A match made in heaven

Nicole writes…

Please refer to my post last year for the first installment of this tale.

If you recall, there was a mysterious wall thumping that seemed to originate from the shared wall between Michele’s and my room. We never did report that we (despite thorough investigation) found no cause. We inspected behind furniture and the pictures hanging and found no secret hole where a little knocking gnome lives.

Cue night one of this trip, where in true viejita fashion I was asleep by 9. I woke from my sleep around 11 to the sound of vomiting, got up worried it was Luca, found him to be soundly sleeping, and returned to bed. I assumed I was dreaming.

Around 1am Michele asked me if I was ok because she heard me vomiting. It turns out she too thought the kids weren’t well and checked on them only to find them sleeping.

Nope, none of us vomited. Yes, all of our GI tracts are intact. It seems that the vomiting was just the unruly ghost that haunts our shared wall.

That same ghost also peruses the freezer on a regular basis and leaves it open. Perhaps it is a menopausal ghost with an affinity for the drink who occasionally needs a blast of cold air to cool her down.

We will continue our dedicated investigation and keep you all posted.

The mystery continues….

Are you married? No, divorced.

And your friend? No, she hasn’t found the right one.

And these are your children? My son, and her nieces.

But, Do you work? Yes.

A series of casual questions posed by our lancha capitan as we made small talk yesterday morning before leaving to San Juan. 

As the conversation progressed I was reminded that many women around the world, and moreso most women in this region, are not able to stop work, and travel across the world for two weeks, just because.

This, amongst many other things, makes me overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessings of;

Family who encouraged me to pursue a career that allows me to financially survive without a partner. 

Family who supported me through a divorce. 

Family, and a best friend, who support me in caring for and raising my son. 

The opportunity to introduce my son to another country and culture. 

A lifelong friend that encourages me to travel to and experience new places. 

That same friend who is a master planner and because of that planning, this trip with all of it’s intricacies, has gone so smoothly.

For the industry of the human race; the innovative ways that things can be done with such limited access to supplies and such difficult terrain will never cease to awe me.

This body, that even when I haven’t done the best job in it’s conditioning, continues to allow me to move around in this world.

For the family God sent me to, the people I am blessed to be surrounded by, my sons beautiful soul that God entrusted to my care, the free land in which I was born, and the opportunities I was afforded to get me to today.

But back to where it started; this gorgeous day, atop this magnificent volcanic lake. Experiencing all of it BECAUSE of these blessings.

Michele writes…..

In the dark of night along a lake in what many refer to as “a third world country” (though to me this country and the people are richer than most) I was privileged enough to engage in some really great conversations with the girls. Conversations that even without sharing the details (what’s shared at the lake stays with the lady of the lake) one can deduce that only moments matter. That sitting around a campfire with simple and complicated conversations matters more than anything else in this world to me. This place and this time gave me a chance to share and to hear things that, without this experience, I would have never known. Listening is easy when there’s no other distractions happening. Sharing is harder, but under the cover of night, a world away from reality, it’s easier to be a little freer. I will forever be grateful for this moment.

One of the stories I shared happened before Luca went up to bed. It was a story from my experience on Outward Bound in 1999. There were lots of layers to this story about Outward Bound, (including me almost dying both physically and emotionally). But the part that Luca was present for was about doing hard things and how there was a guy in my crew who showed up for me and helped me when I physically couldn’t carry my bag anymore (my 75 pound backpack). The funny part comes in when Nicole returns and shared Luca’s take away from the story. While putting Luca to sleep he said to Nicole…”Tia should have married Matthew…. the guy who carried her backpack.” So Matthew if you’re out there, I got some baggage you can carry lol 😆 jk.

Michele writes…… Tonight I blog from the hot tub overlooking the lake after an amazing massage.

