“May I never miss a sunset or rainbow because I am looking down”. –Sara June Parker
One thing I’ve learned is there is nothing like a gorgeous, undisturbed, peaceful sunset. Sunset has always been a celebrated, magical event. For who doesn’t love a beautiful sunset?
I believe, to witness a sunset in a place where no one else is around makes it even better. To indulge in the beauty of our planet and its inexplicable wonder never ceases to stir a wondering soul.
In honor of father’s day, I thought I’d do this next post on my dad. I made a promise to him that it wouldn’t be sappy or a tear-jerker like the one I wrote for my mom. You know how us women can be! We love to be emotional, don’t we? So, I will try my best to make this post light and fun, ok dad?
Picture of my dad and I on top of the world at the highest point along the Annapurna Trek in Nepal in November 2010.
Picture of my dad and I on top of the world at the highest point along the Annapurna Trek in Nepal in November 2010.
Around the world and back with dad.
To my friend Lucy, who showed me her world in Antigua and how to love the art of photography. I will forever be grateful for your kindness and friendship. May our paths meet again!
“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.”- Flavia Weedn
I always find it hard to say goodbye to a place. I found it especially true with Guatemala. Over the last week I’d been as immersed as possible with the culture. I lived with a host family, took intensive spanish courses, climbed a volcano at the crack of dawn, took my first chicken bus and learned to slow everything down and take things as they come. All in all, you couldn’t ask for a better journey than that.
As Sunday morning came and went, I felt a sadness about leaving so soon. I could hardly believe how much I’d done and seen in only a week. Perhaps more than many people ever experience at all. I honestly believe that immersing oneself as much as possible in the culture you are visiting, is the greatest reward ever when it comes to traveling. It was no vacation, that is for sure. Every day I rose exhausted beyond belief and wondering how I’d gather the energy to make it through another long albeit exhilarating day. But one thing I’ve come to learn and understand about myself over the years is that this is how I like to travel. I would do it no other way. A vacation? No thanks. Sitting on the beach? I’d be bored in two minutes. Running around a country and trying to see and learn as much as possible in only a week with never taking a moment to sit still? That is what I do. That is what I crave. And most importantly, that is what I love.
Sensational, cloudless view of Agua Volcano on Sunday morning, the day of my departure.
I know that many people find my way of traveling absolutely crazy. They don’t understand me one bit.
But as I always love to say and quote my parents for reminding me “The world is your oyster”. With those encouraging, motivating words….there was no time to sit aimlessly in my room checking emails. I had to take advantage of every moment and opportunity I got to explore, learn and see my surroundings. For how else would I get a sense of compassion for Guatemala? It certainly wouldn’t be gained from laying on my bed reading a book.
“I cannot rest from travel; I will drink life to the lees”.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses
After full day of non-stop sightseeing and picture taking (over 400 each!) Lucy and I were exhausted and ready for some rest and relaxation. It was time for a drink. Lucy knew just the place, the Sky Bar, which had a great selection of icy cold beers and drinks yet best of all, a rooftop deck with a view to the world.
The sun was beginning to set and cast its lovely shadows across the brightly colored terra-cotta buildings of Antigua. I could hardly stand the urge and temptation to forego the drink and keep taking pictures. Yet my camera battery was really dying down as was my energy. It was also well past five o’clock happy hour.
I have always been fascinated by signs, especially when I travel. Signs can be a work of art or a simplistic view into an unknown culture. They can be fun, fanciful, beautiful or rather plain. But they are always one thing: A glimpse into the life of a place, whether it be a home, a building, a store or a country.
Here are some of my favorite signs that I found during my recent stay in Guatemala.
One of the reasons why I wanted to go to Guatemala was to volunteer. For the last two years, I have been passionate about volunteering internationally and giving back to the countries in which I have had the pleasure of visiting. It has inspired me, motivated me and changed me to become the person I am today. And I must admit, I am proud of that fact.
Two years ago, I went on my first volunteer trip with Cross-Cultural Solutions (CCS) to Costa Rica where I worked at a nursing home for abandoned grandparents (to read posts, click here). Then last April, I traveled to Morocco again with CCS to volunteer at a women’s school and help tutor English. I loved both of these volunteer experiences as they truly changed my life. However after two years of doing volunteer work as a group I wanted to try venturing out on my own. I had traveled abroad alone before yet never for an extended period of time. I felt like there was no time like the present to give it a whirl and truly challenge myself. I just needed to find the right place.
When my son Max started first grade at Burroughs Community School in Minneapolis my opportunity arose. Max’s first grade teacher, Ms. May, just so happens to be married to a Guatemalan man and together they have run a Spanish School called Casa Xelaju and a nearby community center, La Pedrera, for years. My opportunity had come! Guatemala was on my travel list and after falling in love with Costa Rica, I could hardly wait to visit another Central American country, especially one with a vibrant indigenous community, the Mayans.
