I am back from Central America! I had such a great time and would definitely do it again. The weather, nature, food and culture were all amazing. I met so many people and made a ton of new friends. Updates and pictures up on FB very soon!
Thanks to everyone for the emails from home all along the way - hope to see you soon! I missed you!
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Had to skip lunch today, but the reward was a beatiful lagoon in an impact crater after a challenging hike to the top. Spent a whole hour just gazing at the wonderfully active Arenal volcano and didn't rush off to anywhere. No emails coming in to reply to on a smartphone because I don't have one on me and don't have piles and piles of work waiting for me when I return - just hugs and kisses :) Someone pinch me...no, wait, don't!
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Our departure from Chicago was pushed from 6 am to 7 am. No more delays thank goodness. Flight left on time and was pretty uneventful. I mostly slept. We had really been up since the night before so we were exhausted.
We've arrived in Mexico City (MEX). I've never been through this airport before. It sounds like we have to go through immigration before we go to our gate.
I was correct. We had to hit the Mexico immigration desk and get our passports stamped for entry and walk back through a separate hallway adjacent to the one we took to get to immigration. In reality it is the same hallway, just divided in two by a glass wall. Once through immigration, we had to go back down the hallway we first took again in order to get to our gate. Let’s just say that we got to know that hallway quite well. At the gate we had to check in at the desk. It won’t be long before we board. Now boarding for Guatemala City!
More sleeping on the plane. We got to catch some of the scenery below. Sounds like we’ll be arriving shortly – flight is running on time.
Landed! {That quick exclamation made me think of BorisJ} Now we get to grab the luggage – ugh! Baggage claim didn’t take long. There were attendants there that wanted to help us with our bags for a tip of course. It really isn’t necessary. They have luggage carts by the conveyor belt that you can use for $0 unlike in the U.S. Loading up the bags and heading through customs. No bag checks – yay! Off to the exit…
I made no arrangements to get picked up. Mom said that her friend’s family would be there to pick us up. We have to give them all these bags – we’ll be much lighter after that. I think we’re staying with them for a night or two. They live about an hour away from the airport. Mom needs to carry out her task to get this to this family. After that we’ll be staying with my good friend’s aunt in Mixco, close to Guatemala City.
Ok, so it’s 4:30 pm, we’re at the exit and we have no idea if anyone is here to pick us up. My mom met her friend’s mom once before so she kind of remembers what she looks like. It looks hot outside so we’re just inside the exit. If we exit, we can’t come back inside so we’re just hanging out looking out at the crowd that’s waiting for their friends and family trying to pick someone out. There are attendants outside ready and waiting – scratch that, they are insisting on helping us with our bags even when we haven’t stepped out yet. We keep telling them that we’re waiting for some people and that they haven’t arrived, but they keep asking. They are getting restless – like sharks being taunted with bloody flesh. One guy even wanted to make a deal with us to let us use his cell phone for some cash. Grrrr! I really find this to be annoying. Is that bad of me???
Ok, worst case scenario, I could call my friend’s aunt. Ummm, maybe not. She sent me an email with all the info – address, phone number, etc. – and I forgot to write it down and there are no infamous “internet kiosks” to be found. Ooops!
Wait a minute! Mom recognized someone. Whew! An hour after we landed we have our ride! Through the restless sharks we must go. These guys are realizing that we’re about to exit & they are licking their chops. Barely a foot out the door and they all swarm wanting to help us despite us insisting that we’re fine and don’t need help. They persist, following us left and right. Relentless. We’re headed to the loading area just a few paces ahead and the family picking us up is waiting for their son to drive up with the pickup. The most persistent attendant just grabs one of the cars that we had to push it a few inches. That was his in. Blast! He’s quickly realizing that it’s going to be a bit of time before the pickup pulls up. His internal conflict becomes apparent – should he wait? Should he go help someone else that’s ready to go? But, no, he has to stay and at least get something from us – after all he did push the cart a few inches for us. He’s entitled to some cash and he’s not about to let someone else move in on his kill and reap the reward he earned. Not when the scent of Americans is strong as is the promise of USD’s! It’s true, all three of us are definitely not tan and they don’t quite place us as Latinos despite our impeccable Spanish. They are not buying it. He tries to multitask keeping a finger’s hold on our cart while attempting to grab someone else’s bag and throw it into a car. It’s a bit of a stretch…but in some Cirque de Soleil-like feat, he manages it.
