3 weekends

It’s not all about teaching around here. On the weekends, we tend to get out and explore this country, which has a lot to offer.

In my second weekend here, a bunch of us volunteers went to Lake Atitlan. It’s basically a lake created by a super volcano that erupted a long time ago. It’s huge and surrounded by 3 volcanoes. The water is crystal clear and surrounded with tropical plants. On the first day, we biked from the top of a mountain, 29 miles to the water. This was tremendously fun (particularly after I changed my seat for a wider one!). You just have to watch out for the trucks…

Later that night, we got settled into our hotel, The Volcano Lodge. I hate calling it a “hotel” because it’s much more like some paradise lodge. Really secluded and peaceful. The guy who runs it is pretty young. I noticed he had a familiar accent and kind of mumbled his words like I do. After dinner we were chatted. He was telling us that he was from NC and that he really loves Appalachian folk music. I asked him if he had any instruments. He said he had a guitar and a mandolin. I said, “Get ‘em.”

He came back a few minutes later, handed me the mandolin, told me the key, and started playing a song. I knew it (Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”), strummed the mandolin and sang back-up. He sang a couple, then we traded instruments and I sang a couple. We did that for a few hours as people came and went. After setting the instruments down, I said, “Hey, I’m Lee, BTW.” It was one of those typical musician moments–names and introductions are secondary.

Last weekend, my roomate, Carrie (pictured above right) and I, hiked up Pacaya Volcano. We saw lava.

Yesterday, I flew to Tikal to visit the massive Mayan city. A fellow volunteer saw Ashton Kucher & Demi Moore there last weekend. It’s a basically a huge archaeological site. They’ve only been seriously digging around here for about 50 years or so.  80% of the city is still underground.  Lot’s of jungle, and spider monkeys:

The main city…