You would think a volcano erupting would be enough.
You know there are only so many natural disasters a girl from Saskatchewan can take.
But just to put some peanuts on top of the cherry, on top of the sundae of a disastrous week; Tropical Storm Agatha decides to touch her ugly face on Guatemalan shores yesterday.
Honestly, I was still a little freaked out by the whole volcano erupting thing that I really didn't think much of the incessant rain all day yesterday. I figured it might cause some problems with the sewer system because of all of the ash still on the streets but I didn't think it would end up being the national disaster that it is.
Most of the day yesterday was spent in my apartment. A Spanish lesson in the afternoon ended with the sudden blackout across the city at 6 o'clock. No power means no Internet, means no connection to the outside world, which leaves 2 Canadians and 1 U.S.-ian in a state of distress.
One quick call to our Guate Knight in Shining Armour (who's power was still on). And we were on our way to Zone 16 to ride out the power outage. Unfortunately, upon our arrival at his casa, the power outage had made its way out to Zone 16. Which left us without power up the side of a mountain during a tropical storm. Fabulous.
We were not there long before receiving a call from our school caretaker who said "You are going to have to make a decision right now: go home now or stay there because there are mudslides and roads being washed out where you are."
The power was back on and the TV said the worst of it was going to be tomorrow. So what do we do: stay on the side of a mountain where there are mudslides or try and drive home where there could be mudslides? We chose to brave the mountain side, being assured there were 5 other routes to our place besides the one that was already washed out.
The ride home was quite interesting . . . we ended up taking this cobble stone road down the side of the mountain. I am pretty sure it had a grade of 75%, this would scare me on a regular day let alone in the middle of a tropical storm where trees are falling left and right and the roads have the sides of the mountain on their back. Katie didn't breath the entire ride home, and Miguel and Kara danced to Reggaton. It was quite the contrast in moods.
I don't think I could have been happier to turn onto Reforma and see my home away from home the El Cortijo. Needless to say I was prepared to be stuck at home all day due to the massive rainfall and winds that were supposed to be on its way.
Waking up this morning to no rain was a bit of a shock. I figured for sure we would be getting the worst of it today, but Tropical Storm Agatha has been downgraded and we seem to be in the clear.
The government has however said that school will be cancelled for the week. I do believe that the final say will be coming from the devil herself (our school director) and she likes to take her time making these types of decisions. Plus she is like 180 years old so she never thinks anything is a big deal because she has seen worse.
Next blog . . . happy!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Not gonna lie . . . this $#!| ain't nothing like snow!
So we survived the night.
No tremor through the night and I managed to sleep after a 1:30 AM chat with the mom.
After waking up this morning I decided I needed to walk around and check out the streets.
Here is what we observed:
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago . . . I thought it was a pretty view.
The second peak/mound from the right is the Volcan Pacaya.
I stole this one from Katie, this is Pacaya a couple of days ago.
It was already becoming more active than usual.
This was my balcony last night during the ash/sand rain.
Parking lot behind my building. Clean up crews going hard already.
A car in the parking lot behind the building.
When we were walking later this morning we saw people pressure washing the ash off of their cars.
I'm pretty sure that has got to be something like sand blasting, probably not the wisest decision.
A little ash isn't going to stop the chicken buses.
Although I did notice much fewer on the streets than usual.
This roof top is normally red.
More people working hard on the clean up.
A little Canadian shout out in the ash on Reforma.
Clean sidewalk . . . Ash sidewalk.
Well these chloroplasts are going to have a hard time performing photosynthesis.
More working hard while I took photos.
I have much experience with snow ruts, ash ruts are definitely new to me.
I thought I could rotate this one once I put it on but apparently not.
This is a giant pile of ash on the sidewalk. Tilt head left!
Truck full of ash.
Bags full of ash.
No tremor through the night and I managed to sleep after a 1:30 AM chat with the mom.
After waking up this morning I decided I needed to walk around and check out the streets.
Here is what we observed:
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago . . . I thought it was a pretty view.
The second peak/mound from the right is the Volcan Pacaya.
I stole this one from Katie, this is Pacaya a couple of days ago.
It was already becoming more active than usual.
This was my balcony last night during the ash/sand rain.
Parking lot behind my building. Clean up crews going hard already.
A car in the parking lot behind the building.
