We spent his first Saturday and Sunday in Guatemala at NPH, taking a tour, and hanging out with my section. My girls were COMPLETELY enamored by him – “Que guapo” they’d all say (how handsome!) But at the same time (and per usual) they didn’t listen to/remember anything that he said.
“What’s his name again?” “How old is he?” “When is his birthday?”
I must have heard these 3 questions about 4 times each from every single one of my girls each time we went to the section. Seriously. They couldn’t seem to think of any other questions to ask him, yet they were excited to just spend time AROUND him..at least most of them….There were a few girls who didn’t quite fit the mold, like Luvia – who kept hitting him and trying to kick him, and Kimberli – who moved away from us when we sat down to eat with her. But the others certainly made up for it – providing him with a continuous stream of attention…and some hugs. ESPECIALLY Francisca, the little girl who is in the “especiales” (has special needs) and who is in my section. I don’t think Jon has ever really been in love with another girl before…but if I had to pick anyone…it would probably be Francisca, who I don’t think ever stopped hugging him or holding his hands when we were around :). I was only a little jealous…
In addition, we spent part of my birthday on Sunday hanging out in the baby’s house, just for kicks. I think Jon had a pretty enjoyable time…wouldn’t you say?
After spending my birthday with the volunteers in the morning, the babies at lunch, and my section in the afternoon, Jon and I headed to Antigua to spend the night there and enjoy a glorious dinner (and some amazing wine – I forgot how much I love wine!) at “La Peña del Sol.”
Next stop? After 8 hours on a bus/shuttle/boat, Jon and I found ourselves at Finca Tatín – aka a hotel/hostel located on the Río Tatín (Tatín River) and in the middle of a jungle. Literally. A JUNGLE.
Now, I had been told that the finca was in the middle of the jungle – but it just looked so cute in the pictures! (You can check it out here.) And a jungle? What an adventure! It also helps that all my friends and fellow volunteers gave it rave reviews and talked about how awesome it was and how much we would love it there. So there we were. In the middle of the jungle. I feel like anyone that knows me even the SLIGHTEST bit, should know that I am not an outdoors person. So what do you get when you put a girl like me in the middle of a jungle? Not a very happy camper :-p. Regardless, Jon and I made the most of our time at the finca and enjoyed spending a lot of quality time together :).
On Tuesday we spent the day kayaking on the rivers in and around the finca and then relaxing with some beers and the delicious food that the finca served (seriously SO good). Wednesday morning was fairly rainy, but we decided to brave the weather, thinking the rain would probably subside fairly soon. (Side note: it POURED every night we were there from roughly midnight until 7 am and then was gorgeous the rest of the day…so not such strange thinking that the rain would stop sometime in the early morning…) Regardless, we took a boat to nearby Livingston to spend the day at the Siete Altares (the Seven Altars – aka a group of 7 waterfalls) and the beach, Playa Blanca. When we got to Livingston it was still pouring and, needless to say, none of the boat drivers were too keen to take us to either place (and they flat our REFUSED to take us to the beach! Lame.) We finally found a boat driver that was willing to brave the storm, Manuel. As we pulled out of the dock there were other boat drivers actually LAUGHING at how foolish we were, to which Manuel replied “well…we’re just gunna have an adventure and get ourselves a little wet!” Manuel drove us from Livingston to the Siete Altares…basically in a storm – the waves were up over the boat. It was quite the adventure as he said! We ended up at the 7 altars and well, I didn’t realize that we would be CLIMBING the waterfalls and that, unfortunately, I was not wearing the appropriate shoes to finish all of the climbing. Major bummer. So while we only got to see 6 of the 7 waterfalls, it was still absolutely beautiful :).
Not only was it really beautiful, but Jon WAS wearing the appropriate shoes…so Manuel took him on their own little adventure to jump off a waterfall! He set me up with a great spot to take pictures and I got some sweet shots of the two of them climbing before Jon made the leap!
While at the siete altares, the rain had subsided for a bit and it became beautiful and sunny :). After swimming around in the falls for a bit, Jon and I made our way back to Livingston with Manuel...right before the skies opened up again and we were left to walk around Livingston in the rain. We wandered around, walked to the two closest beaches (which were just kind of people’s backyards on the water…), and, realizing there really wasn’t much to do in Livingston without being able to go to the Playa Blanca, we bought a deck of cards, a couple of beers, and played cards until our boat came to pick us up :).
On the way back to Livingston we took some pictures of the rivers and the surrounding jungle, including the winner below with the tires hanging. Why are there 2 tire swings hanging directly next to a cliff you ask? How could that possibly be any fun or safe? Well it’s to keep your drinks safe from the water of course!
