Busy Times!

Last week and weekend were extremely busy! It started Sunday night with us making dinner for the house. Continuing with our food fetishes, Aña and I jarred up four of our five gallons of kimchi for eating and selling. I made a big batch of 100% whole wheat sourdough to sell and hand cranked out eight pounds of peanut butter. Aña made some chocolate truffles; some with Chai spices, and some mixed with a blackberry reduction.

In the middle of the week we hiked up nearby Volcano Santa Maria. The peak is at an elevation of 3772 meters (12,375 feet). That means the climb to the top was a nearly 1200 meter (4000 foot) somewhat grueling adventure. We did the hike with our friends Elly (who we have the pleasure of living with), and Katie who has, sadly, just returned to the States. We left at seven in the morning, but it was not early enough. During our two and a half to three hour ascent we had spectacular views. The views were taken in frequently as we had to keep stopping to catch our breath. About two thirds of the way up we could see some clouds rolling in from a nearby valley. I rushed ahead to the top to chance a clear view. Unfortunately the clouds had already rolled in on the South flank obscuring a view of an extremely active smaller volcano. On the bright side, another friend and former house-mate was already at the top. He is a Mexican and was celebrating the birth of a son in Germany. So, naturally, he had a bottle of fine tequila with him and a fat cigar. A slight indulgence of celebrating with him helped me to warm up in the cold high altitude air. Mysteriously, there were also four to five cows up top who practically surrounded us while we ate lunch. Luckily, as we learned, they're afraid of bananas.

We made it back down from the volcano just in time to attend the 5:15 yoga class. It was great to stretch out after such an intense hike. Yoga has become very fundamental to our daily life. I've even started teaching two morning classes a week. It is a great experience and very rewarding. It also pays a little. On the downside, it's hard to sleep in past 6am.

Then to culminate events, we had to cross the border to renew our Guatemalan visas. We put out an open invitation to others and ended up going with our friends Katie and Cody. We decided it would be fun to go to one of the coastal crossings and spend a night on a Mexican beach. After four hours of crazy driving we arrived in the border city of Tecún Umán. We were harassed by half a dozen guys trying to "help" us in hopes being tipped. They were not helpful at all and very sketchy. We were distraught to learn that we could not renew the permit to have our truck in Guatemala. Apparently, we would have to keep our truck outside of Guatemala for 90 days before it could re-enter. This would have really screwed up our plans. One of the sketchy guys, who became my shadow, suggested transferring the vehicle tittle to Aña or bribing the customs official. I sneaked back in loosing my sketchy shadow and pleaded with the customs official some more. After making a phone call he told me we would have to bring the truck to the border crossing we entered at. That crossing, at La Mesilla, was a long ways from where we were.

We ended up making the most of our trip and finding a beautiful beach in Mexico near the border. At Playa Linda, we found a small family owned restaurant with a small pool, trampoline, and palapas to pitch our tents under. After playing in the waves and riding a strong side town down the beach we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. I cracked open some good "Sol" Mexican beers I had stopped to buy for the occasion. Then, we enjoyed a fantastic dinner at the little outdoor beach restaurant. We dined on fresh ocean fish and the most amazing shrimp Ceviche I've ever had. The owner brought out three parrots to keep us company while we ate. It was hard to sleep in the tent as the sultry humid air had us sweating while laying down. We awoke to play in the ocean once more before heading back to our homes in Xela.

The next day Aña and I drove to the other border crossing another four hour drive away. It still took some pleading, but we were able to gain permission to keep our truck here for another three months. Suprisingly, at La Mesilla, there were not any sketchy guys and the customs worker was very genial and sympathetic. Another day with too much crazy driving. Whoever said passing school buses on blind curves was a bad idea?

This week, I've continued enjoying teaching morning Yoga classes. I've also been going to a couple other Yoga classes each day and the feared boxing class. I plan to go back up Santa Maria this Sunday in hopes of getting a better view. This time I'll be leaving with a small party at around 5am. Hopefully we'll beat the clouds.