Heading back to the USA

The next morning we took a shuttle from Antigua to the Guatemala city airport. Fortunately I had reserved 100q (about $15) for the airport in case we needed food etc.. I was very glad that I had because every passenger had to pay a local airport fee of $3. I assume that there was a working ATM somewhere but it was really nice to not have to find it.
Our kids make friends whereever they go. We spent the next night in Houston TX. We stayed at a holiday inn express many miles from the airport. It was inconveinient and expensive to get to, but it was so much nicer than the smelly Sleep Inn that we had stayed at on the way to Guatemala that it was worth the extra hassle and expense.

Rio Dulce back to Antigua

Our driver felt we still had enough time to make the stop at the smaller Mayan ruin on our way to Antigua. It was pretty cool and a little bit creepy. Since we were there a little later in the day all the tourists had already moved though. We were almost the only ones at this very large site. The site is know for these large intricately carved stones.
Ryland is in front of a Mayan alter. There is still smoke from a fire smoldering there.
This was the area of this site that had some building on it. It was better than the small shot with the camera would lead you to believe. It was neat to visit but not a rival to Copan.
On our way back we passed miles and miles of Banana trees on the Dole plantation. Our driver was quite nervous about making it back to Antigua before dark and so was I. Fortunately we made very good time and arrived by 7pm.

Livingston

The boat dropped us off in Livingston. We took a tour of the town with a local guide. I was expecting to fall in love with a beautiful town on the Carribean. None of us were impressed. The water was brown and murky from all the rain. It was very very humid and hot. On top of this the place was over-run with tourists. Perhaps at another time of year we would get a better impression. It just did not have the kind of vibe that fits us. Tourist books claim that a lot of high level drug traffic passes though here.
When we arrived in Livingston we saw some alligators but I think that the public laundry was the coolist thing we saw. By this time in the trip our clothes were so dirty that we were very taken by the dream of "Clean clothes".
Our guide took us down to the beach here. I am guessing that usually it is quite beautiful. It was actually even dirtier and muckier than it looks in the pictures. The neat thing is that the land the is in the far distance is actually in Belize.
From Livingston we made our way back up the Rio Dulce to the town of Rio Dulce. Pictured here is a small shop that builds the wooden canoes used by the local fishermen. Our biggest snafu of the trip was when our boat driver dropped us off at the dock in Rio Dulce. Our van driver was not there. It was lunch time so we decided that we were probably meant to have lunch at the dock were we where dropped off. We had a leisurely lunch and then went to look for our driver. We could not locate him and knew that we needed to leave soon or risk driving at night. A phone call to the tour company yeilded only an answering machine we left a message in broken Spanish. We then called Gail (the owner of La Posada Merced, the hotel we were staying at in Antigua). Gail was able to find another number for the tour company. They called our driver who had been waiting for us one dock over and he was with us within 10 minutes.

La Castillal

On Sunday morning we left the hotel at 8am by boat. We had a private speedboat. We sped up the river passing the large tourist groups that we had meet the night before. We would then stop at a sight visit the sight for a time period and then pass up the tourist boat again while they plodded from point A to point B. There had been quite a few minor glitchs on our private tour. Things not being explained, reservations not being made etc.. They were all fairly easily worked out but added a small amount of stress for us minimal Spanish speakers. However, as we were crusing around the Rio Dulce we were feeling quite smug.
The Spanish Castillo that gaurds the port inland from our hotel was pretty amazing to visit. While it was not a huge building it was a maze of little hallways, rooms, passages and secret passages. This is probably the best representation of what I think of as a castle.
"Fire the cannons!!!". (Well, it was cute the first 20 or so times.) Lindsey had a bad case of Fire the cannon giggles.
Unfortunately with all the rain much of the stone surfaces were quite slick. I managed to take a good spill on the stone stairways. I managed to flip right backwads onto my backpack with the computer in it and my camera in my hand. Now all three of us have battle scars (the computer, the camera, and myself). Fortunately none of us were broken. I told our boat driver that I had been in a battle with pirates. It sounded better than, I slipped on the stairs.

Copan to Rio Dolce

After our stop in Copan we left Honduras. I had a little bit of trouble with imigration. I did not understand enough Spanish to understand an explanation by the inspector. It just turned out that they wanted the small service fee that we had been expecting.
When we arriv ed in the small town of Rio Dulce we were immediatly put on a waiting boat and wisked off to our hotel.
Our hotel was the first touristic place we had been in Guatemala. It was a nice place on an island in the middle of the Rio Dulce. I believe that the resort took up the entire island. It was nice to be able to chat with other english speakers. It really reaffirmed that we have made the switch from being tourists to being travelers. I had to remind myself that we have travelled like that too. It has only been through time and experience that our comfort level has expanded one step at a time.
Our hotel cabana was a little hut set on stilts out over the water. It reminded me less of the cabanas you see in the Carribian tourist pages and more of the pictures of rural homes along the Bayou. Banjo music playing earily in the distance would not have been out of place.

The Ruins of Copan.

