Sunrise in Tikal

As We Finally Leave The BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY OF GUATEMALA, We Leave you With:
ERIN and ALYECE'S 'TOP 10' of Guatemala:

1. A Scooter is a vehicle that frequently holds entire families of 4,5 or 6. (including babies).

2. Sinks are optional. We say this after working in a bar, where neither the bathroom nor the kitchen had a sink (and the cook had to go through somebody's house to use one.)

3. Both toilet paper AND toilet seats are optional. (Pretty much assuming this is true for all of Central America)

4. When they tell you to be ten minutes early for your bus, what they really mean is they will likely be an hour to two hours late, and there will likely be double the capacity of the bus on the bus (and you will likely end up with a large Guatemalan man sweating or sleeping on you).

5. Going for a run means being willing to have every person, scooter, vehicle and bus, honk, whistle, yell or laugh at you as if you're something they've never seen before.

6. Rules of the road - of any sort - don't apply anywhere in Guatemala. EXAMPLE: Where in Canada a large moving vehicle would slow down or stop for people or animals in the road, vehicles here step on the gas and hold down the horn.

7. During the months of September and October you are likely to hear more Hebrew than Spanish.

8. That no matter how small a village there is still about one tienda (corner store) to every 2 people: and on and in each tienda (and everywhere for that matter) the cell phone brand "TIGO" (usually with the slogan "CON TIGO" meaning "WITH YOU" has plastered itself over absolutely everything in bright blue paint and white writing) We're pretty sure you could read it off the rooftops from an airplane.

9. Drinks are served after food. At pretty much ever restaurant it is likely you will already be finished your meal and have to kindly remind your waiter that you would like your drink.

10. THE Abundance of LUSH LUSH VEGETATION and Plethora of COLORS.

Alyece Says:

Que Pasa?!
So with our final two days in Antigua (we promise this time) Erin and I settled into a cute little hotel in town; I mean, it was no "El Chillout," but there is something to be said for the presence of toilet paper in the bathrooms, so it sufficed. When we went for a dinner on Saturday, Erin finally had her chocolate birthday cake - she's worm free I'm pleased to report.

Our friends Miles and James, who we vegged out with at the lake, came back to Antigua early to join us for a last hurrah before we all parted ways. Erin, Miles, and I visited the local McDonald's, which appeared fairly standard at first, until we ventured into the back to see the outdoor patio and found one of the prettiest courtyards in Antigua, equipped with gardens, cobblestone pathways, brickwork, and Ronald
McDonald; apparently Canada is cheaping out on the fast-food scene.In the evening, the four of us hit up one of the local bars, La Sala, where another friend of ours from school, Meghan from Kentucky, works as a bartender. Almost all of the people from our spanish school ended up there as well... and it became a real school reunion when our spanish professors showed up! From what I was told the next day, we had a really fun night, and lots of ridiculous dancing ensued.(we were unaware that James was snapping photos of us dancing from his barstool).

(Alyece on the rooftop at the beautiful CAFE SKY)

The next day we took it easy and hung out with Miles, who graciously let us stay our final night at his uncle's insanely beautiful house in downtown Antigua. I actually thought it was hotel when I first walked in... Anyway, the kingsize guest bed made it extremely difficult to wake up at 3:00am for our bus out of Antigua.

We headed for Flores, which is in the north of Guatemala. Flores is a pretty and small town that is set in the middle of a lake and accessible to the mainland by a bridge. We had a waterfront hotel room with a balcony that looked over the lake, which I'm sure we would have enjoyed more if we didn't go to bed at 7:00pm that night... did I just say that outloud? Anyway, we felt it was justified when our alarm went off at 2:00am so we could attempt to make our bus shuttle to Tikal for the "sunrise" tour of some of the Mayan ruins. I don't mean to re-open the wound, but when we arrived we were greeted with torrential downpour, whichadded an element of excitement to the already pitch dark hike through the jungle to get to the temples, and I think we reached the climax of our morning as we sat in bright yellow garbage bags trying to see 10 meters in front of us through the fog and clouds... let alone the gorgeous sunrise display. But we are not bitter about it or anything... especially after paying double the price we were originally told... after not having that extra money on us when the bus arrived in the morning... and having to get our driver to
drive around town at 3am with a full shuttle looking for an ATM machine for the Canadian girls who didn't have enough money. Haha! Our day did get better though :)

