American Girls, Girls, Girls

Slumber party-lets bring out the girls! There was not one guy staying at the hostel leaving 8 girls in one house and 1 in the back house. The one in the back house had an arrangement to watch the boys receiving free room and board. It was not a bad deal for someone young like her-23 and just graduated from school in Seattle. 
   
Let's see who else-there was one, chubby girl from Texas who liked to eat icing every night, a tall girl from Minnesota who I didn't bother getting to know, a quite girl volunteering at the local clinic, a loud girl from Argentina, a smart and super cool social worker from San Francisco, a doctor from Germany, an annoying chic from Philadelphia, and an art student from Chicago. 

It was quite an International wonderland and I managed to be friendly and entertaining to all the girls, but I just loved the SF girl and the Germany girl was cool.  We all clicked and we would stay up having our girl talks about life, school, boys, goals, travel, and everything under the sun. It's nice not being alone and having those girl moments, which I love and appreciate from time to time.  Most of the time I like having my space and being alone, but this time I came home to a house full of girls inquiring about my day. It was a bit of a therapy session time to time and fun laughs as well.  

Giving 120 percent effort at Brain Space and then spending time with kids after or visiting parents, I was hardly there to even worry about the size of my room. It was a nice opportunity to get to know some travelers and share knowledge about traveling to new places. .    

No "Room" for Negociation

When deciding on a place to stay in Roatan, I actually did something I almost never do... I booked ahead.

That's right I booked a hostel ahead of time because I knew the exact amount of time I would stay on the island minus people asking me to stay longer.  The hostel had excellent reviews and the location was perfect. 

Although, the thing with booking ahead is that you have little or no flexibility to move.
It seemed to be a permanent decision for me.  The owner was lovely-from New Mexico and married a local Honduran guy producing two beautiful boys.  She was amazingly cool, but very serious about prices and they were set a bit higher than they needed to be. 

When I arrived, the house looked more than a few years old. It was located at the top of the hill near on a dirt road with lots of rocks. It reminded me of a house in Mulholland drive in Los Angeles. There were three girls sitting in the front porch welcoming me inside and asking 20 questions.  There sat this little house with 4 "rooms" upstairs and 2 rooms downstairs, I had been assigned a little room on the top floor. Well, little is an understatement as it was the size of a prison cell. Keep in mind I am used to being spoiled as I make friends with owners and receive the big room at a low, discounted rate(Perk of strongly connecting with others and being nice).  

While I tried to ask about some other rooms, she offered my the large guesthouse back near the pool for $40 dollars a night.  It had a total of six different beds, a living room, kitchen area, and high ceilings. Being aware of my budget, I was thinking to myself,
 "Take a bigger room and just eat bananas or take a prison cell room for $15 and eat like a queen." 

It was clear that there was no room for negotiation with her (no room..haha), therefore I accepted the small room. The small room, which was above the common area where all the girls sit and talk.  That was the worst part about it's location. It was 2 weeks there and I had to use my decorating abilities to turn it into a home.  It seemed nice being next to mini library, but a girl was always sitting there and it felt tight with two people.   

You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes then you might find-you get what you need. Song

Let's Talk About Life

When it comes to my new found American friend, she stayed in the hostel a few years back and it was under different ownership, which usually can change everything.  It was not her fault for the lack of cleanliness. After all, it did have a beautiful rooftop with nice hammocks to escape to and stare at the stars.We had some good laughs about it and I had some good cries about taking a shower;)

When it came to meeting her, it was interesting how she was placed in my life at the beginning of my trip to set the tone.  She set the tone for confirmation. A confirmation that is okay to not live the socially constructed life rather to think and be beyond what you are supposed to do.  You can live and take any path you choose and the outcome of that path should be happiness and living off your gifts.  

While D did not hold any strong religious beliefs.  We seemed to have a good amount in common with our beliefs in life.  I discussed my belief with her in exploring your true self and finding your passion or calling and going with it. Even if this passion does not produce materialism, it does not mean you should abandon it or make yourself suffer with something you don't enjoy.  D was a Special Needs teacher for many years until she finally retired and decided to live in Guatemala. She bought a 3 bedroom house on Lake Atitlan for $250 a month-very possible when living abroad.

While she did work a full-time job until her retirement, her outlook was never the same as others. She believed in living simply and happily by making sure her basic needs of food, shelter, and basic needs were met. While her daughter was all of big real estate living and designers-she was more interested in saving up some extra money to visit a new place.  It truly is special when you meet people traveling who give you a sense of hope, determination, and content. What truly resonated with me was when she said, “It’s about how far you can afford to fall.” You can take risks in life, but you measure how fall you can afford to fall. You are not careless and reckless rather you know what you need and what you want.  You are not prioritizing superficial things over what is ultimately important. 

It is truly special when you meet these people traveling who give you an extra rev to your travel engine.  It was already ready to go, but they just made the sound of the engine a bit louder.  It's ready to race off into the travel world.  How far will it run til it runs out of gas? Do passionate travelers like D and myself ever run out of gas? Even if we're tired, we do have a reserve tank that we can rely on.  

We love traveling, but we also love living a life that does not rely on materialism rather it involves real communication and everyday learning from others in the pursuit of ultimate happiness. PRIS  

“For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness, but of power and love and discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 ASV 

2 Americans and One UK

Arriving and exiting the La Aurora, Airport in Guatemala was such a breeze.  The people were friendly and helpful-not pushy, I received my bag in 5 minutes, and I headed to the outside lobby to buy my bus ticket.  It was so nice having that peace when you first initially arrive. Many times, there are the taxis harassing you until you get into an actual car- no me gusta.  A friendly little women sold me a ten dollar ticket on the shuttle van to Antigua and off we went. The 2 Americans and the UK boy.

It was so nice with the three of us because we automatically connected and started talking about Guatemala and our travels.   The other American's name is D(confidentiality) and she is from San Francisco.  She has three kids and actually lives part time near Lake Atitlan(my destination).  Our other buddy was in his early 20s and he came to Guatemala to learn Spanish.  He did not seem to care about the time or money rather he was on a mission to go to a good school to learn Spanish.  He was well traveled as we chatted it up about Europe and Asia.  Bangkok being our food heaven and Europe being incredible and amazing, but too expensive for the budget friendly traveler. 

Amongst our discussion, we passed through Guatemala City, which did not seem very appealing.  There was a lot of industry, mechanical shops, run down buildings, and of course KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, and Pizza hut.  It irritates me when I see these establishments especially when Guatemala has fresh food, fish, vegetables. It even has Fried chicken and Fries as a typico(typical) food.

Anyways, the ride was splendid with my two new buddies.  It was so great for D and I that we decided, "Hey lets share a room." We were both heading to Lake Atitlan, but wanted to chill in Antigua for a night and take the shuttle in the morning. We decided to stay at a hostel in Antigua centre where we would share a room.

That is just an example of how traveling can work......

  Sometimes the unknown can lead you in a fun direction down an unexpected path....PRIS