Destiny´s Secrets

Imagine walking a cobbled street in a little Guatemalan island called Flores. The moments of the day are Mayan, with images of stone ruins sketched in the scene of jungle forest. This morning, I stared out at the imense forest and stared at it with all my might trying desparately to hang on to the memory, and keep it as a permanent image. But with time it will fade and knowing this makes it even hard to hang on to the beautiful moments of vacation. So with these moments of the morning, roaming the ruins of Tikal we now roam the cobbled streets of the town of Flores, our home for the night. The dark blue haze of water colliding with the green edges of the mountains in the foreground hang to the right and to our left lies the tourist haven of shops, more shops, and restaurants. Then in such a foreign unique scene, all the magic imagery is interupted with an abrupt, "HEH!" The imagery of the scene is fogged in the distance and my focus is on a young man with brown curly hair, a short body with broad shoulders, and I even know his name--Noah Dillard. His place is foreign, in my mind he belongs in a war protest where I last saw him holding a NO WAR sign on the Kalamazoo city block in Michigan. I just stare at him in disbelief. Destiny has it that two neighbors, friends of a peaceful cause, travel the criss cross in a seemingly different world. And suddenly it hits me, the world is so small after all. I shake his hand and give him a hug and we ask the same question simultaneously, "What are you doing here?" The conversation carries us to a cafe for dessert. So here I will paint you the finished painting that I call the Magic of Destiny.
I sit holding hands with the love of my life that I met in highschool math class. To my right, our dearest friends that we met in the bus station in Mexico a year ago when both our backpacks were stolen, and to my left Noah whom we met protesting together against the war in Iraq on the curbside in Kalamazoo. I really enjoyed my cappuccino tonight. Really though, I enjoyed the magic of destiny. On a side note, Tomorrow we are headed to Belize ... Vamos a ver!

HOLA GUATEMALA!

I have officially escaped. My house on the dusty roadside in Moroceli is now lonely, with only my two bunnies keeping it company. On Saturday morning, we woke at the wee hour of three thirty AM and packed our final socks and underwear, careful not to forget our diplomatic passports and camera in our big backpack. At four thirty, the bus rolled by and stopped briefly for us to hop on. The ride to Tegucigalpa, ugly smelly belly turning dust hole, is two hours long. Needless to say, we stayed only long enough to breath in a bit of the polluted smog and hopped on a bus headed North, West to Copan Ruinas. Seven hours of putter puttering along the road--I had lots of time to read through my lonely planet guide book of Central America. I read about El Salvador, our destination spot and read about how El Salvador has the most deforestation of all the central american countries. I wanted deep jungle forest. I read about how El Salvador is the least visited country by tourists. I wanted tourists. I read about how the El Salvadorians are very hospitable and the off the beaten track tourist is sure to be delighted with the kind atmosphere. I already know the hospitable kind culture. I began to dread our vacation plans. I read about the blue pearly carribean seas in Belize and the wild jungle and ruins in Guatemala and seven hours later as we arrived in Copan, I greeted our Canadian friends with a hug and one simple frase {We need to talk!{ So we talked and for now I find myself in Guatemala in a little cute adorable touristy town called Antigua running out of time on a computer in this small internet cafe. So yes, I am taking a vacation from being a peace corps volunteer and for the next two weeks I am playing the role of the tourist with the big backpack and the camera. As time is escaping, I will relay briefly without the fun detail our travel plans... Tomorrow we are headed to climb a volcano with a guide near Antigua and we will return to Antigua the same day to wine, dine, and enjoy a hot shower in the hotel here ..yeah the hotel actually has a hot shower and a flush toilet.. imagine that! We plan to next visit the Lago de Atitlan...supposedly a beautiful lake and then THursday night off on an overnight long bus ride to Tikal and Flores! Jungle hidden ruins with Howler monkies to wake us up! From Tikal, we plan to head to Belize and the Carribean coast to enjoy the turquoise pealy waters! Our trip will come to its last delight on a river boat trip through Rio Dulce in the jungle before we board a final direct long horrible bus ride all the way back to Tegucigalpa on June third. Our canadian friends are leaving June fourth from Teguicigalpa and we will head back to our bunnies and our cozy little home and bucket shower in Moroceli. Time is out. I send you lots of hugs, kisses, and all my love.. I am loving Guatemala. Pray for me that my bag and camera doesnt get robbed like my previous travel experiences... but even more pray for all my neighbors in Moroceli that are struggling to earn a dime in their bean-corn farms just to live day by day and will most likely never have the experience of staying in a comfortable hotel and eat dinner out at a restaurant. THey need the prayers more than I do. They need Gods help... I will try to take care of the backpack myself. If I loose it, so be it, I have the best thing life could ever give. The love of my life and all the love I could ever desire from all of you. Keep in touch and write us often.

Amistad

At 12:35 on Monday afternoon, Steve and I eagerly waited in a mob of Hondurans outside of the Tegusigalpa airport trying to sneak glances inside at the passengers arriving off the plane from Miami. "I see him!" Steve shouted, "It has got to be Didier. I see a guy wearing a hat and he has a dark complexion!" Within five minutes our aweomse Canadian friends walked throught the door and greeted us with hugs! Yes, our canadian friends arrived safely and we are so so so happy to host them in our little yellow and red house. Today we are going to catch the next bus to Yuscaran to show them the cute little cobbled streets and a little variety to Honduran atmosphere. I am signing off leaving you in the dark with a lack of many details... but the bus is its way! Adios! frienship is a beautiful thing that distance can never break. All my love, Teresa y Steve

soul warming story

We have been away from our home for nine months. In these nine months we have learned how to become a different culture, speak a different language day in and day out, hand wash laundry, cut down a bunch of bananas from a high branch using a machete, and teach first graders how to properly brush their teeth. At the same time, we have struggled. It isnt the beans and tortillas, or even the hot climate that is so hard to get used to. It is the lack of those conversations, the hanging out late with our good friends at the bar moments, the dancing the night away at Mr. Wonderfuls bar parties, or the late night card games at Mom and Dad´s house, or the great home cooked dinners at Mom Cavanagh´s house. Its missing our friends and family that makes the struggles. But tomorrow at noon, we wont be missing two of them so much because they will be here!!! Our dear Christiane and Didier from Montreal, Quebec will be on their way on a jet plane tomorrow and we will be exchanging hugs in less than twenty-four hours! Our friendship is a beautiful story of bad turning to good and if you will just spare me your attention a few minutes longer, I will share it with you.
Last May we took a month to escape the day to day work routine for MEXICO! Mexico brought us the beauty of the ruins, the turquoise sea, the open art markets, and oh yeah, the moment of despair when my backpack with our cameras, my diary, and all the film from the previous two weeks of traveling was robbed. I felt ashamed for not being more careful. I felt taken advantage of. I was mad at myself, at Mexico, and at the man that had distracted me by asking for the time. I entered the bus for the next town in tears. Steve comforted me the best he could but could not distract me from our material losses. At a bus stop, a couple of fellow travelers approached us and shared that their backpack was also stolen in the bus station. I suppose it is an old saying that misery loves company. Stolen backpacks sparked a conversation and a connection that kept us traveling together for the remainder of our trip. So Didier and Christiane, I am sorry that our backpacks got stolen, but really maybe I am glad that they got stolen. If not for that, maybe we never would have spoken to one another and maybe we would have never started the beautiful friendship we share. We would have never taken the eleven hour all night drive adventure to visit you in Montreal and we would never have been so excited to see you arriving in the airport tomorrow. Christiane and Didier, it seems unbelievable that you are coming, you are better friends than we could ever have asked for.