I wish I could use the force – “You need not help us” and “You will move on” with a Jedi hand wave. Alas, the force is not strong with this one. Blast! Once again.
The pickup is here! Loading up the bags now. Our guy throwing them in the back and earning a tip from the family that’s picking us up. Off to Squintla. Leaving the airport we get to see a bit of Guatemala City. You see a ton of little businesses and see some familiar U.S. brands – McDonald’s, Burger King, Shell. It’s high traffic time right now. This is going to be a slow ride L
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The thought that is constantly running through my head throughout my month-long trip through Central America is ¨Why didn't I do this a LONG time ago?!?!?!¨ This kind of trip was long overdue and has opened the door to endless possibilities. It was a nice break after 12 years of being neck deep in a career - first in IT, then sales and finally marketing. I enjoyed every bit of the work I had done and have learned so much, but I think everyone reaches a point where they just need to disconnect. Some just push that thought back and others embrace it. I wanted to embrace it!
I've always enjoyed travelling. I feel so at home when I travel - a bit ironic I guess. You see as a child, my family made a major move from Bolivia to New York. I was two years old at the time and don't remember that change really. Once in New York however, we moved around a lot and then eventually made another big move to the Midwest. I feel like I got used to meeting new people and making new friends. Great thing to learn as a child! It wasn't stressful for me at all. Even when I was away from home, I never got homesick. Starting a career so early in life gave me the chance to really get a taste for travelling. In just a year of starting my first real job, I was travelling through South America and Asia. I really learned to love the discovery of new places even when I didn't know a soul. I love meeting new people and shrinking the world I live in more and more with each trip I take.
I remember my early trips and having no clue what to pack. I once had a 4 week trip where I would be travelling to Chile and Hong Kong back to back for two weeks each. That was the worst packing I have ever done in my life; I just laugh and laugh thinking about it. I packed two medium suitcases and a carry on that I had to lug around airports, busses and train stations. I think I've learned quite a bit since then. What did I pack for this trip you're wondering? One medium backpack. Yes, that's right. ONE. A single backpack for a month long trip through Central America. Ahhh... So completely streamlined and easy! I know, I know...many of you already have mastered this (you all know who you are), but I feel like I've come a long way though. It has certainly made this trip so easy! I'm not claiming I'm a pro. I definitely don't have it all figured out yet though. Don't ask me for advice quite yet. Getting ready for a trip is still quite hectic and there are still items that I forget or wish I wouldn't have bothered to pack. Still learning.
I left for Central America on Thursday March 11th and of course took the last minute route and packed the night before. I did get a few things ready in advance in my defense. I would be travelling with my mom and little brother who is 11 years old for the first two weeks and then it would just be me. My mom was the originator of this trip. She and my little brother were going to be travelling with one of her good friends who is from Guatemala and asked me to join since she's often a bit nervous to travel. I planned to join her and added a few weeks to take an excursion through Central America. In a weird twist, her friend was unable to make the trip, but my mom couldn't cancel. She decided to take the trip anyway. We had a lot of fun and I'm glad she did. My little brother has become quite the little traveler too :)
Wednesday was the last day that we had to get ready for our trip. I was running from store to store buying some last minute items and returning others that I didn't really need. The flight we're on leaves from Chicago so my Dad was to drive us to the airport. At around noon, he calls me and asks "Are you ready?" I just laughed. He was going to be off work around 7 and wanted to leave soon after he got home. Right... :) I was using my mom's car while she was at work and she got off at 3:15. My little brother would be out of school at around 3:30. I had to use my time wisely. We were almost ready I think. The night before we had done a lot of packing. We really didn't have much more to pack since we really tried to keep it to the least amount of stuff possible. In fact, we tried to keep it to a single backpack per person and my little brother's was all ready to go. Mine was about 95% done; just needed toiletries.I was at a local sporting goods store (Scheel’s) when my Dad called. I needed to buy a few pairs of good hiking socks since we'd be doing a ton of walking. My visit to this store was a bit of circus show - minus the clowns of course; they are too scary for me to even imagine. First I went in to return some shoes I had bought the night before. One pair was too pricey and I had found another pair for a much cheaper and they fit so much better. The other pair that I returned weren't as comfortable as I thought. After returning the shoes, I was off to the socks. I found that the children's hiking socks fit me the best and they're cheaper - plus! I got to the register and after the cashier rings me up and I pay, I notice the receipt is lower than what it should have been. When I got to the car I checked the receipt and it looked some of them were actually marked down even more. I could have just left at that point, but now I made another trip inside Scheels to exchange two pairs for the lower priced pair and then remembered that I wanted to get some water purification tablets just in case. That is why I said it was a bit of a circus. All in the name of a deal I suppose.
