MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! I had an excellent Christmas on the beach on the Pacific Coast in the small sleepy town of Monte Rico. It was a great vacation, but didn´t feel like Christmas at all. We spent four days lounging in hammocks, sipping fruity beverages, reading, and splashing in the waves. I went with a fun group of other volunteers and we all kept each other in good companty while being away from our families, many of us for the first time. We made an awesome meal Christmas eve night of a couple roasted chickens, mashed potatoes, beans, and salad. There was some really intense Catch Phrase playing that occurred as well. At midnight the town exploded in fireworks and general festivity. We walked through the streets of the town trying to avoid getting caught in the cross fire of young children setting off firecrackers. There was music and dancing in the central park but most men asking to dance were too drunk to barely stand up. We spent a significant portion of the warm night sitting on the beach lit brightly by the full moon listening to the waves and soaking it all in. It was most different Christmas that I´ve ever spent, but it was really nice.
The beaches are dark sand from volcanic rock and its too hot to walk on during the day. The waves were really powerful and really tumble you about but the water is so delightfully warm and its hard to believe that its the same ocean from the Washington coast. We played some beach volleyball with some random Koreans that we met who could speak about four words of English and frou words of Spanish. Monte Rico is famous for its endangered turtle hatchery and we watched baby turtles being released from the beach at sunset. Amazing sunsets where the pictures can never do it justice. The colors! We took tons of pictures, unfortunately at the time I was convinced my camera had been stolen, so I didn´t take any but luckily I found it at the bottom of my bag. Whoops.
There are also mangrove swamps that we took a sunrise boat ride through. We got up when it was still dark and got into a canoe that is pushed along with a long pole. There was a full moon reflecting off the water. We watched the sun rise over the sillohouttes three volcanoes that I was living among in Alotenango. Stunning. There were tons of birds flying about since its also a bird sanctuary. We watched a pair of fishermen working with a unique tactic of creating a quarentine area with nets and then flapping plastic flags over the water to scare the fish into the quarentined area. They caught a ton, including some shrimp too. I had a very tasty meal of grilled fish with a delightful yellow curry sauce that rocked my world.
Right now I´m on the shores of Lake Atitlán in the town of Panajachel for a few days celebrating new years with almost my whole training class. Its wonderful to see everybody again and this place is beautiful. It is a giant lake surrounded by volcanoes!!! How cool is that? The sunsets and sunrises are breathtaking (yes, I set my alarm to get up to see another sunrise). This is a pretty tourist town, for good reason considering the setting. THe streets are lined with tons of artisan crafts and lovely jewelry. Women and little children come up to you everywhere, including while you´re eating in restaurants to try to sell you stuff. Its so overwhelming. They will drape scarves and things on you and its impossible to get them to go away.
Last night we all went out dancing together and the DJ played a great mix of salsa, merengue, reggaeton, American hip hop and everything. I danced my little heart out. This morning we went kayaking on the lake and took in all the scenery. I just really cant get over how beautiful it is and can´t think of enough good adjectives in English to describe it. The scenery here is splendid and the company is great.
El Chol seems very far away right now as I´m on vacation, but I will return to work on January 2nd with lots of hard work ahead of me. I hope that things will pick up work wise as things get moving again with other organizations and some shuffling happens in the muni.
Well, Happy New Year everyone. 2007 was a crazy year. Its funny to think that in January I was applying for Peace Corps, having just gotten back from South America and wanting to get back to Latin America. In June I graduated from college and in August I took off for Guatemala. 2008 will probably be even more of a rollercoaster...I´m hanging on tight and loving the ride.
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