Happily Homeless

Day 175/177 – We are currently in Nicaragua. Meaning, since leaving Lago de Atitlan, in the past three days, we have crossed a border a day, and driven through a country per day. Since only my name is on the title and registration, I have to be the one to obtain the permit. This might be to our advantage because the officials may possibly be nicer to me since I am a lady 😉 I never could have imagined how tiring it would be to deal with border crossings and officials everyday. It is like getting pulled over once a day, and then going to court, hoping they will let you off, even though you never did anything wrong!

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last bit of Guatemala

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Beautiful buses & crazy roads

overloaded bambo trucks

El Salvodor’s border was great. A kid helped us up until I had to get the car permit. He was not allowed in the permit office because the officials are trying to crack down on people trying to get money from travellers like us. We didn’t mind giving him a few bucks to make sure we had all the correct copies; it was slightly helpful. The officials were also very helpful and even filled out all the paper work for me, after my attempt to fill it out myself – though I thought I did a decent job 😉

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El Salvodor – a crater lake off a small highway

Honduras was the frustrating border to cross. We accepted the help of a gentleman that spoke some English. To exit El Salvador we didn’t need any help; again the officials were all professional and helpful. But the border crossing into Honduras was so chaotic that it is very hard to tell who is official and who is not. It made it hard to figure out who to trust and who not to trust. I still don’t know if I dealt with any officials, but it worked and we were okay. We unexpectedly arrived at the border and ended up crossing in the late afternoon. The bank had closed (it was closed, I saw it, but I still wonder…) and since it was closed we had to finish our paperwork in a round about way. At least it seemed like it; but we got all our paper work done and received what we hoped were official stamps (which must have been since we had no problems leaving the country) and didn’t pay more than the normal bribe for this border. I think we ended up paying around $10-20 bucks more than we should have. Though I’m still not sure. And then leaving Honduras was something else! Man, talk about unofficial officials. We headed towards the border, and in the middle of this completely rural area there were five guys, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, just standing near a chain that was blocking the road. One of the guys came up and asked for our permit. He says he needs to stamp it. We don’t trust him, so I walk over to an older man in a uniform who is sitting at an empty desk in a concrete hut. He, in turn, just points back to the guy wanting my permit. After watching the guy go up to a semi, and seeing him take care of the trucks permit, I gave him my permit and stood next to him, watching. When the chain was let down for the semi to go through, Jason also pulled through and waited. As I waited for the guy that had our permit, another man, who was standing next to me in the hut, and had a beat up badge on his shirt, said he is Immigrations. He asks to check our passports… I have no idea if he was official or not, but the permit guy handed my passport to him and he looked at it and handed it right back. Since we are all in the same small room, and he didn’t have any way of bolting, I gave him Jason’s also, and again he took a quick look. And that was it. Next the car permit guy says we need to go to another building, and for Jason to follow. We walked over to the other office, where some ladies finished my paperwork and stamped my passport with an exit visa for the car. Then we moved on to the Nicaraguan border.

Honduras countryside

Nicaragua’s border was very quiet when we got there. There are three borders that cross into Nicaragua from Honduras; we crossed at the Pan American Highway. This was the quietest border that I had to deal with. There were no con-men trying to push us through, only kids who gave weak attempts, as I was standing at the permit window waiting for the official. The kids were asking for $10 USD for their help, and then laughed with me as I laughed at them. There were a lot of kids around, just playing and trying to sell random items to tourists. They were all over Jason though, and he said this was the worst crossing for him, because the kids wouldn’t stay off the car. All the offices were marked, and the officials were nice and quick with their work. Along with the three borders, in the past day and half we were also pulled over by three officials.

