Pictures: View from Cerro Chino and Rojo Soccer game (Top L-R: Russell, Kris, Tina, Trish, Kate, Nita, Bottom L-R: Ben, Jenna Trenae)
Hi everyone!
So I guess the advantage of having a fairly uninvolved host family is that I feel like I don't need to be around. And that is what happened this weekend! By Thursday evening a group of us had all sorts of fun planned.
Saturday: This story unfortunately cannot be given justice on a keyboard, but I will try. We decided that we were going to climb a volcano, since apparently there was one nearby that would only take 2 hours. We were all excited about getting to see lava, being able to say that we climbed a volcano, etc. Alas, my first experience of adventure due to the Spanish language barrier. There is a person at CASAS named Alex who has climbed numerous volcanoes, and he and his friend agreed to go with us on Saturday to Pacaya (name of volcano). Everyone told us that the hike was so easy, you get to see lava, how awesome it was, etc. Even my host dad was like ohhhh yea I've done that hike numerous times, and let's just say he's not in tip-top shape. So we set off with 20 people piled into a 15 person van (some host siblings came with us). We split into 2 groups, a slower group with Alex's friend, and a faster group with Alex, which is where I was. Halfway up the moutain we learn that Alex has never been to Pacaya, but that his friend knows the mountain very well. Oh okay, the friend that we have no idea where he is. So we just keep chugging up this road, which we assume leads to the summit of the volcano and lava. Pretty soon the road ends, and we're already sucking wind, and in front of us is a mountain of volcanic sand and not exactly a definite path leading to a summit. Long story short, we scrambled up, and oh my gosh I was dying. My hat was drenched. It was insane. We finally summit this "mountain," however we were pretty well socked in by clouds. We were able to see some dried lava, igneous rock I think, which was awesome, but we didn't understand why there wasn't any lava. Alex eventually managed to tell us that we were not on Pacaya, but another mountain in front of Pacaya, which later my host dad told me was "Cerro Chino" or Chinese Hill. All of a sudden the clouds parted and we could see the top of Pacaya. Oh my gosh, it was gigantic. Apparently it was another 4 hours of straight up, an understatement looking at this mountain, to summit Pacaya. We had been going 2.5 hours and an estimated 3 miles of straight up. Disappointed that we didn't see any lava, and a little worried that we never ran into our other group, we descended the moutain. We arrived at our van, and no one was there. 3o minutes later the second group comes with Alex's friend. The first sentence out of everyone's mouth: "Did you see the lava?! Wasn't it AWESOME!?" We all look completely dumbfounded. "What the heck are you talking about? There wasn't lava, there were too many clouds, where the heck did you go?" Drenched in sweat and absolutely dead our group learned that in order to see the lava, you simply have to hike AROUND Cerro Chino to see the live lava coming off of Pacaya. We took one wrong turn and had the fantastic opportunity to actually summit Cerro Chino. It took my group about an hour to start laughing at the situation, as we were so frustrated that we didn't a) summit a volcano (something I had thought seemed pretty unrealistic, but was pumped for the opportunity) and b) didn't get to see lava. The tortoise won the race again. We were also so confused because all of our Spanish teachers told us how easy it was, how anyone could see the lava and "climb the mountain," and by the time we reached the top sucking wind and pouring sweat, we didn't think the hike had so been easy. So, that was Saturday. I got home around 7, attempted to tell this story to my dad in Spanish who just started laughing, took a shower, and plopped into bed. I also later learned that the last time my host dad had been on Cerro Chino was 2o years ago. BUT, he has summited 5 volcanoes, all before he was 25, including Pacaya. I thought this was so awesome.
