Regrets for not being able to get you more frequent updates. Between guests, work on the boat and travel it’s been extremely busy and just hasn’t left time for getting to postings here but I’ll do my best to catch up in the next while.
(click on any of the pics here to see the large version)
From August 16th to 28th
Ruby and I had a great time with my niece Julia (on the right in the picture), my sister Wendy’s daughter, from Comox BC who along with her high school friend Kierra came to visit us for two weeks aboard the good ship Learnativity at the Barillas marina. They were a great pair and we had a very full range of experiences from dingy trips all around the local waterways, to trips in a fellow cruisers truck to some fun locations in surrounding El Salvador to taking fun walks to explore the immediate areas around the marina which include such things as salt water marshes with what I now know to be (thanks Sandy!) Roseata Spoonbills which we thought were flamingos, to a family of monkeys to cocoa farm. I’ve got LOTS of pictures from all of this and just need to find the time to get them and some explanations posted here to share with all of you.
But, no sooner had I put Julia and Kierra in the van to the airport (see pic), I turned around and quickly put together all the reservations and logistics to head over to Guatemala for a months worth of exploration of that country while learning how to speak Spanish. What I had discovered was that Guatemala has turned Spanish language instruction into a major component of their overall economy. I don’t know the total number but I’d guess there must be over a thousand Spanish language schools in Guatemala. They all work relatively similarly in that they offer 1:1 instruction as well as most offering the option to stay with a local host family for all your room and board. So that’s what I’m doing!
I figured that being that close to this great resource, having some time yet before hurricane season lets up and I can start traveling South again down the Central American coast to Ecuador and Galapagos, and given that Spanish is the 3rd most popular language in the world, this was a no brainer and a smart thing to do. There is also a “professional” side to all this as I’ll be studying the whole area of new language acquisition which is going to be an increasingly necessary skill for more and more of us in this truly global economy. And to top it all off it is an extraordinarily affordable; one week of 1:1 instruction for about 20-25 hours is about $150 and my room and board for 7 days is about $50-75. How could I say No to that?? So I quickly cleaned up the boat, got her ready to sit safely for a month, packed bags for Ruby and I and left first thing the next day (Sat Aug.30th)
Continuing to use synchronicity and serendipity as my strategy for living life to the fullest, I had met a great guy from San Salvador at the marina one weekend and he and I hit it off right away. Guillermo is a delightful and very interesting fellow and and his hospitality and generosity knows no bounds. As synchronicity would have it, Guillermo came out to the marina just before Julia and Kierra left and when he heard of my plans he kindly asked me to spend Saturday in San Salvador with him and stay the night at his apartment.
To add to the fun, another great cruising couple, Jill and Kurt from s/v Fancy, their 50’ Beneteau, said they needed to go into San Salvador to pick up some groceries and boat supplies. Jill is seen here just after helping to clip Ruby, and Kurt (on the)left is apparently comparing neck muscles with our other great friend Arthur.
We rented the marina van and driver to take us into SS for the day on Saturday and we visited the farmer’s market which Guillermo now hosts at his coffee processing plant and office. Then in the afternoon we went with Guillermo in his 4x4 (seen on the left here) up into the hills surrounding San Salvador to get a full guided tour of the his organic coffee plantation and harvesting facilities. As you can see from these pictures it is a gorgeous area in these lush hills and to have the owner and operator for our guide was pretty awesome!
After a VERY full day, Jill and Kurt headed back to the marina and Ruby and I stayed on for the night with Guillermo. Next morning and were able to walk over to the bus stop as it was just a block from his apartment. Some things are just meant to be. And some are not! We were all settled into our very sumptuous seat (essentially the same as business class on a plane) on the top deck, front row window seat of the double decker bus going to Guatemala City when they decided that Ruby wasn’t going to be allowed on the bus after all. No amount of discussion was going to work so we got off and moved on to put together plan B, again with the help of Guillermo.
He drove us to his office and had one of his workers drive us to the El Salvador/Guatemala border, about one hour away. There we were able to get on what they locally refer to as a “chicken bus” that would take us as far as the capital Guatemala City. Chicken busses are what all the locals take to get everywhere and anywhere. Most of these are old American school busses and it was a great experience for Ruby and I. We started out with just us and one other family of 3 people on the bus and then started picking up people all along the 3 hour route. To catch one of these you just stand on the road and put your arm out, the bus stops, sometimes just slows down, you throw on your bags on and hop on. Within about an hour we were sitting EIGHT across each isle with luggage and bags and sacs full of anything and everything spread all over. Men, women, children of all ages but no other animals except Ruby on this trip. I was sure that the next person we picked up would have to sit on the roof but this never seemed to happen and it was a blast being part of all this plus seeing the scenery change as it went by.
We arrived in Guatemala city about 4pm. We were not there long and so it is just a quick impression but it was a very large, busy and not particularly appealing city on first glance. From the bus along the way I was able to contact the Spanish school in Antigua by text messages and they arranged to have one of their vans pick us up and drive us to Antigua and drop us at our local host family home. I’ll leave you with this one street shot of Antigua for now and be back in a bit with more about Antigua, learning Spanish and my host family.
Hasta la próxima vez mis amigos! <until next time my friends>
w
a
yne
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Hola!! Como esta?
Esta muy bonita la paguina sobre sus viajes, muy interesante!!
Es un viaje con mucho aprendizaje sobre la cultura, idioma y forma de vidad de los diferentes paises.
Con carino,
Evelin
Posted by: Evelin Saavedra | October 11, 2008 at 01:50 PM