When we were walking later this morning we saw people pressure washing the ash off of their cars.
I'm pretty sure that has got to be something like sand blasting, probably not the wisest decision.
A little ash isn't going to stop the chicken buses.
Although I did notice much fewer on the streets than usual.
This roof top is normally red.
More people working hard on the clean up.
A little Canadian shout out in the ash on Reforma.
Clean sidewalk . . . Ash sidewalk.
Well these chloroplasts are going to have a hard time performing photosynthesis.
More working hard while I took photos.
I have much experience with snow ruts, ash ruts are definitely new to me.
I thought I could rotate this one once I put it on but apparently not.
This is a giant pile of ash on the sidewalk. Tilt head left!
Truck full of ash.
Bags full of ash.
So apparently the worst is not over. Another violent eruption is a possibility.
The big worry here is the sand/ash getting into the Guate sewers.
To much ash in the sewers makes a major risk for flooding.
And with rainy season in full effect this possibility is much higher.
Anyway, my bag is still packed. However, the buses are sold out to El Salvador so I am not sure if I need to leave I will be making it anywhere. I will be safe from the flooding on the 13th floor, not so safe from an earthquake.
Life is never dull in CA.
More updates to come.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
"Look it's Fire Snow"
Going back 3 months: "Okay kid I will give my number in case of emergencies."
Tonight: "A la teacher, I know I am not supposed to call you but its raining sand"
"Raining sand?"
"Ya, raining sand. The volcano is erupting and the rain is black. Go look outside!"
Upon walking out on my balcony, what was normally a lovely brownish/orange was black. At this point in the evening I am still calm. Didn't think to much of it at first.
Later: "A la teacher, my mom says that there will probably be another tremor around midnight and it could be a bigger one. You should pack a bag with water, clothes, a flashlight and anything you might need."
So at this point I begin to freak out, good thing I called the mom after the first phone call because I imagine the second would have caused a little bit more stress.
Unfortunately for my P.I.A.C.s I was freaking out whilst sending Skype messages to them about the risk surrounding us. It is the first time since 1998 that the Volcan Pacaya which is continually erupting has erupted in this magnitude. Parts of the city are covered in up to 3 inches of ash, people have disappeared/died near the volcano, and the towns near the volcano have been evacuated.
On the plus side of everything school is cancelled and I get to sleep in after a brutal week of school. So we have decided that we shall ride out the eruption together in Kara's apartment on the 10th floor, the lowest of us three. So after packing my bag and heading down to Kara's I come to realize I am the only one prepared for the potential evacuation. Katie brought beer, Kara is in boxers and I have my pillow, computer, flashlight and world in my backpack. Apparently I was quite the site walking into the apartment, I was immediately ridiculed by the P.I.A.C. who laughed at me upon my arrival. My response: "Well somebody has to bring the flashlight and granola bars." Always a control freak . . . never in control!
With a call from our school caretaker Ana saying "school is officially cancelled stay calm. Are you doing alright?"
"My bag is packed"
"And where are you going?"
"I don't know but I am ready to go there."
So the news updates have been pretty cool, provided it doesn't get any crazier. In all of the excitement of the evening, the only excitement from Kara has been "Look its fire snow!" Its nice to have the calm side to my excited, all I ask is that she put on some pants and put her passport in a bag!
I will keep you all updated to the events at hand.
Tonight: "A la teacher, I know I am not supposed to call you but its raining sand"
"Raining sand?"
"Ya, raining sand. The volcano is erupting and the rain is black. Go look outside!"
Upon walking out on my balcony, what was normally a lovely brownish/orange was black. At this point in the evening I am still calm. Didn't think to much of it at first.
Later: "A la teacher, my mom says that there will probably be another tremor around midnight and it could be a bigger one. You should pack a bag with water, clothes, a flashlight and anything you might need."
So at this point I begin to freak out, good thing I called the mom after the first phone call because I imagine the second would have caused a little bit more stress.
Unfortunately for my P.I.A.C.s I was freaking out whilst sending Skype messages to them about the risk surrounding us. It is the first time since 1998 that the Volcan Pacaya which is continually erupting has erupted in this magnitude. Parts of the city are covered in up to 3 inches of ash, people have disappeared/died near the volcano, and the towns near the volcano have been evacuated.