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Nicaragua

The first one was in Honduras, because we had a headlight out (which we did) and so we paid the official $1 USD and $5 Guatemalan (80¢ USD). Jason is a smooth talker with the officials. The second one was right before crossing into Nicaragua, at the check point by the police/army. After looking at our paperwork and taking a look around our van, they wanted proof of ownership of the bike (that we have on a rack on the back of the van), and a vehicle permit for bringing it into the country. I have heard of needing a title for a bike at a border crossing, but since it has been just an accessory, we forgot about it. Here the bike is a vehicle and many people would love to have it, but they knew we didn’t need a permit for it. They just wanted money, so smooth talking Jason got us away by paying the official $1 USD and $20 Honduran dollars (about $1.10USD). They were nice to us the whole time, and joking/smiling with us, but it took 20 minutes to finally get away. Lastly, yesterday in Nicaragua coming out of the capital city they pulled us over, and asked if we had the red triangles that you use when you are in an accident, to warn other drivers of your stopped vehicle. Of course we don’t have any, but we are going to buy some for the next official that asks (this is a common fee from the police for foreigners) 🙂 We gave him $50 Cordobas (around $3 USD) and he was very happy. I don’t mind handing out small amounts of money to people; I know they don’t make much money, but being taken advantage of so often leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Especially since we are supposed to use these guys if we ever need help; and right now there is no way I would go to the police to ask for any help because I am afraid they are only going to see United States dollars on my face and not even listen to me unless I pay them. I don’t like the feeling that we can not trust anyone, and can start to understand, a little bit, how people feel that live in corrupt countries with no one to stand up for them.

So, we have gone through three countries in the past three days, and on the road we have driven by many things. Oxen and horse drawn wagons. Self made log rolling carts; that is the only way I can explain it. Highway vendors selling dead iguanas, fish, and live parrots. A lot of bike riders and quality roads to drive on – though most people that live in the country don’t own a car. And lots of colorfully decorated buses, I think we need to have that idea come into the states and decorate all of our buses with artistic colors and design.

Day 174 – Lago de Atitlan was a beautiful drive and a gorgeous lake. We stayed in the main town of Panajachel, which is lined with vendors selling any item a tourist could want. Plus it is full of restaurants and bars. It was hard not to buy any woven items or jewelry. The area is stunning, with the lake right at the base of two major volcanoes.

Lago de Atitlan

We found decent, cheap accommodation right on the edge of the main strip where we could securely park the car. We didn’t go to any of the other towns around the lake, though I read it is the best way to fully appreciate the elegance of the area.

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Lago de Atitlan

Part of the market

more lake pics

Most importantly, we were able to watch the Seattle Seahawks play and move on to the super bowl!! How crazy is that?!

Wow!!!!!

Day 174 – Our last weekend in Xela. We are leaving tomorrow morning early and heading out to Lake Atitlan, “the most beautiful lake in the world”. So this day was spent doing last minute preparations: buying some headlights for the car, exchanging some books to update our library, and hoping for the water to come on. Some problems occurred with the construction and prolonged the city’s period without water. Though the rumor is that it is supposed to come on this afternoon. Our host father has been driving out to his mother’s house and bringing back gallons of water to help flush the toilets, clean, and cook. It is sad leaving such a beautiful city that is full of nice, smiling people. I do highly suggest if you want to learn Spanish, come down to this town and spend a month here. We would spend longer, but we are meeting some friends down in South American that we can’t wait to meet up with; we will probably take more Spanish lessons down in South America.

Quetzaltenango is a city definitely worth a visit if you are in Guatemala!

Day 172/173 – Last day of school 🙁 we had a choice of staying at the school and studying or going with our teacher to the Mercado de San Francisco El Alto. All the students chose to go to the market and we took a chicken bus up there. A chicken bus is an economical way of getting around the area. They are like school buses in the States, but elaborately decorated outside and some inside. They are also the main transportation for the farming community, so you can often find chickens, pigs, dogs, etc on them – we like them a lot.

Chicken bus.. the outside of the buses are best though, we´ll try and get a pic later.

San Francisco El Alto is a big town up on the mountain top outside of Xela. This is where many manufactures for clothing that we buy in the States (ex. Levis, Puma, CAT shoes…) are located, and in the mercado the clothing is sold at very good prices. This mercado is huge and has sections for each product type.

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This is the area near the livestock and animal vendors.

We visited the livestock and animal area, clothing (traditional and modern), produce, household items, fabric, and food stalls. It was so interesting to see anything you could ever need, right within reach. Friday is when the market is the biggest, and buses are constantly going to and from San Francisco El Alto, carrying locals to buy their goods.

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Another area near the church, consisting of miscellaneous items for the house, and clothing

It is sad to leave the school. We both understand a lot more Spanish than we did when we started. It was so great to meet everyone there and get to know them better. They were all so warm and we had great conversations.

Thanks everyone, it was a great time!!

