Smokin' hot

Hola mis amigos!
Sorry no post yesterday...too busy rushing from school to home to catch the bus. But yes, I'm still alive!

Yesterday I felt incredibly priveleged to do one of the most amazing things I have ever done.



Yes folks, I climbed one of the world´s most active volcanoes.

I left Antigua at around 1 pm with about 14 other adventure-seekers. We arrived at the Volcan de Pacaya at around 3 pm, and started a 1-hour hike to the summit. During the hike, the guide (who spoke only Spanish) gave us lots of interesting information about various eruptions and spoke about the people who lived on the mountain (himself included).

Fortunately for me, he spoke very slowly with lots of hand gestures, and I think I understood pretty much everything he said. Unfortunately, except for a few people, the rest of the group spoke no Spanish at all. So in a bizarre turn of events, I ended up doing my best to translate everything he said to the rest of the group.

From no Spanish to Official Translator in only 4 days, I should be the poster girl for my Spanish school! There's a good chance that I was getting everything completely backwards, but hey, you go on a Spanish tour when you don´t speak Spanish, you take your chances right?

The climb was tough, but I needn't have worried, I ended up doing just fine. It was completely worth it when I ascended the last 20 feet of grassy hill to end up on the rim of a ginormous crater. I wish I could explain how absolutely breathtaking it was. Standing on a beautiful grassy cliff that plunged about a million feet down into a vast expanse of black volcanic rock, as far as the eye could see. I was too awe-stricken to take a picture, sorry!

We then headed to our right to ascend higher up the volcano. This involved about 30 minutes of scrambling, slipping and sliding over razor-sharp volcanic rocks. Here and there were little puddles of bubbling molten lava. One of the guys on the tour bought a walking stick from a child at the base of the hike (for about $2. For a stick. Surrounded by woods. Silly American) and we all got to try sticking it into a pool of lava to watch it burst into flames. I tried to reassure him that his $2 stick caught fire much better than a free stick would have. With a straight face. Wasn't easy.



As we hiked, we got closer and closer to a flow of molten lava. I kept waiting for the guide to stop and tell us we couldn't go any farther, but that never happened! We just got closer and closer...




Honestly, there is no friggin' way this would be allowed in North America. I visualize lots of guard rails, warning signs, and stern looking security guards. Nope, not in Guatemala. Just a very enthusiastic guide trying to encourage you to get just a little bit closer, oh, and climb up here just a bit more and you can REALLY feel the heat.



And we COULD feel the heat. The ground was scorching hot, and you couldn't stand in one place for too long or your feet would start to get really warm. A couple of people who had crappy sneakers ended up with their shoes melting, nearly right though! And we were all slipping and sliding all over the place, I was sure someone was going to step into a pool of lava or fall and break their leg.



Sorry the pictures didn't turn out all that well. Turns out that glowing hot lava interferes somewhat with the settings on the camera.

Well, I really just went on and on didn't I? I feel like I just can't express how freaking cool it was! You'll all just have to come here and see it for yourself ok?

Today was my last day of Spanish school. I've had a pretty chilled out afternoon, and went with my housemate to see a really cool textile museum. We got to see all the different Mayan weaving and embroidery techniques, and it was honestly mindblowing. Dani, I was definitely thinking of you and your craft-loving soul! Many of the clothes take months and months to make. Just gorgeous. I've heard there are places you can take weaving classes, I think I'll look into that.

Tomorrow I'm heading on a day trip to Chichicastenango, where there is a huge market. Yay shopping! I may not get a chance to write tomorrow, but you never know...