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i moved back to dc a month and a half ago. during the first few weeks, a few friends asked if i had experienced culture shock. “nah, i really only experienced that when i came back for my first visit.” not so fast…
it took me a while to realize i was having a hard time adjusting to life in dc. the three main differences:
- 1. the concept of time
familiar with the idea of operating on island time? that’s how most of the country in guatemala rolls, and i was happy to begin to follow. dc is about as opposite as possible. - 2. cost of living
my favorite meal: in guatemala: $2, dc: $9
haircut at my cornershop barber: $1.35/$10
shave at cornershop barber: $0.75/$5
bag full of farmer’s market produce: $2/$10
monthly rent, with utilities: $107/$715
four hour bus ride (my city to the big city): $8/$20 - 3. overstimulation
in guatemala i was living in a city, which mostly felt like the “developed world,” but it was surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. and i could hike or hop on a bus to some natural wonders in less than an hour. dc is more developed, more advertising, technology, cars, people, parties, etc.
the silver lining…
1. my internal clock is better than before. i still get caught up in the go-go-go society, but not like before.
2. i can now earn money. i earned a tiny amount in guatemala, as a dj and a teacher, but it’s officially illegal for foreigners to earn money there. there simply aren’t enough jobs for the people of guatemala. i look forward to saving money towards buying another condo/house or traveling or something.
3. i missed the diverse opportunities of entertainment that dc has to offer and i missed my records and record stores. more than anything, i missed my community of friends and family. i developed a great community of friends in guatemala, but dc is home. and i’m happy to be back.
after my sister came to visit me, she said “it was nice to see you in your second country.” i feel like that is what guatemala is for me now, a second home. it is the only place i have lived outside of maryland and dc.
when i arrived more than a year ago, my plan was to live or travel in latin america for a year. i planned to spend the first two months in guatemala, but was open for what came next.
soon after arriving, i made some good friends, a couple of whom were also foreigners and fell in love with xela and stayed longer than they originally intended. it didn’t take long to realize i would do the same.
i have a lot of friends here that remind me of friends in dc. my life-style is also very similar, except for the luxury that i barely need to work.
i have two more weeks to wrap up my life here, which mostly includes studying more spanish, being with friends, some volunteer work and dj-ing. it will be an interesting transition to be back in dc, especially once i am back to full-time work.
* * *
my brother came to visit a couple weeks ago. it was great to have time to catch up with my bro and show him a bit of my life here. i was happy to introduce him to my girlfriend, too.
he’s a teacher and just took a long weekend, so we went to lake atitlan for one night and then to antigua to see the old city and climb the pacaya volcano. here’s my pacaya video, if you didn’t see it before.
the lava was flowing well and we walked onto the volcanic rock and stuck our walking sticks in the lava. it felt like flowing peanut butter. or… what was that marshmallow spread called? 
i’ll be home at the beginning of august!
in other good news, my sister is visiting me. we went to tikal, guatemala city, xela and the hot springs called fuentes georginas. today we leave for antigua. it has been wonderful to have her here.
next up, my brother arrives this thursday for a 2 week visit.
hope all is well for you and i hope to see you in august. i’m not sure if i’ll be home for good or returning to guatemala for a few more months. vamos a ver… (we shall see)
sharena, julie and i followed our trip to tikal with a visit to semuc champey. i was looking forward to this for a while, as two good friends called it their favorite place in guatemala.
in the local mayan language*, semuc champey means where the river goes underground. that’s exactly what it is, but as a bonus, the earth that covers the river is a limestone bridge that forms a series of pools with cool river water. *guatemala formally recognizes 21 different mayan languages.
there are trails through the woods offering different hikes to the pools and the temperature is nice and hot — perfect for a swim.
we also enjoyed rope swings into the adjacent river and went caving. the caves were cool because they use candle-light and you have to swim with one hand above water (yes, my candle went out at least once) and we later blew out our candles and jumped into pools in almost total darkness.
afterward, we jumped off a high bridge into the river, which was also great for swimming. julie and sharena went tubing, but i took a nap.
the hostel/hotel where we stayed was beautiful, laid-back and located close to everything. it’s called ‘el portal’ and is well stocked with hammocks, but sharena had just bought a new one so we strung it up in our room to bring our “quality of life” even higher.
el portal does not have a phone, cell phone coverage or any computers and the electricity was only on during two short segments of the day. it was nice to be “off the grid.”
after a couple days we were joined by our friend susan and a day later i stayed back, while the three of them continued on to antigua, so i could spend a couple days with my friend and former housemate, katie.
another great time in a wonderful place with good friends… and a reminder of how lucky i am to be on this trip.
view more photos, especially if you ever wondered what a growing pineapple or chocolate (aka cocoa beans) looks like.
tikal lived up to the hype, without a doubt.
it is the largest of the ancient ruined cities of the Maya civilization and resides in a lowland rainforest.
sharena, my former room-mate, her friend julie and i went twice. once in the afternoon and sunrise the next day. it’s really hot mid-day and they currently let you use your ticket over a 24 hour time-span.
