Pictures: Caye Caulker off of Belize, the Jaguar Temple at Tikal, on the top of Temple IV in TikalHi everyone!
We just made it safely back to CASAS after such a great week of free travel. Everything went smoothly and we were able to do everything we had planned, which was great. Again, there are many stories to tell from this past week, but I'll try to keep it brief.
Wednesday: After Spanish classes 8 total students, 4 guys and 4 girls, headed downtown to catch an overnight bus to Flores, Guatemala, about an 8 hour ride.
Thursday: With minimal sleep the night before, we stumbled out onto the side of the road to transfer to a van that would take us to Flores. Surrounded by Guatemalan men who spoke very good English, they informed us that we could just take a van straight to Tikal, which is where we wanted to go anyway. We decided to do this, however before we went to Tikal two men took us to a local hostel to check our bags and helped us book our tickets the next day to Belize. They were very helpful people, though later we found out that they were working on commission as I was sure they had some other interest in this situation besides being kind, helpful individuals. We booked our return tickets from Belize with the certainty that 3 seats would be reserved for our friends meeting us in Belize later (last night we found out this was not the case, but they had told us we could do reservations so we would buy the 8 tickets and they would get commission, sneaky). Anyways, we arrived at Tikal around 7:30 in the morning and had breakfast there. We decided to hire a guide, who took us on a four hour walking tour of Tikal ... in Spanish. It was awesome. The guide was great, he spoke very slowly and it was such a great chance to use and practice Spanish outside the classroom. We climbed two temples, IV and V, saw the Grand Plaza, Lost World, and our guide showed us a tarantula (it was HUGE) and tons of spider and howler monkies. It was also oh so hot and oh so humid in the northern jungle of Guatemala. Needless to say we were absolutely wiped when we made it back for lunch at the entrance to the park. Tikal was absolutely amazing though, to learn about and explore such a rich, ancient history was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The same van picked us up from Tikal at 2:00 and we made it safely back to our hostel. We ate dinner at Burger King that night and, drumroll, met a group of Old Order Mennonites who were also having dinner - coverings, dressings, and all. Some of us talked with them and found out that they were originally from Michigan, but had moved to Belize and Guatemala (2 separate families).
Friday: By 7:30 am we were on a 20 passenger van to Belize. There is a Goshen student who is from Belize, his parents met at Goshen and decided to move to Belize, where is dad is from. We had the privilege of staying with his parents and they took such good care of us. Miriam, the mother, picked us up from the bus station and took us back to the house. We found lunch and hung out for the afternoon, dripping sweat the whole time. :) Miriam then made us an amazing pizza dinner and after a movie we all went to bed. I enjoyed being in Belize so much. It is such a different country! Everyone is so genuinely nice and laid back, and everyone wants to help you. It was a nice change from Guatemala City, not to mention the English. Belize City is mostly African/Kriol, so there is a strong Carribbean/reggae vibe.
Saturday: By 8:00 we were on a boat on our way to Caye Caulker, off the coast of Belize. This small island was like nothing I had ever seen before - a very funky, laid back, Carribbean village with sandy streets and colorful buildings. We took part in a full day snorkeling tour by sailboat through the Belizean Barrier Reef, the second longest in the world. This was an experience of a lifetime, I had never been snorkeling, not to mention snorkeling on a barrier reef. Let's see, we went to three different places and saw, among other things - parrot fish, MANATEES, nurse sharks, sting rays, SEA TURTLES, baracudas, and lots of coral. Our 2 guides were absolutely hilarious, 2 Kriol men who were very laid back and hospitable. They played reggae music for us as we sailed through the Carribbean Sea. The downside to this day is everyone got too much sun, but it was another experience I will never forget. We took a boat back to Belize City around 5:00 and hung out the rest of the evening.
Sunday: By Sunday we were all exausted, hot, and bothered, so we took the day off and hung out at the house. We were expecting Belize to be covered in gorgeous beaches, with lots of sand and swimming, but Miriam told us this was not the case. Belize City for one is below sea level, so there is a huge barrier wall on the coast and not exactly any beaches. We were expecting to just hang out on the beach all day, so these plans quickly changed. 12:00 on Sunday was the FIFA Confederations Cup Final between the USA and Brazil. We all watched this and jumped up and down with excitement and disbelief when the US went up 2-0 by half, then cried and moaned when they lost 3-2. Sunday night Miriam cooked us an amazing fish meal and later we were joined by 3 other CASAS students making their way up Belize.
Monday: Monday morning we packed up and treked with all of our backpacks and luggage into downtown. We walked around downtown a little, did some shopping, bought lunch, and at 2:30 pm our bus left to head back to Flores (the only way to get back to Guatemala City). In Flores there was much confusion about bus tickets, departure time, and how the other 3 students would get back to Guatemala City, but eventually everything was figured out, and after dinner, the 8 of us left at 9:00 pm to head back (the other 3 had to take a different bus). We arrived in Guatemala City around 5:30 am and took taxis back to CASAS, which is where I sit now. We'll hang out here for the day, do homework, sleep, and eventually head back to host families this afternoon and wrap up our final 3 weeks with them.
I'm so grateful that everything worked out so well and we were able to do so much stuff. For the most part the group worked really well together, though it's always hard making decisions with eight people.
