Guate Wonderful World
Let me first begin by apologizing for my last blog post. I didn’t mean for it to sound as melancholy as it does. I promise, I’m very happy to be here and loving every moment, as well. I’m sure you understand, sometimes the FOMO hits you a little harder than you anticipated. In any case, thank you to everyone who sent a message to lift me up and make it so that my sadness was very short lived. I am truly blessed.
Now, on to the fun stuff! It occurred to me that in all the time I’ve been living in this new and exciting place (which by the way is coming to an end in just 3 days YIKES!) I’ve neglected to share what exactly has made it so exciting! That’s gotta be like a big beginner blogger blunder. So, sorry for that. But get on with it! What’s so great about this place you’ve been living? In short: a lot. In long: well, continue reading and find out!
[If this post appears to be very long, it’s because it is, BUT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE PICTURES! So, bear with me =D]
[ALSO! Mini shout out. Happy Birthday to my cous Lilly!]
I think it only fitting to begin with where I spent the majority of my time here. This is a street view of Volcán de Agua from the streets of Antigua. This is where I spent 4 hours a day, five days a week, studying Spanish (not in the streets, of course, but in the city of Antigua. Language School was called La Union).
There were a number of things to see in Antigua once we were all finished with classes. The city is extremely touristy which was nice sometimes, especially on the days we just felt like exploring. In any case, one of the main attractions was El Parque Central [Central Park]. Not quite the same as the one in New York but as you can see, it has some elements of charm and class.
To the east of overlooking the city is a neat little nook called Cerro de la Cruz [Hill of the Cross]. It took us exactly 326 steps (Adam and Marisa counted) to reach the top. Though it was a little cloudy because of (yep, you guessed it) the rainy season, it was still an amazing view. One by one we would point out all the different places we could see from up top. A note to anyone thinking of climbing up, there is NO café at the top of the hill. I don't know where I drummed that up, but it doesn't exist, so don't expect it (Sorry Melissa, Marisa, and Adam).
At 10:00am all of us students are granted a 30 minute pausa [break] and frequently some of us would use that time to visit the neighboring capilla [chapel] by La Iglesia de San Francisco [St. Francis's Church]. Every visitor was greeted by this mosaic on the walkway leading to the chapel saying "DIOS ES AMOR" [GOD IS LOVE]. Not to be super nostalgic or anything, but it reminded me of the "God is Love" plaque that greets visitors entering the Caldwell Chapel at CUA. Coincidence? Maybe.
Y Tú Piña, También [And Your Pineapple, Too]
Bella Vista [Beautiful View]
502 Coffee Shop
La Union Café
La Union Café (Same name, one street apart, but this one lacks a bike)
You already know...
At the conclusion of most school days, it was our greatest pleasure to seek out one of the swankiest cafés that inhabited every street corner and hole in the wall you could imagine. Some of our favorites are pictured above but the list is quite extensive. Here's what I've come to learn from these visits: Smoothies are an excellent after school snack, specifically the Tropical Storm flavor, coffee is very cheap but make it iced and the price is practically doubled (I guess that's not too different from America), a macchiato is exactly two gulps of a drink LITERALLY everywhere else in the world except in America, and Dunkin' Donuts, while an absolute joy and comfort to have discovered in a different country, tastes like dirty sock water (they didn't even have blueberry coffee!)
