Conquering the Volcano!

On Sunday, Catherine and I decided to step up our adventurous spirits just a tad. We thought it could be fun to hike an active volcano. The drive wasn't as sketchy as our last one and a bit shorter as well. Upon our arrival to the national park entrance, we were surrounded by an overwhelming flood of children trying to sell us "hiking sticks." Being the wise Americans that we are, we of course, decided that we wouldn't need them...even though they kept insisting that we would. We were wrong. Dead wrong.

The first part of the hike was chill and was pretty similar to a hike anywhere. The closer we got to the top of the volcano, though, the crazier it got. Instead of being surrounded by grass and trees, we were now surrounded by very rough and unstable pumice....not the easiest to hike up....or down for that matter. You wouldn't have known by watching our tour guide, Nelson, though. He was bounding all over the place with the confidence of a mountain goat. At one portion, near the top, he asked if we were interested in skiing. At first I was a little confused, but he laughed a little so I thought he was joking. Next thing I knew, we were at the top of a steep area watching him "ski" (which was just a sprint down the constantly shifting pumice... very similar to running down a sand dune. A much more rough and unforgiving sand dune.) and explained that we would all be doing the same. So we did. I'm not gonna lie, I was very nervous, but when it was done it was awesome!

After much more treacherous hiking, we made it to the "La Playa de Pacaya" as Nelson kept referring to it. Shortly, upon our arrival we saw our first bit of molten lava! It was crazy hot up there and crazy windy. There were times I felt as though I might be blown into the hot lava, but it was all very worth it. Some people were roasting marshmallows, some were trying to light their cigarettes on the lava, but mostly we were all just in awe of our surroundings. Catherine and I just took pictures. Here are some of them. Enjoy!

Peace,
C & C

Panajachel

This past weekend we went to Panajachel, a small town on Lake Atitlan. It was absolutely beautiful! I really enjoyed the ride up there; it was about two hours of winding up and down very scenic mountain roads. While in Pana, we rested, walked around and looked at all the wares for sale, studied, and just took in the surroundings. Sunday afternoon we were sitting at a cafe and decided to play some cards. Almost immediately, three little boys came up and asked if they could play with us. The five of us played a game of War, and the boys (Juan, Marco, and Daliel) were hilarious. Every time Marco knew that he had an ace or a high card, he would chant ¡Ahora si! ¡Ahora si! ¡Ahora si! The van we rode in on our way back to Antigua had some questionable brakes, but we made it back safe and sound Sunday evening and have been back in classes since then. Here are a couple pictures of us at the lake...

Love,

C & C

Estamos Estudiantes!

Hello all!

We thought we should update this because it's been a couple days. Since we last updated, we have met our Guatemalan family. Mama Rosa Maria, hermana Alejandra, y Abuelo Antonio, and the pet parrot named Cosmo. The family is very nice and we like them alot. Communication is still a wee bit difficult at this point, since today will only be our second day of language classes. It can be a little frustrating, as I would really like to get to know our family. Our spanish-english dictionary is definitely getting a lot of use!

Other than class and homework, we've just been hanging out at restaurants, cafes, and parks, and getting to know the city a little better. I feel like I can get around the city mostly now, so that's a reassuring feeling. This weekend we plan on catching a shuttle to Lake Atitlan, which is one of the most beautiful lakes in all the world. I have been there before, and am excited for Catherine to see it as well. We will try to take lots of pictures and post them!

Hope you're all doing well! Thanks for coming along on our journey!

Love,
C & C

Day 3

After a bit of a delay, we got into Guatemala City in the evening of July 1st. We stayed at a great little hostel, GuateFriends, and then headed to Antigua in the morning. While wandering around the city, we ran into one of Crystal's friends from college who has been living in Guatemala for the past two years. It was such a great surprise! We have just been continuing to explore Antigua, looking at some art galleries, and eating at cafes (Sky Cafe had a great view of the city and one of the nearby volcanoes). Also, we decided to change our plans and attend a language school in Antigua instead of Panajachel. We will meet our host family on Sunday and start classes on Monday. Here are a couple of pictures of Antigua...

Love,

C & C