Xela From Above

We had plans to adventure to beautiful Lake Atitlan this weekend with three of our 20 something teachers, however their lack of funds put an immediate end to this trip before it ever began. They decided not to inform us of their change of plans until 8am this morning 5 minutes before we were supposed to depart. As a result we remain stuck in Xela for the weekend. As we generally do though, we are making do with what we are given and decided to get away from the trash ridden streets and explore the adjacent mountains a little.

We commenced to hike up a discreet road at the end of town that eventually turned into a footpath with a couple of random homesteads along it. The woman who lived in one of the two homesteads was kind enough, but the same cannot be said for her dogs. For the first time we realized that it may have been a poor decision to pass on the rabies vaccine as John was almost ripped apart by a pack of these beasts. Unfortunately the only route of escape was through a gauntlet of a couple hundred deadly bees. This was not the end of the excitement as we were later ambushed by a pack of wild family dogs that live in a rather desolate cornfield.

This is a view of Xela from above, and for the first time it put into perspective how large of a city it is. The entire city is nestled quite nicely in a large valley and from the top of the mountain it was apparent how different the landscape is on the other side of the mountain range...

- Jesse