Another weekend...another adventure!

Ok everybody...I want you to rewind about 6 months ago to November. I was looking for a program to participate in and I stumbled across this GVI program from Google. Now you would think that when I looked at the program, there would be a few things that might scare me away. The fact that it is 6 months away from my entire family, the fact that I really hadn´t spoken Spanish in 8 years, the fact that I would be living with complete strangers and the fact that I had never taught before...let alone taught kids that don´t speak my language.

But nope...none of those things scared me. What was the one thing that almost scared me out of this program? The trip to Lake Atitlan that I took this past weekend...

Why was I so scared you ask? Ok folks, there are many things I am good at...but biking down a mountain just ain´t one of them. Dad--I´m sorry if you are reading this because I know I´m completely embarrassing you right now...but I just am not good on two wheels.

But off I went on Saturday morning to Lake Atitlan. Lake Atitlan is a huge freshwater lake smackdab in the middle of Guatemala. So me and 5 other volunteers on my program piled into yet another silver van and put our lives in the hands of our trusty guide, Juan.
So after what should have been a 2 hour ride turned 3.5 hours, we arrived at the so-called top. Juan unloaded the bikes and I got on just to try it out. Well, within 1.5 minutes, my pant leg had gotten caught in the spokes and a massive semi-truck zoomed by.

A note to my mom--I know you have been wondering if I was really your daughter after all this adventure. Well, I assure you that my Fiterman-Stillman genes came out in full force at that moment and those two minutes were the only two minutes I spent on that bike. I walked my bike back to Juan, hoisted it back on the truck and loaded my tush back in the car with one other "wise" volunteer and rode my way down in the safety of the shuttle. (perhaps a new version of the term "Chicken Bus"??)

After witnessing the rest of the group zoom down the steep hills and U-turned road, I realized quickly that I had definitely made a wise decision. Not to mention the fact that about half way down, they were literally biking in a cloud...so take a girl who doesn´t bike, a steep hill, u-turns, fog and one blind eye and I really do think it was a wise choice to opt out of that one.

Anyway, after the 2.5 hour bike ride (ok...car ride) it was onto a boat. This boat was pretty much a tin can that doubled as a boat but I climbed in. We crossed Lake Atitlan and went onto pretty much our very own little island! Our hotel was on it´s own little piece of cliff on the side of Lake Atitlan and was really amazing!

Now before we left for the trip, some other volunteers who had been to this place just kept saying how amazing it was. Don´t get me wrong, the hotel was very cool...I mean I don´t often stay nestled into the side of a cliff. But somehow when someone says the hotel is amazing, visions of hot showers, plush duvets and cable television come to mind...let´s just say, not exactly.

So the hotel was a little short on space so two of us girls had to share the "Matromonial Suite." Sweet deal I thought! Ok...so Alison and I walk into our matromonial suite...let´s just say it was no Hilton. The two of us shared a single+ bed (by the way, Alison is taller than I am) with about 8 inches of space on two sides of the bed and that was it in the room. No TV, no duvet...no BATHROOM! Nope...we had to trek up the cliff about 2 flights of stone stairs to get to the "loo" as Alison called it. For you visualists out there...here are a couple pictures:

After the two of us collapsed on the bed an laughed for about 20 minutes, it was off to dinner. Dinner was really good and as soon as that had settled, the 6 of us went off to a night in the hot tub. Now this hot tub was heated the very old fashioned way with a pot of burning coal smack in the middle of it and no bubbles. So basically, I was taking a bath with 5 virtual strangers and a guy named Juan...

Needless to say, one of the weirder moments of the trip but definitely a blast. After about 3 hours in the hot tub filled with my made up ice-breaker games, it was off to my matromonial suite for the night.

So I didn´t mention this before, but the first day was great but to say it was foggy was perhaps the understatement of the blog. So we all had high hopes that we would actually at least see the lake on day two...well, let´s just say that the only time I still have ever seen Lake Atitlan is from Google images. Alison and I woke up, pulled our curtains and saw a mass of white.
Well, we weren´t going to let some fog stop us. We were going to enjoy this lake! So after breakfast, we descended to the water and wnet kayaking...it was awesome! All my Herzl Camp canoe trip training paid off and we kayaked all around Lake Atitlan.

After the kayaking, it was time for a good swim...jumping off the dock into the cold water had never felt more amazing. It may have been foggy but that didn´t stop me from experiencing the lake as much as I could. I don´t know what it is about swimming in a lake that is so great but it really is just the best.

Anyway, after the swim came a shower (about 3 stories further up the cliff, freezing cold and complete with it´s very own wasp) and then off to hike our way back into town. Now the hike was no picnic but it was fabulous. Up and up and up we went and saw what probably would have been stunning views of the lake! But we did get some idea from up there in the clouds...and I´m not sure I would have had it any other way.

Well, before I lose all of you...the rest went something like this...

Back in the tin-can boat, lunch, 3 hour shuttle and back "home" to Antigua. And what better way to end an amazing weekend exploring Guatemala´s most incredible scenary than with some good old-fashioned American cuisine...

Gotta love Dominos...

Love and miss you all!

xoxo, Debra

P.S...after many requests, my next entry will be more about my incredible, amazing, unbelievable kids...check back in a couple days...