On the plus side of everything school is cancelled and I get to sleep in after a brutal week of school. So we have decided that we shall ride out the eruption together in Kara's apartment on the 10th floor, the lowest of us three. So after packing my bag and heading down to Kara's I come to realize I am the only one prepared for the potential evacuation. Katie brought beer, Kara is in boxers and I have my pillow, computer, flashlight and world in my backpack. Apparently I was quite the site walking into the apartment, I was immediately ridiculed by the P.I.A.C. who laughed at me upon my arrival. My response: "Well somebody has to bring the flashlight and granola bars." Always a control freak . . . never in control!
With a call from our school caretaker Ana saying "school is officially cancelled stay calm. Are you doing alright?"
"My bag is packed"
"And where are you going?"
"I don't know but I am ready to go there."
So the news updates have been pretty cool, provided it doesn't get any crazier. In all of the excitement of the evening, the only excitement from Kara has been "Look its fire snow!" Its nice to have the calm side to my excited, all I ask is that she put on some pants and put her passport in a bag!
I will keep you all updated to the events at hand.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Semena Santa: "Andrea, I'm just not sure how long you want to look at a bunch of rocks for."
When planning for this trip I asked numerous people for advice. Their advice included: spend a day and a half in Tikal, wear long pants, lots of bug spray and comfortable shoes. Upon suggesting a day and a half to the daddio he responded with "Andrea, I'm just not sure how long you want to look at a bunch of rocks for." So that was it, it was going to be one day. And I was determined I was going to spend the entire day there . . .
Temple 1 from behind.
(When looking at the ruins in my pictures try to imagine them painted bright vibrant colors as that is how they were when the empire ruled. They take on a whole new immensity! It's almost unbelievable.)
Temple 2.
I did however take some of the other advice: comfortable shoes and bug spray. I skipped the one on the pants as it was 42C the day before (and ended up hitting 44C + humidity that day) and I wasn't going to wear pants and risk overheating. The day began at 4:30 am as we awaited our shuttle outside the hotel. It was already hot at 4:30 am so choosing shorts over pants was definately a wise decision.
The Daddio and I at the Great Plaza.
Daddio!
The shuttle ride was fine except for the uninformed passengers who thought their ticket included the 150Q admission to the park, but it actually only included the ride and the tour guide. Being the good Canadians that we are Ian and I ended up lending 2 Norweigan girls 200Q. It remains to be seen whether the money will be returned or not. (They actually came to our hotel later that day and paid us back, I was actually shocked. I thought for sure we would never see that 200Q again.)
Daddio again . . .
Giant face carved in one of the ruins.
The tour was really awesome and included discussions of halucinogens and the end of the world in 2012. The park is getting ready for another Y2K craze. Apparently at the millenium the park was insane, people could barely walk it was so packed. I will make sure not to return during this time. Talk about fear of crowds!
From the top of Temple 2: Big-I filming the vastness of the park.
(To the left are many sacrifice alters where jaguar skins allow with food and humans were left for the gods. Here is where the drugs come into play the people did not know they were about to be sacrificed as they were given halucinogens and paralytics before the sacrifice. False fact: In the movie Apocalypto they show sacrifices from the top of the temples, this was never the case sacrifices were only made on the sacrificial alters.)
The stairs up Temple 2. We thought they were pretty scary . . . until we climbed temple 5.
The view of of the Plaza from Temple 5.
The stairs up Temple 5 . . . it was pretty much like climbing a ladder 50 m in the air . . . man was my heart beating! (It's actually starting to race a little thinking about it!)
Temple 5 . . . thank god I don't have a fear of heights otherwise I am sure I would have recurring nightmares of this Temple.
The view from Temple 4 . . . the tallest of the Temples, it stands 60 m and is only partially uncovered. All you can really see is jungle coming every way around this Temple except you can see the top sticking out from the trees from the other temples it is pretty amazing.
The Daddio and Ian on top of Temple 4. (The climb up this one wasn't quite as scary as the others so the men were able to do it!)
Looking over the edge of Temple 4 . . . you can't see the ground!
Temple 4 from the base . . . you can see they are still working on this pyramid. Our tour guide said this was the pyramid from the Star Wars Movies or Star Trek or some star movie I have never seen.