Day 170/171 – My teacher, Johnatan, suggested that we all go dancing tonight at a club. So a bunch of us from the school (Johnatan, Jason, Luis (Jason’s teacher), Robbie (a staff member), Maria (the director), and I) went to CocoLocos, which had a dance floor. I gave in and let Johnatan teach me to dance a bit and had a good time, but I felt bad for him because I am just not a good dancer. As the night went on we had an interesting discussion with Maria and Robbie about world trade which lasted until 1.00am. It has been extremely interesting to discuss, listen, and learn about all the issues of world trade and social economy as we are traveling. We will write more about our learning’s on these subjects later.

view of Quetzaltenango from the road to Almolonga

Since we had no water in the city this morning our family took us to a bathhouse in Almolonga. We were able to relax in some natural hot springs water and clean up. It was an early morning coupled with a late night, but worth it. The bathhouse had a row of rooms, each room fully tiled, with steps leading down to a soaking tub. The soaking tub has a wall sectioning off a small area for the user to soap up and rinse off, using a bowl to collect water from the soaking tub. The hot water came directly from the hot spring and there was a cold water tap to create the perfect temperature. It was just the thing to start off an early morning. Almolonga grows the biggest produce in the area. The bottom of their valley is covered in rich topsoil and their well tended crops are given plenty of water and love. All the big produce gets exported to the States, the medium produce exports to South America, and the small produce stays in Guatemala.

Almolonga

I was spoiled this afternoon because the school’s activity was to go to Vahos for Banos de vapor – a wet sauna. Two bathhouses in one day! Jason’s heel was hurting, so he decided to stay behind and relax at home. We hiked up the mountain on the edge of town to the top where Vahos was located. The hike through the country was spectacular, with a few small establishments accompanied with consistent views of the city and surrounding mountains. The sauna/steam bath is a rustic building with two rooms. The rooms are rented out individually, where you can change in proper sweating clothing and then directly walk into your personal steam bath. The sauna consists of two rooms and a shower to rinse off in. The first room is a nice hot temperature, we pushed open the plastic door to the second room and a gust of boiling hot air came out. That is as far as we investigated that room! The steam comes naturally from a volcano vent that is located, I believe, in the back of that second room. I stayed in for about 40 minutes; it was extremely relaxing for my body – I went to bed at 8.30/9.00 that night.

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Rt to Lf: Ted, T-girl, Robbie, and Remi__ The road to Almolonga viewed from Vahos road

Day 169 – Today Mario, one of the teachers, took us students on a trip to Salcaja, a town outside of Xela. Salcaja was the first town created by the Spaniards during the Conquest. This is also the main town where textiles are created and was the first town to start the textile process that was brought over from Europe. We toured two different areas of the town where we could see the first two phases in the process. Unfortunately, at the third and final phase no was home and we did not get to see it. The businesses are normally family based and operate out of their homes.

Phase 1 : they string out the thread on the grass and tie knots in the thread to prepare for the coloring process.

Phase 2: these are some textiles hanging up waiting to be colored. The dye process is a lot of work with hot liquids.

market in the town

the first church that the Spaniards built in Guatemala

Mario talking with Jason and our classmate about the history of Guatemala

Ana Maria, our host mom, is a great cook. We have been having all sorts of wonderful meals! A few examples are a traditional green salsa based soup with tortillas (normally with chicken) and a type of French toast that is served in a bowl with the bread sitting in sweet watery syrup. All the meals have been great and always served with bread, tortillas, and fruit or a vegetables.

Day 167/168 – Woke up ready to get some writing and website work down, but to our dismay the whole city lost electricity. The power was nonexistent until the evening, so we spent the day wandering the city more and drinking coffee.

