Needing a change of scenery…Guatemala anyone?

I t really doesn’t. Yesterday what we were expecting to be a pretty docile day finished with our little legs tired from having climbed a volcano! Not quite sure what I expected the volcano climb to be like when my Spanish teacher told me about the trip, though if I had been told that it involved a 3 and half km trek uphill through thick forest and “volcanoness” me being the feeble soul that I am probably would have passed on the opportunity, which although my precious new Ugg boots would still be in one piece (I told you I didn’t know what to expect) I would have missed out on maybe the best experience we’ve had since being away!

We’ve seen some really beautiful views and sights, countless throughout Asia and even the Aussie sky at night deserves a special mention but nothing can compare to what it was like to stand at the top of a Volcano, level with the clouds at sunset and look down at the rest of the world. I wish I had the words to describe how phenomenal it all was without sounding too over the top, but if an artist ever painted what we saw they’d be criticised for lack of subtlety!

The Volcano was called Pacaya and due to literally no health and safety in Guatemala we were able to walk right up to where the lava was and toast marshmallows. This part of the excursion traditionally lasts quite a bit longer due to the novelty of the experience but unfortunately we had to make a sharp exit due to lava suddenly spewing out the sides! The walks up and down were equally tough. The climb up was relentlessly steep and the paths very narrow, which with the aid of the stick I reluctantly brought at the start I could just about manage. To get down was a whole different struggle as by that time it was pitch black and my stick came in useful in the same way I imagine a blind person’s would! We had torches to help find our way, but did you know there’s a lot on the ground to trip over in forests?!

Besides from conquering volcanoes I’ve also started my Spanish lessons and to be quite honest I may as well be Senorita Spaniard- they’re great! The daily classes are 4hour private tutorials and my tutor is a lovely lady called Sylvia who, although she doesn’t speak a word of English, I seem to have built quite a good rapport with! Excited as I am about how far I’ve come along in these past 3days, I’ve decided to do another week next week but with hardcore 6 hour long classes, I’m hoping Sylvia’s feeling said rapport…

Whilst on a bit of a roll with doing new things, we also moved in with a Guatemalan family today! Unless the communication difficulties have led me to completely misread this, they seem to be a really lovely family. The parents are quite young (for some reason I was expecting old people) and have a son and a daughter. Unfortunately I was feeling a bit flustered when we all exchanged mi llamos and have no idea what they’re all called, so for now I’m hoping mi amigo will suffice!

Explorer Franklin

My garden in Essex

Oh no my precious Uggs… Gotta love the stick though!

Michael’s power stance!

So we´re here! After a hectic few days which saw in 2 february 19th´s and enough flights to make me feel like I´m constantly swaying we have arrived in Gautemala! Getting here ended up being quite smooth travelling but at one point was looking to be a potential nightmare and involved enough running through Mexico airport to remind me that it really has been 9months since I set foot in a gym!

After landing yesterday we got a shuttle bus that went to Antigua which we were relieved to find as wondering around Gautemala city with backpacks hanging off you is a big no no, it also saved us the stress of our jet lagged little brains having to think or use common sense which is always a bonus!

Within minutes the journey to Antigua restored all the excitment I have for travelling that Australia sucked out, the country is stunning and quite unlike any others we´ve been to yet…what with it being on a new continent an all!

Despite the fact I have hiccups that won´t shift I´m loving Antigua. It´s a quiet little city, filled with cobelled streets (I´ve only fallen over once), dozens of churches and cathedrals and no matter where you are there is always a view of either the hills, mountains or volcanoes- which we´ll call dormant for now. Another sight with is equally commonplace is the amount of weapons people carry here. You can´t walk down a street without someone stolling past casually weilding a huge gun (being a girl I can´t inform you of the types!), even  in the shop we brought glue from toady we were greeted by an armed gaurd! Anyway it beats waitressing in Noosa…

One issue we´ve had to get around since arriving is that people assume Michael is a local with a gringo, a rather tall one at that, but a Spanish speaker all the same. Unfortunatley not an ounce of Spanish runs through his half Norweigen half Anglo Indian blood resulting in a lot of confused smilling and shaking of heads. So to help Michael´s authenticity we decided to sign up for a week of spanish classes which start tomorrow morning and means we get to live with a Gautemalan family for a week. I´m so excited about this and being the show off that I am can´t wait to get home and impress everyone with my spanish (and you will be impressed). Better still we get 3 meals a day at this place… I can´t think of anything better than free food…

Tonight our plans are to go for a few drinks but try and get an early one so we can be bright little students tomorrow- by the end of the day I´ll definately be fluent!