I heard a lot about the howler monkeys before coming and to watch out for them because they steal. Sadly we didn't see too many monkeys but here was one having a little lunch.
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This Toucan was actually on of the coolest parts of the trip. The other groups tour guide actually heard this Toucan while sitting on the bench in the park and jumped up and was like come guys a flying banana and started running this way and that way listing to the flying bananas call and scoped it out in a tree across the park and let us use his binoculars to find it . . . he also took this photo through his binoculars! It was so amazing to see someone do that!
One last fact: Maya actually means "I don't understand you" . . . It was what the people at the Mayan Yucatan said to the Spanish when they arrived!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Semena Santa: Flores
Day 1: Flores
You would think riding a bus all night would be tiring and would have left me wanting a rest, but nope! I wanted breakfast, a shower (I needed to wash the bus off of me), a coffee and to start my day.
Dad had already arranged a boat ride for us for that day. 150Q for 3 hours on a boat around the lake not a bad deal. (We later tried to book a boat ride around the Caye Caulker island in Belize, they wanted $150US and it would only take an hour and a half.)
The first stop on our boat ride was an island which contained a zoo, or perhaps a Zoo Island. Besides zoo's being so sad, this one was pretty cool because we were able to see alot of the native wildlife fairly up close.
The lake was almost perfect except it had somewhat of an odd bottom. At first it was so rocky you couldn't stant and then we hit a bottom that felt somewhat like walking in a mixture of mushed kiwi and cornstarch. I am not sure that description makes sense but it was the first thing that came to mind. This lake also contains Crocodiles. Our boat guide Carlos told us: "4 metres . . . but no problem, don't hurt humans. I let my little kids swim in here all the time!" Finishing our tour of the lake we returned to Flores for some lunch and a siesta. Unfortunately, I do not siesta very well. So I am sitting on my hotel balcony listening to my Sirius (who made the long trip from NB in Ians backpack) and writing this blog.
Tomorrow, Tikal. The most amazing site in the Mayan world.
You would think riding a bus all night would be tiring and would have left me wanting a rest, but nope! I wanted breakfast, a shower (I needed to wash the bus off of me), a coffee and to start my day.
Dad had already arranged a boat ride for us for that day. 150Q for 3 hours on a boat around the lake not a bad deal. (We later tried to book a boat ride around the Caye Caulker island in Belize, they wanted $150US and it would only take an hour and a half.)
Big-I, P.I.A.C., and Daddio on our boat ride around Lake Peten.
The "wild boars" and Mo the Maccaw: I am not sure how wild the boars really were as we were right in the pen with them. Mo was also loose but his wings were clipped, he was really awesome though he climbed all the way down the cage with his beak to come and say hi to me!
Crocodile!
A very angry Puma!
The Jaguar and the man who will meet his death one day by either the Jaguar or the Puma. He was throwing stuff at them trying to get them to move around. Seriously dude, leave them alone its +42C plus humidity!
Spider Monkey: I want one!
The ride continued to a place where the lake was so perfectly blue you could have sworn it was the Caribean and not a fresh water lake. It was here that we swam. The lake was the absolute perfect temperature I could have swam in it all day.
Kara and I.
. 
The Schelers.
Flores Island from the boat.
Sunset view from our hotel balcony.
Semena Santa: The Departure
THE DEPARTURE
We had prepurchased bus tickets for a 9:00 pm departure and overnight bus ride to Santa Elena.
We were told it would be a non-stop bus on a luxury busline. Unfortunately that was not the case. As we waited in the bus depot in Zone 1 (the area we were told never to go alone and especially not to go at night). The bus depot was a little scary, mostly grungy. But what place in Guate City isn't grungy, so overall not so bad. The bus seemed fine at first, not the Linea Dorada Luxury Bus I had hoped for but it would do. Besides being colder than sitting in a snowbank in the middle of January and having the person in front of me reclined so far onto my lap I could pick lice off of his head if I wanted to, it had airconditioning and the seats reclined.
At 4:30 am our comfortable-ish ride was rudely interrupted. We pulled ocer on the side of the highway and people started to get off. At first we ignored this and kept sleeping, but once we realised the bus was near empty I figures maybe I should check outside and see what was going on. I get outside and thankfully met a man in my disoriented sleep state that informed me I was to get on the other bus that was in front of our bus on the highway. I had a mild freak out ran into the bus grabbed my bag and Kara and we ran to the other bus which was unfortunately pretty much full. Leaving Kara sitting with a girl who's ass was on her lap and me sitting with a boy who listened to loud enough techno that it hurt my eardrums.
