.......the bad news is, I needed it.
The orphanage....is an interesting place. We have decided each child is actually two, one is this sweet, loving, adorable, angel that makes you smile, but in about 2 seconds, this other child comes out. This other child may may bite or kick you at any moment. I got peed on my first day.
Regarding the volunteer house, it is up for debate if we lost the lice comb, or if the rats claimed it. The volunteer house is basically a screened in shack, which allows you to hear the bull frogs, howler monkeys, insects, and birds all night and all morning. It also is a great home to bats, giant rats that are taking over, lizards, and insects. Seriously, the rats are taking over. The kitchen at the orphanage has a giant snake they keep to control the rats there. Maybe we should just get some cats.
We eat beans and tortillas. Every meal. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Usually, with something else. That something else being rice or eggs.
The day starts pretty early, I am usually up by 5:30am to go run, and we get the kids at 7:30am. And then we basically have them until 4pm. I have the chiquitos (the little ones, which is why I will perpetually have lice while I am there) We have a break, and then dinner with them at 6pm and then activities immediately after until 8pm. Sometimes we come back to the volunteer house, light a candle (no electricity at all, and no water after 8pm) hang out, some one plays guitar. It's nice, but most nights we are asleep by 9pm. With the occasional awakening because someone got hit in the head by a bat or a rat falls on top of your mosquito net.
Someone asked me while I was at a hostel this past week, there has to be something though that I miss. And it's the kids laugh. It's so genuine and it makes it all worth it.
I spent a week at the orphanage and it is now time for my descanso! Another volunteer and I headed out on Monday to Flores. We decided to stay in Flores a couple of nights in a hostel and take a day to go to Tikal and see the Maya ruins. They were really awesome and it has been nice being in Flores, which is right on the Lago de Peten, and eating something other than beans. The bus left at 4:30am from Flores to get to Tikal by sunrise. My friend and I hiked through the jungle about 45 mins to sneak in....it's quite expensive to enter the park. The pyramids and temples were pretty cool though. They date from about 500BC to 300AD. We were able to climb to a top of several of the temples which allowed a great view of the area there.
After a couple nights in Flores, we traveled to Semuc Champey. Wow. It was about a 7 hour bus ride, and then when we arrived in Lanquin we had to switch to a four wheel drive truck and climb in the back to stand and hold on for the last 30 mins or so. The last 3 or 4 hours of the trip were beautiful. We rose about 5000 ft into the mountains and we were way out in the jungle. These buses and trucks fly down/up these one way dirt roads that tightly wrap around the mountains. The Pikes Peak drive is nothing compared to this. Finally, we arrived at our hostel right near Semuc Champey. My friend and I ended up meeting up with four other people and we decided to hang out together the next day.
We first did the caves in the morning. You get a guide and a candle and head into the water. A lot of it is swimming, some climbing, all while holding your candle to see. We got to jumb off some cliffs at one point and drop down through these shoots into darkness (I was in front and hoping that I was correctly understanding our guides Spanish...) It was about two hours in the caves and so awesome.
We then headed to the waterfalls and to climb one of the mountains. I was really impressed by this place. Later that night, four of us bought some candles and snuck back into the caves to get pictures, because they woulnd't let you bring your camera on the tour. Such a good idea.
After there, we decided to head back towards Rio Dulce and go past on to Livingston, which is where Guatemalan and Caribbean culture fuse. It is home to the Garifuna people and has a nice chill Caribbean feel. We have mostly hung out on the beach which has been nice and relaxing.
We catch a lancha back to the orphanage tomorrow afternoon, as we have to start back Tuesday morning. I am ready to head back and see the kids and my stomach is ready to get back to a steady diet of beans and tortillas.
That is most of what has been going on!
Miss everyone!
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