“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

The T.S Eliot quote (one of my favs) felt appropriate as this past month I have been able to watch people do things they once thought was not possible; or at least were highly unlikely. I also saw that I should not doubt myself, but, this time, that was not the best part.

Xela to Lake Trek

Since arriving in Guate, I have heard about a hike you can do from Quetzaltenango (second largest city in Guatemala) to Lake Atitlan. People who had done it talked about it and two friends (Krista and Ashleigh) had talked about wanting to do it. I am always up for a hike, so I was in without knowing anything about it. If you care to know, go here: http://www.quetzaltrekkers.com/guatelagoatitlan.html.

Getting ready to head out, day 1

So we planned it for the last long weekend of the school year. Ten of us were going. As the date neared, nerves started getting the better of some. No doubt it would be a hard hike: three days, full backpacks, 45 km, elevations of 3050m; but never did I think anyone would not make it. Others were not so sure. Lucky for them, others of us don't let people back off :)

The hike was amazing. We went through beautiful cloud and rainforests, numerous small villages, and had a great time. There was a lot of laughing, some beautiful singing; everyone was easily getting along with each other. But there were also doubt. There were many times when I heard "I think I am going to catch the bus at the next road crossing" or "tomorrow I am just going to ___ and then will take the bus the rest of the way." But it did not happen. And it did not even take all that much encouragement! With each point we passed still as a group, I felt more and more excited. It is a trip I would take again (assuming there is not a new adventure out there to grab) and will always remember.

Enjoying the hike!

End of day 1.  Tired, but still going!

Children in one of the villages we passed through on day 2

Having fun at sunrise over Lake Atitlan - and a great new cover photo for this blog :)

Coban Medio Maraton

Another thing I heard about again and again was the 1/2 marathon in Coban. It is the biggest race (numbers, not distance) in Guatemala, but what I heard from people did not make me really want to do it. I heard that it was hilly and hard, it was a miserable run, there were too many people, and any number of other un-encouraging things. But, I had friends (Kelly and Pam) who were going to run it and figured I should do it at least once; it is the biggest after all.

I was initially excited, but as my training started going down the gutter, I was getting less and less so. It is difficult to run in Guate unless you don't mind doing lap after lab or you have a car to take you places more conducive (aka safer) to running. I started thinking I wasn't going to run. But Kelly somehow knew and took me to sign up. I think she has a 6th sense about it, because as I was getting frustrated with the fact that a long run meant 15+ laps around school, she asked if I wanted to join them on their weekend run. I was starting to feel better about the whole thing, until I pulled something in my calf (or at least I think that is what it was, I never actually got it looked at as I put off doctors as long as possible). At one point I actually thought "yes I have an out." But that was not the case as it only took a week to heal. So, I was packed and heading to Coban to run a race that I heard is terrible, feeling quite unprepared for the whole thing.

I don't know if my training was better than I thought or if the people just gave me the energy I needed, but the race was amazing. I have done races that are more beautiful (Desert Rats in Fruita, for one), but never have I been so overwhelmed by people. On the whole course, the biggest space between people cheering was not larger than 20 meters. My favorite moment was coming down a hill to arrive in a town where the streets were lined with girls in traditional clothing singing. If I had a camera, I would have stopped to film it. It was so beautiful; I had tears in my eyes. I have never experienced anything like that. Hopefully I will again some day.

One of the lead runners passing the singing girls.  I love this photo!

Amazing how photogenic I am when running :P

In the end, I ran faster than I thought I would and only had trouble the last 3K. I think part of it was the energy of the people, but I also think that I (as I tend to do) had underestimated what I was capable of.

Kelly and Pam, much more photogenic :)

After finishing, I waited at the finish for my friends. Security asked many times for me to go, get my metal, and relax, but I was not going anywhere (I just pretended I did not understand!). This was the first 1/2 marathon for both Kelly and Pam and I was going to be there at the finish to cheer them on. Being able to watch them finish once again brought tears to my eyes, they were amazing.

Tired and happy finishers!

I think goals are an important part of life. I know I am more motivated in all parts of my life when I have big goals, and not much is better than the feeling of achieving something you once doubted you could do. I love it for myself, and love sharing those times with others. It is something that can never be taken away.

