From kindergarden to castration of bulls

Yesterday morning I went to visit the local kindergarden, which is built as part of the project which Fagforbundet has in Monte Cristo. When I arrived all the children looked really dirty, though it is not really their fault because there is dust everywhere. Red dust which clings to everything. The roads here arent covered with tarmack. So whenever a car or bike or even when walking the dust goes everywhere. In the evening you can feel how the dust have covered up your hair and everything. It even looks like you have gotten much darker skin than you really have. Anyway the children loved having a visitor coming all the way from Norway to look at them work with their little notebooks, and afterwards playing. During playtime they were crawling all over me. I had brought a bottle of water which had been in the freezer. So when I arrived there were still some ice inside the bottle. Hah, the kids wanted to steal my bottle. And they actually managed to run off with it as well. 6 kids where hanging on to the bottle for their dear life. When they finally came back with the bottle, I let them feel the cold on their faces. They just loved that. After a few hours I was getting pretty tired being there so I decided I would leave to go to rest for a little. They all came running grabbing my legs so I couldnt walk anywhere. Almost made me loose my balance and falling over.

*****

Today in the morning I was invited to come see how they castrate the bulls. There were proper cowboys riding around on their horses with lassos! The bulls were young so they had not yet gained their massive size yet, but it still takes two cowboys to topple a bull. Basicly one get a lasso around the neck of the bull, then the other one puts the lasso infront of the two legs at the back and have the bull walk into the second lasso. As soon as the lass is closed around the back feet they make the bull fall over. They then vaccinate the bulls, sterilizing the area before cutting the skin open to take out the testicles. They probable had around 200 bulls which they had to castrate this morning. When they finish they all gather up for a big lunch where they eat the testicles.

We had to leave early because we were going to attend a meeting before lunch. As I was invited off to another place to eat lunch, I didnt have to come back  to eat testicles. As I understood it, they eat them raw in ceviche. Not my cup of tea. Picures will follow when I get back to civilazation.

Tomorrow we are going to the beach. I am looking forward to that.

Being ill is no fun when its boiling outside!

When I arrived from the capital to Reu the change in climate was huge. I ended up getting a cold and had to rest the few days I stayed in the hotel. This morning I left for the village where I will stay till Sunday. The internet here is slow. Something like 2G so I will see if I have the patience to upload some pictuers before I return to Reu.

The food at the hotel was  pretty good, and cheap. For 3 days with 3 meals pr day included I ended up paying around 500 NOK. That is just choosing whatever I wanted without even leaving the hotel. I decided to order Cordon Blue one of the days, ended up with chicken with cheddar sauce. There wasnt even a hit of any blue cheese within a mile of the place. Well Guatmalans aren't exactly known for their great cheese, but I am sure there would be some French chefs turning over in their graves if they knew. Pretty sure Albert Einstein would too if he knew he was used as the face of Domino Pizza commercials. His face kept popping up on signs all over the capital.

Best meal so far has been the garlic drenched fish I ordered yesterday. Pretty sure it killed the last of my cold aswell because today I woke up and was mostly well again. A feint head ache and nose slightly blocked, but nothing like two days before when my nose was running like someone had installed a leaking pipe up my nose. No matter how much you try to blow your nose or sniffle to make it stop, it just doesnt stop.

Anyway, thats all in the past now. Staying in the community house, tomorrow there might be another person joining me here, to enjoy the mosquitos together with me.Atleast there are nets here to cover the beds. Atleast nothing will fall down in my head while I am sleeping.

Buenas Noches

Missing luggage and the capital

Yesterday was surreal. For some reason I was not ready for traveling. Like it is not happening to me. I was sitting at a café at Schiphol on my way to Guatemala. It was hard to believe when I woke up this morning.

Talked to a guy at the plane yesterday from Ukraine, on the last stretch from Panama to Guatemala. He said that our luggage wasn’t gonna make it. I just laughed it off. When we arrived our luggage was not there. They don’t even know where in the system my bag is. How fun. I will have to call back to the airline later today to see if they have found my baggage yet. At least my insurance company is covering up some of the expenses. The worst thing about it is that the same thing happened when I was here last time. 

*****

Several days later my luggage finally arrived. What a treat to finally get clean clothes. Walking around in the same dirty clothes you traveled in for over 20 hours is deffinitly not recommended. Of course there was several things one could have done to avoid such misfortune. For one always carry an extra shift of clothing in your hand luggage. Second of all make sure the luggage is marked with YOUR name and  destination. It is really handy when the luggage tag mysteriously dissapears from the bag. 

After a short week in the capital visiting various fast food restaurants I finally set off to Reu. The difference between the capital during day time and night time is major. During the day the city is buzzeling with life. Vibrant and alive, and as soon as the sun sets the city appears to be a ghost town. Everyone locked up in their houses behind barred windows. Not so much to keep people inside as to keep unwanted visitors out. Everywhere where you look in Guatemala the windows are covered with those metal bars. Their houses painted with pepsi, claro, tigo or other big companies. A free coat of paint in trade for your house as a billboard space. It is Guatemala alright.

On my way on a new adventure

The journey has just started. Looking forward to putting away the coldness of Norway in exchange for warm temperatures for Guatemala.Currently sitting at Schipol Airport. Free internet access seems to become more come, as both this one and Kristiansand has introduced it. Seeing the amount of people traveling with laptops these days I guess it has been long up and coming. When is UK going to follow? ;)

This is eventually where i will end up. Retahluleu, a small town on the west-coast, where I already spent over a year. Looking forward to visiting friends and famliy, and to explore the topic of my bachelor thesis.

http://www.rondasomontano.com/revista/8824

Enjoy snowy Norway, and see you in March.