The weather cleared up for our guided tour of the ruins...

and although we learned a lot about the Mayan culture and construction of the ruins, we might have learned more had our guide, "Caesar," who when upon the realization that Erin and I were Canadian, spent the duration of the tour telling us about his long lost Canadian love who he met 7 years ago and has been looking for her since. He asked us to help him find her, so now Erin and I are on the search for "Michelle" from Canada who's French-Canadian... and has a cat. What a character. Anyway, the ruins were pretty cool to see and climb on, and we got to see some interesting animals like howler monkeys, colourful birds, and some raccoon/anteater animal that I can't remember the name of now.We went for a romantic water-side dinner that evening and we may or may not have crashed at 7:00pm again...This morning Erin and I arose early yet again to catch a bus out of Flores. After staying in Guatemala, accidentally, for a month and half now, we finally crossed the Belize border where we stopped for 6 hours under the suspicion of possession of narcotics, thoroughly interrogated, and searched. Just kidding, we were easily waved through and it turns out Canada is one of the few countries that doesn't have to pay extra money for visa's etc. so it went smoothly. We arrived in a city called San Ignacio todayand we have signed up for a crazy jungle/cave adventure tour which may or may not happen tomorrow depending on the weather and water levels... but we'll let you know what happens in our next blog :)

Hasta Luego!

Forget the Travel Guide.....What's For Dinner?

Erin Says:

I was awoken at 6am with the smell of fresh baked multi-grain bread and Alyece's scratchy morning voice signing "Feliz Cumpleanos" to me. She neglected to read the candle package (which in English stated the candles were re-lighting). Needless to say, after trying to blow them out multiple times and put them out with our hands, Alyece had to make an emergency run to the bathroom to soak them in the sink. I appreciated her rational for multi-grain bread and peanut butter (which are both very hard to come by here) instead of a chocolate birthday cake, being that it would be a cruel joke to get me a birthday cake that I had to watch everyone else eat and couldn't stomach.

Luckily for me, the parasites seemed dead and I was hungry just in time for my birthday dinner. Alyece took me to the beautiful Cafe Sky, where I scarfed down a whole plate of veggie pasta and NO VOMITING. What a birthday present!

But I think the best part of my b-day was Alyece taking me to Santo Domingo. Jose and Alyece had gone a few weeks ago, but I am certain our date was much more romantic! Santo Domingo is a massive hotel, museum, church and ancient ruin sight all in one beautiful location. All the stone ruins are covered in vines and lit up with little white lights. There are fountains, paths, flowers, statues etc everywhere. The hotel itself is insane - staff dressed to the nines at every corner greeting you and hall after hall lined with hundreds of candles which illuminated all the artwork. Being here felt like being in a different country all together, unlike anywhere we've seen, totally removed from reality. It's basically the most expensive place possible to eat or stay in Antigua and it definitely made for one hell of a romantic evening. After drinking their lime flavoured water out of champagne glasses and stealing the free apples from them, it was time to go back to the homely bliss of El Chillout for a small birthday party.

Funny thing is, when we asked Tops (the stoner bar/hostel manager) if it was ok if we had some people over for a small gathering, he repeatedly said to us "I'm in real trouble here, you are helping me so much, I have to pay my bills, I really need the money...bring as many people as you can to the bar". We were only going to have about 6 or 7 people...but felt like we needed to try and find a party after the pleadings of Tops. When we got home I realized Alyece had decorated our room with balloons and signs and it all felt very festive. When our friends did show up, we decided we had never seen grown men get more excited over a bag of balloons before. Interestingly enough I ended up with very swollen eyes, coughing and sneezing and hacking after I had been touching the latex on the balloons - very typical of me. The party stayed lo-key and we ended up at the bar with a few friends a little later, but all in all and amazing birthday party, solely because of Alyece.

Erin and Alyece say:

On Tuesday we figured it was time for us to leave Antigua as we awoke to Tops arguing with the hotel manager about the power bill... minutes later we were packing our bags in the dark. We hoped a bus to Lago de Atitlan to join a few of our friends we met in Spanish school (James from Scotland and Miles (or Brandy) from Virginia). Lago de Atitlan is a big lake in Guatemala with many small towns and villages surrounding it that you access by boating from the main town Panajachel. We were dropped off at a dock with boats leaving in different directions and all we knew was half the name of what we thought was a hostel or hotel (we weren't even sure) that James, in inebriation, had explained to Alyece the night before.

