Another Day Full of Surprises

     Wednesday night part of our group headed to La Parranda for Salsa dancing. We enjoyed seeing the night life in Guatemala but little did we know the floor was going to be packed with sweaty Gringos, of which Stuart was the sweatiest. The Guatemalan teachers sure knew how to move, and at one point they busted into a breakdancing dance-off. We can't wait to come home and teach you our Salsa knowledge!
     Our time in Guatemala has been marked by a number of learning experiences ranging from how to make a column to the history of the recent Civil War here in Guatemala to the engineering involved in getting water to indigenous communities. Additionally we have learned an intangible lesson of flexibility.
     Today was a day we had been looking forward to because we had plans to go to the hot springs. The hot springs are located about 45 minutes outside of the city Xela where we are now, so our bus was to pick us up at 9 am. Loading the bus at 9 am, we thought we were headed straight for the hot springs, but little did we know we first had to make two stops.
     First stop - Bus parks on the side of the road and we are motioned to follow our professors. Completely clueless, we walk through an unmarked door into rent ma courtyard where we met Victor Racanjof, a current mayoral canidate. He is a mayan representing the people's party. This was just one surprise.
     Second stop - We arrive in a park where once again our bus parks, we gather our backpacks, and we exit the bus. Assuming this park is where the hot springs are, we quickly find out we are wrong. Instead this is a beautiful overlook to see the city of  Xela. We are once again blown away by the beauty of this country. Alongside this view is a playground, but it is not your typical playground. There was a 45 foot slide where we college students joined a bunch of 5-10 year old Guatemalan children. A few of us even got air! It was a blast! I am pretty sure the Guatemalans had just as much fun laughing at us as we had laughing at each other.

View of Xela

Wheeeee!

     Around 12 o'clock we reached our final destination - Las Afueras Georginas (the hot springs). Only a couple of us were able to brave a step into the hottest pool, but we all enjoyed relaxing in the second hottest pool as the clouds rolled in and a few raindrops cooled and pelted us.


Boys in the hot springs


     We had a most enjoyable day, surprise and all!

-Margaret