I woke up to my alarm at 6:30 and quickly got dressed and ate a granola bar before leaving the apt with Sandy and Kristen around 7:15. We walked a block and turned to the right and continued straight the rest of the way. We walked through town for about 10 minutes and then the road began to climb. In just a few minutes, we were surrounded by poorly-constructed, one-room houses surrounded by tiny yards littered with garbage in the midst of fields. We climbed up this road for quite a while. I was surprised by the number of cars and trucks that were going up. Sandy said the people were going up to work in the fields. The roads up mountains here are interesting. The actual road is made of irregularly-shaped cobblestones, but there are two smooth tracks (that look like sidewalks) for the tires of the vehicles to drive on. It easiest to walk on these, but we had to keep getting over for vehicles. After about an hour of walking, we came to a place where lots of people were getting off a bus to go to church. We stopped for a moment and drank some water. I anticipated that it would be cold both because it was early in the morning and that we were climbing even higher than Xela already is. However, I was surprised by how hot I got. Luckily, I had dressed in layers, so I simply removed a few (only one of which ever made it out of my backpack the rest of the hike). Next, we came to a dirt trail in the woods that was more like usual hiking through the woods. We had to cross a meadow that had been turned into a soccer field. There was a group of people having a church service in the woods. We saw a horse tied to a tree. As we walked farther, we heard howling coming from the distance. Sandy told us it was coyotes, but as we listened more, we realized it was people. Apparently, it was a Pentecostal church service. We could hear them, even when we were at the top of the mountain! At one point, we could hear two separate services coming from different places. We walked along this trail for about fifteen minutes and then we came to a place with huge boulders. I would have stopped hiking at this point, had I been by myself. However, we continued our hike, climbing up, over, and around the huge boulders, using both our hands and feet. Each step brought us 12-18 inches higher. Finally we reached a part I thought was the end of our climb. However, I was wrong. Sandy began to climb a vertical rock wall. I tried to take a picture of her, but my camera batteries were dead. I tried my spare set and they wouldn’t work, either. I was disappointed. I really wasn’t sure I could make it up the wall, but it wasn’t as hard as it looked. I made it to the top and then Kristen climbed up behind me. We kept climbing over the big rocks and finally came to a part with a rock spire rising about twenty feet in the air. We climbed the rock tower and seated ourselves on its pinnacle. I imagine that the place where the devil took Jesus and tempted him to throw himself off the mountain was very similar to this place. We drank water, ate yummy graham crackers (so much better than the U.S.), and took pictures. I think I had accidentally combined one old and one new battery when I tried to take pictures earlier because my low battery light was not even on. Unfortunately, there was a lot of fog, so we didn’t have a perfect view of Xela. However, the fog kept shifting so we could see all of it, just in bits and pieces. After about a half hour, we started back down. Sandy couldn’t find the way down at first, which was a bit worrisome because all the ways down looked scary to me. We tried a few ways which were not right. The scariest one Sandy tried sent loose rocks and gravel tumbling down the mountain and off a cliff. I was glad that she abandoned that way! She finally found the way we needed to go. It was difficult to go down but not impossible. However, when we came to the rock wall, I needed some help from Cristina because it was hard to see where to put your feet since the outcrops were directly underneath you. I had to hang by my hands at one point and lower myself that way since my legs weren’t long enough to reach. I was impressed by Sandy’s climbing because she is even shorter than me. Getting down the boulders took more time getting down than it took us to get up. However, when we made it to the dirt path, it went quickly. As we came down, we could hear one of the church groups singing Majesty in Spanish. It was cool to hear. I was hoping to make it back in time for church at 11, but I know it would be close. We saw lots of animals on our way down: a cat, several cows, a sheep, and many dirty, sick dogs.
When we got back to Xela, Kristen and Sandy headed to get ice cream, but it was 10:45 and I wanted to try to make it to church. I booked it back to the apartment and ran in, all sweaty, and threw on a skirt and top. I was really hot, so I decided to wear flip flops, which was a bad idea. I grabbed my bilingual Bible and dashed out the door. I had to hurry to make it on time. I stepped on a metal plate on the sidewalk and a gush of wet, muddy water shot up and got my feet and legs dirty. Yuck! As I was crossing a street, one of my feet slipped on my wet flip flop and it fell off. There was not anyone coming so I grabbed my flip flop and dashed across the street barefoot. I shoved my flip flop back on and decided that I am done wearing flip flops here! I made it to church on time and sat down and wiped my foot off with a tissue.
The church service was good. I went to the Presbyterian church that I attended last summer. I was not in time for Sunday school which was my favorite part last year because I got to meet lots of young people. However, we sang lots of songs and then the pastor preached on Moses and the burning bush. After the church service which went until 12:30, I hurried back home to call my grandpas for Father’s Day. I was able to reach both of them. I finished calling them and it was time for me to leave to meet up with Andrea.
I met Andrea in the park at 2 by the big tall statue. She looked the same as I remembered. We walked around a little bit and then we headed to my apartment building. I showed her my terrace and we sat up there in the sun and talked for about an hour. It was good to catch up with her. She has been teaching in Honduras for the last year, so we had a lot to talk about. After a while, I took her on a tour of the important places in Xela. We went to XelaPan, my favorite bakery. We each got a sheca con frijol (roll with black beans inside) which were delicious and also a little roll flavored like anise. We went to the theater and they were getting ready to have an orchestra concert put on by a local school. Then we went to the grocery store and she bought food since she is staying in a guest house with a kitchen. We went back to her place and put her food away and sat in her bedroom and talked. Then her friend Holly arrived. Holly is from England. They taught together this past year. We talked for a while and then we talked to some guys who were there. Then we decided to go to a café. Andrea took us to her favorite café, which turns out to be Café Bavaria, which I had been to several times last year. I got hot chocolate. We sat and talked for a couple of hours, and then I felt like I should leave to make it back in time for dinner with Sandy. We made plans to meet up tomorrow. Andrea is going to volunteer at an orphanage and I am going to try to do so, also. They want volunteers to make a minimum two week commitment, and I won’t quite be here that long, but I want to see if they would take me anyway.
I got home before 7, but Sandy and her daughter were not around. I talked to another woman who apparently lives in our apartment but has been gone since I’ve been here. Her name is Tyra. She was very helpful. Sandy never appeared so I helped myself to a bowl of cornflakes and milk that I had to eat with a fork. I think maybe I should start doing my own cooking, like Andrea. I checked my email and called my dad for Father’s Day. Then I took a shower and ate pretzel sticks with peanut butter, almonds, and dried apricots while writing my blog entry. I really need to try to get some pictures posted, but I have been having trouble with the internet. Tyra recommended going down by the office, so maybe I will have to try that tomorrow, if I have time. I have class tomorrow morning at 8.
