a weekend of firsts

This past weekend brought many new experiences my way.

Friday, our group made our way to a Cuban restaurant for some delicious food and live music. I enjoyed some sort of pork dish which was both filling and tasty- a winning combination.

My first, and probably only, encounter with Cuba (darn that American citizenship) and my first restaurant experience with embroidered napkins folded origami-style and waiters in tux shirts and bow ties.

Saturday we climbed one of our local volcanoes. It wasn't super strenuous and it was probably only about 45 min. up including a couple breaks. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do the final leg up to the crater because it was too active, but we did get to do a little exploring on the hardened lava crust produced in April.


This is on the first half up. It was pretty forested for the very first part and then broke into this grassy area.


Just past the grassy area was an expanse of lava rock like this at the base of the cone. There was also some flowing lava which was so incredible to see and hear, but our guide was a little wary of us getting too close.

My first sighting of a river of lava and my first volcano climb.


Saturday also brought a first of a completely different kind. Let me set the stage... Rachel, Melody and I were lounging on the hammock, recovering from our morning adventure when Rachel decided to show off her amazing grass whistling talents. I obviously became pretty jealous of her abilities pretty quickly so she kindly decided to share her secrets. While I was concentrating on perfecting my own whistle, I felt a little tickle on my knee. Logically, I scratched it and continued what I was doing. A few moments later, I felt it again and so I pulled up my pant leg but saw nothing unusual. After the third time, I was convinced there was something crawling up my pants. I completely stopped what I was doing, pulled up the pant leg again, and sure enough- this little bugger was sitting there looking at me...


He may not look like much, but check out the antennae on this bad boy! I'm ashamed to say that my discovery of his visit produced quite a girly freak out, including the appropriate accompanying scream. At least it was entertaining.

My first attempt, and near success, at whistling through a piece of grass, as well as my first encounter with a nasty little critter crawling up my pants.


Sunday actually began with a last. Because our group is going on a trip for half of our last two weeks here, that was our last Sunday at church in Antigua. It was a sad realization, not only because I've really grown to love it there, but also because it was a bit of a wake-up call that my six months in Guatemala isn't quite six months anymore.
My new experience came in the evening during our Sunday night worship session. I'm not quite sure exactly how it came about, but while I was washing dishes just before it was time to start, I got permission to play the drums for one of the songs. It was a lot of fun for me, although probably not so much for the other people trying to play. I had the awful realization that I really don't have any ability to keep a steady beat. This is a little scary considering how many years I spent in band.

That's Juan Carlos in the background trying to keep me in time. Thankfully for everyone, he took over after that song.

My first time on the drum set... for good reason.


Although not officially a part of the weekend, I had another first Monday night. Earlier in the weekend, Rachel had asked me if I would be interested in joining her for a short salsa lesson on Monday evening. Not even thinking about it I said, "Sure, that would be fun." I didn't really think about it again until Sunday as we approached the studio. All of a sudden I realized I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had never been in a dance studio before and never really had a desire to. Just in case any of you are confused, I can't dance. I'm serious. I really can't dance. Thankfully, most of the others there were in the same boat I was and the instructors taught from the very begining and moved very slowly. It ended up being a lot of fun and I didn't even make too much of a fool of myself. Surprise, surprise.

My first appearance in a dance studio and successfully completing 8 consecutive measures of salsa (including a turn).