However, we picked a boat and headed to Santa Cruz. Luckily, when we walked up the dock we could see Miles and James lazily sitting on the patio on La Iguana Perdida. This hostel was waterfront, super laid back and had crazy good buffet style dinners (at which Alyece way over-ate as per usual). We were warmly welcomed our first night with a big party of travelers from all over and most of the staff members. And you know it's been a good night when all the guys and girls end up trading clothing during drinking games. However, I feel like this scenario always ends way worse for the men. (Note: James' later photo) It only got better when the staff brought out paint and we all ended up covered, including the hostel dog, who had his hair shaved into a Mohawk and painted in multi-color - which we unfortunately have to report is still there. The funniest part of the night is when everyone was sitting chilling out and someone put on the song "Everybody Dance Now". Spontaneously everyone in the whole room, stood up, rocked out and dance the duration of the song and then silently all sat back down and continued their conversations and drinking games. I can't even say I felt bad for Alyece when she was forced to wear my sweater (under which I normally wear shirts) and told everyone she wondered why I had only paid for HALF of a sweater. We ended the night with a little sing along of the beautiful guitar stylings of Miles and crazy good voice of James accompanied by the beautiful Alyece. (but just her voice...right Miles?)

Now, after going to bed peacefully we were awoken every 15 to 20 minutes by the huge crashing sound of avocados, lemons and other various tropical fruit, dropping on the aluminum roof of our cabin and rolling down the staircase. It was pretty comical that every single time we seemed just as frightened as the time before when we thought there was a bomb going off.

Either way, after a sporadic sleep we spent the morning Kayaking and swimming in the lake and relaxed in the afternoon in their cozy den to watch a movie. It was about half way into the DVD when we were bombarded with a group of older Americans (who had come from neighboring hotels for the TV) telling us 'we absolutely had to turn it off for the ever important presidential debate'. While Alyece opted out, I found it more comical to watch the Americans' reaction to the debate than watching John McCain calling Obama "that one". After eating way too much again, we all called it an early night and went to our bomb shack for some sleep.

The next day we made the painful 20 minute trek up a 90 degree slope into the tiny village of Santa Cruz. The town was just up the mountain and we went to watch the gang join in a futbol game with the locals. As Miles told us, we instantly fell in love with the tiny town and it's very friendly people and insanely adorable children. For the duration of the game James was injured, as per usual. (Note the already broken finger and stitches in the knee) Miles was having a hard time, with no shoes and bleeding taped up feet which our friend Dalton stepped on a few times. The boys had to watch out for the tiny Mayan girl wandering around the court aimlessly and nearly getting smoked by the soccer ball. (I guess she left that for me, when Miles point blank kicked me right in the face with the ball.)

After the soccer game we went down for another swim, followed by a bitter cold shower (for one of us) and a competitive game of Scrabble. Later in the evening, our friend Saul came to visit just in time for a game of pool and yet again, and amazing dinner (in which Alyece out-ate everyone as per usual). We cracked back into the drinking games and again, clothes were exchanged and embarrassing stories were told.

(Picture of James noted above)

(James seemed less than impressed when Saul - and not one of the girls - was chosen for his lap dance. If his face was not blocked by an overly-excited Saul you could see the sheer terror on it.)

In the morning, as the boys boated away, it took very little convincing to decided what our next travel move was. Bags packed, for Antigua on the way to Tikal, we heard the staff mention the all you can eat curry for dinner that night, and we were checked back in within two minutes, to our "cleaned" room, with the same orange juice stained sheets on the bed (can't even say we were surprised). We were really glad we didn't end up leaving because the day turned out to be gorgeous and I really wished I had my camera as we went swimming with a group of 5-7 year old Guatemalan boys off the dock. This was followed by a nice sunbathing session.

Early in the morning we headed back to Antigua (being that it's the only option on the road through to Tikal). We discussed the extremely long good-bye we are giving this place, but it turns out it's the central hub of transport and there's really no way around it. When the boys got our email that we were staying for the night, they changed their travel plans, left the lake and are currently on the shuttle back here to join us. We are just that impressionable. ha ha ha.

