Busy week and Earth Lodge

Hi there,
It has been a really busy week. I have basically blown off school for the last week. It was a holiday! Tuesday we built kites at the school, and then Wednesday we went to the top of the hill at the north (?) end of town and flew them. One of my friends said I should be an add...get a new hip and get your kite back!!! It was a lot of fun!

Here is the master kite builder, my teacher Miguel, with our kite...did I mention it flew right away!

And here is our kite in the air (I THINK it's ours!)

Here is a view of both our fearless kite-flying leaders (our Spanish teachers on a normal day!) and Antigua from above...

Another shot of the cross and some of the students from the school...

I was wandering around the other day and looked up to see this!

Thursday was a holiday here...Todo des Santos, or All Saints day. The big thing here is kites in the cemetaries, where it is supposed to attract the spirits. Some of the kites are huge! Some of the places have competitions and build these really cool kites. That is why we built kites at school. They are really cool! I was supposed to go see them, but I got the "traveler's disease" Thursday, and spent the day in my room next to the bathroom! Very restfull day, in a manner of speaking.

Friday a bunch of us went to a phenomenal place called Earth Lodge, about 3o minutes up in the mountains from here. This involves meeting in Central park where 2 pickups come for the 15 of us. We climbed in the beds, and flew up the hill. (Our driver was faster, just let me point that out!) We get to the middle of nowhere, and are dropped off by a path that goes downhill for about a quarter of a mile. That's right, getting in is easy...getting out, well let's just say it takes a BIT more effort!

Earth Lodge is run by a couple who have created this place out of nothing. It is on the side of a mountain, has a dorm, cabins, a sauna, and tons of hammocks, games, music, views, and some of the best food I've had since I've been here!!! We had mashed potatoes (of COURSE there was the gravy lake!) salad, roast chicken, cake (warm!), and just really good food. It was so good, we decided to stay for dinner the next night as well. They are doing a Thanksgiving dinner, and if we don't do something here, I may go back, if I can gear myself up for the walk out!

Here's a picture of the main reception area/movie room (behind the green door)/dining area/general cool spot to hang out...A typical seating area at Earth Lodge...

And the view during the day....

And at sunset....

Our crew playing twister...I was the official spectator...The twistermaster is Toby, from England. The girl standing facing the camera (sort of) is Frederica, an MD student from Sweden who will start working at the clinic I was working at Monday. The rest of the group is divided into Swedish and Dutch, but at the Lodge we had French, Spanish, American, Australian, Guatemalan, Dutch, and English travelers. I THINK I got all the counties, but it was hard to keep up. There were more Americans there than I'm used to being around, but it was kind of nice to actually understand ALL of the conversation (OK, well, MOST of it, since when we switched to Spanish I usually got the idea). I'm sort of getting a crash immersion course in Swedish, and it is not taking!!!

One thing I figured out last week...I've got to permanently quit smoking. I start, stop, and start again. But now I have the muscles to do what I want, but not the air!!! It's kind of cool, but it hasn't mattered in several years, so I didn't worry about it. Forgot them in the mountains, and one of the guys said "see...a sign!" He's probably right, so no mas! Now, it matters! I'm amazed. It's funny the little things I notice, like walking past someone on the sidewalk, actually walking faster than someone!!! Wow! And not taking so long to get anywhere. I'm really enjoying this.

Another interesting thing about this weekend is realizing there is a whole subculture out there which has opted out and are doing whatever they want where ever they want. I met a whole crew of people who had been traveling for a year or two...or more! They work when they need to, move when they want to, and just generally live a life far different from any I've ever known. They are not embassy, oil, military, or peace corp. They are just the wanderers of the world, with no more than 2 suitcases of stuff to their names, and more memories made in a year than most people make in a lifetime. It's very seductive to think about doing that. Makes me wonder if I really ever want to "go home"! Home, to these guys, is where you are, and there is always more to see.

Well, I'm going to stop now and see if I can add some pictures. Maybe we'll get lucky.(WE DID!!)

Jon and Sue come this week! Yippee!
Earline