I love the travel me. She is much more adventurous than the at-home me. As I mentioned in my last post, my inner wanderlust is no longer inner but everywhere, and in the spirit of traveling, I generally end up out of my comfort zone... this seems to be something quite addictive, because I want to find a way to bottle that feeling or to have that feeling all the time. So far, the only solution I have found is to continue to travel. I am generally on a 2 week post-travel high upon returning home and inevitably settle into my routine of life. I am not complaining! I love my routine of life in New York City! But, there is truly something incredible about traveling.. my inhibitions are lowered if not gone completely (and this does not require any alcohol consumption ;) )
my sense of adventure awakened, the blood pumping through my veins- palpable.. and so, I give this dramatic intro because this is just absolutely out of character for me to have HIKED a recently erupted VOLCANO!

The volcano erupted about 2 months ago and actually killed one reporter. I can't say that this made me feel afraid... I was much more worried about a) hiking, b) hiking a volcano and c)my right ankle that has still not fully healed from my accident 2 years ago (wow they were not kidding when they said feet heal slowly). We took a vote the night before to see who was interested in this optional activity. My first inclination was to say no, to be comfortable, and sit at the hotel warm in my bed, hanging out with the hotel poodle, and drinking hot chocolate. But, I am really glad I decided against chickening out.

Another reason this was so significant to me- I do NOT hike. And I don't hike because I don't enjoy it... I don't hike due to my injury, and honestly because I sort of don't understand hiking... walking on purpose? with a stick on uneven terrain just to go up and down???? Now, granted I am a photographer, and so ok, I get it. Hiking brings you to beautiful bird's eye views, or worm's eye views... or just beautiful views.

After the group vote, we were all in and for a mere $16 USD and 50 Quetzales entrance fee. The Quetzale exchange rate is about 8 to $1 so, I felt like a millionaire all through Guatemala :) So off we went, we met some dogs, we chatted with some kids trying to sell us walking sticks... we had our sugary goods ready to go.

I made it halfway up before I decided to use one of their "taxis", which was a lovely horse. I really like riding horses and honestly was attempting something extremely strenuous for my ankle's well-being (not just being lazy). It was a magnificent sight... from the destruction of the recent eruption, every single step we took was covered with volcanic ash and rock, but the air was as clear and clean as though it was the first day on Earth. Corn crops grow throughout the entire country it seems... everywhere we turned was something majestic to lay our eyes upon. Truly, Guatemala is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been to.

Once we got to the top, we had a time limit- because they were uncertain of the volcano's safety.. it smoked a bit for us, which I just thought was amazing, and luckily, no eruptions. Hike up Pacaya Volcano with us below :)


Boy and horse :)



I love clothes hanging on lines blowing in the wind



Beautiful dog who lives at the base of the volcano


Beautiful dog #2- I love what a specific personality each animal has, namely dogs



Damage from the eruption- but somehow looks intriguing and interesting to me


Agave plant !



Dog who hiked up the Volcano with us!

Corn growing in the distance!!!


NO COLOUR CORRECTION! I love how moody this is...


The view opposite where we hiked up to


DANGER!


I love this- trip member Jody left her backpack there and it sort of felt like an ad to me :)

Hello to my dedicated readers :) Thank you for sticking with me on this blog journey- I am hoping to continue to post regularly. I've found this happens more freely when I am traveling or have just returned from traveling- and so I must continually find successful methods of feeding my inner wanderlust which incidentally has become so large it is no longer inner but everywhere :)

Current conditions: Raining

Location: The middle of the summertime in New York City

Verdict: The rain is absolutely cleansing, healing, and welcome

Mood based on the above parameters: Insert huge smiley face here

I was born in Seattle, and lived there until I was about 9 or 10, so the rain offers me a bit of nostalgia, and the wonderfully overwhelming sense of reflection, renewal, and refreshment. In this pensive mood and relatively quiet Monday, I thought it would be great to continue along my Guatemalan journey.

After a few days in Antigua, we headed to a small town called Nebaj. (but not so small that it didn't make it into Lonely Planet's Guatemala book!!!) En route to Nebaj we happened to make a few stops- namely a beautiful hotel in Chichicastenango- which remains my fav city name in all of Guatemala... where we had a delectable fish lunch and muy rico FLAN! We were very fortunate to have excellent guides and our styles of traveling and eating met by everyone we were traveling with.

Back to Nebaj....which is 1900 meters above sea level and "the Southern gateway to the Ixil region and one of three towns composing the Ixil Triangle." http://www.nebaj.com/aboutnebaj.html It seems that the Ixil region and its inhabitants are not very well known by Guatemalans themselves! (people in Guatemala city, anyway). There was a 36 year long Civil War that recently ended and was again unbeknownst to a large part of the Guatemalan population. SalaamGarage worked for 2 years to get access to the Ixil region and people by partnering with the local NGO Agros International which is truly doing phenomenal things to change people's lives.