Sunday: Oh man. A dream goal has already come true. So the Guatemalan National Soccer Championship happened to be on Sunday. And oh yea, I happened to go. It was AMAZING. The game was between the Rojos (from Guatemala City) and Jalapa (about 2 hours outside the city). It was interesting, though, because the championship was 2 games. Jalapa won the first game 3-1 in Jalapa, so in order for the Rojos to win, they had to win by more than 2 goals. This completely altered the game though, because Jalapa just stacked the defense back and the Rojos couldn't get any offense going. I wasn't too impressed with the level of scccer, but it was such an awesome experience. We got ourselves there by bus, all bought Rojos jerseys (my Spanish teacher is a huge Rojo fan), bought tickets (the stadium wasn't too big, and it wasn't nearly sold out, weird, I estimate maybe 20,000 people?), and enjoyed the soccer game. 90% of the stadium was Rojo fans, covered in red, jumping up and down, screaming, chanting, and doing mean Guatemalan physical gestures to the tiny Jalapa fan club. Jalapa scored a fluke goal in the 93rd minute, and the final score was 1-0. Another sport experience I will never forget.
So that was my weekend! Unfortunately, my host family continues to be a frustrating experience, but my host dad is so great. I talked with him for hours over the weekend (usually over dinner), about volcanoes, soccer, traveling in the United States, and who knows what else. He's so hilarious and easy to talk to, and helps me a lot with my Spanish, which I love. And I'm learning everyday that he knows a lot more English than he lets on. The downside to this situation is that my host mom and sister pretty much show no interest in having me around. My host sister actually just got a full time job at a local accounting firm, and for some insane reason the average work day here is 7:00 - 9:00 pm. So now, my dad and my sister don't come home on the weekdays till way late, so my host mom is the only one home when I get back from CASAS. Usually I just do homework and get to watch lots of baseball, but I'm kind of sad that my host family experience will not be more positive. And I'll just leave it at that. But that's okay, so many other things are going so well and I'm having such a great experience. This weekend we get to have another group trip and go to Lake Atitlan! It's going to be beautiful. I'm so excited! But first, I have my Spanish final on Thursday! It's hard to believe that my first Spanish class is almost over! We've done mostly review, but I've definitely learned some new stuff and appreciated the chance to more intensely go over old things. Classes here are pretty laid back and relaxed, so I've had some frustration with the lack of structure or learning in class, but I guess that's another great thing about Guatemalan culture - you do things at a slow, enjoyable pace. :) I bet my Goshen professors are laughing right now. Then next week, starting Wednesday, is free travel for a week! Still have to figure those plans out.
OK, this post is way long enough. Hope everyone is doing well!
Much love,
Rachel
So I guess the advantage of having a fairly uninvolved host family is that I feel like I don't need to be around. And that is what happened this weekend! By Thursday evening a group of us had all sorts of fun planned.
Saturday: This story unfortunately cannot be given justice on a keyboard, but I will try. We decided that we were going to climb a volcano, since apparently there was one nearby that would only take 2 hours. We were all excited about getting to see lava, being able to say that we climbed a volcano, etc. Alas, my first experience of adventure due to the Spanish language barrier. There is a person at CASAS named Alex who has climbed numerous volcanoes, and he and his friend agreed to go with us on Saturday to Pacaya (name of volcano). Everyone told us that the hike was so easy, you get to see lava, how awesome it was, etc. Even my host dad was like ohhhh yea I've done that hike numerous times, and let's just say he's not in tip-top shape. So we set off with 20 people piled into a 15 person van (some host siblings came with us). We split into 2 groups, a slower group with Alex's friend, and a faster group with Alex, which is where I was. Halfway up the moutain we learn that Alex has never been to Pacaya, but that his friend knows the mountain very well. Oh okay, the friend that we have no idea where he is. So we just keep chugging up this road, which we assume leads to the summit of the volcano and lava. Pretty soon the road ends, and we're already sucking wind, and in front of us is a mountain of volcanic sand and not exactly a definite path leading to a summit. Long story short, we scrambled up, and oh my gosh I was dying. My hat was drenched. It was insane. We finally summit this "mountain," however we were pretty well socked in by clouds. We were able to see some dried lava, igneous rock I think, which was awesome, but we didn't understand why there wasn't any lava. Alex eventually managed to tell us that we were not on Pacaya, but another mountain in front of Pacaya, which later my host dad told me was "Cerro Chino" or Chinese Hill. All of a sudden the clouds parted and we could see the top of Pacaya. Oh my gosh, it was gigantic. Apparently it was another 4 hours of straight up, an understatement looking at this mountain, to summit Pacaya. We had been going 2.5 hours and an estimated 3 miles of straight up. Disappointed that we didn't see any lava, and a little worried that we never ran into our other group, we descended the moutain. We arrived at our van, and no one was there. 