Suzi 20/09/06

A long overdue progress report on our, very happy returns to us, 6th month travel anniversary!!

All is going well with the Spanish. We have just about mastered present and simple past and future tenses. We have now moved on to the imperfect, participles and the gerund and I´m beginning to feel a bit lost!! Thorsten and I have decided that, after so much fun and having learnt so much, it would be a real shame to let our Spanish lapse so we will be signing up for an evening class on our return to Blighty. We went to the macadamia plantation yesterday and did the tour in Spanish. Reckon we understood about 90% so about 50% more than at the coffee plantation 3 weeks ago. We´ve come on leaps and bounds! Thorsten gave in to temptation and he and his family are currently enjoying tucking in macadamia nut butter with their breakfasts. I had a free facial with nut oil though so can´t complain, it was an indulgent afternoon! We also caught the local bus up there and managed to locate the correct street corner to catch it (no such thing as bus stops in Guatemala!!) and get on the right bus ("oh, you need Esmeralda" said the helpful conductor of the first bus!! We didn´t have a clue what he meant until we worked out that actually all buses in Guatemala have names rather than numbers too!!).

At the risk of sounding like an American teenager, Pacaya volcano was absolutely awesome dude!! We went the weekend before last for a day trip (starting at 6am, ouch!). It is one of 3 active volcanoes of the 33 volcanoes in Guatemala and it actually split open a new lava flow 32 days ago so it is no longer possible to climb to the top (actually, strictly speaking it is still possible on your own, if you go without a guide, but we want to make it to Machu Picchu next week so declined that kind offer!). It was amazing, we clambered over the solidified lava to the bottom of the main crater, 200m from the summit. Was incredibly hot; I slipped going down on the way back, dislodging the bottom layer of rocks, which then landed against my trousers and burnt a huge hole through the fabric!! Couldn´t believe it, the rocks were that hot, they were smoking!!

Went away last weekend just gone to Lake Atitlan. We stayed in a small village called San Pedro as, although the Mayan crafts are beautiful in the market at the main hub of Panachel, where our bus dropped us, was a bit too busy for an overnight stay! Enjoyed a lovely day wandering around the village and the countryside (and didn´t meet any los bandidos!!) with 4 friends from school, Colm, Frances, Manfred and John, who have finished their classes and made the Lake their first stop on onward travels. Sadly, I was super sick on the Sunday. I don´t think (and face down on the bathroom floor after a few too many fizzy pops doesn´t count!!) I have ever fainted in my life before but I hit the deck big time, right in front of the boat full of people we were about to join, on Sunday! Luckily I don´t remember anything but Thorsten was super lovely, scooped me up and deposited me on the boat so we could at least get to Panachel and a pharmacy!! Felt as if I would pass out again when we got off so I laid down on the floor, right on top of a nest of killer ants!!! It never rains but it pours!!! At least I have another first to add to my list of experiences on this trip.

Off home for dinner xxxx