Casa de Miedo

As the end of October drew nearer, Halloween was of course on the minds of many volunteers, especially the Americans. We decided to do a casa de miedo, probably better known to most of my readers as a haunted house. The theme was based on a Guatemalan legend called La Llorona (llorar= to cry, so translate that along the lines of “the wailer”). In the legend as I have heard it in Guatemala, a woman drowned her children and now wanders the night crying out for them and bemoaning her actions. Guess who got to be La Llorona? Jess Heintz, that’s who. The idea was that the kids would hear the story of La Llorona at the beginning of the haunted house and then walk through “searching” for the lost children. Ummm, let it be known that we absoultely killed that haunted house.

For starters, we set it up in a fantastic location. There is a large room on the NPHG campus that is just used for storage. It is filled with metal bed frames, mattresses, industrial mashing machines, shelves, wheelchairs, and other random things. A few volunteers arranged everything into a path in the afternoon the day of. We put out a ton of tea light candles and it looked incredibly creepy in the dark. To keep with the theme, we also dismembered some dolls and hung them randomly throughout the maze. Again, pretty creepy in the dark.

As you entered the maze, one volunteer told the legend in this eerie, whispery grandma voice hunched over in a wheelchair. Then, there was me, honestly acting like a freak. As the story was told, I would cry out at a certain parts. The kids thought that was all I did… until they passed me and I jumped up screaming in their faces and scared the living daylights out of them hahahahaha. (“QUIERO MIS HIJOS!!! DÓNDE ESTÁN MIS HIJOS???) Seriously though, I screamed like my life depended on it! I honestly could go on and on for paragraphs about how great everyone did in their various roles in the haunted house. Shoot, we even had one person hanging above a door! Everyone just really got into character and played off each other. Grammy award winning performances, all around. Good work, team.

So far, the haunted house has been my favorite large-group activity with NPHG for a lot of reasons. I loved that it was something the volunteers did on their own that was not obligatory. I loved that it came together in the end (I will admit, I was a doubter at first because it was all a bit last minute). I loved that we did it so well. I love that the kids loved it! And, I honestly just had a blast with it. Man, there is so much more I could say about this event but I am still very behind on blog posts! (MUST. MOVE. ON.) I’ll close with saying it was better than any Halloween I had in college, hands down, and I wish all my family and friends could have seen it! <3

 Enjoy the photos...

hair and makeup, ladiezzz

drop dead gorgeous, really.

Jessica #1 and Jessica #2

Looking awesome and whatnot.

some of the set up

creepy creep creepy

BOO!

My decrepit partner who told the La Llorona legend

Whatcha' lookin' at, bro?

"Don't worry, she's already dead muhahaha!"

"No, we're not scared!!!" LIARS.

San Simón y Maximón

NPHG is really close to a town called San Andres Itzapa. San Andres is home to the temple of San Simón (St. Simon), also known as Maximón. Every year on October 28th there is a huge fair/celebration in honor of San Simon, and a lot of volunteers were really curious and eager to go, including myself. Let me preface this by saying San Simon was a pretty questionable dude. He is a folk saint and the Catholic Church does not approve his veneration. Nonetheless, this was a HUGE cultural opportunity that I did not want to miss. What an incredibly interesting blend of the Mayan religion and Catholicisim! So, a group of us headed out after work to check out the festivities…

When we arrived around 5:30 P.M. on a Monday evening, it was already QUITE the party. I felt like I was at a state fair. Food stalls lined the walkway, vendors meandered through the crowds hawking junk, and people were everywhere. One of the first things in the main fair area was a booth with about 50 types of tequila. Some were very exotic- one even had marijuana leaves in it! I just mention that to help paint the picture. (Let’s remember that we were at a fair to celebrate San Simon, a “saint” associated with debaucherous things, after all…) A few volunteers got a teensy bit excited about the cheap prices haha ;)

options.

We slowly squeezed our way through the masses and reached the shrine room of San Simón. Lots of candles, lots of people.

la gente...

burn baby, burn!

THE (creepy) shrine.

After snapping a few pictures, we headed back out into the open air… and made some new Guatemalan friends! They were very “happy”, if you catch my drift, and oh so friendly! All they wanted to do was dance with us… (One woman vehemently told me, “HE’S A MAYAN PRIEST!!!” And then she told me the same thing about seven more times hahaha.)

