Heading Northbound
Have finished Spanish school, and have my last night with the family tonight. My buddy Nick has already moved on to Honduras a few days ago, but me and my other buddy Ross are thinking of heading north. Will probably head to Guatemala city in the morning.
Going to try to head up to Flores (in the Peten region), so that we can make our way to Tikal. Tikal is supposed to have some of the best Mayan ruins in Central America. Have heard tons of good things about it.
We may also try to stop at a place called Finca Ixobel on the way though. It is another one of these organic farm type places that is supposed to be super nice. Apparently the woman who runs it makes awesome homecooked buffet dinners at night. I think that we may be able to do some tubing through the underground rivers, which sounds super cool. If we do stop there, I won´t have access to email for a few days.
As for my goings on, I actually went and took some Salsa lessons the other night. Was a little embarrassing at first, however, the math was on our side............probabaly about 15 to 20 women, and then just 4 of us guys. It was pretty hilarious! There is a lot more to the Salsa then what I expected. Will need some major practise in order to get good. I tried a little last night, but after a few near death experiences and a healthy debate about the dance steps, I eventually had to just throw the thumbs up and do the old fashioned bump and grind. I´m sure that I´ll have plenty of opportunity to practise over the next 4 months, when travelling through Central and South America.
Spanish school was quite painful. I am somewhat questioning my tutor's Spanish grammar skills, as whenever I challenged her, she would go look something up and then make a change to the sentence. It made it painful for me......my little mathematical mind was craving charts and tables. After conjugating yet another bizarre verb (that only gets used when the both people are facing southbound, one person knows the other person better than the other, the object on the floor can be picked up, and a small child is running past the door), I finally said, ¨Listen, I will NEVER EVER use this verb when I´m travelling over the next 4 months. How about we get back to catching buses and finding hostels????¨ She eventually caught my drift, but our enthusiasm levels had been somewhat depleted by that point.
Well, with a pack full of clean laundry, some broken Spanish, and a new pair of flashy Puma sneakers, I am ready to depart Antigua. I´m actually pretty enthusiastic to get back on the road again. I´ll be sure to check in when we get to Flores.
Will talk to you all soon.
UPDATE
We actually may head to the underground tubing tunnels in the morning. They are just northeast of Coban. Can´t remember the name of them, but they´re supposed to be nicer than the ones by Finca Ixobel. Hoping to stay at a hostel called Maria´s something. Will be sure to get tons of pics!
Going to try to head up to Flores (in the Peten region), so that we can make our way to Tikal. Tikal is supposed to have some of the best Mayan ruins in Central America. Have heard tons of good things about it.
We may also try to stop at a place called Finca Ixobel on the way though. It is another one of these organic farm type places that is supposed to be super nice. Apparently the woman who runs it makes awesome homecooked buffet dinners at night. I think that we may be able to do some tubing through the underground rivers, which sounds super cool. If we do stop there, I won´t have access to email for a few days.
As for my goings on, I actually went and took some Salsa lessons the other night. Was a little embarrassing at first, however, the math was on our side............probabaly about 15 to 20 women, and then just 4 of us guys. It was pretty hilarious! There is a lot more to the Salsa then what I expected. Will need some major practise in order to get good. I tried a little last night, but after a few near death experiences and a healthy debate about the dance steps, I eventually had to just throw the thumbs up and do the old fashioned bump and grind. I´m sure that I´ll have plenty of opportunity to practise over the next 4 months, when travelling through Central and South America.
Spanish school was quite painful. I am somewhat questioning my tutor's Spanish grammar skills, as whenever I challenged her, she would go look something up and then make a change to the sentence. It made it painful for me......my little mathematical mind was craving charts and tables. After conjugating yet another bizarre verb (that only gets used when the both people are facing southbound, one person knows the other person better than the other, the object on the floor can be picked up, and a small child is running past the door), I finally said, ¨Listen, I will NEVER EVER use this verb when I´m travelling over the next 4 months. How about we get back to catching buses and finding hostels????¨ She eventually caught my drift, but our enthusiasm levels had been somewhat depleted by that point.
Well, with a pack full of clean laundry, some broken Spanish, and a new pair of flashy Puma sneakers, I am ready to depart Antigua. I´m actually pretty enthusiastic to get back on the road again. I´ll be sure to check in when we get to Flores.
Will talk to you all soon.
UPDATE
We actually may head to the underground tubing tunnels in the morning. They are just northeast of Coban. Can´t remember the name of them, but they´re supposed to be nicer than the ones by Finca Ixobel. Hoping to stay at a hostel called Maria´s something. Will be sure to get tons of pics!
posted by Ryan D. MacIntyre | 5:54 PM
5 Comments:
Salsa! - Are you not suppose to eat that with nacho chips? Are you sure you were not in a cooking class instead of a dance class? Melody makes the best salsa. I'll send you some - what's your mailing address again????
Those Mayan ruins should be interesting. Maybe you could find out what killed them off - probably bad salsa!
"Stay Calm, Be Brave, Wait for The Signs"
Oh yes - that tornado touched down somewhere around Woodstock. They are still looking for 478 outhouses, 3 dogs, 12 tractors and 62 chickens!
Here's a link to the tornado story
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2006/07/04/tornado.html?ref=rss
You must show us those salsa moves when you get back. i'm expecting you to be an expert by then.
I'm watching "brokedown palace" at the moment. be sure not to agree to transport anyone's packages for them. even if they are dreamy.
Becca
Hi Ryan, your mother and I are at the cottage for the week and will get in touch with you when we get back. Weather has hot and damp. Tar is coming up today Friday for the day. I am trying to haul woodchips for the side hill. Your mother is still in bed. Be safe with this underground stuff.
Dad
Ry!! Picturing you trying to do the Salsa was enough to make me laugh. Good for you to try...See Thor, other guys want to learn, why not you??
I can also picture you running the spanish school after three days of being there!! I bet she is glad to have this Canadian move on. LOL. I hope you were able to get something from it though...even if it's just being able to tell the story that you just told us.
Sad to see Nick go...I felt like I knew him and found comfort knowing you were always with him.
We enjoyed the Mayan Ruins in Mexico and the underwater caves (senotes). We snorkeled our way through them so I am wondering if they are the same kind of thing. Great experience. Greg thought he was quite the man walking up the pyramid (us gals chickened out) but when he got to the top and looked down, he slithered down to the floor and then had to crawl down the stairs on all fours backwards. Remember Greg!!!
Looking forward to the next post.
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