The rest of the ride was pretty miserable as the bus stopped every 10 minutes for the remaining 2.5 hours of our ride. There was no airconditioning and the seats didn't recline and the seats were so dirty I was scared to put my head back in fear of what may move into my hair!
Finally arriving in Santa Elena was very relieving, as I was 5 minutes away from getting off that bus and walking the remainder of the way. Upon arriving we were greeted by our cab driver who seemed okay until we told him our hotel hame and he thought perhaps we would like a ride to Tikal instead.
"No, No Senor. Flores. Hotel Peten. Seulemente!"
He never found the hotel, asking every person he saw where it was. I finally say something familiar witting on the corner of the sidewalk having a cigarette. I am pretty sure I was out of the cab before he stopped. Throwing money at him an running to something familiar from home. My daddio!
We had prepurchased bus tickets for a 9:00 pm departure and overnight bus ride to Santa Elena.
We were told it would be a non-stop bus on a luxury busline. Unfortunately that was not the case. As we waited in the bus depot in Zone 1 (the area we were told never to go alone and especially not to go at night). The bus depot was a little scary, mostly grungy. But what place in Guate City isn't grungy, so overall not so bad. The bus seemed fine at first, not the Linea Dorada Luxury Bus I had hoped for but it would do. Besides being colder than sitting in a snowbank in the middle of January and having the person in front of me reclined so far onto my lap I could pick lice off of his head if I wanted to, it had airconditioning and the seats reclined.
At 4:30 am our comfortable-ish ride was rudely interrupted. We pulled ocer on the side of the highway and people started to get off. At first we ignored this and kept sleeping, but once we realised the bus was near empty I figures maybe I should check outside and see what was going on. I get outside and thankfully met a man in my disoriented sleep state that informed me I was to get on the other bus that was in front of our bus on the highway. I had a mild freak out ran into the bus grabbed my bag and Kara and we ran to the other bus which was unfortunately pretty much full. Leaving Kara sitting with a girl who's ass was on her lap and me sitting with a boy who listened to loud enough techno that it hurt my eardrums.
The rest of the ride was pretty miserable as the bus stopped every 10 minutes for the remaining 2.5 hours of our ride. There was no airconditioning and the seats didn't recline and the seats were so dirty I was scared to put my head back in fear of what may move into my hair!
Finally arriving in Santa Elena was very relieving, as I was 5 minutes away from getting off that bus and walking the remainder of the way. Upon arriving we were greeted by our cab driver who seemed okay until we told him our hotel hame and he thought perhaps we would like a ride to Tikal instead.
"No, No Senor. Flores. Hotel Peten. Seulemente!"
He never found the hotel, asking every person he saw where it was. I finally say something familiar witting on the corner of the sidewalk having a cigarette. I am pretty sure I was out of the cab before he stopped. Throwing money at him an running to something familiar from home. My daddio!
Semena Santa: Let the vacation begin!
I've been ready for this break since my first week here.
Leaving at 6:00 am and getting home at 5:00 pm takes its toll on a person after 3 months of doing it.
So here is the plan:
-1 week
-2 bus rides
-1 ferrie ride
-a plane ride back to Guate
-and 2 countries!
Friday night I get off the phone with my daddio who has already arrived in Flores with Ian and have booked our trip to Tikal 4:30 am Sunday and and a 5:00 am departure for Belize on Monday morning. (At this point I haven't even left Guate City and my next 3 days are already planned!)
Guess I should probably get myself to Flores, ASAP.
Leaving at 6:00 am and getting home at 5:00 pm takes its toll on a person after 3 months of doing it.
So here is the plan:
-1 week
-2 bus rides
-1 ferrie ride
-a plane ride back to Guate
-and 2 countries!
Friday night I get off the phone with my daddio who has already arrived in Flores with Ian and have booked our trip to Tikal 4:30 am Sunday and and a 5:00 am departure for Belize on Monday morning. (At this point I haven't even left Guate City and my next 3 days are already planned!)
Guess I should probably get myself to Flores, ASAP.
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