At the entrance to the copan ruins there is a family of 22 macaws. The children are afraid to get too near them. Their fear? Big birds equals big poop?
This is the largest poison ivy plant I have ever seen. It is actually a tree. I don't know if it is actually a variety of poison ivy, or if it just has similar properties.
The ruins at Copan were pretty amazing. Unfortunately the weather was drizzling while we were there. These ruins pictured here were houses of the nobels.
Competitive sport was interesting. You did not want to be in the king's bad graces. If you won, perhaps the king would decide that the winner would be sacrificed to repressent the best of the people to the gods. If you lost the king may decide that today, you had failed your people on earth and therefor should be sacrificed to the gods.

Saying goodbye to Centro Maya and our hosts

On Friday we worked at Centro Maya in the morning and said our goodbyes there. In the afternoon we said our goodbyes to our host family. When we left Benedicto's mother gave us all handmand Guatemalan bags as well as a table cloth Laurel had commissioned.
Here we are saying goodbye to Benedicto, Maria, and Brian. Benedicto was actually headed to Xela so shared the shuttle bus to Antigua with us as far as the interchange. We arrived in Antigua around 7:30pm. We checked into our hotel and headed out to a French restaurant (which was good, but hard to find). Then back to our hotel in order to be up at 4am to catch our 5am tour to Copan.
After a long rainy season and a small earthquake to jumble things up our 6 hour drive became a bit of an adventure trying to get around all the rockslides. There was actually one place where 1/2 the road had disappeared down the side of the mountain and much of the dirt supporting the remaining 1/2 of the road had gone down the mountain with it.
It is mostly all the road hazzards combined with high speeds that make travel dangerous in Guatemala. Cows, horses, pigs, and sheep were often on the road. However, dogs where by far the most common animals seen on the road. I had the unfortunate experience to witness a dog desperately trying to avoid being hit by a tour bus and then exploding on impact. It was truely horrible. Fortunately, Laurel and the children only saw the aftermath.

Thursday afternoon

We really liked the work of this local artist. I suspect that we bought enough that he will not have to work again until next year if he manages his money well.
The sight of a man herding his cow down the street was not noteworth to most residents of San Juan.
This is some of the Jewlery being made at the school.
This was the kitchen of our favorate restaurant "Elenors". They are fast, friendly, and cheap.

Thursday at Centro Maya

This is that van that we would make the runs to San Pablo in to pick up the children. Without the contuned operation and support for this van I don't think that this school would be effective. Many of the student just could not get there without it.
This bathroom stall was not functional. Albert thought that it would be useful to use some of the surplus desks for shelving that was accessible.
This meant that the area where bathroom supplies had been formerly kept was available for storage.
This is the storage area after it has been cleared out. It is much better and much safer than it was. I would have not stacked the desks quite so high but it is probably ok.

Wednesday at Centro Maya

This is the street in front of Benedicto's home where we were staying. His brother Romero, who attends Centro Maya would often hang out by the front wall and say hello to people passing by.
When we went to Chichi with Benedicto we had told him that we would pay hime for his time. When we returned, he would not accept the money. We argued that in volunteering, one thing that we had learned was that one of the best ways to effectively help was to support the people who are supporting the community. Benedicto thought a while and then said that he would find someone directly wo had a real need. Pictured with me is Joratio, a school student who thru no failure in his own efforts can not afford to stay in school. We paid his very small amount overdue and are looking to sponsor him going forward.
This is Domingo. He is smart and articulate with a good sense of humor. He comes from a small but proud home. The chiminey in his home does not go outside. His mother cooks all day to make money for the family. Since Domingo has limited use of his arms and no use of his legs he must lie in bed all day in a dark smoke filled room if he is not taken to the school. Domingo is always clean and well cared for. Every day I picked him up his mother would give him and his brother a few coins for the day.
This is Victoria. She is one of the caregivers at Centro Maya. While we were impressed with all of the staff there Victoria was one of the standouts. Perhaps, having 8 children herself she is just extra good at dealing with people.

Tuesday at Centro Maya

This is my buddy Gaspar's home. It has been built into the side of the hill. Gaspar and his mother used to live in the Uncles house. However the uncle needed his home back. Gaspar's house is made of discarded pieces of lumber and galvanized sheet metel that has been nailed together. The floor is dirt and when it rains a river of mud runs through his home since the home has been set into a hillside and there is no proper drainage to divert the water from running through his home.
Gaspar has a condition that causes his skin to continuously have blisters all over. The blisters pop and bleed and Gaspar is often in pain. Gaspar, for me, was one of the most inspireing children I have ever met. Here, he and his mother are at their home. Both sporting big smiles. Albert expained that Habitat for Humanity provides homes in Guatemala but that their program does not work in this area because they will only build "Big fancy homes costing $5000." Habitat operates as a low cost mortgage company and these people facing adverse condition simply cannot afford the mortgage on such an expensive home. I thought many times that it would be nice to see Gaspar and his family in a proper home but the problem extends beyond just money. A proper home needs to be on better land or the current land would need to be improved. The project would also need to be overseen.




Gaspar loves to build things. At the school he has built some toys for himself. I believe that these are the only toys he has. I was working on projects for the school and would have Gaspar help me with the hammering and sanding. This was how we became friends. We made an played with airplanes together. Normally shy, he enjoyed running around the school and playing soccer with our children. When he was happy he would do a little jig sometimes. What a triumph of the human spirit.

We really enjoyed the staff at Centro Maya. They seemed to have good relationships and really worked well together. We took this picture of staff and students having fun on s steep hill on the way out to lunch. It could easily be made into one of those motivational posters and labeled "Teamwork".