Dancing Mayan priest on the loose.

And hand us free beers… (The same woman opened the bottles with her TEETH! I cringed just watching.)

Double fisting. I did learn something in college... ;)

Overall, Maximón was a really cool, interesting event. While I do not jive with what San Simon is about, I am glad I experienced such a unique part of Guatemalan culture. I really appreciated the friendliness of our Guatemalan acquaintances. (So typical of them!) They were so open to talking with us and teaching us about this event. They really helped get us into the, ahem, spirit… ;) It was memorable, and that- making memories- is something I'm about!

Turning 23

An inevitable part of spending a year in one place, I celebrated my 23^rd birthday in Guatemala this month! My birthday (October 13^th) fell on a Sunday this year. I wanted to do something with my section a few days in advance, so on Thursday I went down to the section with brownies, cake, and bingo. It was a great night with so many boys I love so much!

"Boys can we take a NICE picture please?" Nope, guess not haha.

I have to say that the NPHG crew does birthdays really well. We have to since we’re all we have. Luckily, my birthday was no exception. We celebrated as a volunteer group Saturday evening by having a potluck Italian dinner. Since I eat beans, rice, and tortillas so much, I have come to really appreciate a good meal. Thus, the birthday girl (and all the other volunteers) was looking forward to this birthday dinner, especially since it was going to include so much of the luxury item cheese!

On Saturday, of course the oven in our house ran out of gas… as did the oven in our national director’s house… and the oven in one of the lounges. Thank goodness we still had two to work with! We got through the oven problems and finally the hour came to chow down. The dinner was in another volunteer house. When I walked down the steps to the house, I was surprised to be greeted by an Italian flag on the door and a big 23. When I walked inside, there were some red, green, and white balloons and even a set of candles of the same colors on the table. How thoughtful, right?! The Italian food was delicious. Just to name a few things, we had tortellini, antipasta, lasagna rolls, pizza, and oh so much more. After the meal, a chocolate birthday cake with peanut butter frosting topped with burning candles suddenly appeared. UM, YUM. Also, very American haha. The group sang “Happy Birthday” to me in Spanish, I made my wish, and closed my eyes to blow out the candles. I got ‘em all in one go! The rest of the evening was spent enjoying each other’s company, talking, and playing games. It was lovely.

Aww how fun! :)

Celebrating my birthday in Italia in Guatemala.

Ahhhh CHEESE AND GOOD FOOD.

Delicious and so American! Definitely licked my plate clean.

On Sunday, my actual birthday, I got to start my day with Mass. It was a little early for me but I was still grateful to have that be part of my day. Then, I ate breakfast with my kids. We got chocolate milk with our cereal for once! I felt like I was eating dessert for breakfast, which was totally okay with me. I walked back into the house to find several birthday cards in my door- everyone was so sweet! After breakfast, I headed off to Antigua with a few other volunteers I’m good friends with. We spent several hours window (stall) shopping in the artesian markets. I could look at all the colors and patterns of the fabric in there for hours. Everything was beautiful! After that, we went to this cute little restaurant to enjoy some crepes for lunch, which were delicious. The week leading up to my birthday had been busy. Thus, I was completely content to head back to NPHG after lunch to enjoy a quite afternoon to myself.

After many months of rain, the weather was finally starting to change and I was blessed with a day full of sunshine on my birthday. In fact, it was such beautiful weather that I couldn’t resist the urge to be outside. I decided to go for an afternoon run… during which I had several buckets of water poured on me! That’s the tradition down here in Guatemala. (It’s better than having eggs smashed on your head like they do in Nicaragua!) I got to end the evening with a good, long Skype with my family, which was exactly what I had wanted.

Splashing into 23 in true Guatemalan style!

The goodness kept on coming for several days after my birthday. At work on Monday, the doctor gave me an African violet plant, which I am actually really excited to have. I hope I can keep it alive for the year! I also got a bag of goodies from the NPHG office. Finally, on Thursday I received a birthday care package from my family that came with a visitor group. IT WAS FANTASTIC. I think my two favorite things were a headlamp and the multiple bags of chocolate chips, but there were so many good things in there. I felt the love from so many people for so many days!

It's like a pet!!!! Sort of... But I was still really excited.

Snackage from the office. Always welcome.

The best gifts ever!

It was hard to be away from my family and ND friends, but I still had such a wonderful birthday. It was very different, but then again every birthday for the last few years has been pretty unique from the last one. At the very least, this was a very memorable and special birthday. You only turn 23 in Guatemala once! I’ve really enjoyed my twenties so far… Every time I’ve had a birthday, I get nervous because I can’t see how the coming year can possibly top the one I just finished. This birthday was no exception to my nerves, but hey- I’m in Guatemala for most of the coming year. 23 is definitely going to be one heck of a year! 24, prepare yourself. You’re going to have a lot to live up to!

Again, I’m very grateful for everyone and everything that made my birthday so special. Thank you!

San Pedro, Lago Atitlan: Sunday

So, Sunday morning, still in San Pedro. Friday and Saturday had been all right, but they just hadn't quite lived up to the amazing time I had Panajachel. Thus, I was STOKED for Sunday because we were going to hike Indian Nose, which is a big, steep hill close to San Pedro. The plan was to start hiking at 6 AM Sunday morning. I was up early enough to catch a little bit of the sunrise on the lake. The water was so calm and still. It was incredibly peaceful and quiet, and it felt like a good way to start my day.

Like glass, baby.

Rather than taking a shuttle to the base of the hill, we opted to walk from San Pedro through the neighboring town of San Juan to get to the hill. Here's Indian Nose from San Pedro. The tallest peak is the "nose". To the left would be the "eye socket", and to the right are the "lips". Squint your eyes. It's better in real life, I promise. (***Spoiler alert***: We did reach the top... which meant I was sitting on the very tip of that nose!)

I'm coming for you, Indian Nose.

Still rubbing the sleep out of our eyes, we walked through San Pedro and San Juan and finally started to get into the forest to start climbing Indian Nose. The term "hill" is kind of misleading. This was no Volcan Acatenango, but it was still a really arduous climb! The humidity didn't help either. In no time at all, I was drenched and wondering why exactly I had thought I wanted to do this. There was no way I was going to turn back though and so I drudged on trying to breathe. Finally, after a tough, hot, and sweaty 3 hours, we reached the peak of Indian Nose. It was the same feeling of reaching the top of Volcan Acatenango- an incredible sense of accomplishment complimented with an incredible view. There was this little tree house lookout structure that we quickly shimmied up and then collapsed on.

We did it! Exhausted but accomplished!

All my discomfort was forgotten immediately as I looked around me. I still couldn't really breathe, but now it was because the world looked so beautiful. WORTH IT, MAN.

Lago Atitlan from the top of Indian Nose. Wooooow.

Just so green and blue. I CAN'T HANDLE IT.

Evidence. Jess climbed Indian Nose.

After we relaxed at the top and took some pictures, we had to scurry back down the mountain to San Pedro. Unfortunately, we had to go home that afternoon and had a shuttle to catch! After a quick lunch, we boarded the lancha boat to head back to Panajachel for the shuttle. This is when things really started to get adventurous...

Things were fine... until we ran out of battery in the middle of the lake! I was unphased- I knew another boat was on the way to help us. As we waited, a storm moved closer and closer. Boat number 2 arrived after awhile, but things played out differently than I expected. Rather than giving us a new battery or tow, apparently we were going to change boats! This was fine in theory, but it was a lot smaller than the one we had been on. We were also on a huge lake in the late afternoon, which went the waves were already rough and made it tough to jump across to the boat. Then, the situation got worse as the storm finally broke over us. As the rain started to fall and the boats rocked against each other, we scrambled into the second boat and had our bags thrown into our laps. We were off, but now the rain was really falling and the waves were serious. Our little (overcrowded) boat was barely above the water! It could have been capsized so easily by the waves... which has happened before on the lake. The rain intensified even more and suddenly the captained gunned the engine. Even with the roof on the boat, I was totally, 100% soaked, as if I had gone swimming in the lake! Water was all over the floor of the boat- the poor luggage! I know nothing about boating, so I trusted the captain. Surely he knew what he was doing?! People were nervously laughing... It doesn't take much to scare me, but even I wasn't comfortable with the situation.

