During the afternoon, I went to a bread shop called Bake Shop with two students from Seattle. Bake Shop is run by a Mennonite family and only open two days a week. It's pretty famous in Xela though. They make a mean chocolate-chip cookie and some great carrot bread/cake stuff too (which, thanks to mis amigos from Seattle, we almost always have some in the house).
Saturday, we woke up bright and early to journey to Laguna Chicabal . We took a bus to a nearby pueblo called San MartÃn. Onelia and I were so tired, we slept on the way. Then we stopped in the pueblo and waited by the rode for a picop (pickup) to take us down a ridiculously bumpy, windy rode to the park. While we waited, we met a woman and her son headed to the laguna as well. We decided to take the picop with them. The son's name was Enrique. We introduced ourselves. He told me he couldn't bring his phone, and asked if I would take pictures for him and send them to him via Facebook. I told him we would see if we made it to the top.
We rode in the back of a the picop, which thankfully had seats and handles because the ride was roughhhh. We arrived at the base of the mountain and started our ascent. I'll be honest, there were times that I was literally praying that I would make it to the top. It was kind of rough. Also, super difficult to breath because of the altitude. Thankfully, Dorita was moving at the same pace so we stuck together.
When we finally made it to the top, we rested a bit and started our photo-taking spree, which you can find some of on my Facebook (it ended up being over three hundred photos, you guys! Dorita and Onelia were searching for the perfect profile picture!) Enrique and his mom arrived, so he was able the get his pictures!
Then we began the descent into the laguna. Andrew counted. Over seven hundred steps. Half-way down, it hit me, "¡Tenemos que subir!" We had to go back up these stairs. Ay-ay-ay. When we finally reached bottom, we took some celebration pictures and then ate lunch. Dorita told us we were lucky because sometimes she has made the trek with students to find the laguna completely covered with clouds. It was a beautiful view.
After eating, we walked around the laguna. Surrounding the lake are Mayan altars with signs that have the names of birds or animals that represent a Mayan god. As we walked around the lake, we got to see the clouds rolling in over the trees. By the time we were halfway around, the lake was completely covered with clouds. And it started raining too. Dorita and I almost died going back up the stairs. We were soaked and exhausted and aching.
But here is our triumphant "we-made-it-up-the-stairs" photo.
As we were coming back down, we wished buena suerte (good luck) to everyone we passed. We made it back to the base and surprisingly, no one in our group fell. We almost saw a truck roll down the hill, so that was exciting... We hopped back on the picop, exhausted, and made our way back to the bus stop. You can bet Onelia and I slept on the ride home. From the bus stop in Xela to the house, we got rained on again, but by the time we arrived at the house, it didn't matter to anyone. We showered. We ate. We slept the rest of the afternoon!
Today was church and some time with the Lastrapes which is always enjoyed! Tomorrow starts the second week of classes and my teacher told me we are going to go out and about in the city to explore and hear other accents! I cannot wait! I hope everyone had a good Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment