Adventure awaits in Semuc Champey

You may not know this about me, but I'm a thrill seeking adrenaline junky. 

Now, to be fair, I can't claim to have summited Mt. Everest, jumped out of an air plane, or ridden any sort of strange vehicle across country. 

However, when placed in certain environments, with the right amounts of risk and challenge involved, I am one of the first to line up. 

Up until this point in my trip, I had been playing it safe.

If you don't count the bike ride around Lake Atitlan which almost made me go into cardiac arrest...

Or coming close to being involved in a tuk tuk crash...
Or that time my friends and I kayaked to an abandoned house, halfway under the rising water and climbed onto the patio via the second floor window ledge...

All totally safe activities. 

Semuc Champey is located on the edge of the Guatemalan jungle, and is known for it's warm, lush, hilly surroundings. Mostly, people venture to this spot to visit the natural limestone bridge, freshwater turquoise pools and bat caves that bring fame to the area. Semuc Champey means "where the river hides beneath the earth" in Maya language. The river running through this area disappears into a point of the earth, and reappears to continue on it's natural path.

I stayed in a lodge located in a small village 45 minutes outside Semuc Champey called Lanquin. At El Retiro Lodge, they put emphasis on community and interaction with other travelers. Every night they offered a family-style dinner where everyone ate and drank together. This was not the only place in Guatemala I had stayed at which encouraged intentional time spent together. WiFi was turned off at certain times of the day, communal areas had long, large tables and group games, music sessions and long conversations were often had before or after dinner.

After taking a quiet, relaxing day to journal, lounge and do some lazy tubing down the river pictured above, I was ready to take on an adventure-filled day at Semuc Champey. 

Our group loaded into the back of a pickup truck and took the winding, bumpy road to Semuc. 

Our first adventure of the day were the caves. Our guide lit our candles that we were to hold throughout the tour to light our way in the pitch-black caves. We made our way carefully through the cave, tripping and walking sloppily as we maneuvered around large rocks poking out from above and below.  The cave bottom would drop down and we would have to swim, single-handed while holding our candles. We climbed up small waterfalls, jumped from high rocks into small pools, and got pushed through a small opening of rocks to land into the black abyss of water and rocks.

I loved every second. A few did not share my excitement.

Our second adventure came in the form of a rope swing. Each person took a turn sitting on the swing which flew you high above the river and we jumped straight into it. 

                                       

                                       

                                       

Next, we grabbed some tubes and floated for several kilometers down the river until we reached a steel road bridge and our guide motioned for us to swim to the side and climb out. I had started to wonder why he was leading us over this ordinary bridge for passing car traffic, when he stopped in the middle and asked if anyone felt like jumping in. 

He pointed to the bottom planks of the bridge and said "Para pollos", for chickens, then pointed to the very top rung and said, "Para hombres", for men. Our group stood there, not sure if we heard correctly. Our guide was telling us we could free fall off a 50 ft. bridge into the water below if we wanted to.  I immediately shot my hand up first. I could hear my parent's warning the night before I left for Guatemala, "Brittany, please don't do anything crazy or stupid, like jumping off a bridge," as I climbed to the very top rung of the bridge and jumped straight off.  

Our final adventure for the day was exploring the natural limestone bottomed pools.

This was by far the most relaxing part of the day. We hiked for about 30 minutes up hill to get a great view of the river, limestone bridge, and the surrounding hills. Once we arrived at the bottom, we were ready for some easy, relaxing swimming. We spent the rest of the afternoon sliding down the beds of rocks into the small pools. The water was an incredible color I've never seen before in a river bed. 

Finally, at the end of our long and crazy day, we loaded back on the pick up truck for the bumpy ride home. With a day full of adventure behind me, I was ready for a big family meal and a few drinks with the new friends I had made.

A Meal in San Juan

When you think of Guatemala, or traveling through Central America what comes to mind?

For me, before stepping foot into Guatemala, I imagined rolling mountains and green valleys. I dreamed about recreating the awesome pictures of jumping off the docks into the massive Lake Atitlan, with the mountains as a backdrop (the perfect profile pic). I thought about the bright, bustling markets with their exotic fruits, fresh vegetables and raw, stinking meats. I saw people on the streets coming and going, living their daily lives.

However, one thing that didn't come to mind right away was what those lives actually look like away from foreign eyes. Many times when we travel abroad, we forget to wonder or learn about the people living authentically day in and day out in a place that we are just passing through. Talking to many travelers like myself, I quickly realized that while people were genuinely interested in learning about the culture, language and people in Guatemala, they weren't necessarily putting themselves in positions to experience their lifestyles first hand.




While I was working with Rising Minds, the coordinator mentioned the workshops that they facilitated with people in the local communities. The variety of activities available astounded me. They had workshops ranging from making your own pair of shoes from scratch, to spending the day with a local Mayan fisherman, to creating your own colorful dies from plants. All of the workshops highlighted the extraordinary talents and skills of the ordinary Guatemalan. 

I decided to immerse myself in a bit of this culture, and opted for two workshops: cooking a traditional meal, and making my very own organic shampoo. The same woman taught both workshops, so I got to spend two of my afternoons at her home in San Juan learning these special trades.