Glacy's Heladeria
Antigua Brewing Company (Not actually a beer they brew)
Reilly's Irish Night Clu...I mean...Tavern
There were a number of places we enjoyed aside from our routine cafés, including (but not limited to) Antigua Brewing Company, very slyly referred to as "pure elementary" (i.e. their name abbreviated is ABC), Glacy's Heladeria [ice cream shop] where I indulged in the most delicious flavor of cookie dough a top of a blueberry cone (this being the choice after I dared to try wine flavored ice cream. Though I truly hoped it'd prove "the be all end all" of ice creams, it was absolutely awful), and Sarita's, a much larger chain of ice cream store similar to DQ (no wine ice cream). We also enjoyed the ominous look and smokey aroma of Café No Sé [Café I Don't Know] which made their own liquor called Mezcal (I didn't end up trying it. Too scared), danced our bootys off learning to Salsa and Bachata at Salsa y Más [Salsa and More], ate four of the most delicious pizzas I've ever had in my life at Angie Angie (lookout NY), dined at garden a restaurant that used maracas to hail the waiters and waitresses (also feeling very foolish not knowing that was its purpose) called SabeRico [You Know It's Delicious], abandoned the cultural reality of Guatemala temporarily to satisfy or craving of bagels at the Bagel Barn (I mean the alliteration alone was enough to get us in the door), and marveled at every knick knack and tchotchke displayed at the Artisan Festival. I final note on the places of interest, in order to view the Notre Dame football game, we went to a bar called Monoloco [Crazy Monkey] that had every look and smell of an American bar (I took comfort in this), and later went to Reilly's Irish Tavern, a disco basically resembling nothing of an Irish tavern save the words "Guinness" plastered on the walls (I did not take comfort in this).
La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción [Church of Our Lady of the Assumption]
La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción [Church of Our Lady of the Assumption]
Iglesia de San Francisco [St. Francis's Church]
La Merced [The Mercy]
Parroquia Purísima Concepción [Parish of the Immaculate Conception]
Guatemala is an extremely religious country which meant there were a number of churches that we were able to visit and attend mass. One thing is clear which is that they're not afraid of color. They also adorn the churches with these huge sashes and some even create biblical depictions behind the altar. It's really something. Feast days are even crazier! My favorite of all of them was La Merced.
Monastery Ruins of San Francisco
Monastery Ruins of San Francisco
Convent Ruins of Santo Domingo
Convent Ruins of Santo Domingo
Some of my favorite adventures included exploring the ruins all over the city. That's probably a bit of a strange sentiment to have considering that most of these ruins were a result of either a terrible earthquake or a volcano eruption many years ago (However, the convent ruins are now the location of a high end hotel and restaurant so...). Nevertheless, I find the spots to be nothing short of spectacular. I don't know what it is. Despite the crumbling look, I just find it fascinating that there still stand remnants of older times jam packed with a rich history.
Valhalla Macadamia Farm
Tejido
Volcán de Pacaya
S'MORES!
Volcán de Pacaya
One of the advantages of learning Spanish at La Union is that they have a planned activity for the students every day. Our group was fairly good at participating in them (mostly if they were free). My favorites included tortilla making, the indigenous guatemalteco weaving practice of Tejido, El Museo de Jade [Jade Museum], and taking a trip to Valhalla Macadamia Farm. The best thing I've experienced potentially the whole time I've been in Guatemala was hiking El Volcán de Pacaya. I mean WOW! It was a long journey up but SO worth it. And HOT. you could feel the heat even as you stood 100 yards away from the lava. Against our better judgement, we actually began climbing on top of the dried lave which encased the river of lava underneath. I mean what a THRILL! Megan and Marisa, the geniuses that they are, brought marshmallows and gram crackers which manifested themselves into the tastiest s'more ever to touch my lips, and it was MADE USING LAVA! I definitely melted the bottom of my sneakers that day, but I believe that was a small price to pay for the coolest fun fact I may ever be able to share in those awkward orientation small groups (Hi, my name is Ryan Slattery, I live in Maryland, and for my fun fact, oh yeah, I roasted marshmallows over lava on top of a volcano!)
San Lucas
Lago de Atitlan
San Lucas
Jocotenango
Panajachel
Santa Ana
Guatemala is a place full of rich history and a cultures unique to every location you visit. Our group was fortunate enough to travel to many of the neighboring villages such as San Lorenzo, Jocotenango, Santa Maria, and Panajachel. One of my favorites included San Lucas located on Lago de Atitlan [Lake Atitlan] where we spent a whole weekend at the San Lucas mission, an awesome organization with hospital to care for the sick and dying, a woman's house that provides women (mostly widows) with the tools and skills they need to provide for their families, a school for educating children in the area, and so much more. Because it was located on the lake, it had the most beautiful views and was also where I witnessed my first ever sunrise. I'm absolutely partial to sunrises now. We got the best of both worlds that morning: Every single star in the sky shown that dark morning until the rising sun displayed in the sky a most beautiful array of every color you could imagine. I could have lived in that moment for a good while.
