The End...for now

Soooo...yeah. Kinda trailed off there and then disappeared for a month and a half, didn't I? I have an excuse, I promise!

My last 2 weeks in Guate were beautiful and crazy and filled with dancing and music and ruins and animal sacrifices (well, only one of those, but it was probably the greatest, most wonderous day of my life and so I am counting it as two). And then I was in tears at the airport, crying into a friend's shoulder, and finally at home not knowing how to function in a DC bereft of friends, most of whom were still working for the summer.

So, of course, I did what I always do. I made myself a wicked complicated travel schedule to keep my mind off of my longing for volcanos and mountains and hiking (which included the volcanos and mountains and hiking of Asheville, NC and Bend, OR). And then suddenly I was here - back in DC - navigating the treacherous but much less overwhelming waters of 2L year. Its amazing what a difference knowing that you can actually skim certain parts of your reading makes.

So that is me. I am home; safe, sound, and slightly stressed out - and dreaming of more adventure. Little local ones like an upcoming 3-4 day weekend trip, and big ones like heading back to Central America for part of winter break and hopefully another awesome internship next summer.

Soooo, the name might change, but this blog will be back some day. Like Frosty the Snowman, or the unicorns (yes, they're comin' back, just you wait).

Bye kids! Check out my sister's travels at: http://thegnomad2010.blogspot.com/ She's funny, so you should read it!

Spanish-English Translation Lesson #1:

"Infant Burning Unit" does not equal "Pediatric Burn Ward".

I just realized that I have been here for over 5 weeks now, and while I have told you a lot about running around the country taking pretty pictures, I have not actually told you what I do during the week (other than going to the rock-climbing gym and earning legs that look eerily like those few months when I was 5 and they thought I might have leukemia. But that is another story...)

So, here goes: I have been doing a heck of a lot of translation. Some of it has been made into guides for foreign countries on how to incorporate businesses in Guatemala. Some of it was trying to figure out exactly what the standards are for the Guatemalan version of the EPA (that could have been done in Spanish, but I had to basically translate all of their decrees and bylaws to be able to get anywhere). I had a brief encounter with researching the IP rights of University students - which was very interesting and I actually got to read some articles and write things that might have changed a presentation. But mainly I have been translating.

I'm even doing some translation that has nothing to do with work - I volunteered to look over the annual report of the United Way here and it has turned into this massive re-translation project, because every single sentence is just...wrong. Most of the time I don't even know what they were trying to say and have to go back to the Spanish. That lovely little example at the top of the page? Yes. Someone actually wrote that and thought it would be okay to present to American investors. This is the United Way people, we do not burn babies.

So that is my 9-5 work week. I don't mind it, and I am glad to help, I'm just hoping that some of this will be useful on my resume. I'm sure it will, I am learning a lot. I just don't have any grand writing samples to show off when I get home.

Oh well. As my lovely roommate used to say - "It will all turn out all right in the end. And if its not all right, then its not the end."

Speaking of the end - I really don't want to go home next Tuesday. I am seriously considering spending an extra $200 so I can change my flight and get to see some of the lovely places I haven't been to yet (there are so many, many, many more places to go.) I may just have to come on another trip, however. We shall see, and I will keep you posted.

Dun dun dunnnnn

No adventuring today - I was supposed to go to the lake, but as many of you know it is the World Cup Finals this weekend and that has put every friend that I have here who is not working on hold.

I did walk myself on over to the mall and pick up some cute jeans at Zara though! Yaya for having pants that fit! Unfortunately, they only had ones that had either gems on the butt or pre-fabricated holes. I went with the holes - I can always make more of my own.

Ta!

Court, Futbol, Dinner, Drinks

....and I will tell you all about it later, if I don't pass out cold like I did last night. VAMOS ESPAÑA!!!

