asleep on a sunbeam

So... Where to begin? I am back in Santa Lucía, sitting upstairs with my fellow compañeras as we share pictures and reminisce over our various (mis)adventures, both here and now in Antigua.

After a week away--over three days of traveling and then three days in Antigua--it's weird to be back, thrown back into a routine that...never really existed? We've moved from the downstairs dorms up into the apartments, which means that I now have a corner of a room that isn't really mine, except on the days/weekends that I come back from Conce. But weird living sitch aside, it really is nice to be back and in one place for at least a few days at a time.

cobblestone streets of antigua!

Anyway. Antigua was... A. Mazing. It was really a little bit of everything. A lot of quiet reflection on our 16-hour bus ride, and then a lot of walking up and down cute cobblestone streets, admiring the old buildings and plethora of little shops and restaurants. A morning at the mercado, asking for bargains on everything from a hammock to earrings to a knock-off Toy Story 3 as others shopped for pillowcases and table runners. An afternoon on active Vulcán Pacaya, complete with the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen, marshmallow-roasting over lava, racing i.e. slipping up to the top just so we could say we did, and then hiking back down by headlamp/flashlight, led the whole way by our feisty and nimble lead "tigre," aka our guide Sergio. A night of wandering indecision before finally settling into a 10:30 pm dinner and topping it off with dancing at a nightclub. Aggressive Latin men included, of course.

sergio roasting our marshmallows over lava

sunset on top of vulcán pacaya

"pastel capitalista", mocha, and journal
(me in a nutshell)

A morning by myself in a beautifully decorated coffee shop with a tie-dye papier maché ceiling and painted walls, quietly listening to music and writing in my journal while enjoying a mocha and a huge slice of carrot cake. My best morning, obviously :) And in the afternoon, riding in the bed of a truck with our dresses flying in the air, only to hike down a slippery mud slope in our dresses and flip flops to arrive at the promised Earth Lodge, a peaceful and tranquil avocado farm where we spent the afternoon lounging in hammocks overlooking Guatemala City and Vulcán Agua, the evening feasting on turkey, stuffing, and "pumpkin" (ocote) pie for Canadian Thanksgiving, and the night sitting by the fireplace, talking and laughing with hippies from all over the world who had alternately lived in Korea, Brazil, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia. Made me wonder if I could/would ever live like that, constantly moving and traveling just to shake things up, meet new people, and share new experiences.

my new friends!
byrón, juan carlos, y josé
campo de fútbol, earth lodge

Another quiet day to myself, spent wandering alone and getting lost in the streets of Antigua, people-watching in the park, writing and drawing in coffee shops, chatting with random locals in restaurants, telling the same woman again and again no, I would not like to buy your tapestry... A glorious hour in a different park, listening to music as I watched dads walk alongside their daughters, young teenage lovers playing tonsil hockey against a tree, and one lone old man, sitting quietly by himself on a fountain. And finally, our final night spent at none other but the Jungle Party Inn. A hostel that had hanging multi-colored lamps to set a disco atmosphere, but lacked locks on its doors; had hot showers and internet, but no towels or outlets; and of course, a record number of bitchy receptionists. But only a few hours later, at 3 am, we were back on our way to begin our 32-hour viaje back to Santa Lucía. Fret not, we had misadventures there as well--our bus almost left Liz at a random Texaco stop in Siguatepeque, and then we ran over a cow...

But! Now we're back. Back to the frontera, where there are definitely no other gringos or chinitas walkin the streets, where anything but a 4WD truck or bus on the dirt roads would make us look twice, where we sleep with the sounds of roosters by night and work with the sounds of cows by day, where ants crawl into my clothes and bite me in awkward places, where mis Marías get jealous after seeing me hug Don Luís...

It's good to be back :)