Hear me roar

Caught a free ride to the beaches in El Salvador with Maxim, a guy
from Quebec who has driven all the way from his hometown, and will
drive all the way to the bottom of South America. Amazing. Spent the
last day or so at El Zonte beach in El Salvador: black soft sand beach
with crashing waves, as with all the La Libertad beaches, popular with
surfers. Sidenote: I do not find surfer boys particularly attractive,
but if I find you otherwise attractive and then I find out you can
surf (and especially if I see you do so), that is HOT. I then
navigated 2 chicken buses, and found my hostel/hotel in a large,
dangerous city ALL BY MYSELF with my turtle packs and my basic level
of Spanish. I did not get lost, and I did not get robbed. I am AMAZING.

I did get slightly visually/sexually assaulted. Just as well I had to
switch chicken buses.

Saw a guy wearing a tee-shirt with a picture of a common armadillo.
Underneath was a picture of a Nicaraguan armadillo, it was all decked
out with guns and grenades. As I am on a bus tomorrow at 5 AM to
Nicaragua, solo as always, this was not very comforting.

Sent from my iPhone

Loving every moment of this.

I want to buy everyone I know a hammock

Not a bad place to spend Thanksgiving

Some quick pics.

Darren, Ellie, Jonas. At the top of Pyramid IV in Tikal.

Darren at the top of Pyramid IV.

This is the most famous pyramid at Tikal.

The gang loafing at Tikal.

Part of the waterfall I jumped off.

My feet are so dirty. You have no idea.

On my 9 km hike through the Guatemalan mountains outside of Lanquin.

The guy on whose bike I hitched a ride back to Lanquin.

Eddy and Eva in Antigua, without the smoking Volcan Fuego behind them.

On the way up the Volcano.

Just entering the scorched section of the Volcano.

At the top of the demon volcano Pacaya, above the clouds at sunset.

My spanish teacher, Cony!

Volcanoes are always a presence in Antigua-- this was last night at sunset. There are multiple volcanoes ringing the town.

Mi maestra

Maybe my favorite thing about Antigua has been spending time with my spanish teacher, Cony. Meeting every weekday for 4 hours, and conversing for all that time, has allowed us to get to know each other pretty well. It has been so wonderful getting to know so many things about her life-- one which is so different from mine. She has had plenty of difficulties and unfairness to deal with, plenty of heartbreak too. And she emerges a strong, self-assured woman. Honestly, the way that she deals with life, she seems more than just one year older than me.

Throughout this difference of expectations, regarding the trip and Sarah, Cony keeps telling me how I can't fully rely on or trust anyone. Because, as the Guatemalan saying goes, even my own self could betray me because even my own shadow could frighten me. I'm not sure how best to translate that, but it really struck me as both beautifully poetic, and so sad. I have been burned before. In my formative youthful years, I had several friends just suddenly decide I wasn't cool enough to be friends with. Or people have turned out to be more meaningful to me, than I was to them. And still, I optimistically resolve that I should be able to put all of my trust into someone. People should be able to rely on each other like that. Yes, currently I feel pretty burned, but I hope this doesn't mean that I will never trust anyone else in the future. But Cony insists, time and again, you can't rely on anyone else entirely. Only God (she is pretty religious/spiritual).

So it causes me to imagine my life, if I were only ever to fully rely on myself, no one else. Yes, I can trust other people partially, but never fully. And it seems potentially lonely. Though perhaps less painful. Is that tradeoff worth it?

I don't know how she remains such a positive, cheerful person, when she feels she can only rely on herself. Or how she can be so strong, when all she has is herself. That's truly impressive. I'm glad I've had this time with her.

Anniversary

Saturday was my one-month anniversary of this trip. So what have I accomplished so far?

4 Mayan ruins explored
1 major getting lost experience which we totally conquered
loads of awesome backpackers met from all over the world
became a certified SCUBA diver
learned Spanish
had a big-ass fight with best friend
mastered flying solo in foreign lands
jumped off a waterfall
climbed a demon volcano and enjoyed s'mores at the top
witnessed earth being created in all its molten glory
survived climbing down said demon volcano in the dark
hiked 9 kms of mountains by myself
swam in the warm Caribbean waters a lot
been played by a Scot
sick: only once! and I didn't even puke so I'm not sure it even counts
read: 4 books
not gotten any smaller; thanks to Guatemala
careened around mountain cliffs in the back of a pickup
eaten some coconuts
haggled
faced my fear of ocean creatures (jellyfish!)
explored 3 pretty different Central American countries
ridden in Chicken Buses
gazed out over miles of jungle from the top of Mayan ruins
learned salsa from Latin men in an Antigua mansion at 3 in the morning
been bowled over by the natural beauty down here countless times
gashed my knee cave diving
watched the sun rise over the Caribbean
had some fantastic conversations
had some awful conversations
found myself in the company of crackheads
played a lot of cards (too many rounds of Kings/Ring of Fire)
been a 3rd wheel
hitched once
listened to some amazing guitar work (Antigua)
become far more outgoing than I ever have been before
ridden a horse
been commended for my strength and courage (thanks guys)
become hooked on coffee
hiked through jungle
been offered weed so many times

So glad I came. I'm already a different person than when I left. 5 more months to go!