moms sold Valentines snacks.  At lunch, there was pizza and sushi for sale, as well as cheesecake.  The pile of goodies I had amassed before 1st pe...

This past weekend’s hike up Acatenango, the third tallest volcano in Central America, was vastly different from the excursion two weeks ago to Volcan Atitlan.  For a start, the group was larger, with 13 people in our group.  Also, we went with a tour company—Old Town Outfitters—and therefore had 4 other people in our group, 3 bilingual guides, and 6 local men to carry extra gear (bringing our group’s total number to 26 people).  And, it was an overnight trip, which meant we didn’t hike the entire distance on Saturday, nor did we have to start before dawn.  It also meant we were wearing backpacks and carrying more weight than at Atitlan.  Still, and I may be crazy, but I think Acatenango was a little easier than climbing Atitlan.  Maybe it’s just that the first hike did its job as a training run and strengthened my uphill climbing muscles.  Maybe it was my mindset.  Or maybe it was the fact that we were in a large group and the guide paced us,...

On Monday, we had a day off of school.  However, I was still out the door and in the school parking lot by 5:30am, along with several other teachers.  Why?  We had a mission that we’d been told would probably take all day: transferring the titles of our cars from their previous owners to our names.  Four of us left the school parking lot and arrived at the offices where we needed to be by 6:30am.  The doors to the mall opened at 7am, and then we could get in line for the SAT (Guatemalan DMV) and get our paperwork in order. Transferring a title in Guatemala is no easy process. While Brett held our place in line for SAT, Geoff and I went with Don Ruben (our driver from the school) to the notary/copy office to get the paperwork started.  There, we found out that none of us had brought enough cash.  The school representative working with us had told us to bring about half as much as we would actually need.  So, we had to go find an ATM in...

Originally, the weekend before last was meant to be a relaxing escape in San Pedro at Lake Atitlan.  But then we met Will and Fabian, two US engineers working on a project in Guatemala, and when they posed the idea of coming along with us and hiking Volcan Atitlan on Saturday, Amy and I jumped at the opportunity to use the 5 hour hike as training for our trek up Acatenango the next weekend.   The plan was that on Friday afternoon, Amy and I would take my car and meet the guys at their hotel at 5pm (the earliest they could be ready to leave) and head for San Lucas Toliman where we would stay the night and depart for the hike early Saturday morning. Due to intense traffic (and okay, a few wrong turns) what should have been a 15 minute drive for Amy and I turned into an hour and a half crawling through cars that weren’t moving.  When we arrived at the hotel at 6:30pm, we made the joint decision that the best course of action would be to get dinner, then leave the...