Photo above of me with my little girls. These three girls are the same age as my daughter Sophia. I adored them and their smiles brightened my soul and warmed my heart.
View of Xela from the school roof.
I woke up to the sound of the eternally barking dog outside my window, wondering for a moment where on earth I was. I checked my cheap plastic travel watch and it read 6:50 am. The sun had yet to light up my bedroom and I was exhausted after a fitful night’s sleep. I tossed and turned, continually stuffed in my ear plugs and cranked my white noise up yet nothing seemed to help drown out the symphony of noise from the Guatemalan city life. Unfortunately I’ve always been a light sleeper which got worse after I became a mother. I swear I sleep with one eye open, listening throughout the darkness of the night for someone to call my name.
My first day at Spanish school was in a little over an hour and I was so tired I had no idea how I’d function, let alone function in another language which I hardly understood. When I turned off my white noise the sounds of a bustling kitchen filled the room. I inhaled the delightful aroma of fresh Guatemalan cooking. Breakfast would not be long.
I slowly cracked opened the door and shyly peered outside. My room for the week was right next to the kitchen and the family-shared bathroom. I was still in my PJs in an unfamiliar house with unfamiliar people. I wasn’t ready to go tramping out the door in plain view of my Guatemalan hosts! That I reserve for only close friends!
When the coast was clear I made a run for the bathroom and brushed my teeth in a glass of purified water. There was no way I was going to risk getting another parasite like I did in Costa Rica! Thus I took every precaution given to me by the travel clinic seriously. I avoided fresh fruits and vegetables. Did not drink the water, and brushed my teeth as well only with the bottled stuff. I flipped on the strange looking shower and got ready to jump in, thinking how good it will feel to wash my hair after a long day of travel. Maybe the hot water would even wake me up and make me feel better! I needed any kind of pick me up to start my day in another tongue.
The moment Luis Enrique rung the doorbell to the tall, green house my stomach dropped in anticipation. What would they be like, my host family for the week? Would they speak any English? Or would they understand my Rosetta Stone beginner level Spanish? Would the house be comfortable? Would I feel awkward and uncomfortable? All these thoughts loomed my head as I waited and waited for the door to open. It felt like an eternity.
Finally after a couple more rings, the door opened. I secretly gave a sigh of relief. I was tired, dirty and hungry. Plus I was eager to meet my new host family who I had heard all about from Ms. May, my son’s school teacher back home who runs the exchange program for Casa Xelaju.
The door creaked open and a dog barked. A young man answered the door and some words were exchanged briefly in gunfire Spanish. All I understood was “Nicole” (my name), “si” and “uno momento por favor”. I entered the dark house to silence and pulling in my enormous red suitcase. I was told to wait there for a moment in the long, narrow hallway, and there I stood for another five minutes waiting for the matron of the house.
Author’s note: This post was originally published on March 16, 2012. For some reason, it had attracted daily spam comments for one year straight so I moved it to drafts. I’m experimenting now by republishing the post to see if the crazy spanners from all across the world find it again. I enjoyed this post and want to keep it on my blog as it documents my week doing a home stay and Spanish immersion in Guatemala. Here it goes again!
I arrived in Quetzaltenango, or simply called Xela (pronounced “Shay-la”), as the sun was setting across the lush, volcanic valley. I was exhausted from the day’s travels and the total immersion into a new country with a new language as a solo traveler. It had been a long time since I’d traveled completely alone. Yes, I had spent a few days alone here and there before my previous volunteer trips in Morocco (April 2011) and Costa Rica (April 2010) the past two springs. Yet, I was always welcomed a few days later by an entire volunteer crew of English speaking friends. This time was different.
I would be spending the week in Xela, Guatemala’s second largest city, in a home stay with a local family. There would be no english spoken whatsoever and I had never met them before. All I knew were their names and their address. That was it.
I landed in Guatemala City on an excessively windy day on Sunday, March 4th. After a fitful night’s sleep at a mediocre airport hotel I was ready to leave Houston and finally continue my way south to Guatemala. I had the usual feelings of excitement and anticipation which I always get before I land in a new country and enter into the mayhem it brings. The whole bag of usual mixed thoughts raced across my mind.
What would it be like? Would I enjoy my stay there? Would I understand and be able to communicate in my broken Spanish? Would I be safe? Would I get sick? Would my ride be there as expected, waiting for me outside the baggage claim? Would the bus ride suck?