So I'm back safe and sound at CASAS! Sorry that entry was not supposed to be that long, but I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures. Hope you're all doing well! Keep the emails coming! :)
Much love,
Rachel
We just made it safely back to CASAS after such a great week of free travel. Everything went smoothly and we were able to do everything we had planned, which was great. Again, there are many stories to tell from this past week, but I'll try to keep it brief.
Wednesday: After Spanish classes 8 total students, 4 guys and 4 girls, headed downtown to catch an overnight bus to Flores, Guatemala, about an 8 hour ride.
Thursday: With minimal sleep the night before, we stumbled out onto the side of the road to transfer to a van that would take us to Flores. Surrounded by Guatemalan men who spoke very good English, they informed us that we could just take a van straight to Tikal, which is where we wanted to go anyway. We decided to do this, however before we went to Tikal two men took us to a local hostel to check our bags and helped us book our tickets the next day to Belize. They were very helpful people, though later we found out that they were working on commission as I was sure they had some other interest in this situation besides being kind, helpful individuals. We booked our return tickets from Belize with the certainty that 3 seats would be reserved for our friends meeting us in Belize later (last night we found out this was not the case, but they had told us we could do reservations so we would buy the 8 tickets and they would get commission, sneaky). Anyways, we arrived at Tikal around 7:30 in the morning and had breakfast there. We decided to hire a guide, who took us on a four hour walking tour of Tikal ... in Spanish. It was awesome. The guide was great, he spoke very slowly and it was such a great chance to use and practice Spanish outside the classroom. We climbed two temples, IV and V, saw the Grand Plaza, Lost World, and our guide showed us a tarantula (it was HUGE) and tons of spider and howler monkies. It was also oh so hot and oh so humid in the northern jungle of Guatemala. Needless to say we were absolutely wiped when we made it back for lunch at the entrance to the park. Tikal was absolutely amazing though, to learn about and explore such a rich, ancient history was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The same van picked us up from Tikal at 2:00 and we made it safely back to our hostel. We ate dinner at Burger King that night and, drumroll, met a group of Old Order Mennonites who were also having dinner - coverings, dressings, and all. Some of us talked with them and found out that they were originally from Michigan, but had moved to Belize and Guatemala (2 separate families).
Friday: By 7:30 am we were on a 20 passenger van to Belize. There is a Goshen student who is from Belize, his parents met at Goshen and decided to move to Belize, where is dad is from. We had the privilege of staying with his parents and they took such good care of us. Miriam, the mother, picked us up from the bus station and took us back to the house. We found lunch and hung out for the afternoon, dripping sweat the whole time. :) Miriam then made us an amazing pizza dinner and after a movie we all went to bed. I enjoyed being in Belize so much. It is such a different country! Everyone is so genuinely nice and laid back, and everyone wants to help you. It was a nice change from Guatemala City, not to mention the English. Belize City is mostly African/Kriol, so there is a strong Carribbean/reggae vibe.
Saturday: By 8:00 we were on a boat on our way to Caye Caulker, off the coast of Belize. This small island was like nothing I had ever seen before - a very funky, laid back, Carribbean village with sandy streets and colorful buildings. We took part in a full day snorkeling tour by sailboat through the Belizean Barrier Reef, the second longest in the world. This was an experience of a lifetime, I had never been snorkeling, not to mention snorkeling on a barrier reef. Let's see, we went to three different places and saw, among other things - parrot fish, MANATEES, nurse sharks, sting rays, SEA TURTLES, baracudas, and lots of coral. Our 2 guides were absolutely hilarious, 2 Kriol men who were very laid back and hospitable. They played reggae music for us as we sailed through the Carribbean Sea. The downside to this day is everyone got too much sun, but it was another experience I will never forget. We took a boat back to Belize City around 5:00 and hung out the rest of the evening.
Sunday: By Sunday we were all exausted, hot, and bothered, so we took the day off and hung out at the house. We were expecting Belize to be covered in gorgeous beaches, with lots of sand and swimming, but Miriam told us this was not the case. Belize City for one is below sea level, so there is a huge barrier wall on the coast and not exactly any beaches. We were expecting to just hang out on the beach all day, so these plans quickly changed. 12:00 on Sunday was the FIFA Confederations Cup Final between the USA and Brazil. We all watched this and jumped up and down with excitement and disbelief when the US went up 2-0 by half, then cried and moaned when they lost 3-2. Sunday night Miriam cooked us an amazing fish meal and later we were joined by 3 other CASAS students making their way up Belize.
Monday: Monday morning we packed up and treked with all of our backpacks and luggage into downtown. We walked around downtown a little, did some shopping, bought lunch, and at 2:30 pm our bus left to head back to Flores (the only way to get back to Guatemala City). In Flores there was much confusion about bus tickets, departure time, and how the other 3 students would get back to Guatemala City, but eventually everything was figured out, and after dinner, the 8 of us left at 9:00 pm to head back (the other 3 had to take a different bus). We arrived in Guatemala City around 5:30 am and took taxis back to CASAS, which is where I sit now. We'll hang out here for the day, do homework, sleep, and eventually head back to host families this afternoon and wrap up our final 3 weeks with them.
I'm so grateful that everything worked out so well and we were able to do so much stuff. For the most part the group worked really well together, though it's always hard making decisions with eight people.
So I'm back safe and sound at CASAS! Sorry that entry was not supposed to be that long, but I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures. Hope you're all doing well! Keep the emails coming! :)
Much love,
Rachel
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