Second on the list of favorite places was Santa Ana. It was here that our group took a much needed weekend of rest and camaraderie. We rented an Airbnb and wasted the night away full of Euchre games, pizza, wine, movies, laughs, and all sorts of shenanigans. What a community the Farm of the Child has put together. I hope they're ready for us in Honduras!
El Dîa de Independencia
Antorcha
Antorcha
Cultural Night at the Church (Did I mention one of them danced while on fire?!)
Climbing the Pole
El Desfile [The Parade]
It was a real pleasure to celebrate the independence of many central American countries from Spain this past 15th of September. Remember how I was saying that they really know how to party here? With this great day for the country came a weeks worth of celebrating before the actual day on Sunday. There were numerous desfiles [parades] that would go through the streets during the week made up of kids who attended the schools in the neighboring areas. The Thursday before I witnessed a show put on by the church full of traditional Guatemalan culture, dance, and song (it was incredibly long, too long in my opinion, but very cool). On Friday and Saturday, groups organize to have what's called Antorcha [Torch Runs] where they run from one destination to another carrying a flaming torch the whole way. Something like this I'm sure would never fly in America what with all the traffic it disrupted, but here, drivers didn't mind so much, hooping and hollering outside their cars and honking the horn in support of the runners (or maybe they actually were angry with us and I just misunderstood...). Sunday, El Día de Independencia, there were festivals, food, dancing, desfiles, singing, decorations, the whole 9 yards. It was amazing to witness. Unique to where we are living, Ciudad Vieja, they had a large pole they put in the middle of the town square, greased it, and placed a small Guatemalan flag on top. The first person to acquire the flag won Q1000 (honestly, I don't know why anyone attempts to climb it because it's totally not worth it). It was very amusing to watch
So in a nut shell, that's what I've been up to these past two months. It's absolutely incredible! I never imagined I would love it here so much! These places, these people, are unlike anything and anyone I've ever experienced: so beautiful, silly in the best way, unbelievably kind and hospitable. I almost wish my service could be here instead of Honduras (of course, that's not actually true though).
There has been many a lesson to learn while living here (the Spanish language probably being the biggest), but I'll try to sum it all up in this paragraph. Attempting to learn a language in 6 weeks frankly is just very ambitious. Don't get me wrong, I've improved A LOT, but I'm not where I'd like to be. There is probably one error in most sentences I speak, and though that does prove frustrating at times, it has taken me 22 years to learn the English language and I still don't believe I've mastered it, so there's that. I've come to understand in a very tangible way the importance of building a strong community among the 7 of us preparing to serve together in Honduras. They are some of the quirkiest, most impressive, and lovable persons I have come to know, and I am grateful to accompany them on this journey. In addition, I also have come to understand the importance of my community back home (um, that's you all reading this =D). Every text, facebook or whatsapp message, snap, email, and videochat mean the world to me and reminds me what a blessing it is to know and love so many of you back home. I've learned how to affectively barter in the markets, I've learned that sometimes it's good walk with your head down if it means you'll affectively avoid the dog doo doo in the streets, and I've learned what it's like to live like a prince while your mother cares for your every need at home (I wonder if that'll continue when I return...thoughts Momma?). Most of all, I've learned what it means to have complete faith and trust in God. Doesn't mean I'm very good at it, but I'm certainly working on it. Sometimes times are hard or I'm lost and unsure I've made the right decision leaving and committing close to a year and a half of my life to service, but my biggest comfort comes from the overwhelming peace I have been blessed to know and embrace when first making this decision. In manifests itself in Mass, adoration, and the people who live out Christ's love in their every day.
Per usual, this post is quite long, so if you made it this far, give yourself a nice pat on the back and know of my appreciation for your tuning in. The next time you hear from me, I'll finally have made it to the Finca. I can't imagine what will be in store for us there, but I believe it's time. No more preparation. It's time to get to work. I'm ready.
Hasta pronto
Ryan
