S&M in Guatemala: December 2008

We just got back from Monterrico after a week of some serious vacation (click on the link to see more information). It's on the south coast and the town is very relaxed and truly feels like a chill Central American coastal town. Thatch roofs, sand roads, and lots of skin! It was a lot of fun. I have a lot of photos today.

Happy holidays and Happy New Year!

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Here are a couple of pictures from our site, first:

HOT!

Sarah showing off our orange-lacquered friend tofu, swiss chard, and sweet potato masterpiece.

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Now on to vacation pictures!

Our room in Monterrico. Notice the quality mosquito net. Still itching as I write this.

View of the cabaña (vacation home) we rented for a week.

Sarah, Thea, and Ellen relaxing.

Zach and I drowning

Thea, Kaying, and Ellen relaxing on the beach.

Christmas dinner! We had grilled fish and fried shrimp.

L to R: Thea, Kaying, Jane (standing), Anne, Ashley, Sarah, Zach, and Dan.

L to R: Sarah, me, Ellen, Thea, and Kaying

Ellen opening presents (Hi Ellen's Mom)

Dan showing off his white elephant gift with style.

Sarah and I, very tired

Sarah and Ashley singing and dancing

We took a canoe ride through the mangrove swamp one morning. Good view of the volcanoes.

L to R: Fuego, Agua, and the small two peaked one is Pacaya.

Sunrise in the mangroves

Dan and Ashlee

Mat on vacation

Sunset on the beach.

Baby sea turtle! They release them every Wednesday. People can pay 10 Quetzales (local currency here) to release them. There is some objection to the practice but at least they're working to conserve this vulnerable and cute species from extinction. Monterrico is famous for it's sea turtle sanctuary. (photo taken by Zach)

Dan, Sarah, and Ellen posing before they released the turtles. Zach is wearing the backpack and yellow hat.

For the rents

Homemade umbrella for when the sinus infection made me say "no more sun"

Me, Sarah, Thea, Ellen, and Kaying (photo taken by Zach)

Big ass toad! That is a 1.5L bottle, not the regular 600ml. Thing was HUGE

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Well, that's all for now! Have a safe and happy new year.

Soon to come - pictures of us working!

After one month of constant noise and buzz, the feria has finished! Less drunks and fireworks!

Here's a little something I wrote up at home:

NOVEMBER 30 END OF FERIA --- I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was as tranquil and relaxing as ours! We spent a nice night hanging out with a few close friends at La Iguana Perdida on beautiful Lake Atitlan (see pictures below!). It was nice to get away from the town for one day because right now the yearly feria is winding down. And when I say winding down, I mean fireworks and firecrackers until 3 or 4 in the morning. Thankfully today is the last day. It’s a great cultural experience and all but after about a month it starts to grate a little bit. It’s like the band at 5-7 in the morning (for a month, I guess that’s how things roll in Quiche). Ten years from now we’ll be waxing romantic about how fun it was to put up with those little annoyances, but for now I’m happier when they end. Work moved pretty slowly this week but I was able to get into contact with a guy about possibilty donating computers. He’s already offered me a few computers but I have to set up a meeting with the alcade (mayor) of our municipality to try and reach an agreement about the state of security in the health center. I’d like to have him secure it so that they can have a truly functioning lab environment… with a projector and all so some teaching can happen – maybe even by me! I’m trying not to get too excited about it, but it’s becoming more of a possibility as the months roll on. (Thanks to Sarah and Ana Isabel for all of the support and encouragement in this process! Couldn’t have done it without them) Well, I’m more of a visual person so I’m just going let the pictures do the talking! I hope December goes well for everyone. Don’t freeze! It’s the start of our dry season here so I can’t really feel everyone on the snow and ice and cold. I think it hit 85-90 in the sun today! Sorry… ;) *UPDATE: It is now tuesday and the temp dropped back down to 50 and cloudy. Grr!*

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MOTOCROSS!