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ummmm.. coffee.

view from the cafe above Parque Centro America

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more pics of Parque Centro America

Monday, our first day of school!! We dressed in our best clothes and put on our backpacks to meet our new teachers and classmates. Okay, not really – we put on what was left of our non-dirty clothes, picked up our notebooks, and walked to school. The school has a very nice courtyard, rooms for focusing on studies, and a quaint kitchen where the bread, coffee, and tea are for break. In the middle of each morning we take a half hour break to consume the delicious treats and talk with all the teachers and students. The lessons are one on one and can be prepared according to each students motivation to learn. We both learned more on the past and present verb tenses, and I learned more vocabulary and general conversation. Jason learned more economic and social based conversation. On our second to last day, Jason’s teacher suggested we have a small group discussion on the social and economic situations in Guatemala. That was a very interesting and great discussion. INEPAS is located on 15a Ave 4-59 & 5 calle – t. 765.1308 www.inepas.org

Our host family!! They are wonderful! lft to rt: Ana Maria, David, Juan, Ana Maria, April, & Jason 🙂

Today we also met our host family that we will stay with for the whole week. Their house is only 20 feet away from the school, so it is an easy walk for us. 🙂 Ana Maria and Juan (aka Paco), the parents, along with their daughter Ana Maria (aka Ana) and her son David all live in the house. Also, Rosa lives in the home. She is a university student from the north of Guatemala and rents out a room from Ana Maria and Juan while she attends school. Senora Ana Maria Gutierrez de Fuentes is always welcoming guests to stay in the apartments while they are in Xela. Her address is 5a calle 14A-30, right near INEPAS, t. 7763.0237. Recommended.

Our luck with Xela’s utilities has not been too good. We found out this evening that the water in the city will be shut off for three days, starting tomorrow, while the water system is being worked on. The city was granted money by Japan to update their water system, but they had a strict deadline to complete it. We were also told that the water availability has been a problem all year. We took our last shower for a few days and hope all goes well with the work.

Day 166 – INEPAS invited us to attend their Saturday school event, which was a hike up to Laguna Chicabal. We gladly joined for the chance to be surrounded by nature and to experience the land outside of the city. We took a collectivo, which is a van that has three rows of seats, two fold down seats off the sliding door side, and a row of seats facing the back, behind the driver seat. To make as much money as they can they cram as many people as will fit inside and outside. I think we had up to 23 people once. A very efficient system! The hike was steep, but worth it because of the views of the valley and towns below.

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The laguna is a protected natural area and also a sacred area for the Mayans. They come to the laguna to hold rituals and place lilies and crosses (influence from the Catholics) along the waters edge.

lunch time and resting

Jason and one of the many people we met on the hike

Day 164/165 – Guatemala, here we are!! Let me start with when we came within a few miles of the Guatemalan boarder. As we drove over the last hill in Mexico the landscape suddenly changed, creating a new level of green and a crazy vertical dimension for our eyes to take in. Curving our way down to the last village, we could see over the border to a vast volcano-like mountain range, lush with dense tropical plant life that was sweet our eyes and welcomed us to Central America.

The clouds are covering the mountains, but this on the way to the boarder from Mexico

This afternoon’s drive to Quetzaltenango was tranquil, the best reward we could receive after the border crossing. We climbed and crawled (at times in 1st gear, poor Henry) up the retired volcanos, along all the villages which had abundant crops. We moved through the clouds to explore this new environment. We started to get a taste of the culture in this region of Guatemala, where men and women carry loads of wood or dried stalks on their upper backs, and women also carry baskets of goods balanced on their heads, up the mountain highway, back to their abodes. There were so many new plants surrounding us, and water in the form of falls, rivers, and dew. A climate of clouds, forests, continuous grass, and cold air embraced us on our drive.

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Guatemala…..

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joining the clouds

We reached the city right after night and decided to spoil ourselves by staying at a nice hotel, at a great price. Quetzaltenango, (aka Xela – the Mayan name) is a colonial town from the Spanish Conquest. It has a historic center around the Parque Centro America. Our hotel, Kiktem-Ja 13 Ave 7-18 bwt 7 & 8 Calle – 761.4303, is one block off the park, with a stone courtyard where Henry was able to rest. Off the courtyard are the rooms.

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The rooms are held to their original charm, with all wood floors, ceilings, and furniture. We also have a fireplace to help keep the room warm. Trust me, Xela at this time of year is cold! The temperature gets close to freezing in the middle of the night, but during the day it will warm up. When the sun comes out we can even take off our hats and jackets.

warming up after a cold evening.

We spent our first day searching for a Spanish School. We decided to go with INEPAS, a non-profit group that has two programs. A Spanish School program that caters to all levels of learning, and a Social Service program that helps the surrounding area, which students can get involved in. We decided to stay in the hotel for the rest of the weekend while we explored the city and enjoyed our historic surroundings.

