la vida loca: so does your burger come with a side of cheese quesadilla?

Oh hey February! Here I am in my favorite new cafe (Blintz) having just inhaled a cinnamon and vanilla frappe. This is the same cafe where last week I discovered the Nutella frappe. Needless to say I know where my money is going to be spent the rest of the semester. Only kidding! Kind of... Anyhow as usual the past week or so has been absolutely amazing! Between school, cafes, and travel I have been extremely busy but enjoying every moment.

This past weekend we traveled as an entire group on our first major excursion to Lago Atitlan. We stayed in adorable and wonderfully perfect bungalows right on the lake in a town called San Marcos. It was so refreshing and relaxing - an excellent mini vacation at the perfect time. When we arrived on Friday we got settled into our bungalows and then we did a little bit of exploring and picture taking. That night Roy, our program director, organized a dinner at a local restaurant called Blind Lemon's. I'd like to preface by saying that a group of 20 people at a restaurant is usually overwhelming, but in Guatemala it's absolutely insane! We even pre-ordered our dinner at lunch time as Roy had talked to the owner ahead of time. After waiting about an hour the first people started getting there food. Slowly but surely the rest of the table was served EXCEPT...me! I didn't want to make a huge fuss and just figured they forgot. I found out that there was mass confusion with the dinner, so I just ate part of someone else's meal. A week prior (on our trip to the beach) I was denied my breakfast by the waitress not once but three times. The next day in Lake Atitlan the waitress failed to bring me my smoothie. When I asked her about it she simply told me that she forgot. Oops! I think the restaurants are trying to tell me something! In any case I have had many laughs and awkward exchanges with the waiters in the restaurants.

On Saturday a group of about 10 of us went kayaking on the lake. It was absolutely beautiful, breathtaking, peaceful, serene, etc. Alivia and I were in a double kayak paddling along like pros! We kayaked to a cliff where there was a platform for jumping. After climbing up the rocks barefoot and contemplating my entire life's meaning at the top, I finally got the courage to jump. WOW! How exhilarating... I didn't expect the fall to take so long, and when I hit the water I definitely felt it. Should have perfected my falling form before jumping from 30 feet! After flopping around in the water for awhile (I felt pretty great) I got back into my kayak and we paddled back to shore. Needless to say the rest of the day I was on a life high and very proud of myself. I even had a nice little bruise on my arm from when I hit the water (I think) - sweet!

Other than that my time here has been spent being sick, laughing, and eating lots of guacamole. Now that my family knows I like it, I am basically served guacamole on guacamole and I'm not complaining. This past weekend I finally realized what "being sick" meant and I think that's all that needs to be said about that. Also...there have been various one-liners thrown out by different people that have been the source of much laughter. This week's title comes from Miss Alivia Tison herself, who in all seriousness asked Bryton if his burger came with a side of cheese quesadilla. Clearly she is missing her daily serving of cheese quesadilla. In other news I have to confess that I actually packed my Nike sneakers, and boy am I glad I did. Between cleaning bathrooms, attending Zumba, and just walking around I am glad I have an extra pair of tennis shoes in addition to my hiking shoes. Weighing in just under 50 pounds at the airport, I had just enough weight left in my suitcase to add them and no, I'm not sorry Meghan ;)

So this has been lengthy but I'm glad I got it all down! The days go by so fast and my life in Xela feel like one big, really great blur. This week is my last week of 5 days a week/5 hours a day classes at Celas Maya. Friday we leave on our week+ long trip to Tikal and other various places in Guatemala. Hopefully the bus ride is a little better than they have been (though I highly doubt it!) Driving on the roads here is like riding on a really old, wooden rollercoaster that you didn't want to be on. At one point our driver started driving in the ditch because that was a better idea than the road.

Photos of nature - which I am learning to love more and more every day. Please consider revoking my "pansy patrol" status, father.