Hilda lives in a home shared with her mother, father, brother and two children. But someone must have spilled the beans that we were making something good that night. Soon, Hilda's two sisters, along with their husbands and children all arrived to help with the eating part of that night's workshop.

We made a simple dish called Patin, a popular dish originating from a town around the lake called Santiago. After a quick trip to the market for ingredients, we returned home to start the long prepping process. This dish only has 3 ingredients-Tomatoes, beef marinated in lime and salt, and large banana leaves for wrapping up the mixture. Should be easy, right?

Think again. As I glanced across the kitchen to the perfectly working blender, Hilda pulled out her piedra de moler, a large, granite stone grinder, complete with a stone rolling pin that had been handed down from her grandmother, to mash every single tomato.


"It adds a special flavor that can not be replaced," she said, as she showed me the technique of rolling out the tomatoes. "Our ancestors used this piedra for all of their cooking and it's the only way to make a good Patin."

I don't know how these women do not have bodybuilder arms. This was no easy task. As I stood fumbling with the stone roller and mashed tomatoes spilling over the sides,  the sisters and mother gossiped in their native Tz'utujl, and the kids laughed at my poor technique. Several times Hilda and her sisters stepped in to help me out. I mean, we did intend to eat that night and at my pace we were having Patin for breakfast.

My weak and feeble attempts at using the piedra de moler.

Finally after about an hour or more of grinding tomatoes, we added the paste to the meat cooking on the fire. From there the process was simple. We wrapped the thickened mixture into the banana leaves and let them cook a bit longer.

Overall, the process took 2-3 hours to complete. We sat together and opened our warm, steamed banana leaves and dug in. The dish is eaten with tortillas and we had homemade black flour tortillas. Hilda explained that she makes her tortillas by hand in the early morning and freezes them so they taste fresh at night. I couldn't help feeling slightly relieved that I didn't have to go through that process as well.

Along with a very sweet cup of coffee, the meal was the best I had eaten in Guatemala. But it wasn't the best because it was authentic, or homemade, or even because I cooked it the traditional way.

It was the atmosphere that made it so great. I was sitting with a family, listening to their conversations about school, work and their days. They switched between Spanish and Tz'utujl, and passed the cups of coffee around for everyone to share.
I felt like I was being given a very special insiders view into the lives of this family. For one night, I was part of them as they shared their home, food and traditions with me.

I endlessly thanked Hilda and her family for the wonderful food and memorable experience. I left that night with plans to return the next day to make our organic shampoo from aloe vera leaves and other herbs (another arduous, painstaking process...but with incredible results).

In two days time, I felt that I had learned more about the Guatemalan people and their beliefs than I had in the two weeks I had been living in the next town over. It made me a little sad to think I had waited this long to dive straight into the heart of Guatemala and into the lives of its unique people. These moments-like dinner with Hilda and her family, working with the teachers and children at the school, discussing beliefs and customs with my Spanish teacher, cracking jokes with my taxi drivers, or sharing stories with the people I encountered- these are the ones that stand out the most in my mind of what made my time in Guatemala not just a beautiful landscape and fun activities. They made it real, personal and lasting. They made it feel like home.

Rising Minds in San Pedro

So Im really behind on my posts. It´s definitely not from a lack of things to be writing about. It has much more to do with lack of internet and computer access and well...time. Trying to catch up a bit! Thanks :)

Part of my time in San Pedro La Laguna was spent volunteering for an organization called Rising Minds. (http://risingminds.org/) While I had originally wanted to be helping out in a school for the 2 weeks while I was in San Pedro, due to all the festivals, the students were not in session for over a week. 

So in order to keep busy and help out, I spent a few days helping other volunteers in their community garden. They are building the garden  and greenhouse out of post-consumable materials. The garden acts as a nursery and seed bank for community members to receive as an incentive for signing up for their health program. 

I was a small part in this large project, but got my hands dirty and face toasted cutting and stringing bottles onto bamboo shoots and assembling the greenhouse.

Greenhouse made from recycled bottles, bamboo, string and nails.

Once the kids were back in school, I was able to help at San Juanerita school in the next town over. Rising Minds has partnered with this school in hopes to offer financial and educational support for its teachers and students. The students at this school come the surrounding small villages around San Juan. Many of these families are migrant coffee workers and their kids are only in school half the year. Also, because the school pulls from the surrounding areas of the town, they do not receive as much government funding as the other schools in the area. 

While I was expecting many hardships and challenges at the school, I have to admit I had difficulty adjusting to the structure, organization and resources available at San Juanerita. It was a combination of shared cultural norms along with a deficit of resources in the community that had resulted in some of the things I saw at the school. As a teacher, I was overwhelmed by the lack of discipline, organization and educational practices present at the school.  I don´t mean to speak negatively about the school, or its staff and students. On the contrary- the teachers I met were devoted and cared very much for their students. The students were eager to learn and fun to work with. 