Nebaj is the happy medium between rural Ixil villages and modern creature comforts... I was thrilled to find our hotel had a dryer, and I cannot remember the last time I had more enjoyable family style meals every single day. I am trying to sort out how the rest of the world seems to have it right regarding food and consumption- and yet we have it wrong? I am referring to the fact that I had the best tasting, farm fresh, preservative free food on my entire trip... these are easier sources to find than their processed counterparts, but before I go on that tangent I will reign myself in. :)

I quickly fell into a routine of breakfast, lunch, and dinner around the same time- sitting down while eating, chatting, laughing and enjoying our journey. Most shocking of all is that I would be exhausted at the end of each day and fall asleep generally by 10 pm. I fought to keep my eyes open to write in my journal, but, apparently I truly benefit from some sort of order in my life. I always feel like I am being pigeonholed by a "normal" routine or schedule..but I am learning to embrace it and realise that often these things exist in my mind only. Ah, the thoughts of a NY transplant- they never end :)

I thought this post was going to be about the first village we visited, but apparently that will be the next chapter. Enjoy a small taste of Nebaj!




Political graffiti paved every mountain road( I LOVE graffiti!)



Our fabulous waiter, all 8 of us ordered the same lunch :)



Fish lunch!


Major flan high :)


Chocolate volcanic flan high continues !


One of my fav views of Nebaj


Radical green door


Food and market daily in Nebaj


View of street


The gang heading to the Textile store in the rain :) Sort of cinematic, hey?


A rather pushy woman in the Textile store- whew,practice your "no, gracias" before entering!


Another cool street view- market was packing up and going home


Shooooooes!


Hahaha I love advertising in other countries :)

Happy Sunday to everyone! The weekends are an interesting time for me in terms of technology- it seems to be a return to our pre-addiction to staring-at-a-screen days. These days are much quieter, perhaps even a bit lonelier? Very few people send emails or find the incessant need to post, comment, or live on facebook as they do during the week... does this mean that a large number of people still have desk jobs and are distracting themselves from work with facebook and other social media? I won't wax too philosophic on that thought because much more important things abound in my head and beg to be organised :)

I find this pattern of blogging after traveling a little bit odd- while I do need the time to digest and encourage the gestation period of processing each trip, I don't like the constant feeling of being behind and catching up. At any rate, this trip was unique and absolutely unlike any other trip I have taken, so that warrants a different approach.

My trip was with the journalism group SalaamGarage. Amanda Koster- founder and photojournalist has handed me my dream and given me the permission to live it! :) Somewhere in the back of my mind- or perhaps the forefront of my mind I knew that there was something more to be done in terms of a career... I was never one of those people who followed the clear and apparent path (I still don't!) I was never the ham of the family who grew up to be in show business, nor the kid who liked to take everything apart and put it back together again for fun and then became a scientist or an engineer... my world was always about observation, reflection, introspection, relationships, and communication. The obvious route for this was the arts- and while it was a bit of a bumpy road to arrive- here I am a self-claimed artist- a photographer.. now THAT'S something I've always done... I just always took pictures. I was observant by nature, interested in behaviour and communication, in light, colour, expression, and how things transpired in front of my eyes. I wanted to continue to explore these things via my camera. It was never a thought process or a decision, really, it was something ultimately natural. And because it was something natural, it prevented me from understanding the true essence of what being a photographer meant.

As I decided to pursue the direct route of photography officially in college- I found this stumbling block- business. Being a photographer means being self employed and being a business- something I wasn't aware of nor did I anticipate or enjoy... but in order to be a successful photographer, those skills are more essential than being able to understand lighting, colour, and composition. While this is paramount to the story that follows, I know it has all been said and done before- I just feel the need to speak about things in order because that's how my brain works (SOMETIMES)! :)

I've neglected to mention that all of this is to say that while I knew that photography was the only thing that I loved consistently, that I was good at... prior to understanding the business side of things, I had this powerful feeling right underneath the surface of myself. I am supposed to do something that matters. Ok, so does that mean I was supposed to sell all my belongings and do charity work? Non profit work? Save the environment by turning off the water when I brush my teeth, recycling as much as I can, and not use plastic bags? Not quite. Inside of me there was this nagging sense, that certain something always in the back of my head that I am meant to do something that MATTERS. Something that is important... but... what? And How?

I now have those answers- SalaamGarage is the something that matters- that causes change and shows the powerful medium that photography is. The next few posts will go more deeply into the work I did in the villages of Guatemala, but I will begin where we began in Antigua, Guatemala a stunning, colonial city with cobblestone streets from the 1500's, character-filled walls with peeling layers of paint and colours beckoning you to touch them and feel the history. Antigua was not hard to fall in love with- I am sharing just an excerpt of what I saw there- Antigua is best explored in person. I hope that this may encourage you to find yourself on these colourful, historic cobblestone streets.

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