Yesterday was definitely a bit of a wash. I really don’t remember anything of note, except perhaps making a joke with another teacher. Apparently in Spanish if you refer to yourself as “caliente”, well things get interesting. My teacher asked me to ask another teacher (after I made the mistake of referring to myself as “caliente”) if she was “caliente”, which naturally resulted in a lot of giggles about it. Apparently it was sort of a running joke between my teacher and Myra, the teacher in the next desk over. Spanish jokes are fantastic. Mainly because, well they are in Spanish!
But otherwise the day was fairly dull. We were supposed to have salsa classes, which just didn’t happen because of the heavy rain. Instead, happy hour. Which I found slightly awkward with my still modest amount of Spanish. It’s weird to be able to comprehend more than you can speak. It is also incredibly frustrating, because all you end up saying is “si, si, si” rather than actually contributing anything of consequence. But as my teacher says “poco a poco”. I also had a nap, which frankly was awesome.
Today however, I can report was very interesting. Mostly in a good way. I thought I had studied a lot, but realized in the morning how little I had really grasped from the previous day. So my breakfast came with a side order of cramming. All in all the class was great, minus the fact that I’m now working on “this, that, these, those” and frankly in Spanish it all sounds the same. It hurt my brain when you would use “esta” and “esta” (this one should have an accent, but I can’t do it on my mac) in the same sentence; and they mean completely different things. By the end of the class my head was nearing metaphoric explosion and I definitely was grateful for the bell ending class.
Although I made another fairly crude joke today (apparently that is all I am capable of in Guatemala). In Antigua it is rare for a tourist to walk past a shop without someone trying to hand you a flyer or inviting you inside for something or another. So today during my class a guy walked around handing out flyers for some tour to Rio Dulce. I made a joke that I should use such paper as toilet paper. Now, this is probably not appropriate for some, but apparently it was hilarious to my teacher. She proceeded to walk around and tell the other teachers and then more people were “in” on the joke. In any case I had a good chuckle about it, especially after the ese, esta, aquello business.
I also signed up today to visit Volcan Pacaya (not papaya as I later told Gladis, apparently I confuse words too...). From the guest house only Emma and I signed up. Emma is a new entrance to the Guest House and hails from Sweden. Also from Sweden was the other Sevilla student who decided to join in on the fun, Theres. The three of us were escorted to the ‘tourismo’ bus, which we thought would take us to Volcan Pacaya. Instead it drove us near the outside of town and then pulled over. The driver got out and said “un momento”. Which turned into 10 minutes. Finally I yelled “Senor, que pasa?” and he informed us that he did not in fact drive to Volcan Pacaya, instead he was waiting for a different bus with a driver who would take us. Which was another 5 minutes. I ended up being separated from mis amigas and ending up sitting way in the back. Which ended up being next to two guys from Quebec! Jan (pronounced Yan) and Mike.
Both were quite friendly, and Mike apparently has even spent time in my hometown and Fort McMurray, so he even knew my neck of the woods. Additionally they gave me some pointers for when I traveled to Costa Rica, including the name of some guy who apparently runs an adventure service (think zip lines, etc.) and will show you the ropes. Just what I need!
The scenery driving to Volcan Pacaya was beautiful. The rainy season here certainly makes the landscape lush. Once we arrived at the entrance of the Volcan Pacaya park, we were greeted with a man selling ponchos and marshmallows. Which my fellow Canadians obliged the vendor by purchasing marshmallows to roast on the lava, or in reality minor hot spots. I was even able to use my expanding Spanish skills to acquire said marshmallows.
To get to the tourist centre, you have to drive through the community that lives closest to Volcan Pacaya. This meant that for about the last 30 metres of our drive, there were 2 young boys chasing the tourismo bus asking if we wanted walking sticks. By the time we arrived at the centre the boys also offered us ponchos. For those interested, they sold ones with no hoods for 5 Quetzales ($0.63 CAN) and for one with a hood 15 Quetzales ($1.90 CAN). Emma ended up purchasing one, which happened to be a highly durable (kidding) “Maid of the Mist” poncho. I had to laugh at that one and I informed Emma of it’s significance. Along with the boys selling sticks and ponchos was an adorable young girl. She wore a little tinkerbell t-shirt, is only 6 years old and apparently likes to dance--I asked.