Next goal: Miami marathon, January 2013 :)

Floating and another volcano

I have always been a floater. Through different stages of my life I have had one or two friends from each part of my life and only one or two total that I felt really close to. In high school I had sports friends, IB friends, dance friends, and the friends I was closest to who did not end up fitting into any of these groups. I got along with most people and would bounce from group to group but never felt as though I fully fit into any of them. Here in Guate that floating has not changed. There are people here who have their group. They go to dinner every Friday, if one is going out, they all are, if there is a break, they know who to call. At least this how it appears from my end. And in a place where most people don't stay for more than three years, it makes sense. For me, when I do hang out with these groups, it is great, but I never feel like I fully fit. I'm not being critical, it is just how it is. I don't think I am the only one who feels like a floater here, and I am starting to think that being a floater is not a bad thing.

Last weekend was a three day weekend and a group of us took advantage and hiked up Volcán Tajumulco which is the tallest peak in Central America. The trip was through a group called Quetzaltrekkers (www.quetzaltrekkers.com) and was amazing. It was initiated by a few teachers at CAG and I was happy to receive an invitation. They are all people that I knew and many of them I regularly play ultimate frisbee with; but it is a group of people that I had had very few conversations with prior to the trip. They knew I liked to hike so invited me along. This is were floating is a good thing: I know a lot of people and they know enough about me to know when I would enjoy something and 88% of the time they invite me to come along. Here is my trip report of the hike and then I will come back to the floating topic for my grand conclusion :)

Tajumulco

Sun setting over the clouds

Sunrise

It was a my favorite kind of weekend; one that involved hiking and getting out of the city. There were seventeen of us on the hike, nine teachers, three guides, and five others who are traveling through Central and South America. Of the nine teachers, only one of them had I been hiking with previously and only two that I had had spent much time with. The trip started in a town called Quetzaltenango (Xela for short - not sure why though) and we rode some "chicken busses" (old school buses that get packed way past capacity and take you where you need to go for very little money) to the trailhead and then headed up the peak. It was slow going as we had full packs and Guatemala doesn't really understand the concept of switchbacks, so got pretty steep. But we made it up to our campsite at just over 13,000' in just over 4 hours. And then headed to the top for the sunset. I had been looking forward to watching the sunset and rise from the top. The sunset was nice, but not as spectacular as it had been in my head mostly due to clouds, but the sunrise did not disappoint. It was freezing (literally) at 5am, but I was so excited about taking pictures and absorbing any and all views that I barely cared about my fingers not working as well as they usually do. Once the sun was up, we started our hike down.

Cleaning up trash :) 

All hikes I have been on in Guate have been trashy. Others have been worst than Tajumulco was, but I decided to do my part and bring down some trash. I made the suggestion to the others on our hike that if they picked up just one bottle it could make a difference. I was thrilled to then see a pretty big clean-up effort. Trash bags were pulled out and filled, extra pockets in backpacks were stuffed, and many people hiked the last few miles carrying three and four bottles in their hands. I did not expect it and was very happy.

Once we got back down we took two more chicken busses before arriving back in Xela. My OIG (only in Guatemala) moment of the trip was on the first of those two chicken busses. They truly pack as many people in as they can. I was sitting in the very last seat (luckily I had taken dramamine). Sharing my seat were a Guatemalan couple and their two children (yes all five of us on one seat) and on the seat to my left were three men. But that does not fill a bus, so there was also a man standing between the two seats. Well, toward the end of the ride, the man standing between the two seats started falling asleep and every five or so minutes his head would nod enough to slam into the top of my head (he was pretty short). Had I not been wearing a hat, it may have been a horrible experience, but it was so ridiculous that I find it hilarious.

Campfires - good place for a chat

Despite the crazy chicken busses, I enjoyed the entire trip. What shocked me is that the most enjoyable parts of the weekend were the conversations and getting to know the people I was with. I like people and love hearing stories, but this surprised me; I usually enjoy the hike more.

Lunch - another good chat time

So, I did not find a new best friend on this hike, nor do I feel like I found my "group," but I had an amazing time and got to know some interesting people better. I am making some good friends here and they are, once again, from different pieces of my life here which means no close group of friends. I like the idea of having a group of people I am close to and can count on, but that has never been who I am; probably someone I never will be. I think this weekend helped me understand the benefit of being a "floater," though. If I stuck to the same people all the time, there would be a lot of people out there that I would not get to know and learn from. Hopefully I am starting to grasp that floating might just be an okay way to live.