The adventure continues. . .
VISITING FINCA FILADELFIA
Feeling the need to replenish our energy stores
after the workweek, Brit and I decided to head
to a local coffee finca (plantation) for a weekend
mini-adventure. The place we visited is called
Finca Filadelfia, and is a local coffee farm that we’d heard gives great
tours and produces really good coffee.
Another typical view from the streets of
Antigua. Here you can see Volcan Agua, the
one I've written about before, which towers over the south end of town.
This shot was taken from the back of the army-style tented truck that
Finca Filadelfia uses to transport visitors to and from the plantation.
Brit standing in front of one of the several fields of baby coffee
trees that are grown at the plantation.
There are actually two types of coffee plants
that are used in this process. They take the top part of one fast growing,
hi-yield species of plant and graft it onto the bottom part of another
species that has super-hearty roots. They then let these little guys
grow in the shade for a while before replanting them out in the actual
fields. Check out all that green.
After the beans are harvested by hand, they go though this whole complex
process of being shelled, skinned, dried,
and roasted. Here, you're seeing the drying
process, which basically consists of laying
a ton of beans out in the sun and occasionally
giving them a turn. The finca is set in
this beautiful valley that sort of reminds
me of wine country, in a facility that looks
a lot like a winery. You can tell where
the money's at here. You can see volcanoes
Fuego and Acatenango in the background.
B-BALL IN L.A. & FINGER TROUBLES
In early February, I had the pleasure of flying back
into the US to participate in another wheelchair
basketball tournament in Long Beach, CA. This
time I was playing with my home team from
San Jose, and it felt great to see all the
guys again. There's something about sports
that makes a unique kind of friendship/bond,
that's for sure. Anyways, I got to play a
bunch of basketball, hang out with my good
friends (including seeing Brit's mom again,
along with her friend Salli), and eat a bunch
of food that didn't have beans in it!
On the plus side, we played awesome, winning all five of our games (some
of them really tough) and taking home the 1st place trophy.
I was worried that I'd be totally out of shape
and practice, but it turned out that our weekly practices down here,
jungleball style, are really paying off. Compared to the destruction-derby
that sometimes ensues down here, the LA tourney was like a meditation
retreat. Here's my teammate Chuck, showing off the trophy. So that was
the good news. And the bad news. . .
. . . in the middle of our second our third game, on the first day,
I suddenly realized that I couldn't move the
last joint of my thumb on my right hand. Well I could contract it, but
I couldn't extend it at all - really a weird sensation. Thinking I'd
just jammed it really badly, I took a quick sub, taped it up nice and
tight, and continued to play that day and the next. After returning
to Guatemala, I just continued taping it every day, expecting that it
would eventually just get better on its own. Little did I know. After
two weeks and no real improvement, I finally went into the capital to
visit a doctor that's a friend of Transitions. His diagnosis: a torn
ligament that would require immediate surgery (so as to prevent the
tendon from retracting up into my arm) and a cast for eight weeks. Of
course, my first thought was "FUCK
THAT!" And luckily, thanks to some great research on the behalf of my
parents, and a bit of my own online searching,
we discovered that surgery was indeed probably not something I was actually
going to need. Wheeew! What a relief! So, no surgery, but I do have
to keep my thumb in a brace 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, for 8 weeks
total.
SEMANA SANTA IN ANTIGUA
Brit and I have also had plenty of time to just
hang out in Antigua, which has been really
nice on the days where we can just kick back and relax. Plus, for
the past bunch of weeks, Antigua has been celebrating "La Cuaresma",
the 40 days that lead up to Easter. This is a really celebratory time
here in Antigua, and all culminates in "Semana Santa", the Holy Week,
which is just beginning as I write this update. Here are some pictures
to give you an idea of what goes in these parts.
Every Sunday during La Cuaresma, one or two local churches puts on
this big event called a procesión (procession). A proseción
is basically this long human train of people,
all decked out in some sort of traditional
garb, bearing these massive aldas, basically really large floats
depicting Jesus, Mary, and other biblical
imagery. These slow-marching groups gradually
wind their way through town, passing by local
churches for short visits, and eventually
returning back to their home church in the
evening. Some of these procesiónes travel
ridiculous distances, and the whole thing
often takes from 7 or so in the morning
all the way until 9ish at night. And when
you see the way these people strain under
the weight of their aldas, you know this is
no easy task.
Oftentimes, while wondering through the central park in Antigua, you'll
come across people who are trying to sell
puppies. Which is fantastic for us! We get
to watch these little guys run around in the
grass, try to attack imaginary enemies, and
best of all we even get to play with them
ourselves sometimes.
LAGO ATITLAN
Looking for another mini-vacation, Brit and
I headed north to Lake Atitlan. About a 2.5
hour shuttle ride away, this beautiful lake
sits in a volcanic basin, with three massive
volcanoes towering above (a common theme here
in Guatemala, no?). We got to spend 3 days
relaxing in Panajachel (pana-HUH-shell, the lakeside entry town),
visiting a great little cabana on the shore,
kayaking, swimming, and just vegging out.
The highlight of this trip was definitely the kayaking. Brit and I
have become sort of semi-passionate, completely
recreational kayakers, and this was an awesome
spot to pursue our new hobby. As I said, the
scenery is pretty spectacular, and in this
photo you can see three of the volcanoes (they
might just be mountains, but volcanoes are
way cooler to kayak below) that rise above
the rim of the lake. Up until recently, Lago
Atitlan has been suffering from a massive
algae bloom that has made the lake largely
unswimmable, and has caused tourism to take
a big nosedive. When we were there, however,
the water was incredibly clear and crisp,
perfect for some swimming. We did come back
with some new parasites in our stomachs (nothing
major), but who's to say if it was from the
algae or not? The swim was definitely worth
it!
Luckily for us, Jake (my brother) had given us a friend to contact
at the lake, and that person had referred
us to a great guy named Lee. Lee owns and
operates this awesome little kayak and lodging
business out in Santa Cruz, one of the pueblos
on the lake, and the least I can say is that
he completely hooked us up. Not only did he
personally guide us around the lake on his
kayaks (which included a trip to a great jumping-off
dock and a hot springs), but he let us spend
the rest of the day hanging out with him and
his wife at their beautiful lakeshore property.
This photo shows the property from the boat
as we were heading back to our hotel in Panajachel
in the evening. On the bottom left of the
photo you can see the little casita where
Brit and I spent a few hours just lounging,
hanging out with Lee and his wife, and having
an all around very relaxing time. Below is
the beach where we started our kayak journey,
and above is the house where Lee and his wife
live.
Here's a shot of Brit looking out from the deck of the casita. I'm
not lying when I say this place has some amazing
views!
MORE TO COME...
- Visiting Tikal, home of the Maya
- Trip to Denver
- More wheelchair basketball
- A buddhist excursion
|