I finally headed home to get my back pack ready and only had a bit of time before I had to pick up mom from work. My little brother would be coming home from school on the bus. I grabbed the new socks that I so proudly got at a great price (ha!) and packed them up. I remembered that I had a few emails to send and started working on those. Before I knew it was soon time to pick up mom. I headed out a bit early so that I could go return some other things and to go on a hunt for small travel containers for lotion & face wash. Just as I was driving off, the bus was dropping off my little brother- good timing!
Everyone had been telling me to leave my laptop behind and I kept debating that back and forth in my head. It would be nice to have but I also see their point about it maybe drawing too much attention on the defenseless girl travelling alone. I was leaning on leaving it behind. Great way to be completely disconnected - right? That was going to make downloading pictures a bit complicated, but I thought I could just get a few more XD cards for the camera. I was just taking my mom's because mine is a bit big and obvious. Time was just not on my side though...I got the travel containers, picked up mom and then she had to run some errands leaving me no wheels. I just ended up at home and remembered that I had to submit a request to the post office to have them hold my mail. As soon as mom got back we did the final packing - I should say re-packing. We rearranged everything to get it more streamlined. By then, my other brother and his wife and the 3 nephews came over to say goodbye. It got a little hectic and we were behind schedule. It was already 6:45 pm, Dad would be here in no time and we were not ready! He did indeed get home right on time and quickly saw that we were still frantically packing - *sigh*
Well, we finally got outta there by 8:20. We had to make a stop in Iowa City to meet up with my mom's friend who couldn't make the trip with her boys. She was so sad and so were the boys. We had to stop over there and pick up the bags of stuff that she was going to take to all of her family - presents for them. They ended up being big and there were three of them! It would be really good for us to do her this favor though. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to Chicago and got there at 3 am. The flight was supposed to leave at 6 am, but it got delayed to 7 am. Well at least ORD is a decent airport. Flight left right at 7 am and we were on our way to Guatemala with a connection through Mexico City!
There are seven countries that are considered to form Central America - Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama - and I will be visiting them all I hope! Back in Seattle in late April :)
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Made it to Belize! The beaches are gorgeous and the weather is amazing. I wish I could share pics, but just getting online at cafes. We are in San Pedro today and will be relaxing on the beach. There is definitely a island spirit here. Everyone is very chill and no one is rushing :) Lovely place to decompress!
Miss you all!
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So much to tell, so little time! This is a beautiful country. The weather here is perfect and sunny! I arrived on Thursday night and saw a bit of an area called Squintla and enjoyed some delicious Guatemalen tamales. The next day we toured around a bit and had fresh ceviche for lunch. We're in Mixco now and tonight we take off to Peten to check out the ruins.
Miss you all!
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I came across this animated short and thought it was worth sharing - a little story about the imagination set to beautiful music.
And for something a bit more surreal:
Enjoy!
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This is a definite feel good band worth checking out. I was introduced to their music five years ago and was instantly hooked. Their angst-filled music makes you feel good even on your worst day. Comfort music, if you will, about life, love, heartbreak, good times and bad. You can't help but be brought into their sweet sincerity and the raspy vocals of Ben Nichols. They are touring once again, but no shows in Seattle, but check them out if you'll be at Coachella this year!
http://www.luceromusic.com/site/tour.php
Consider a story I heard once about the ending to a show they did in New York's Lower East Side to a crowd of hipsters - after their last song "Tears Don't Matter Much" some final words “Thanks for having us tonight, y’all. We’re Lucero. We don’t play encores. We make last call and then we do shots at the bar.” And that my friends, is a taste of some good southern rock n' roll!
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Hello! I'm so glad you came for a visit:)
I've been captivated by a constantly moving target of endless distractions - many interests and hobbies and adventures I have with friends - many great stories to share...
(Hear, hear! This is a personal blog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer or any companies I mention.)
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