3o minutes later the second group comes with Alex's friend. The first sentence out of everyone's mouth: "Did you see the lava?! Wasn't it AWESOME!?" We all look completely dumbfounded. "What the heck are you talking about? There wasn't lava, there were too many clouds, where the heck did you go?" Drenched in sweat and absolutely dead our group learned that in order to see the lava, you simply have to hike AROUND Cerro Chino to see the live lava coming off of Pacaya. We took one wrong turn and had the fantastic opportunity to actually summit Cerro Chino. It took my group about an hour to start laughing at the situation, as we were so frustrated that we didn't a) summit a volcano (something I had thought seemed pretty unrealistic, but was pumped for the opportunity) and b) didn't get to see lava. The tortoise won the race again. We were also so confused because all of our Spanish teachers told us how easy it was, how anyone could see the lava and "climb the mountain," and by the time we reached the top sucking wind and pouring sweat, we didn't think the hike had so been easy. So, that was Saturday. I got home around 7, attempted to tell this story to my dad in Spanish who just started laughing, took a shower, and plopped into bed. I also later learned that the last time my host dad had been on Cerro Chino was 2o years ago. BUT, he has summited 5 volcanoes, all before he was 25, including Pacaya. I thought this was so awesome.
Sunday: Oh man. A dream goal has already come true. So the Guatemalan National Soccer Championship happened to be on Sunday. And oh yea, I happened to go. It was AMAZING. The game was between the Rojos (from Guatemala City) and Jalapa (about 2 hours outside the city). It was interesting, though, because the championship was 2 games. Jalapa won the first game 3-1 in Jalapa, so in order for the Rojos to win, they had to win by more than 2 goals. This completely altered the game though, because Jalapa just stacked the defense back and the Rojos couldn't get any offense going. I wasn't too impressed with the level of scccer, but it was such an awesome experience. We got ourselves there by bus, all bought Rojos jerseys (my Spanish teacher is a huge Rojo fan), bought tickets (the stadium wasn't too big, and it wasn't nearly sold out, weird, I estimate maybe 20,000 people?), and enjoyed the soccer game. 90% of the stadium was Rojo fans, covered in red, jumping up and down, screaming, chanting, and doing mean Guatemalan physical gestures to the tiny Jalapa fan club. Jalapa scored a fluke goal in the 93rd minute, and the final score was 1-0. Another sport experience I will never forget.
So that was my weekend! Unfortunately, my host family continues to be a frustrating experience, but my host dad is so great. I talked with him for hours over the weekend (usually over dinner), about volcanoes, soccer, traveling in the United States, and who knows what else. He's so hilarious and easy to talk to, and helps me a lot with my Spanish, which I love. And I'm learning everyday that he knows a lot more English than he lets on. The downside to this situation is that my host mom and sister pretty much show no interest in having me around. My host sister actually just got a full time job at a local accounting firm, and for some insane reason the average work day here is 7:00 - 9:00 pm. So now, my dad and my sister don't come home on the weekdays till way late, so my host mom is the only one home when I get back from CASAS. Usually I just do homework and get to watch lots of baseball, but I'm kind of sad that my host family experience will not be more positive. And I'll just leave it at that. But that's okay, so many other things are going so well and I'm having such a great experience. This weekend we get to have another group trip and go to Lake Atitlan! It's going to be beautiful. I'm so excited! But first, I have my Spanish final on Thursday! It's hard to believe that my first Spanish class is almost over! We've done mostly review, but I've definitely learned some new stuff and appreciated the chance to more intensely go over old things. Classes here are pretty laid back and relaxed, so I've had some frustration with the lack of structure or learning in class, but I guess that's another great thing about Guatemalan culture - you do things at a slow, enjoyable pace. :) I bet my Goshen professors are laughing right now. Then next week, starting Wednesday, is free travel for a week! Still have to figure those plans out.
OK, this post is way long enough. Hope everyone is doing well!
Much love,
Rachel
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