Our guide was a very slim man who has climbed Volcan Pacaya everyday for the past 13 years. I told him he must be very strong (fuerte), to which he replied "poco" (little). He was quite entertaining speaking in slow Spanish and broken English (albeit good English). There was ten of us in total, a couple from Israel, three possibly German friends, the French Canadians, and the Sevilla gang. However we were not left alone quite yet, about 3 or 4 men on horses followed us during the steep climb offering us “chicas” a “taxi” or a horse ride. It was both insulting and funny. Mostly because you could tell they thought they were so clever calling “chicas, taxi?” and then giggling. They stayed with us almost the entire climb up the volcano. I eventually pulled ahead and didn’t have to listen, but the Israeli woman had to endure it the entire way up.
We climbed for about 50 minutes to get close to the top of the volcano. On a clear day, you can see Guatemala City from there. Unfortunately for us it was a very cloudy day and the clouds hugged the tip of Volcan Pacaya. It made for a beautiful and totally eerie experience to watch these clouds slowly amble past. Especially in the jungle portion, because some of the trees looked truly ghoulish. Plus when we neared the volcano the steam from the lava (which was now a year old) added to the spookiness. Then it started raining.
At first it was sort of a spit. By the time we reached the pyroclastic “sand” and the natural sauna’s it was downright pouring. Having my trusty waterproof jacket proved essential, however I needed to protect my backpack and it’s paper products hidden inside. So I ended up having to leave my jacket open. Subsequently I got very wet. Later I would try to explain to Gladis, in the comfort of our Guest House, that I looked like a drowned rat. I had to make a lot of gestures to get my point across, and was saved by Clint (another housemate) who was able to give a rough translation. It was much more effective than mine, at least for her understanding. I think my attempts to act it out were much more entertaining.
I sort of wish everyone I know could have seen Volcan Pacaya with me. It was really incredible, even with the rain. I was able to climb into the natural sauna (which you sort of didn’t want to after the steep hike and being soaking wet), slip and slide on the pyroclastic sand and laugh at the rest of our group who was roasting marshmallows in a hot spot. I also admired the fellow Canucks who brought some Gallo beers with them and enjoyed it on the volcano, along with their marshmallows. Which they also ended up feeding to the very intelligent dog who accompanied our tour.
This same dog was also the dog that saved our asses. We apparently spent a wee bit too long on the top of the volcano and subsequently our guide explained that we would arrive after dark fell. Which is not exactly ideal, considering the initial part of the climb was incredibly rocky and had roots sticking out everywhere. Oh, and man sized holes on the path (okay, beside the path). The dog led us down the hill, while our guide hung back with the slower walkers. About two-thirds into our descent, we were in need of flashlights, which Jan and Mike were able to provide. We managed to return to the tourist centre, dog in frount, humans trailing behind.
We were once again greeted by the same boys who offered to “take” back the poncho they sold to Emma. How crafty these little Guatemalan boys are to sell that same poncho to other unsuspecting tourists. However Emma held onto hers, but that did not deter them from trying to offer us sticks once again. Which really were no longer necessary, unless you opted to have a faux-sword fight with them. However I will say that they were incredibly cute kids, which probably meant they did decent business. In particular this new little boy had this delightful giggle. And the same little girl was back again and once again entertaining us. Mike offered her the rest of his dorito-like chips, and she was ecstatic. She really was cute. I now wish I had taken a photo of her.
Otherwise it was a quick 1.5 hour drive back to Antigua, which I spent getting to know Emma and Teres better. It also included some incredibly random radio songs by Sting, No Doubt, Mariah Carey, Whitney Housten, and some truly wonderful 80s hits. By the time we arrived back in Antigua, I was definitely hungry from the excursion. And thankfully Gladis did not forget about us! I even managed to practice more Spanish with her, in my tragically broken Spanish/English. Somehow we managed to understand each other...more or less.
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