Day 164 – We roll up to the border with everything ready. Copies of all our documents for the car permit, cancellation document of our Mexico permit (that must be cancelled in town, not at the border), and our basic Spanish. A group of men approaches our car, all very enthusiastic, with badges around their necks, making them look quasi-official. My first reaction is “whoah…..back off”. They swarm the van and are pushy, with no sense of personal space, and as we know, we North Americans tend to like our bubble. They offer their services; helping us complete the paperwork in order to get across the border, along with offering Guatemala currency exchange. We choose one guy to help us, this way the rest leave us alone. It is only $2 USD for a bit of help – sure, why not?

Why not. Jorge, our ‘helper’, takes me to get our passport stamped for exiting Mexico, nothing I couldn’t do by myself. Jason stays in the car to keep Henry safe, and is constantly badgered by Jorge’s cronies. We then drive over a bridge, and a guy comes up saying we need to pay a toll for the bridge. He looks nothing close to official, nor does the ‘toll booth’ he points when we question him. But since there was not much we could do, and with our five ‘helpers’ explaining, in Spanish, why we need to pay the man, we decided it wasn’t much anyway, so we paid. Jorge and his gang then follow our van. They start herding us to the side of road as a group of other guys step in front of the van, telling us to pull in line with all the other cars waiting to proceed through customs. Our ‘helper’ explains that this is where we get our passports stamped for entering Guatemala (again could have accomplished this myself) and obtain our car permit. Now he tells us we need two extra photocopies of these papers to obtain our car permit. Jorge is going through his ritual, telling us the procedure in Spanish, and there are two other guys helping him out with the explanations and being generally pushy; sometimes all talking on top of each other.

Uhmmmm, I think he’s pulling my leg. But it’s only two copies; fine, if it will move us along. One United States dollar later, Jason is being hassled by the cronies, and I have the two documents copied. Next we have to get our temporary car permit and the bottom of the van fumigated. While I am running around with Jorge (for I dare not let him have any of my paperwork), Jason is getting pestered, in Spanish, to park in a parking lot. This will cost $10 an hour, plus a few extra dollars for a boy to watch the car. Due to the heat Jason can’t roll up the windows, and we are noticing how nobody in our line is moving forward.

So, on to the car permit. As we walk across the main road towards some shops, I notice no one in line is going through the fumigation station (which is empty), and in fact there is no line after the fumigation station either. Ok, I now know that there is no true line here. I say nothing because we’d like to get our paperwork all settled before we move on. I am careful not to go anywhere out of public view as we are walking around. We stop at a space that is occupied by a few desks with computers. Some words are painted on the wall, one of them being ‘agencia’. Are you thinking what I am thinking?…. yes, muy caro – “very expensive” crosses my mind. Okay, what do they have to say now? Jorge tells me that I need to give this gentlemen my paperwork, and he will get it ready for a visa. “How much?” I ask in Spanish. “98 Questzal” he says. “Esta es muy caro” I reply. They tell me it’s because it includes the fumigation, and other some stuff that I don’t understand. “No, no I want to go to the official office, it is only 41 Questzal.” I explain this in my broken Spanish. At first Jorge acts as if he doesn’t understand me. I repeat myself and the agency gentleman nods his head. Then he explains to Jorge what I am saying. Jorge looks dumbstruck and can’t speak. He tries one more time to convince me that I need to do it this way. I say “No, just a moment” and we walk back to the van while I explain to him that I want him to take me to the official office. Keep in mind this whole morning for us is spoken only in broken Spanish.

I approach our van and notice Jason with two other guys who are trying to convince him of something. I tell Jason my take on the situation as the men huddle around us, watching us. They decide to get another man to come over, who can speak some English. I hop back in the van once I realize Jorge is not going to take me to the official office anytime soon. I say to Jason “We should go and do it ourselves.” “Where?” he replies. I didn’t know, but I had an idea that it was past the fumigation station. The guy who speaks some English comes over with Jorge and starts talking to Jason. I realize this is the same conversation I had with the agency man, and we aren’t getting anywhere. I tell Jason that I will go investigate more. I notice there is a couple with a big RV and trailer in front of us, from the States. They look quite tired, and I ask them how much the guys are asking them for. They tell me $200, and I mention that it shouldn’t be so expensive. These Americans don’t really help me at all. When I return to the van our ‘helpers’ are all still there, still talking to Jason. We are both getting frustrated with how little is being accomplished, and Jason is consistently being harassed by these men. Jason asks them that if we pay $3usd, could we get our permit right now? I see them perk up and their eyes start to shine. “Oh, $100 USD, we’ll get you through right now” one guy says. Jason starts to laugh and says “F@*% you, forget it.” They start badgering him to get him to agree. Still not knowing exactly where to go for the car permit, and not wanting to just drive through the border and get into trouble, I tell Jason I am going to see if anyone at the passport office can help us.

