Pacaya

Dormant for more than hundred years, the volcano of Pacaya, standing at 2500 meters tall, suddenly erupted around 50 years ago and it has been active ever since. It last erupted in May this year, when boulders were sent flying up to 2kms in the sky. The eruption caused the death of one journalist and showered Guatemala City with ash.

The first ever volcano I have climbed. It felt strange walking in nature which one could see and feel was so alive. Just a few hundred meters above, smoke was coming out from its chimney.

But the climb to Pacaya couldn’t beat Sunday morning’s moment. Sat on the camioneta early Sunday morning to go to the market, and the driver blasted the corniest Latino songs.

Puurrrrfeeecctionn! Sometimes clichés just do it!

The scribbles...

Certitude in the entertainment of wavy grains. The dolphin swims but it is hunted. Regardless of the vocation of human nature, violence will surface within him at some point. Pulled to the edge of being impetuous to his environment, man will conquer, or at least try to, what he is facing. My chair trembles and I wonder what makes it tremble (Questions are answered. It was my phone). In a wheelchair, the greatest man i have ever known must surely be able to count the number of days He has left. Or will your life surpass mine? Forgotten, oblivious to You, have i become? Or is my life a testament of your teachings endowed in me? I let free a turtle for her. The people crowded the turtles and he flashed them with his camera. Who looks at the spectacle of humans and is entertained? The little turtles’ instincts directed them to the water. Those who got “lost” and walked the other way, eventually turned around and crawled towards the water until a wave helped them in. What are we humans walking towards? When will the wave come and take us? Are we breathing our destined air? Or are we ignorant that there might be a place we can breathe more freely? Why did i think of her when i freed and prayed for the survival of the turtle? So many people love me far more. Or perhaps, i am ignorant. Superfluous sentiments. All is gay and wanderlust as time moves and stands still. Stillness is motion in time. An eruption is caught on camera – stillness of motion. Stillness of fire. Stillness of sparks. My life is a spark, i lit the wick and now i am burning in motion. The wax that is spilt around reflects my forgotten woes, the wax that is melting within and is burning represents my unforgotten burning sentiments. The flame reflects my smile. May it burn and keep on burning for an eternity and may it always aim for the skies. Jittery jitters, buttery fingers, i cannot hold on to a speck of water. It flows through my hand. As time passes on, as life slips from my hand, may i have many more sunrises in exotic lands discovering my ‘home’ and this self which is apparent in existence. A four eyed fish jumps on the water. Life will always surprise you. May we be surprised delightfully. The thin line between the moments of ecstasy and depression within a cloud bursting through the peak of a mountain. Is ecstasy a form of depression? Is true happiness balanced? Everything is in motion because time moves. The pen that Pau held is losing ink. So many words wasted. i must make them count. No word used without purpose. Every word with a purpose. Purpose? What’s that? Another word. It turns out, i am ignorant.

Black sand, The Pacific and "Everyday People"!

On the way to Monterrico, the retired Florida living American couple in the shuttle made a comment about the driver in English to another passenger. Not in so many words, but they might as well have said "the driver should drive; he has no business speaking to the tourist in the passenger seat who is interested in what he has to say”. José took offense and immediately stopped talking. I thought it was a good time to put my headphones on.

The tune of Arrested Development’s “Everyday People” felt like the appropriate song as we drove through the warm air, the coconut trees, and looking at the people chilling in their small tiendas. If Antigua is chilled, the coast is a lot more tranquilo.

My main aim of going to Monterrico was to see the turtles. I didn’t see them. Well, I didn’t see any adult turtles.

I did help release baby turtles into the sea! :)

Also, it’s not every Sunday that one gets to wake up in Guatemala and see the sunrise in the mangroves and a four eyed fish hop on the water! Unless one lives in Monterrico of course!


In the car listening to “Everyday people” and looking out the window. That was my definition of life this weekend.

Life is also the baby turtles having only a 10% chance of survival.

Porque tu te lo mereces – El lago Atitlan y Chichicastenango

We entered a dark room, on the left, 3 old Mayan women filled with wrinkles were sitting on the floor with 3 candles lit next to them; they were motionless. They were staring at the statue of Maximon, the head of the Mayan Gods who had a cigar in his mouth. On the right, two men were covering a statue of Jesus with a white bed sheet, as though covering a corpse. We, five of us, were discussing at the entrance for more than 5 minutes, how to break 10 Quetzales into change, so that we can each make an offering to this Mayan God. Lost in translation and oblivious to the sanctity of the temple, we probably disrespected Maximon.

The lake of Atitlan is beautiful. It is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and little villages on its shores. As I sat on the boat, I kept admiring the deep blue of the lake, and the dance of the clouds with the mountain summits. Of late, I like to admire blue skies with few clouds dancing in open space. The names of the villages are as charming as they are – Panajachel, San Marcos, San Juan and Santiago. The walls of San Juan are filled with paintings; there, I helped a boy fly a kite.

The next day, in Chichicastenango we got lost within a swarm of people at the massive Sunday market.

In Panajachel, as I stirred the Caipairinha, I noticed that in my stirrer were written the words “porque tu te lo mereces” – because you deserve it.

If I deserve such experiences in my life, I’ll gladly accept them with gratitude and try to accept them with humility.

Español, La Camioneta, Cafés y Chocolates

During the last hour of class, Sara, my Spanish maestra does a very good job of hiding her yawns. She yawns closed mouthed and makes it as quick as possible, probably so that I don’t detect it! The rest of the time, she pokes fun at me and is trying hard to convince me to marry a 15 year indigenous Mayan girl. 4 hours of Spanish classes per day is a lot to digest, but I speak casi todo el tiempo in Español in Antigua which is great practice for me.

One of the first things I wanted to do over here was to get on a local bus. The bright colorful semi truck/semi school bus looking Camioneta is way too big for the small streets of Antigua. I got a chance to go on the bus when I visited the small village of San Juan. The bus can get overcrowded, but if you need to get off, you have to keep saying "con permiso" to every person until you get off it. So much politeness!
Look at them! Aren’t they too freaking cool?

At the village of San Juan, I was introduced to my first Guatemalan chocolate. The church in the village produces its own chocolate. And then, later, in town, I was introduced to “Fernando’s”. If I loved the chocolate at San Juan, the chocolate at Fernando’s took me to paradise. It’s almost like pure cacao. Fernando’s is one of my two favourite cafés in town. As you enter, the bearded Fernando greets you and if you’re with Sara, she’ll help herself and offer you some free chocolates that are laid on the bar. She’ll make you taste the chilly chocolate and wait for your reaction. Lo siento Sara, not chilly enough! After the bar, you enter a room and a small corridor, and are in a courtyard, with a fountain, plants, flowers and tables. And that just describes most restaurants and cafés in La Antigua. My other favourite place is Café Condolesa, similar to Fernando's except that when you enter Café Condolesa, you first pass through a bookstore. :)

Cafés in La Antigua! They have a café called Kafka where his face is drawn outside and in the menu. And they have quotes of him in the menu. I had to have my first beer there.

“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” – Kafka

Need I say more?