That's it for now, Alyece and I are off to walk through Santo Domingo and score some more free apples.

Alyece Says: Barry I saw this today when I was walking through Panajachel and I thought of you. Just so you know there's always a job for you if you plan to move to the lake in Guatemala ;)

Bye For Now xxx

Volver

Alyece says:
Hola! It's time for another blog. We left you last in Rio Dulce where we lounged river-side for a few days and mingled with the yatchies.




(The restaurant at our dockside hotel)

With the last minute decision to return to Antigua and do a few more Spanish lessons, Erin and I left Rio Dulce last Saturday on what was the most credible/legitimate bus transportation we have experienced yet. The busdriver and other employees were actually distinguishable from the rest of the random people on the bus, there appeared to be a transport code of safety posted at the front of the bus, and they only assigned one person to one seat. We arrived back in Antigua and set up camp at this funky little hotel in town (for $5/night) called "El Chillout" where we have been staying for the past week. And yes, it IS as hilarious as the name suggests. It's run by this rad man still living in his tree-hugging, free-loving hippie days. He sits at the little bar all day smoking weed, encouraging everyone to just "chill out," and playing a mixture of psychedelic music, 80's classics, and Spanish hits (the Spanish numbers are my favourite 'cause him and his buddies break out the moroccas for these).

The best part about this place is our hotel room is nothing short of part of the bar. Open the bedroom door and you are standing at the bar counter (as shown in the picture above, that black door on the right side is ours. Oh and yes, those ARE gaps in the roof). And these guys sure know how to party. They'll have the moroccas going until the wee hours of the morning, which makes a funny situation when you get up to pee in the middle of the night and have to excuse yourself through a crowd of people in your pajamas and are offered 3 beers before you can make it to the bathroom. And I still can't figure out the purpose of their breakfast menu because his cook often doesn't wake up until the PM, and this morning I was the only thing moving at 9 am and was answering their front door of the hotel for them. Pretty comical experience I must say.

Over the past week we've been hanging out a lot with our Guatemalan buddies. On the first night back in Antigua, Jose white-washed the bar counter at Saul's to create a blank canvas for a crazy night of arts and crafts. Things got a little messy, especially when the paint wars progressed from water to oil based paints...

(A beautiful starfish and maple leaf by Alyece, accompanied by a very artisitic heart by Erin)

I've also spent a few afternoons helping Jose with the massive mural he is currently painting for the children at a little elementary school in town. I feel my artistic abilities of 'staying in the lines' were put to good use. It's been an interesting and fun side project for when I'm not busy studying Espanol.

(Jose hard at work) Last Tuesday, the only day Saul closes the restaurant/bar, we had the joint to ourselves and Saul and Jose made a MASSIVE dinner for us - veggies, eggs, beans, stuffed tomatoes, cucumber cheese boats - followed by an excessive amount of chocolate covered bananas, strawberries, grapes, and ice cream.

Again, I out-ate everyone, and of course ended up with food all over my shirt, which offers a reasonable explanation as to why I'm wearing a table cloth in the photo below...

but unfortunately after this night of glorious food, the next morning Erin was so sick she couldn't even make it out of bed... and she is only just recovering now, 5 days later. We had signed up for more Spanish classes, but the pain in her stomach/back and the nausia pretty much kept her bed-ridden and royally out of service. I attended classes solo and we've been laying low. On Thursday we we went to a doctor who was fairly certain her illness is either an intestinal infection.. or even more appetizing.. parasites. Apparently it's not uncommon to catch parasites from fruits like strawberries here. Erin was put on antibiotics for both scenarios and some of her local friends here have attempted to cure her with tree leaves and her new best friend "Pedialyte" (discusting elixir for rehydration). Last night Erin ate her first real meal in 5 days (and kept it down!) when we joined up with some friends from school for dinner. I am happy to report that things are looking up and she is feeling better now. After we celebrate her birthday for our last night here in Antigua, we'll be headed to Lago de Atitlan for some lake fun. That's all for now, we send our love to all of you :)

Erin is wondering if Dr. G can explain this random coincidence to me