Honduras

Hello you all...
I'm here to post something about my trip to Honduras...

Well, I left Guatemala on wednesday 12th of april, 5am. Detail: I knew nobody there and I had no reservation for hotels. Ok, I arrived in La Ceiba 6pm, that is a city on the coast. In the bus I met 4 girls here from guate, and I decided going to their hotel. When I got there, there were no rooms, and I asked if I could sleep there on the floor (I took a sleeping bag). They said there were no problem. In this night we went out for dinner, at a place called La Palapa. Its a bar, near the beach. We ate and drank a lot. I paid a round of tequilas, to thank for letting me sleep with them. We got a little drunk this night. It was fun, but I was a little scared because I didn't know them and so on. No problems so far.

On the next morning, we woke up at 6, because 6h30 we had to catch a ferry boat to Utila, the island. We managed to get it only at 9h30, that was bad. We were very tired. On the way there, we saw dolphings escorting the boat for a little while. Amazing!!

When we arrived, I decided I had to look out for some place to stay. I heard the island was full, so I started picking up flyers to look for some place to stay. Well, I was talking to someone when I lost them. Ok, I started walking when someone approached me. It was a strange guy, with a strange spanish accent. His name is Freddie. He asked me if I would like to stay with him on a hotel room he would rent, which had 2 beds and so on. Well, I was a little afraid of that, but I agreed to see the hotel. We went there and it was ok, not very good but neither very bad. I rented a bike and left my backpack in the rentals and we went for a ride on the island. We went to a coral beach. Yeah, instead of sand there is only coral. Its a little dangerous, but precious. After that, we met a friend of Freddies with a scooter and we went to a cave there. Its fun, we found a guide and entered the cave with only 1 lantern, but inside there were a few candles we used. It was very beautiful too, with a lake inside. Its possible to dive in there, but we didn't have equipment. When we left the cave there were a wonderful natural pool. The water a little cold, but delicious. We swam a little and returned to the village. We had lunch, and decided to go to the beach. There I found my 'Hermanitas' again, the friends from the bus. We stood there a little and suddenly I heard some Olodum. I went to see it, and there were these strange guys playing olodum music in a bar. Very nice, I talked to them later, they were from El Salvador, and a brazilian guy taught them how to play. Well, later on we went to see the hotel. No luck. The bastard rented the room to someone else, and we met Nacho, an argentinian who lives in spain and is volunteer in guatemala, who had the same problem. We decided to go search for some place to stay. We found a very beautiful hotel where some americans let us sleep on the floor of the room. Fine with me. The shit was that Freddie has no sleeping and I opened mine so we 2 could sleep over it, but it was cold in the night due to a fan on the ceiling. Shitty night. Nacho slept with a family, on the floor too with his sleeping.
On the morning, we went for breakfast, rented some snorkels and masks, and found my hermanitas again, and another group of hondurians. We went to the Cayo (a small island) for snorkling for the whole day. Amazing! I saw many fishes, many corals. It was very good. On the night we ate a pizza and went to a bar for a couple of beers. I went home early, I was a little tired.
On the next morning, we went for a walk, Nacho, Freddie and me. We climbed the only hill on the island, from where you can see all the place. Wonderful. After that we walked all the way from the northern part of the beach, also coral beaches, and returned to the village. That took 4 hours walking.
Then I took the ferry and returned to la ceiba. I went out with the girls again, but I returned home 1am, they stood awake all night for our 5h30 bus. Crazy girls.
Then I returned to Guatemala, very tired.

That's it, very resumed.

Still miss my friends and family...

Coban

Hello all,
In the first weekend of april, we went to Coban, a city about 3h from Guatemala. We were in 12 AIESECers and 2 intruders, ehehehe (some canadians invited by the house owner...)

It was very nice, we could see a very different landscape, with many trees and a magnificent cold breeze in the night. Of course we were too busy drinking to pay attention to that during our sleep... =)

I also have some pictures to illustrate it. The firs one is when we visited Engenho de Trapiche, the first sweet cane farm in Guatemala. Everybody was shocked when I grabbed a machete and started cutting cane to eat. Here is the proof:



Well, we continued and visited Biotopo del Quetzal, a national park where you supposely could see a Quetzal, a national bird. We didn't see any, just walked around. It's nice too... Here is a picture in one of the waterfalls with some of the other AIESECers...



Finally in the sunday we went the the Cuevas del Rey Marcos, the caves of king Marcos. It's very nice, total darkness and a river inside the cave. In the picture, there is the guide, Elisabeth, me and Gaby.



That's it...

Still miss Brazil (guess that will never change much...)

3 Months

Hello all...
Today it completes 3 months of my traineeship... 25%... 1/4... A trimester, etc...

well, I guess it's time to make some conclusions:

- Traineeship by AIESEC is very good, no matter where you go. Look at my example, Guatemala is not what could be called the best place on earth to live, nor is on the hotlist of the most wanted countries, but it sure has it's qualities. It's very beautiful, and the people here are so nice, friendly.

- When going on a traineeship, be mentally prepared. I was prepared, but I could be more. The fact that I have never been away from my family for more than 1 month also helps the fact that I miss home, friends, family and girlfriend.

- Take each experience as it's unique, because it is. Try to take as much as you can from the country you are in. Don't stay home if you can. Go walk on the streets, talk to someone. Loneliness can be a very tough enemy. Trust me, I've been through that.

- Use Skipe (www.skype.com). Phone calls are very expensive. My nickname is blaia13, if anyone bothers to talk to me.

- At work, try to learn as much as you can. Older people always have something to teach you. I happen to work with distinct people: men, women, young, old, locals, foreigners. You can always get something from them.

- Do travel. I love travelling, and I suggest anyone to do the same. You get to know new places, new people, etc.

Well that's it.

No need to say, I miss Brasil, specially brasilians.