THIS CAN'T BE SAFE.

Gracias a Díos we finally made it back to Panajachel in one piece. After that incident, I had had enough adventure for the weekend and was more than happy to head back to NPHG... even though it was one cold and wet bus ride!

Adrenaline rush! Happy to be alive and on land!

San Pedro, Lago Atitlan: Friday and Saturday

Only a few weeks after my trip to Panajachel in Lago Atitlan, I found myself packing up to head back to the lake again. This time, we were going to stay in San Pedro, which is another little town on the other side of the lake. The turnaround time between the trips was a little quicker than I (or my wallet) had anticipated, but remembering how great the last time was and the fact that we were going to celebrate someone's birthday made it easy to say "yes". People joined in left and right, and before I knew it, almost the whole volunteer group was heading to San Pedro together to enjoy a weekend at the lake. Traveling to San Pedro was fun. Since it is on the far side of the lake, we got to take a boat called a lancha across to the other side of the lake. The lanchas are the standard way of getting around the lake for locals and tourists alike.

NPHG volunteers in action on the lancha!

I thought our hostel, Zoola, was really swanky, especially for the price. For just Q50 (about $7 USD) per night, I got to enjoy a double bed, pool, bar, and lakeside deck. The environment was really interesting and unique! It was owned and run by Israelis, and the decor reflected that Middle East vibe. I couldn't tell where the Middle Eastern desert met the Guatemalan jungle when a big scorpion started scurrying around the floor where all of us where sitting!

Can Aladdin come flying in on his carpet now?

Me: "Errr well, at least the scorpions in Nevada won't kill you..."

After we got settled in, we spent Friday night celebrating one of the volunteer's (Valentine) birthday. We started the night booging at Buddha Bar (yummy food!). Then, we wandered into an incredibly sketchy place with electronic music... and quickly left. It wasn't quite the social scene we had been looking for!

Happy Birthday, Valentine!

In and out, super sketchy.

Friday night was fun, but I was still up early enough to enjoy the hostel's free tea Saturday morning sitting on the deck looking out at the lake. When we were in Panajachel, the weather had been pretty rainy. This weekend however, the sun was out and shining. It felt great to feel the warmth on my skin!

Toasting a beautiful morning on the lake!

While searching for breakfast on Saturday morning, I got to explore a lot of San Pedro and pick up the vibe of the place. People say that every town at the lake has a different personality, and it's so true. San Pedro was radically different that touristy Panajachel. Honestly, San Pedro has a reputation of being the place to party. Lots of hippies, lots of dreads. There were a lot of drug/marijuana references... or blatantly out in the open. Between the hostel and the bars, I'm pretty sure I accidentally inhaled some stuff! That's really not my scene, but it was nonetheless interesting to see and experience.

My impressions of San Pedro summarized in this t shirt.

The bathroom door in the hostel.

One thing I did like about San Pedro however was all the wall art! There was a ton of murals, and they were all different from each other. Some were just drawings, but others were political statements. Here are some of the ones that caught my eye.

Maya-mania!

"Free Palestine"

"Police everywhere, justice nowhere."

The layout of San Pedro was also quite different than Panajachel. The wide, open streets of Panajachel had been replaced with narrow alleyways that scared me to walk in at first. I was glad we were with people who knew their way around, because I certainly didn't.

Errr scarey alleyways. WALK FAST.

I was in adventure mode Saturday afternoon, so I headed off to explore another town called San Marcos with a few other volunteers. San Marcos also had its own personality! It was totally new-agey and health conscious. We passed signs for moon classes, drum circles, reflexology, yoga, massages, meditation, and many other similar things. This was a place to go to relax and unplug and do nothing. There were a ton of vegetarian and/or vegan restaurants. Carnivore that I am, I of course nommed on a delicious chicken burrito for lunch. Does it help that the tortilla was whole wheat and that the vegetables were probably organic and grown in someone's garden?! The world of San Marcos was just as foreign to me as that of San Pedro, but I felt a lot more comfortable there!

The Pyramids Meditation Center- probably the place that creates the identity of San Marcos.

I think you meditate in the pyramids...?

San Marcos had cool wall art too.

The first two days in San Pedro were interesting and enjoyable, but I think the most excitement happened on Sunday, our last day...