You would think that a seasoned traveler would get over these worry wart antics but it never seems to fail. I’m always a worrier and I also go through this kind of strange mixed up, emotional nonsense. At least now I am fully aware of it and try my best to take things as they come. That is the best advice I’d ever received about traveling in different countries: Just let go, and go with the flow! Yet words can mean more than actions for a type A person who is normally as organized and orderly as drill sergeant.
I exited the plane and felt the warm air flow through my Minnesota veins. It felt great to finally be there and to be somewhere warm! I grabbed my mighty red suitcase, stuffed to the rim, and quickly passed through immigration and headed out the door. I was ready for the flood of people waiting frantically outside of the airport doors, with signs and smiles and searching looks across their faces. Of course I was an instant attraction as it isn’t every day a tall, blond-haired woman walks out of the doors, completely alone and searching the crowd as well. My eyes scanned the horizon and sorted through the mass of chaos until thankfully I quickly located my name on a white placard. My ride was there.
Today was an amazing day. One of those unexpected, joyful events happened here in Guatemala. An event that will have a lasting impact on my experience living here in Xela for a week to learn Spanish and understand Guatemala’s rich culture.
Being away from home, I completely forgot that March 8th is a special day for women around the world. It is International Women’s Day. Thus, I was fortunate to be here on “El dia de la muter” and witness the grand celebration that is happening all across Guatemala and the world today. The celebration and promotion of women’s rights and an end to violence against women.
Since I’ve been in Xela, I’ve learned a lot about a woman’s life in Guatemala. My fantastic Spanish teacher, Lili told me some surprising details of what it is like for most women to live in Guatemala. There are several issues regarding women’s rights that need to be resolved yet are very complicated since many problems are engrained in their Latin culture. Guatemala, like most latin countries, has a strong culture of Machismo and is very conservative. Thus women are not always treated as equals. Most women in Guatemala, regardless of status and/or profession do not understand their rights or if they do understand them are afraid to do anything. Violence against women is very common and tragic. Many women suffer beatings and some are even killed if they do not comply with their husbands wishes. The murder rates are high thus women are afraid of reporting domestic violence to the police.
To further aggravate the problem, many women working at factories are exploited in their jobs earning under minimum wage and working long hours with no benefits or health insurance. They are trapped in a horrible situation and are also often sexually abused by their bosses. Oftentimes, they have to submit or else they will be fired.
Lili also told me that it is quite common for men to have mistresses that they frequent or even prostitutes which greatly puts women at risk for developing diseases or other health problems. Generally, women are expected to produce a large family and sometimes if a woman refuses or tries to use contraception, she is beaten or even killed.
Mayan women have it even harder as almost 90% are illiterate and uneducated. Many Mayan children today still do not attend school further aggravating the problem. Most Mayans are very poor and live a hard life outside of the city in farming communities and villages. Although they still maintain a rich culture that has lasted for centuries, the life of a Mayan woman is quite hard.
Despite the law created in 2007 to protect women against violence, little has changed due to fear and a vicious cycle of being trapped in a culture that hasn’t changed much in regards to women’s rights. If a woman is poor, uneducated and has no job along with five or six children, how could she possibly leave her husband? She must accept the violence.
On a positive note, many groups have formed to help educate women on their rights and support women who suffer mentally and physically from abuse. Women have services available at their church and at local and governmental levels, if they choose to speak out. Furthermore, today was the largest demonstration and celebration of El dia de la mujur en Xela. There were women, girls and even men and boys all together, representing all walks of life. It is not only a Mayan problem. Violence and mistreatment of women is very common and happens to many Guatemalan women.
It is a tragic problem that will take some time to solve since it is so engrained in the culture. Lili believes that boys and girls must be educated at a young age that they are equal and they must treat each other with respect. That is the only way that women will ever have equal rights. Let’s hope all women can have the same rights as men and be treated fairly with kindness and respect!
Here are my photos from the spectacular celebration in Xela, as women from all walks of life came together to celebrate and fight for women’s rights, together as one.
A Mayan woman walking down the street.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing in Tongariro National Park is one of New Zealand‘s most spectacular tramping tracks, and is considered the most popular one-day tramp in New Zealand. The Tongariro National Park is a World Heritage site which has the distinction of dual status, as it has been acknowledged for both its natural and cultural significance.
The crossing passes over the volcanic terrain of the multi-cratered active volcano Mt Tongariro, passing the eastern base of Mt Ngauruhoe which can optionally be climbed as a side trip. The 19.4 km (12.0 mi) walk is renowned for its barren yet beautiful “moon like” volcanic landscape, unusual geological features, visible volcanic activity and views of the surrounding countryside below.
-Description per Wikipedia
Photo of the Tongariro Crossing accredited to Wikipedia Commons.