So for the last part of the trip... I started to get lazy about keeping a journal. This is sad I know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we started to do fun things for ourselves, so I got lazy? ha
ha who knows. So here's the quick version of our last days in Guatemala.
Day 8: Tuesday we went to Tikal. It was one of my life goals to visit the Mayan ruins and this definitely fulfilled that aspiration!! The national park was HUGE. We seriously spent ALL day walking around the ruins. It was extra cool because it was a journey through the jungle as well. Thanks to a tour guide, we realized that all around us we were surrounded by jungle for miles. Jungle all the way to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala.
We got to see a few jungle animals too: lots of monkeys and the highlight of my life: SEEING A MOMMY AND BABY MONKEY!!! (They were wild and just jumping from tree to tree. I even got a picture of them. Not the best because I didn't have my zoom lens- but you can still tell!)
I was so excited because monkeys have always been my favorite. In kindergarten, my mom got me a stuffed monke
y with a baby monkey that has velcroed to her back. I LOVED those stuffed animals. I think the baby's name was Phillipe (yes with a French accent). Anyways, the ruins were AMAZING and so was the jungle. It was SUPER hot though. And it was a wet, rainforest, humid hot. We thought about going to a nearby water front (hence, I wore a swimsuit)...but we didn't have time because the ruins took all day. It was awesome though. I'm so glad I got to see the famous "Grand Jaguar" and complete another life goal- swinging on a jungle vine!
Side note: we needed to kill some time in Flores before our over night bus from Flores to Antigua so Kyle decided to buy Chris a chest wax. haha- Chris has quite a bit of hair... so I was impressed with how tough he was! It was SUPER cheap too...that poor girl. She said she had only done one male chest wax before, but she did a pretty good job. While Chris got his wax, David was getting a massage next door. One in pain and one in pleasure. It was quite the experience.
Day 9: Wednesday we hiked a volcano and shopped at the Antigua market. The volcano was a little bit of a let down, but it 
was still a great experience. We were expected red, hot flowing lava...but unfortunately the volcano exploded a few months ago so the top of the volcano was not too safe. We could only climb part way up, but the part we did see was pretty interesting. We walked across ash and rock that got really hot in some spots. You could see it smoking and if you put a stick inside, it caught on fire! It was crazy to see the effects of the explosion too- and here the stories about the people that escaped and the ones that died because they got too close.
The market was cool too. We had already been to a few markets, but this time we were looking for more things because we didn't have to backpack them around. We found an awesome painting of Antigua and we got the painter to fix the color of the flowers and we got our picture with him. It felt like we got our own custom painting. It also got a little chilly because of the rain, so I bought a cute poncho. We got them both for great deals, thanks to some bartering skills ;)
Day 10: Thursday we went to the beach and learned the salsa. This was the day I was looking forward to for a long time. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was still a lot of fun. I pictured aqua blue water and white sand...and found gray, navy water and BLACK sand. haha- so it wasn't the picturesque paradise I was hoping for- but it was a beach... and I love all beaches. The waves were
HUGE and scary. It's funny because the beach is my favorite place in the whole world...but I'm a little scared of the ocean. I just feel like a shark or jellyfish will eat me, or the current will hold me under until I drown. Perhaps my mother brainwashed me because she was always a worrier. So I don't really know how to handle the ocean. Everyone else was body surfing, having a grand old time and I was frightened beyond belief. So the first wave came and I was right, I couldn't handle it. It took out my feet flipped me around and I crashed into the bottom of the ocean and snapped my neck. Ok, so not literally but that's what it felt like. I was pretty shaken up...and my entire body was filled with black sand- my ears, my nose, my belly button, my mouth, my swimsuit, yes everywhere. So I decided to just stay closer to the shore and 
try to rinse off. Funny thing is... it's September 24th as I write this post... and I STILL have black sand in my ears. haha It was definitely memorable day at the beach.
We also drank milk from coconuts- it was awesome. And Chris almost accomplished one of his life goals-to get shot. He doesn't want it to be lethal obviously. Chris was walking through a palm tree farm and all the sudden we heard gun shots! We quickly realized this farmer did not want people on his land. Luckily, his aim wasn't too good or Chris would fulfill his life goal...and possibly be dead or in a Guatemalan hospital (an experience we were happy to avoid).
Later at night, we traveled around to visit people from Kyle's mission. They were really sweet and it was fun to meet them. They all gave us tons of food, I felt SO stuffed- but I had to eat it all. We also learned how to salsa from Kyle's friends Louise and his sister. They were REALLY good dancers...us, not so much. Then we tried to show off by doing our country dance moves and Chris dropped me on my head. haha- embarrassing. Anyways, it was fun to be truly immersed in their culture.
Day 11: Friday we traveled home to America. While I was sad to be leaving Guatemala... I was also very happy to coming home!! We got a McFlurry for breakfast at McDonald's and then took a bus and then a taxi to the airport and ate some
tasty $5 subs in the airport. Subway was like an explosion of deliciousness in my mouth. I missed fresh vegetables and lunch meat and cheese and normal bread! It was the best. Then we had a layover in Cancun, Mexico where I finally found my white sand and aqua water. Too bad I could only see it from the plane. 