the first day, we paid a guide to allow us to watch the sunset and listen to the birds and animals. sunrise and sunset are active times for the permanent residents (wildlife) of tikal.
on our way out, our guide spotted a tarantula on the trail we were walking. we watched it climb onto a tree and then noticed a scorpion on the same trunk. this was a bit creepy, especially considering we were wearing flip flops or sandals and a good friend, dj kokopelli of xela, got stung by a scorpion a few months ago. (he’s fine)
we also saw some raccoon/cat lookin’ animal that i forget the name of and some amazing fireflies. they were big, had two spots that glow for a good while and you can hear them when they fly past your head. the next day we saw spider monkies and toocans. some people go on walking night tours to see pumas.
during the sunrise tour the next day, we learned that some of the temples were constructed in part to track the time of the year. the mayans were/are incredibly advanced in many ways, including math, astrology and the passage of time. the path of sun shadows thru tikal can determine time of year and we were there right before the beginning of the rainy season. it started raining a couple days later.
unlike the copan ruins in honduras, tikal is still being excavated. it was really cool to see mounds of earth and trees covering some temples/buildings and imagine this is how it looked when tikal was discovered. one of the workers encountered a tarantula and invited us to hold it. sharena and i did, pretty exciting.
check out the wikipedia page on tikal if you’d like to read more.
here’s a picture julie took that shows a temple from a peep hole in what was probably living quarters.
tikal is one of the most impressive sites for seeing mayan ruins, in the world. some people know of it because it was used in the ewok scenes in star wars. 
one of my room-mates in xela has a friend visiting from the states and i’m tagging along with them to see tikal and semuc champey.
semuc champey is a natural monument with a limestone bridge over a river that passes thru a series of stepped pools. a few friends told me this was their favorite tourist destination in guatemala.
it’s nice to step away from my routine in the city which has been a bit more busy lately between volunteering, dj-ing and a bit of work at an internet cafe.
hope all is well. happy spring!
i made my first youtube video, of the hike melissa and i did up pacaya volcano (mentioned in my last post).
hope you like it.
guatemala is an active part of the “pacific ring of fire.” there are plenty of mountains and volcanoes around for hiking and adventure.
pacaya volcano is one of the best for viewing lava and just happens to be one of the easiest to climb. melissa and i ventured there after the beach and because time was tight, took a private tour in the evening.
the majority of people leave the city of antigua for pacaya at either 8am or 2pm, we left at 7pm. the lava is more spectacular in the dark and the climb up was fun and mysterious b/c it was very difficult to see without a light.
on our way up, a group of about 100 guatemalan students were on their way down. they unfortunately did not see lava, so we wondered if we might not either.
one of our guides, who speaks english and works for a tour company, brought his wife and sister-in-law, who had never climbed pacaya. they were fun companions for the journey.
we passed the point the students reached and continued on climbing over a lot of volcanic rock that was a bit dangerous (sharp) and grew warmer as we approached the area where the sky was being lit red. yes, the rocks we walked on were warmer b/c flowing lava was passing underneath.
melissa and i joked about how the area where we were walking would have been either roped off altogether or only passable after a serious liability disclaimer.
we walked within a short stones-throw of the flowing lava. it was incredible to see, hear and feel the heat. definitely one of my more exciting/memorable experiences.
when melissa and i were at the beach in monterrico, we made a donation to support a project that works to protect sea turtles. all species of sea turtles are unfortunately threatened or endangered.
for the bargain price of $1.30, we got the chance to help a baby sea turtle make it’s first voyage into the ocean, where it would hopefully thrive for around 80 years, growing to a longer length than most humans reach in height. they start out pretty small, and cute. ~check their size in comparison to melissa’s hands.
after we and a few other tourists cheered our babies on, a group of students that are planning to work in the tourism industry came along to do the same, but they had an unofficial race.
it was a very fun experience and great new way to enjoy guatemala’s black sand beaches.
in addition to turtles, the project also works to protect alligators and other wildlife. it was a bit creepy and exciting to be just a few feet away from ‘gators.
mateo got word of a surf competition in mid february that lived up to our expectations. this is the most swimmable of the beaches i’ve been to on the notoriously strong pacific coast of guatemala.
we would have been happier if he was able to enter, but we arrived late and it may have been closed to foreigners anyway. also, my back is still bothering me from a surf fall back in november so i didn’t catch any waves. i may have cracked a rib or ripped a muscle or something. surfing is not the most casual of sports, especially in waves like the pacific side of guatemala. before i paddle out again, i plan to do a lot of push-ups and swimming.
but yeah, the competition was really cool. we saw floaters (pictured above), aerials, some good longboarding and even a li’l barrel.
the surfers, young and old, make up a really cool scene. the rest of the locals were some of the nicest people i’ve met, which says a lot b/c the majority of guatemalans have been very friendly.
asosurf, the surfing association of guatemala, puts on a competition every month of the year, so i hope to see at least one more this year.
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