Laura Meehan: Best.Trip.Ever.

Best. Trip. Ever.

Guatemala, Day 7.

Lounging on a patio perched above the Caribbean Sea; a warm breeze rolls in as cold drinks are set on our table. From staying in a Monastery to Chichi’s busy markets, from ancient Mayan ruins to exotic toucans, monkey, tarantulas and new friends; this surely is a wild and unpredictable experience.

Currently, we are on our last day in the coastal town of Livingston, and it is so beautiful. Having spent the past week traveling all across Guatemala and experiencing the Mayan culture, it really is an entirely different world over here; Rasta colors painted on buildings, reggae music playing in the streets, and the evident presence of a different group of people-the Garifuna. In the early afternoon, we were lead through the town on a walking tour with a local man named Polo, and as he showed us the many interesting things in town, he also explained the culture and its fascinating history. Polo explained that as the Garifuna are very indigenous to the area of the Caribbean, they were also once native to Africa; long ago many Africans were brought over as slaves and later intermingled with the Guatemalan indigenous people, eventually creating a brand new type of culture that is now indigenous to the land. Seeing and getting to know some of the Garifuna people was a very eye-opening and interesting experience.

As we walked throughout the town, many of the children would follow us, and we would give them little candies and toys which seemed to light up their entire day. It was incredibly satisfying to please  such a unique culture, even if it was with such simple gestures. One particular moment that really stood out to myself and many of the others was when we gave a small group of children these simple dollar store toys that were essentially a paper propeller attached to a straw, and when the straw was spun, the propeller would turn, bringing the toy into flight. The children were so excited to play with them and were so engaged in what this simple toy had to offer to them.

In this moment, me and a few others became very emotional as we were confronted with the reality of our “glamorous” lifestyles contrasting to their basic, simple lifestyles. Seeing so many children be so thrilled to play with what in our society would be considered trash to most, was very eye opening, and it made us really reflect on how selfish we can all be without realizing how good we actually have it.

What was interesting about Polo, the man who toured us throughout the town, was his awareness and involvement in Livingston’s community. He explained how he was fortunate enough to have had a post secondary education, all because of The Grateful Dead’s lead singer Jerry Garcia, helped pay for his education.

 After a sweltering hot walking tour around Livingston, we then split up into groups for the day, and some of us sailed off to lunch and visited a local waterfall. For my meal I ordered fish and chips, and expected  to see traditional American-Canadian breaded fish and chips. However, to my surprise, I was brought something a bit different; an entirely cooked fish, eyes, tail and everything. As peculiar as it appeared, it was actually quite delicious and might have even been the best fish and chips I’ve ever eaten in my life! After lunch we hiked up through the rainforest alongside a small river, until we reached the top which had an 8m deep natural river pool and large cliffs that we were able to cliff jump off of. It was terrifying, but it was so fantastic!

After the hike, we headed back to the docks to hop back onto the boat and return to our hotel, but 5 of us decided we would walk back along the beach instead of boating back. This was probably one of my favorite moments on the trip, because we had the freedom to do as we pleased,  and we were fully immersed into the local culture. We talked to many locals in our broken Spanish, and even stopped for some beers on the beach as the sun set. 

Finally, what everyone has been talking about the whole trip..

*drumroll please*

All the wonderful friendships we’ve made and experiences we’ve had together over the past week, have been more than wonderful and amazing. Coming to Guatemala has to be one of the best experiences that I’ve had in my life; to be fully immersed into a new culture has been great and very eye opening. However this trip would never been the same if it weren’t for the truly amazing group of individuals who are all here together. Each and everyone of us have grown together, and discovered what we like to call “everybody’s hidden talents”. To be traveling around such a fascinating culture with such a fabulous group of people is so much more than a “fun reading break vacation get away”. It’s been a great learning experience and has created many new friendships that I hope will carry on afterwards. I couldn’t be more pleased with my time spent in Guatemala so far, and for the amazing friends I’ve made.

 So this is the end of my never ending blog entry! Exciting, isn’t it?! I hope this has been interesting enough for mi madre y my padre to read, and hopefully not too boring for mi novio Alex y my Hermana Natasha! I wish everyone back at home well, and we’re all secretely laughing at you guys and your rain/snow J

 Ps. I may not actually come home, ever.