What started on the Red Jacket Trail out of
Mankato, MN 4 months ago has now reached a milestone. While the focus of our trip is on people, today we celebrate the mileage - 5,000 miles- as we cross another border.
Coming out of the tree tunnel as we wrap up Guatemala, we hit 5,000.
Our short jaunt through Guatemala was little more than a week. The Central American countries are coming at us fast. Each with something new to see and different challenges.
In Mexico people were interested in our trip, but it was usually one or two people at a time who approached us. At an early rest in Guatemala, Eric went to grab some food and returned to find Christie surrounded by a group of 30 people interested in what was going on.
The scenery in Guatemala has been beautiful. This is a most common site as we pedal through, houses, mostly dirt floor and thatched roofs, tucked into the mountain side. People busy washing clothes, working fields, cutting firewood, and carrying water.
A new country and new challenges in finding food. The grocery stores in the areas we´ve crossed are bare bones and fairly expensive. We now take additional time each day to search out a market, then bargain for the food we want. It´s required a quick learning curve.
Coming out of the jungle. To get to a camping location on Rio Dulce it was necessary to conquer the swinging bridge course. The two plank widths carried JoJo and BOB to the waters edge.....
And at the waters edge we found a group of sailing Minnesotans (who call Mankato and Rochester home!) coming from South Africa, to share in conversation and watch the Vikings game with.......
Instead of our routine dorm room, they treated us to a beautiful cabana over the water. The next morning, we loaded up JoJo and BOB in their dingy so we wouldn´t have to conquer the swinging bridge again. We had an amazing experience. Thank you!!
Our personal escorts to our hotel after asking them for directions.
The main market trade area for Western Guatemala, Chicamula. Busy, noisy place!
Guatemala has been more of a cultural challenge than we expected. A simple border crossing resulted in a different world where we needed to re-learn how to get food and find places to stay. While still speaking Spanish, many different words were used or spoken in a different manner. While we had some of our best cycling days of the trip, good temperature(85-90), scenery, our people interactions were not as rewarding. We have encountered more people begging for money as well as prices changing when it comes time to pay. The most challenging part of this trip will not be the cycling, but the internal conflicts we feel in how best to interact and "help" in a sustainable way. We pray for those here that God´s love is evident and they find peace in their day to day challenges.
Even though we fight with the internal struggles that are presented, we believe one of the purposes of this trip to to let the world impact us in beautiful, as well as, difficult ways. We hope the sound of the jingling cup will mold us in unexpected and positive ways.
Coming out of the tree tunnel as we wrap up Guatemala, we hit 5,000.
Our short jaunt through Guatemala was little more than a week. The Central American countries are coming at us fast. Each with something new to see and different challenges.
In Mexico people were interested in our trip, but it was usually one or two people at a time who approached us. At an early rest in Guatemala, Eric went to grab some food and returned to find Christie surrounded by a group of 30 people interested in what was going on.
The scenery in Guatemala has been beautiful. This is a most common site as we pedal through, houses, mostly dirt floor and thatched roofs, tucked into the mountain side. People busy washing clothes, working fields, cutting firewood, and carrying water.
A new country and new challenges in finding food. The grocery stores in the areas we´ve crossed are bare bones and fairly expensive. We now take additional time each day to search out a market, then bargain for the food we want. It´s required a quick learning curve.
Coming out of the jungle. To get to a camping location on Rio Dulce it was necessary to conquer the swinging bridge course. The two plank widths carried JoJo and BOB to the waters edge.....
And at the waters edge we found a group of sailing Minnesotans (who call Mankato and Rochester home!) coming from South Africa, to share in conversation and watch the Vikings game with.......
Instead of our routine dorm room, they treated us to a beautiful cabana over the water. The next morning, we loaded up JoJo and BOB in their dingy so we wouldn´t have to conquer the swinging bridge again. We had an amazing experience. Thank you!!
Our personal escorts to our hotel after asking them for directions.
The main market trade area for Western Guatemala, Chicamula. Busy, noisy place!
Guatemala has been more of a cultural challenge than we expected. A simple border crossing resulted in a different world where we needed to re-learn how to get food and find places to stay. While still speaking Spanish, many different words were used or spoken in a different manner. While we had some of our best cycling days of the trip, good temperature(85-90), scenery, our people interactions were not as rewarding. We have encountered more people begging for money as well as prices changing when it comes time to pay. The most challenging part of this trip will not be the cycling, but the internal conflicts we feel in how best to interact and "help" in a sustainable way. We pray for those here that God´s love is evident and they find peace in their day to day challenges. Even though we fight with the internal struggles that are presented, we believe one of the purposes of this trip to to let the world impact us in beautiful, as well as, difficult ways. We hope the sound of the jingling cup will mold us in unexpected and positive ways.
1 comment:
Oh, it looks like you're having so much fun! Guatemala is a beautiful country. I hope you have a fantastic time there. Take care, and Merry Christmas...and a Happy New Year! I hope that 2010 is a memorable year for you.
love, erin
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