I leave the babble and noise behind and walk towards the passport office. Again, in my broken Spanish, I ask a lady (a very nice lady) where the car permit office is (aka SAT). She tells me where the office is located, with a nice smile. I then ask her about the proper process. “Do we get fumigated first and then get the visa?” “Yes.” “And there is no line for the fumigation?” “No” – she confirms my suspicions. I give her a very big “thanks”, which she returns with another smile, and I return to the van.

Back at the van the guys are still trying to hustle a very stubborn, patient Jason. As I jump back in I tell Jason “Okay, babe, let’s go, I know what to do. Move up to the fumigation station, there is no line.” Jason puts the van in gear and extricates us from the group of men. We move on without their help. I ask Jason to stop so I that I can share my information with the other couple in the RV. I wanted to be nice by sharing my info. I start to explain the real process to the Americans. The guy from the States, who looks tired & frustrated, says “I can’t go now, they have my passport.” “Who has your passport?” I ask, not really wanting to hear the answer. “Him, the guy helping us with the paper work.” I wanted to slap the guy twice for being so naive as to give his passport and all of his paperwork to the ‘helpers’. Realizing I can not help them, but hating to leave them in such horrible circumstances, I start back to the van to tell Jason. I hear some yelling and notice a lot of men standing around. As I get closer I hear Jason saying something. I hurry up to see what is going on and Jason yells “April, get back in the car now!” I jump in quickly and we drive off towards the fumigation station. The men were yelling at Jason to move because he was in someone’s parking spot, but he sensed something else was going on. Later, Jason found out that this con is a serious business for these men, and I was meddling in it, so they started to make threats. We now know not to mess with other people’s business, in places like this. Once we realized how much they make doing this, we understood why.

So we finally drive up to the fumigation station. A very polite man sprays the underneath of our van thoroughly. I go pay for it,$42.75 Questzal. Moving on to the SAT office to obtain our car permit, we have to wait 20 minutes because they are on lunch break. After lunch (which Jason and I never took) I hand over my papers and started the process for the permit. I have to go and pay at the bank, just a few doors down. Then we are set to pick up Henry’s vehicle permit, which cost $41 Questzal. A total of $103.75 Questzal for the border crossing: $10 for each tourist visa, $42.75 for large vehicle fumigation, and $41 for a temporary car permit.

While I was waiting for the paper work to be processed, Jason sat patiently with Henry and befriended one of the con-men. He ended up learning about their whole game. As a group they keep you from seeing the simplicity of the border crossing. They use lack of knowledge and impatience to their advantage by having travelers wait ‘in line’ until they agree to pay more to get through faster. They even do this to locals who are trying to cross the border. They make a killing on this, anywhere from $100 USD to $800 USD (which is what the guy said he made off one RV last month).

One last problem occurs when we are set and ready to get out of there. Our van overheats and doesn’t want to start (we later found out that during fumigation a wire came loose from the start, which Jason quickly fixed, costing only ten cents). Positive note: we are on a hill. Negative note: there is a car directly behind us. A gentleman that I made aquaintance with, who is from Guatemala but lives in Chicago, comes over and explains the situation to the man parked behind us. He gladly moves his car and we roll backwards, Jason pops the clutch, and Henry starts right up 🙂 Yay! We finally take off! What should have been a 45 minute, stress free border crossing took us three hours and ended up causing more than a few grey hairs! A wave of relief washes through me as we drive away from the border, along with an adrenaline rush from the lack of lunch and the pure happiness of surviving! My body starts to slowly relax as a sense of accomplishment echoes in my now brain-dead head. We both gained some confidence for the bordering crossings to come, but by no means are we excited to go through them!