It was beautiful though, probably the most beautiful airplane view I've ever seen. The water swirled in aqua, green, blue...it made me want to vacation there next!
ha who knows. So here's the quick version of our last days in Guatemala.Day 8: Tuesday we went to Tikal. It was one of my life goals to visit the Mayan ruins and this definitely fulfilled that aspiration!! The national park was HUGE. We seriously spent ALL day walking around the ruins. It was extra cool because it was a journey through the jungle as well. Thanks to a tour guide, we realized that all around us we were surrounded by jungle for miles. Jungle all the way to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala.
We got to see a few jungle animals too: lots of monkeys and the highlight of my life: SEEING A MOMMY AND BABY MONKEY!!! (They were wild and just jumping from tree to tree. I even got a picture of them. Not the best because I didn't have my zoom lens- but you can still tell!)I was so excited because monkeys have always been my favorite. In kindergarten, my mom got me a stuffed monke
y with a baby monkey that has velcroed to her back. I LOVED those stuffed animals. I think the baby's name was Phillipe (yes with a French accent). Anyways, the ruins were AMAZING and so was the jungle. It was SUPER hot though. And it was a wet, rainforest, humid hot. We thought about going to a nearby water front (hence, I wore a swimsuit)...but we didn't have time because the ruins took all day. It was awesome though. I'm so glad I got to see the famous "Grand Jaguar" and complete another life goal- swinging on a jungle vine!
Side note: we needed to kill some time in Flores before our over night bus from Flores to Antigua so Kyle decided to buy Chris a chest wax. haha- Chris has quite a bit of hair... so I was impressed with how tough he was! It was SUPER cheap too...that poor girl. She said she had only done one male chest wax before, but she did a pretty good job. While Chris got his wax, David was getting a massage next door. One in pain and one in pleasure. It was quite the experience.
Day 9: Wednesday we hiked a volcano and shopped at the Antigua market. The volcano was a little bit of a let down, but it 
was still a great experience. We were expected red, hot flowing lava...but unfortunately the volcano exploded a few months ago so the top of the volcano was not too safe. We could only climb part way up, but the part we did see was pretty interesting. We walked across ash and rock that got really hot in some spots. You could see it smoking and if you put a stick inside, it caught on fire! It was crazy to see the effects of the explosion too- and here the stories about the people that escaped and the ones that died because they got too close.
The market was cool too. We had already been to a few markets, but this time we were looking for more things because we didn't have to backpack them around. We found an awesome painting of Antigua and we got the painter to fix the color of the flowers and we got our picture with him. It felt like we got our own custom painting. It also got a little chilly because of the rain, so I bought a cute poncho. We got them both for great deals, thanks to some bartering skills ;)Day 10: Thursday we went to the beach and learned the salsa. This was the day I was looking forward to for a long time. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was still a lot of fun. I pictured aqua blue water and white sand...and found gray, navy water and BLACK sand. haha- so it wasn't the picturesque paradise I was hoping for- but it was a beach... and I love all beaches. The waves were
HUGE and scary. It's funny because the beach is my favorite place in the whole world...but I'm a little scared of the ocean. I just feel like a shark or jellyfish will eat me, or the current will hold me under until I drown. Perhaps my mother brainwashed me because she was always a worrier. So I don't really know how to handle the ocean. Everyone else was body surfing, having a grand old time and I was frightened beyond belief. So the first wave came and I was right, I couldn't handle it. It took out my feet flipped me around and I crashed into the bottom of the ocean and snapped my neck. Ok, so not literally but that's what it felt like. I was pretty shaken up...and my entire body was filled with black sand- my ears, my nose, my belly button, my mouth, my swimsuit, yes everywhere. So I decided to just stay closer to the shore and 
try to rinse off. Funny thing is... it's September 24th as I write this post... and I STILL have black sand in my ears. haha It was definitely memorable day at the beach.We also drank milk from coconuts- it was awesome. And Chris almost accomplished one of his life goals-to get shot. He doesn't want it to be lethal obviously. Chris was walking through a palm tree farm and all the sudden we heard gun shots! We quickly realized this farmer did not want people on his land. Luckily, his aim wasn't too good or Chris would fulfill his life goal...and possibly be dead or in a Guatemalan hospital (an experience we were happy to avoid).
Later at night, we traveled around to visit people from Kyle's mission. They were really sweet and it was fun to meet them. They all gave us tons of food, I felt SO stuffed- but I had to eat it all. We also learned how to salsa from Kyle's friends Louise and his sister. They were REALLY good dancers...us, not so much. Then we tried to show off by doing our country dance moves and Chris dropped me on my head. haha- embarrassing. Anyways, it was fun to be truly immersed in their culture.Day 11: Friday we traveled home to America. While I was sad to be leaving Guatemala... I was also very happy to coming home!! We got a McFlurry for breakfast at McDonald's and then took a bus and then a taxi to the airport and ate some
tasty $5 subs in the airport. Subway was like an explosion of deliciousness in my mouth. I missed fresh vegetables and lunch meat and cheese and normal bread! It was the best. Then we had a layover in Cancun, Mexico where I finally found my white sand and aqua water. Too bad I could only see it from the plane. 
It was beautiful though, probably the most beautiful airplane view I've ever seen. The water swirled in aqua, green, blue...it made me want to vacation there next!
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