kellita the señorita the ibby dibby dow: Peanut butter prostitution

Don’t judge me. Occasionally I like to partake in the art of smoking a cigarette. In the absence of drugs and alcohol in my life, it’s my one vice. I was enjoying such a treat on Thursday evening outside my house before dinner when an old frail woman, I’d say about 70, came walking by with a “woman”. More like my first experience with international prostitution. I immediately realized that the scantily clad “woman” on her arm was not a woman indeed, but a man dressed to the nines (well the prostitution nines) in chunky heels, a mini skirt, and a very thin white long-sleeved blouse, unbuttoned halfway, giving me a peek at the bra holding nothing but large pectoral muscles, a long black wig, and a small purse slung across his/her broad shoulders. The old woman had maybe 7 teeth, and asked me for a cigarette. She then offered me a few hours with her friend. Umm…no…thank…you? I gave up the cig and ran inside.

This week has been adventure filled. Wednesday, we went on a school trip to the Steam Baths outside of town. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was not at all what I experienced. The facility is two small wooden buildings, one changing room, and another smaller building housing the baths. We changed our clothes and headed into the hotter of the two steam rooms. Basically, you open the door, step into the staggering heat and steam, and stand in a circle/square and stare at each other, talking about how freaking hot you are and how it feels like your ears are burning off. The second room is cooler with a side of Eucalyptus. When it’s all over, you shower off under a freezing drip shower, then change back into your clothes. It was quite a relaxing experience, and then we slowly hiked back to town.

Wednesday evening I taught my first yoga class in a long time. I showed up at 6:30 to warm up, and was told that I was teaching the Spanish class. Gulp. What? One thing I struggle with in Spanish is directions. Despite my best efforts, I taught most of the class in English, doing more demonstrations. I wasn’t sure how it was going, but after class all 3 students kissed my cheek (which is a standard greeting here), and profusely thanked me. I taught again on Friday night, feeling more confident, and again was told by the return students they like my style. It’s so good to get back at it.

This weekend, 15 of us from school took a trip to Volcano Tajumulco, the highest point in Central America. We met at 5:30am, took a 2.5-hour bus ride, and were ready to rock. We hiked for 3 hours to camp for the night. As the sun went down, we understood the cold weather warnings we got from everyone that week. We weren’t that well prepared by the school, so we had to find a lot of creative warming strategies.

I made the mistake of bringing a limited food supply. I have a serious love of peanut butter and bananas. I overdid it a little by packing 6 pre-made sandwiches. Two things I learned for future camping/backpacking trips: A. Don’t bring pre-made PB&B sandwiches, they’re gross after a day. B. Change it up a bit. It is pretty hard to breathe when you’re hiking a quick pace at 14,000 ft of elevation. We were pretty relieved to be done hiking by 1:30.

The volcano played a big part in the Guatemalan civil war. The guerillas used it as their hiding place, home, and often times as a battleground. Amaro, our guide and an ex-guerilla, talked to us about what it was like, and about what the volcano means for him. It’s pretty interesting how well they learned to live there. They would trek with 100lb packs on their backs every day as well as their weapons, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. They got their food and other necessities via secret food/gear drops from the community. They knew every step of the terrain, and their lives depended on it. The military eventually put a base there in an attempt to defeat the soldiers on their soil, but closed it 3 years later when they realized they it was futile. Eventually the Peace Accords were signed in 1996 ending the standoff.

Our tent went to bed at 6pm, as that’s about what time the sun went down. Despite wearing a combination of 6 shirts/jackets/tops, 2 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of socks, a hat, scarf, and gloves, and being wrapped in my sleeping bag and blanket, I was freezing. I basically slept for an hour, woke up, readjusted, slept for 30 minutes, repeat. We woke up at 4am to climb to the summit for sunrise. It was an adrenaline rush to climb the steep rocky volcano in the dark, only being able to see what was directly in front of me with my headlamp.

The sunrise was beautiful, albeit windy. We spent most of the time admiring the view and finding rocks to hide behind to block the wind. Of course with the sun came warmth, and by the time we packed up camp and hiked back down the mountain, it was nice again. It was an eye-rolling bus ride home because there was a girl on the trip who never shuts up. She is super self-righteous and always running her mouth. I want to kick her shins.