If you've ever watched VH1, then you've most likely seen the ridiculous show called "BEST WEEK EVER." Luckily, after 3 weeks of deathly illnesses and recovering, last week has finally come around to be MY best week ever.
Monday was my first day shadowing a doctor at the TB/HIV/AIDS hospital. Like everything in Guatemala, time and punctuality are concepts that do not exist, and going in without a contact or doctors name never bids well. After Amy walked under a ladder on the way, we were sure we were doomed.... but much to our surprise, after only an hour of wandering through the hospital and only asking 50 people, we FINALLY found a contact, found her office, met with her, and did some work. But, just for precautions, Amy walked backward under the ladder on the way home to reverse the curse. Monday afternoon we taught our first womens health class - expected to go UN-smoothly. Again, surprisingly, our group of 15-20 women were very excited about our class and they were very smart. As we were leaving they gave us a list of things they would like to learn, so now we have amazing topics to teach: today we will be teaching about the heart & diabetes, next week AIDS, and the next week high cholesterol. It's a lot of research, work, and translation to prepare the lessons every week, but I'm really excited to teach these topics.
Tuesday was a day full of Spanish class, another days at the hospital shadowing, and our first kids health class. The kids are 8-12 years old, and we taught them about healthy foods and hygiene. After 2 days of successful classes, Amy & I rewarded ourselves with Sabor de la India for dinner- quite an amazing place... I'm glad I haven't really started to like it until now- they have fabulous food.
Wednesday was a day of work and planning, another day shadowing, and an AMAZING conference on HIV/AIDS in Guatemala. I ended up sitting with the doctors at dinner, and made a great connection to start investing the AIDS side of the hospital. We checked out a new bar that night and ended up having a fabulous time. Thursday was also spent at the hospital, followed by the best siesta (nap) ever in the afternoon, and another great night out with the group at our favorite wine & cheese bar followed by the discotecas.
Friday morning, Amy & I were both awake rather early and decided to go to the Lake (Lago Atitalan) early since the group wasn't going to leave until 4pm. We left Xela at 8, got to the Lake in 3 hours, met the editor who writes the witty, tourist magazine for Xela, had lunch with him and his friend Jeff - who happened to be the bartender at the place we were staying for the night, spent the day shopping and checking out the town of Panajachel, and left for Santa Cruz.
Let me back up a little- Lago Atitalan is a pretty famous place in Guatemala. It's centered smack dab in the middle of 3 volcanoes and multiple mountain chains- all to make one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. The lake is surrounded by 5 or 6 different communities- Panajachel being the one most people arrive at by bus, and housing great restaurants and shopping. We took a boat/lancha across to Santa Cruz and stayed at La Iguana Perdida for the weekend. We spent the day hanging out with the 5 member staff until the rest of the group arrived for dinner.
Saturday kicked off early, as the whole group decided to go on a scavenger hunt around the lake. Basically they take you to all of the surrounding towns and give you a list of questions to be answered in an hour. After Santiago & San Pedro, we did some serious CLIFF JUMPING into the lake - and by serious, I mean we jumped off a 15 METER cliff into the water. After doing it the first time, I immediately was so pumped up that I had to do it again - earning our team some serious bonus points for being the first girl to jump, and Amy & I both went twice. We hit up the hot springs on the lake for "happy hour" in the afternoon. We threw the cooler overboard and had a beer in the hot springs. The best part is that we started using the bottles when we finished to fill up and pour hot water on our heads and shoulders... eventually creating the theme of this trip to be "Beer bottle showers in the ghetto springs." We followed with a couple more towns in the afternoon and came home to BRING IN THE SILVER as we landed 2nd Place and a round of shots for the prize.
The day gets better, as Saturday nights are "DRAG NIGHTS" at the hostel, and all the staff dresses up as girls, as well as all boys staying there. Our boys looked great in the clothes they found in the dressing room, and Amy & I got decorated with some mustaches to be the "boys" - and thats all we needed for the night to be entertaining. Sunday was pretty relaxing as everyone did their own thing. Amy & I went back to shop in Santiago and both bought beautiful paintings. We lucked out, as the last 10 of us to leave Panajachel found a private bus that cost only 2 dollars more than the awful chicken buses and got us back to Xela in half the time (1.5 hours).
Yes, best week ever.
"the girls"
"the boys"
Beer bottle showers in the Ghetto SPRINGS
"Oops- my shoulder strap fell" - Mario & Amy
The Lago #1
The Lago #2
Still representing Michigan Football Saturdays- even in Guat
fu man chu & captain morgan/frenchman?
Ben, Mario, Aaron, & Iain bringing out the feminine side
Me & my prom date...isnt she pretty?