Hanna has become training nazi at the climbing gym. "Meagan, vamos a hacer los abs! Solo 2 mas! Ahora 30 mas!". Girl is strong, and so tiny! But we spent the rest of our time playing "Strip poker" (No clothes were lost, there was a child present) - a game where you climb across the big wall and then when you get to the end you get to take away two holds until there is nothing left for people to use. I got my ass kicked, per usual...but someday... someday far, far, far in the future, I will win one of these games.

And if Manuel reads this he will laugh at me and say that it is never going to happen. But at least I will have abs of steel. (P.S. Meme - if you do happen to read this, laughing at someone is not the way to get them to spend their money and their winter break on a trip to go climb mountains with you in Mexico.)

So that is the story of why I cannot get out of bed this morning even though I have to be at work in 40 minutes. Help.

"Don't worry, you won't be the only one who dies tomorrow"

Said Manuel, in an attempt to placate my nervousness over my first real outdoor climbing expedition. He also thought it would be a great idea to drink half a bottle of wine each after hiking around the non-existent trails of a newly erupted volcano for four hours when we had to be ready to leave at 5:30 in the morning. "Don't worry, you're in Guatemala! Live it up! It will be fine."

Yeah...I am never believing anything he says ever again.





But, about thirty minutes into the two-hour hike, having sweated most of the alcohol out of my system and downing a badly needed coffee and gatorade combo, it turned out he was right. The hiking was almost like climbing - straight up through dense forest and grasses that made me wish we had that machete I noticed in the back of Jon Scott's car the last time we all went day-hiking at home (he works with the land, its okay to have that sort of thing). Two people actually died there last year, something we weren't told until we reached the summit. The climbing itself was...climbing. And super fun - I wish I could go every day just so that I could practice and eventually get to the top of something without colored hand-holds.

I am a little burnt (well, a lot actually), very bruised, and have never been so happy to see a shower in my life - but it was a fantastic, fantastic day.

And speaking of fantastic days... here are some pictures from our trip to Volcan Pacaya as well. There are, as always, more on Facebook and Flickr. The entire forest used to be green but now everything is just starting to re-bud from the blast. Most of the trails and rest stops are in ruins, which actually made the way back down the volcano really interesting. We were literally skiing without skis down through the ash and volcanic rock - which is scary and exhilarating for the first 30 minutes, and a little less fun when you've cut open your hand and run out of water about an hour later. But the trip was worth it. I would like to come back someday when the chamber has refilled with magma to see the lava flows.




And luckily, there is a spa/hot springs in nearby Amatitlan where you can go and relax and get de-ashified after a long day. Add in some papusas and a beer from a little stand on the lake and you will be a completely contented adventurer.



By the way - I finally saw The Descent last night. I may never go caving again. Creepy.

Designs

Anyone reading this probably knows that I have long been thinking about getting a tattoo on my back (no tramp stamps here, a piece of art), but that I have been straining to pick the perfect subject. For a long time I thought I would get a tree that would stretch from my tailbone up to my shoulder blades, but I couldn't think of a way that I would want it to sit, and picking the perfect tree is very difficult, there are too many pretty types to choose from.

This trip has inspired me to have something a bit more feminine, a little smaller - still natural, still in black, still purely aesthetic and probably not that realistic in appearance. A representation of orchids and leaves, twining up my spine.

I think if I was a flower I would be an orchid - they can be a little sensitive and don't like to be kept indoors, but give them light and air a tree to cling on to and they flourish and their blooms last for a very long time. I once had one last almost six months with the same flowers - it was pretty amazing. A bright burst of pink.

Plus I've heard that they re-bloom if you coat them in cinnamon....can we say delicious?

Just Swell

For some reason I have had Swell Season songs playing through my head all day, even though I was streaming KEXP.

It is a beautiful head soundtrack, intermixed every couple of songs with Hoover-Fixer-Sucker-Guy. I might need something more upbeat for running when I get home though.

Ooh! Ooh! And I just found out that the volcano that blew up is back open for visitors, so Im thinking of taking a hike this weekend and seeing some awesome lava flow. Fantastico.