Weekend in Monterrico- ¡Vamos a la Playa!

I'm finally caught up on the past few weeks and blogging in "real time" again. Enjoy some upbeat background music while you read the recap of my weekend!

NPHG gets a new generation of volunteers every 6 months (January and July), and I was obviously part of the July wave. It's tradition that the new and old volunteers take a trip over a weekend to spend time together. Well, we were a little late but we finally got around to our salida de voluntarios this last weekend. We went to the beaches of Monterrico on the coast of Guatemala! Monterrico is a cute little beach town with mangrove forests where lots of Guatemalans go to vacation. It was much more like the Guatemala I had imagined before I got here- it was finally hot and humid! (NPHG is up in the mountains. It's only August and I'm already sleeping in a sweatshirt, long sleeved shirt, pajama pants, and socks. Brrrr!) The humidity got old in about two seconds, but lucky there was a cool ocean breeze since we were at THE BEACH! We stayed at Hotel el Delfin, a cute little backpacker's place right on the beach with lots of hammocks. The beds left something to be desired... There was a small mattress, but I could definitely tell I was actually sleeping on a slap of concrete. But hey, my bed had a mosquito net and considering I was paying about $6.75 USD a night to stay there and had access to a pool and bar, I really can't complain.

Monterrico- such a different Guatemala!

Even the sign looks happy :)

Bar/lounge area- if I wasn't laying on the beach, I was here all weekend.

Did I mention they had hammocks?!

Gotta love cement beds. Budget traveler for life!

I enjoyed the black sand beaches of Monterrico. For me, it was strange to think that I was swimming in the same Pacific Ocean just a few hours away from my home in Nevada. The water was just a lot warmer! In theory, I could get home if I just walked to the right up the coast for forever and a half. It was a comforting thought to know that I was looking towards home. Typical Guatemala- there were still a ton of stray dogs even on the beach, but they were all so pretty! I broke down and petted one for a microsecond at one point. Shhhh, don't tell.

black sand

Home is just a long, long way that direction! I think I see America.

Don't tell me you could resist this because that would be a lie.

On Friday night, we had a little adventure. Early in the evening, it started to storm. Like, really storm. I don't think I've been in a storm that bad in a long, long time, if ever in my life. The thunder was incredibly loud and right over our heads. I don't get scared in storms, but still found myself gasping with surprise from the thunder. It was eery to watch huge bolts of lightning strike the ocean repeatedly on the horizon. Basically, it was not a good time to be walking about. However, the group had dinner reservations and our leader really didn't want to not show up, so the group grudgingly trudged out into the elements. The power started flickering on and off in the streets as we were walking. It was crazy to be repeatedly plunged into utter darkness for a few seconds at a time. When we finally reached the restaurant, it was only to discover that the staff had already closed the place down. I'm not sure if they didn't think we were coming or just didn't want to cook in the rain, but needless to say, we came all that way for nothing and had to turn right back around into the storm. Even with my rain jacket and umbrella, I was still soaked by the end of this journey. Back at the hotel once everyone had changed clothes and ordered food from the bar, we were able to laugh a little bit more at the ridiculousness that just happened.

Here's when the world was ending.

The last few weeks had been extremely busy, so I was super grateful for the opportunity to do... nothing! Normally I'm all about activities on trips, but this weekend I really just laid around, wrote in my journal, and read a book. Oh, and let's not forget all the good food I ate! IT. WAS. FANTASTIC... and also ohhhh so necessary. I really needed some time to slow down a bit, and thankfully, this weekend gave me a lot of that. After my weekend in Monterrico, I was able to head back to the clinic this Monday feeling refreshed. As always, I'm working hard and playing hard this year. I will be looking forward to my next weekend trip wherever that may be, but for now I will be GETTING STUFF DONE at NPHG!

Even when it was raining I was still happy. Ahhh so relaxing.

Clinic ladies work hard play hard!

Guatemala is pretty beautiful- can't wait to see more of it this year!