I am a lousy blogger, but I'm having fun. except for when I went to monterico.

so it's been a while. I haven't died, or been dragged into the jungle by crack dealers. I have been hanging out with a group of Australians, which has taken up most of my free time.

I went to Monterico last weekend, which was a lot of trouble. the bus ride wasn't bad, but the shuttle I took to Hawaii (the little town outside of Monterico where the reserva natural is located dropped me off on the wrong side of Hawaii. this wasn't so bad, I had a nice 15 minute walk on the beach (which is black sand and very nice when it's not crowded with every person in guatemala who isn't in Antigua for holy week). then I met these construction workers, and I was going to ask them exactly where ARCAS was, when the truck they had got stuck in the sand, so I helped them move it out. these five guys spoke mostly indigenous languages, and we'd get the truck up onto some boards, but as soon as it left them, it would sink back in.

to be continued, I signed up for a few Salsa classes with the Aussies, and I have to go.

I've got a break from class, so I'll continue.

so after I helped the guys with their truck, I continued on to the ARCAS reserve. it was friday, and it was hot. no clouds, and as soon as you left the beach, no breeze. I talked with a guy at the reseve, saw some alligators and iguanas, and realized that there wasn't even enough work for the 4 volunteers who were already there, until july when turtle season starts.
so I decided to head back.
of course, it being holy week, the bus driver who had dropped me off wasn't holding to his schedule, so I started walking, not on the beach, where I might have had a breeze, but on the road, in hopes of meeting the bus.

I imagine hell is very similar to the stretch of road between Hawaii and Monterico. the road is only slightly more firm that the beach, and the sun was making a concerted effort to kill me. the one store I encountered had warm cola and cold beer -no water- and I elected for the cheap cold bottle. condensation is a wonderful thing, and I had a few drops of water, and a cold object to press to my face for a few minutes. unfortunately, I realized that walking down the road with a stick and a beer bottle lowered my chances of getting a ride from any passing car, so I ditched it.
after I had walked more than halfway to Monterico, I was picked up by a truck full of a family returning from a beach. the cab was packed, there were sick or seven people in the bed, and one guy on the roof, waving his towel like a lasso. it was the best car ride ever.

I tried really hard to put all of this in perspective, and not let it color my oppinion of monterico and the ARCAS reserve, but I think I failed. when I got back to the hostel*, I emptied the sand out of my shoes, took a picture of the coating of dust on my legs and drank a bottle of orange juice, and bottle of fruit punch and the rest of the water I had in my bottle. then I crashed in my hammock for about three hours.

I suppose it was the three bottles of liquid that woke me up, and I stumbled down the stairs to the bathroom. then I set out to find dinner. as I was sitting in the plastic chair of the restaurant I had chosen, I suddenly became aware of about 15 mosquitoes circling my table. I booked it to the local mercado, and bought a bottle of deet or off or something. whichever one comes in bright orange and works. back at my table, I ordered a plate of shrimp and a hamburger. I must have been pretty tired, because I had eaten about 5 of the shrimp (whole, in their shells) before the waitress said that I was supposed to remove the head. I finished the shrimp, and saved the hamburger for breakfast.

sleeping in a Hammock is one of the most pleasant things in the world -- if you can get up after about an hour and stretch. I had to commit to a decent 6 hour period, from 9 to about 3 am, when the roosters went off, which woke up the dogs, which set off the three large geese living under my second story window. after a few hours, I was uncomfortable to wake up quite frequently, which wasn´t so bad, because I found that a reapplication of bug spray was necessary.

anyhoo, the next morning I ate my burger in the black sands, watching the pacifc ocean with about 2000 other people, and went swimming. the water was an excellent temperature, the surf was decent, and I returned from the beach with pounds of coarse black sand in my pockets. I prefer to keep that memory, and the one of me, in the hammock that afternoon, waiting for a bus and for my shorts to dry, drinking out of a coconut and listening to the beach boys, in the front, and stick everything else behind those two. unless I need to break out a story of true trial and tragedy.

meeting my new mates for easter lunch at a french cafe was a great way to end that weekend.

-Sam



*I didn´t make a reservation for the night in monterico (which was a bad decicion) and so I my first experience of the town was walking from hotel to hotel, and finding them all full. the hostel I found was nice and cheap though.