My favorite thing I saw today: watching the lake wake up (more on this later), my favorite thing I ate today: Desayuno at Cafe Sabor Cruceno (an NGO… check it out https://www.amigosdesantacruz.org/restaurant/.  My favorite thing I did today, was old people yoga on my porch overlooking the volcano. And lastly my favorite thing I heard today….”I’ve learned more Spanish being here two days than I ever did in school.” This is what this trip is about. Being here,  being present,  forcing ourselves outside of our comfort zone, and being able to fully present to experience another culture.  It’s about effort and not perfection.  Though we all aspire to be great, there’s power in acknowledging the difference between finding our own unique greatness and the desire to feel and be perfect.

Watching the lake wake up….. is by far my favorite time of the day on the lake. If anyone knows me you know that I am far from a morning person… but here on the lake I crave the morning.  The lake is silent first thing in the morning in every sense of the word.  There are no waves, as it’s smooth as glass out there,  there’s no boats,  there’s no people,  just the sun breaking its way thru and the sound of birds all around you. It’s honestly surreal.  Then without warning the lake wakes up… and the waves start and the boats start traveling,  and people start walking the path to work,  and….. the lake wakes up. But for just a few moments right at day break… the world is still.  No movement,  no chaos,  nothing to be done,  but to sit in the stillness. This is peace. 

Michele writes ….The title of my blog translates to “sometimes it’s good to be old.” The minute my body felt the first crash from the boat beating down on top of the waves I knew… that my body was gonna feel this trip. 😩 However, it’s not all bad… being old, (that is not the free spinal compression I got from the pounding waves riding on the front of a boat to make Luca happy, and do I could hear him squeal with joy). The minute we arrived in Guatemala, the men quickly assisted Nicole and I with our bags…. down the launcha,  onto the boat, up the dock and stairs, etc. They just felt in their souls that we were the Elders and we needed tended to. I’ve never been so grateful to be the old ones 😆

Yesterday was a travel packed day, including a plane,  a van, and a boat (what can I say we like diversity). Sometimes, despite all the planning in the world, things will still manage to go array…. well, not yesterday. Thankfully, everything went smoothly with not a single hiccup in the plan. We arrived in Guatemala City by plane,  then we drove 2.5 hours to Panajachel and had lunch on Lago De Atitlan. After lunch we took a boat across the lake to our lovely Airbnb where we be till Sunday.  Our casita looks like a page out of a fairy tale. We settled in and spent the evening in the hot tub and having dinner on our porch. 

I got a romper. It has a droopy pouch where the crotch should be. It screams yoga retreat. I love it. I’ve always felt like a hippy and now that I look a bit less circus-tent-like in loose clothing, I’m going to dress like one as I’ve always desired. Yes, I’ll continue to bathe. Yes, I’ll shave. No, I won’t smell like patchouli. Real friends let friends wear drooping-crotch, diaper-like rompers and they don’t say a word. You hear that Michele? They don’t say a WORD 😂

Luca write….We woke up and then we took a Tuk Tuk to breakfast called Sabor Cruceno . After we walked back and got ready for the lake. We walked to the boat that took us to the lake. The weather was nice, we even saw some dogs on the way. I jumped off the 20 ft. Rock. I jumped off 3 times. The water was cold 🥶. We saw this cute dog. We were about to leave but it started raining so we got pretty wet. So we walked back to the boat. The boat ride was so crazy that it almost flew in the air. We got off the boat. We walked back to our house. Then we went in the hot tub. Then we played in the grass for a little bit. Then we played some card games. We also played some of my favorite music. We relaxed for a little and we are going to eat dinner soon and then after that we are going to light a fire in the fire pit. Then we are going to bed after a long fun day. And that’s the blog

Luca writes…

Rolly pollies are my favorite bug in Guatemala. That’s my blog.

Luca writes. First we got to the airport. Then we had to wait for like an hour to board. The plane took off and we got to Guatemala City. Then took a drive for 3 hours to get to Lago De Atitlan. We took a crazy boat ride. Where our butts flew in the air and it was crazy bumpy. Then we got to our house. It was nice and pretty. Me and my mommy went on the hot tub. I said to mommy “what a nice way to end a lot of traveling.” We had dinner and then a 15 minute walk to the different docks. Then w. e went to bed. That’s our blog