Right Where We Need To Be

Sorry for the writes block, but it seems as if we are moving in fast forward!

We started this trip as travelers and now have suddenly turned into locals! Let me now tell you how we got to this point...

We last wrote to you in Flores while visiting Tikal. On a map, we traveled from one side of the country to the other over night. Our journey quickly became an adventure as Jamo got nominated to ride on the back of a local Guatemalan´s motorcycle.  Luckily for him, it was only a short distance to where our luxury double decker bus would pick us up.

We then sat through a 13 hour night ride to Antigua. We knew that traveling at night would be a risk, but none of us wanted our other option of wasting an entire day cooped up in a bus.

An hour into our ride, our driver pulled over... We assumed it was to pick up more people along the way but then all of a sudden he began banging on the wheel well. Not knowing what the hell was going on, the noise began to worry us. After fifteen minutes or so of hammering metal on metal, we started moving again. You could now see the worry in each of our eyes... It also didn´t help that the road that we were on was curvy and our seats were front front on the top deck. Each turn seemed to be our last...

As soon as the Tylenol PM kicked in, we stopped again, again, and again. Each time banging on the same wheel for whatever reason.

Finally it was morning and we were in Guate City where we would transfer to a different bus. Our new bus wasn´t the luxury type but we were happy to get off the other.

After a short ride from Guate City to Antigua, we stopped at a place we were familiar with and enjoyed a hearty American breakfast. We had a few errands to run while in Antigua and did so before heading to Grandma Sherry´s.

Once again, we took hot showers, did laundry, and unwound from a big travel day and or three weeks!

While on the road we were eating like locals and enjoying hand cooked meals at our hostels. It was only appropriate that during our return to Antigua that we would order everyone´s favorite meal, Domino's Pizza. We had been using our Spanish but never had we used it over the phone. That´s another story all in itself...

We returned from our adventure back to Antigua solely to meet our new friend Julia. Lucky for us, she was staying at Grandma Sherry´s as a guest of Tara´s. This made it real easy for us to get to know her.

Everything so far has been lining up, but nothing more than our relationship with Julia. Right off the bat, we both knew that this friendship would be the start of something big!

Julia has started a nonprofit organization in a small beach town named El Paredon on the Pacific Ocean of Guatemala. After talking with Julia for a while, we began to realize that El Paredon and San Clemente share a lot of similarities. We wouldn´t know how many until we actually got there.

We made reservations with Julia to catch the private shuttle to a surf camp in El Paredon the following day.

We took a quick two and a half hour ride to a secluded black sand beach where the sun sets and rises daily. We had finally made it to the paradise we were looking for!

After getting settled in our dorms located on the beach, Julia gave us a tour of the place she calls home. El Paredon is home to a total of 600 people, they have one school for elementary and high school students, as well as a futbol field and a court where the kids can play. I promise I didn´t leave anything out... Oh yeah, black sand covers the entire town, and the streets have no names.

This is a place that is so remote that us Gringos stand out like sore thumbs! This could be bad, but we have used it to our advantage... Everyone knows us, and enjoys having us around.

Three days into our stay in El Paredon, we were fortunate to find ourselves a host family. We now have a mom and dad, three brothers, two sisters, and about a hundred different cousins. We are the new kids on the block!

We told ourselves before coming to Guatemala that we wanted to live with a host family and to start  a sports program... And that´s exactly what has happened since being here!

Julia introduced us to the director of activities here at the school and she gave us the opportunity to speak to the kids on their last day, perfect timing for our pep rally! We mustered up something big and delivered it to them the following day. It´s safe to say that we nailed it, because one week into our program, we now have forty to fifty kids come out to play!

Not only are we in touch with their sports program, but we have met many others in town. We split time eating meals between two families, our own and our favorite cook Sandra.

Sandra was the first person we met here in town, and ironically the same is for Julia. Sandra asks us what we want to eat, and then she prepares it to perfection! We tell her in advance and she has it ready for us when we arrive. She has made us fried chicken, fried fish, tamales, oatmeal, omelets, empanadas, pasta, and a traditional soup.  Each meal has been worthy of a detailed description, but none more than the soup.

This soup was filled with everything from the ocean! It included a rare fish named Señorita, a "cacaoroach" similar to a lobster, and if you can believe it, a turtle egg! Yeah, we know that eating, let alone touching a turtle could put us in jail back in the states... But this was a once in a lifetime experience!

Food brings people together, and so does music. I have been carrying my Kindle Fire around everywhere playing music. From SOJA, Rebelution, Tom Petty, to The Eagles... Everyone has caught on to our laid back positive vibes!

We are always out and about around town, but some of our best times have been spent at our house. Since being here we have participated in a lot of family activities. We speak not one lick of English around them and it has really improved our Spanish. We even watched our favorite movie Dumb & Dumber in Spanish with them. Watching them laugh just as hard as we do confirm to us that this is the funniest movie ever made.

With a seven year old brother and a five year old sister in the house, Angry Birds and Moto Racing have been extremely popular amongst everyone. When the kids finally wind down and our occupied, we bring out the cards and play for money! It is a 1Q entry fee which isn´t a whole lot, but it makes things a lot more interesting. Our one rule to our game is that the winner buys candy for everyone!

Not everything is fun and games down here. Our father works, and he works his tail off! He says he builds roofs and fishes for a living, but he does so much more than that. Javier, our father, has taught us to weave, shown us his local fishing and farming techniques, and asked for our help in taking the corn off the cob. Our mother has taught us a lot as well. We have made tortillas with her, helped with tamales, as well as learned to wash our laundry by hand. We don´t think that there is another family that could have taught us this much in a weeks stay.

A few days ago we had the idea of buying materials, and making a volleyball court for the kids of El Paredon. Our father told us where we could get the line for the net, and then went ahead and chopped two identical pieces of wood for our posts. Javier, Ty, and myself then proceeded to weave Maya style until our new was complete. Hopefully by next week we will have talked to the Mayor and have a place to put out court up! Although, we don´t just want to give them this court with no meaning behind it. We want to actually start a women's league for them. The guys have futbol, but then girls have nothing. This would give them a chance to start a league of their own! We have began teaching them the rules and showing them the proper techniques. Hopefully by the time we leave, we will have created something that will last!

I said earlier that we are living in paradise, but really, this is not for everyone. We have experienced thunder, lightning, a sand storm, and even an earthquake... We take cold showers, our continuously bitten by mosquitoes, and are constantly woken up by kids, fireworks, and roosters. But, it is all apart of the experience and we wouldn´t want it any other way!

Today is our brother Arnoldo´s Durty Thirty so we must get to the store to buy some fireworks! Tonight we will be hosting a big dinner at our house for the celebration! We haven´t been doing much of any partying but tonight will lead into tomorrow as we get to double dip! October the 24th is a holiday here in El Paredon. They celebrate all the fisherman of the town. Tomorrow there will be a 5 v. 5 futbol game with a big fiesta afterwards. It is a trouble keeping beers cold so we will be drinking Coco Locos instead!

If you were worried about us previously, just know, we are right where we need to be!