On Thursday morning we said goodbye to the Finca, but not before taking some awesome pictures to show you EXACTLY how crazy where we were staying was… Enjoy!
Thursday we headed into Rio Dulce to catch our bus back to Antigua so we could spend a few days there. We arrived in town around 11 and our bus wasn’t until 3, so we decided to take a nice leisurely stroll to the Castillo de San Felipe – aka Saint Felipe’s Castle. We had seen it on a previous boat ride and thought, why not? Because really...what else is there to do in Rio Dulce? We saw a sign in town that said “Castillo San Felipe – 2 km” and we thought (or at least I thought) “2 km? not so bad – let’s walk instead of taking the bus, it should only take 15 minutes or so.” So we began the walk. And the rains began. It rained for probably the first 1.5 kilometers. We kept walking. That’s when we saw another sign – “Castillo San Felipe – 2 km.”
Wait. What?
It turns out there is a HOTEL Castillo San Felipe at approximately 2 km and the ACTUAL Castillo de San Felipe at about 4 km. WHO KNEW? Certainly not us. (Additional side note – Guatemalans are EXTREMELY bad at marking distances…4 km should NOT have taken nearly an HOUR to walk!) I also felt pretty terrible because Jon was wearing a new pair of unbroken-in sandals that he had just bought that morning…slightly painful. After another grueling 2.5 km, (give or take…) this time being pelting with the late morning blazing hot sun, we finally arrived at our destination. WHEW!
We wandered around the Castillo (which was actually used as a fort to keep pirates away from the area) for a while and then we trekked back to the bus stop to take the nice, comfy bus back to town. Totally worth the 30 minute wait with some colorful characters and the 3Q per person. After returning to civilization we grabbed some delicious pizza in town before boarding the bus. At this point my stomach was feeling pretty lousy and all I wanted to do was lie down. Jon and I settled in on the bus to watch “Rush Hour 3” and “Shooter” and ride the 6 or so hours back to the capital. As we approached the capital my stomach was a huge mess. I couldn’t sit up or lie down without being in tremendous pain. All of a sudden, right about the time we were just reaching the capital, I looked at Jon and said “I’m gunna throw up. Right now.” He started to take off his shirt, realized I was wearing a sweatshirt and told me to throw up in that! Instead, I darted for the front of the bus, where the “driving assistant” (per se) THANKFULLY realized what was going on and opened the window that was on the front door, just as I threw up EVERYWHERE. I proceeded to throw up, out the front door of the bus for a good 6-7 blocks…just as we made it to the bus depot! I felt RIDICULOUS! And not only that, but after throwing up, people immediately got in my face asking if we needed a taxi! Crazy! Thank heaven that was the end of that for the night. We got in a shuttle from the capital and rode to Antigua, arrived around 10:30 pm and immediately passed out. Whew.
Jon and I spent the next 2 days touring around Antigua – going to the market (where I introduced him to my fabulous friend, Florinda, and we bought some goodies for our wedding :)), eating delicious food, watching television (what a novel idea!), and just being lazy and happy :). On Saturday afternoon we returned to Parramos, went to the fresh food market to buy fixings for some delicious meals, chowed down on homemade guacamole and licuados (smoothies), and spent the night hanging out with the girls in my section. The next morning we rode to the airport to say goodbye….yet this goodbye was by far the least sad of all the goodbyes I think we’ve ever said.
Jon and I started dating when we were 16. Since that time, we have dated for almost 6 years in total, 4 of those being lost distance (although never quite as long as right now…) After 6 years together, 4 years of college at different schools, 4 years of being a long distance couple, and one year spent in Guatemala, Jon and I will finally be together for good in 10 short weeks. Just 10 weeks. After all the tearful goodbyes, after all the wondering about when the day would come, it will be here in just 10 weeks. And I could not be more grateful. Jon and I were fortunate to have found true love at such a young age. And what’s more is that we are incredibly fortunate to each have the understanding of the other. Neither of us has ever wanted anything but the happiness of the other. And unfortunately it has lead us (physically) down very different paths – college, grad school, Americorps, and Guatemala. Yet here we are 6 years later with all those beautiful memories behind us, and a wonderful life together spread out before us. And last weekend, we said the last extended goodbye of our lives. And it was amazing.
So yes, I was incredibly sad to see him go. Yes, there were still tears, but more than that, there was the joy of knowing that in just 10 short weeks we’ll be together again for good :).
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