I immediately had this deep feeling of connection to this community. I wanted to work alongside the teachers, to help them create a better atmosphere in the classroom and improved learning experiences for the students regardless of the dire circumstances they had. At one moment, I contemplated canceling part of my plans for the following week of travel in order to stay longer to work at the school. 

I don´t know why I had this innate feeling of belonging with the school. Maybe it´s because I felt I could contribute with what skills and experience I have in some way. Maybe it had something to do with the kids reminding me of the students I taught back at home. There was something there. I can´t put my finger on it. And this connection might fade and I will just remember the experience. Or...God may have plans in the future, using this school or my experience here. 

In the end, I was honored with the opportunity to get a glimpse of the life of the children and communities in this area. I was grateful for the ignited passion that God renewed in my heart that reassured the gifts and plans He has for me in the future. 

A sunrise in Lake Atitlan

I signed up for a sunrise hike to the top of Indian´s Nose-a mountain summit which overlooks Lake Atitlan.

3:15am: Alarm rings. What have I done? Why...?

4:00 am: Guide and 2 other crazy people willing to get up this early arrive at the door of my hostel.

4:30 am: Catch the chicken bus. It was packed.  Shared my small school bus seat with 2 other people. WHY are there this many people up right now?

4:50 am: We arrive to what seems like a random path on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. This can´t end well.

5:30 am: After a bit of a hike, we reach the summit.

As the black night and twinkling lights revealing the small villages within the hills turned into this...

Then later into this...

 And an hour or so later, into this...

I was so grateful for witnessing the silent, dark morning slowly come to life. I sat in awe of the views all around me, and the mystery of God´s creation taking form before my eyes. 

Ok...so 3:15 was totally worth it.

Let the morning bring me work of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to YOU I lift up my soul.   Psalm 143:8

Feria in San Pedro

In my last post, I commented how lucky I was to have chosen Lake Atitlan and San Pedro for my 2 week stay in Guatemala.

I got lucky again to have chosen these past two weeks to visit...weeks filled with celebrations, parties and la feria..the fair.

Both San Pedro and San Juan, the next town over, celebrated their patron saints back to back this past week, which meant double the party for people living close to these towns...people like me.

The first week was in San Juan and I rode in the back of a crowded pick up truck with dozens of other pedranos (natives of San Pedro) looking to start the fiestas early.

The "Queens" represent their home village by the kind of traditional dress they wear.

During the day, they had traditional dances, parades and beauty paegents. Then at night, the fun reaches a crecendo.

Una noche en la Feria-A night at the Fair:

Imagine a tightly packed flea market, going on for blocks, with people selling anything from watches, to underwear and coats, to sunglasses.




Then pepper in a bunch of food stands cooking up pizza, tacos, cotten candy, fried bananas and grazed ice.











Pair this with a large carnvial-complete with clowns, fooseball tables from your grandparent´s basement, arcade games, loud announcers calling out loteria pieces (their form of Bingo), unnervingly fast ferris wheels and little kid rides controlled manually. 






Finally, add several energetic live performers singing and dancing their hearts out while the conservative, passive crowd looks on without emotion.

 (Note: The majority of people in San Juan and San Pedro are conservative Evangelicals-they are prohibited to drink and dance among other things. Attending a lively salsa concert where the entire crowd  stood expressionless and motionless was one of the most eerie experiences I've had thus far..)

Singing about dancing a putting your hands in the air, but with no response from the crowd.

And there you have it friends. A real, authentic feria in Lake Atitlan. 

Laguna Atitlan

When I first planned this trip, I had several specific intentions in mind on what I wanted to see, do and experience.

While traveling around Guatemala and Costa Rica to see the amazing sites and do the fun tourist activities is on the agenda, my original plan for Guatemala was to stay for some time in one place to become more immersed in a community and have an authentic connection with the language and culture here.

Im so glad Laguna Atitlan was the place I chose to do that.

Women dressed in the traditional dresses from their home village.

Lake Atitlan is surrounded by several small villages which still practice certain Mayan traditions. The culture is very much preserved and respected in these villages where they take pride in their ancestry.  While towns like Panajachel and San Pedro (where I am staying) have adapted some westernized customs to cater to its tourists, other villages are fairly protected and untainted by modern culture.



The majority of my time here has been taking Spanish classes and volunteering in the local community. I have had the chance to travel a bit to the other towns and enjoy the spectacular scenery from all different angles.

The view of the lake from my "classroom" in San Pedro.             

What has been great about Lake Atitlan is that there is never a lack of something to do. It has a beautifully simnple, laid-back culture. My adventerous side is covered by kayaking to abandoned homes swallowed up by rising lake levels, bike riding through the small villages or hiking to a summit before sunrise. However, I have also found I am totally content swinging in my hammok at the hostel reading a book or having a long, quiet meal overlooking the lake.

View of San Pedro Volcano from the other side of the lake.

 I think Lake Atitlan and its surrounding villages is a place people can get caught up in for awhile. The thought of staying longer has passed my mind on several occasions...had I not made plans to travel on, or other obligations back at home, I could see myself staying for several more weeks.

With its mystical waters and towering mountain landsapes, paired with a kindhearted and gentle people, there is a little bit of something for every one in Atitlan.