J'y arrive... j'y arrive...

Mercredi, 20 janvier

Je désherbe encore les citronniers avec la fauchette, mais avec de plus en plus de facilité. À la fin de la journée, nous avons presque finit les 900 citronniers. Je fais un peu d'esploration dans le fond du terrain, et découvre une jungle. En tout cas, c'est la chose la plus proche d'une que jungle que j'ai pu voir dans ma vie. En fait, les campesinos nomments cette forêt "Montagna". C'est une "selva" mais pas une "jungla". Bref, une forêt subtropical ou humide Veracruz-Peten selon ce que j'ai pu trouver. il y a de gros rochers dispersés aléatoirement mais formant une sorte de regroupement linéaire. La pierre est coupante et forme des grottes et crevasses immenses. La végétation pousse tout autour des roches et semble même soulever certaines roches. J'entends plusieurs oiseaux chanter, produisant ainsi une bande sonore à l'ambiance tropicale. Plusieurs petits sentiers semblent partir dans diverses directions. Ce sont les sentiers que les guatémaltèques qui vont couper le bois prennent. La journée finit plus tôt aujourd'hui parce que le pick-up est au garage. Le soir, j'ai le temps de terminer mon livre de liecture mais je prends plus de temps qu'à l'habitude pour m'endormir. Je pense que d'Avoir mangé un sandwich avant de me coucher ne fut pas une si bonne idée que ça.

Thursday the 21st of January

It is very hot and humid today and I now have the task of adding compost to each lemon tree, the same trees around which I took out all the weeds. The field contains 900 trees and there are more fields to come...

After lunch, I have officialy started The Adventures of Max the Adventurer! Armed with only my courage and my camera and maybe a bit of imagination, I enter the tropical jungle at the far end of the farm. Following the little paths left by local woodcutters, I proceed deeper and deeper into the forest. I hear tropical birds and am constantly attacked by dengue infested mosquitoes. (No worries, my immune system is as strong as my imagination is big.) I then discover hidden areas where the wood was cut. now have a picture to associate with the chainsaw sounds that came out of he forest all the time. After a short but very interestin walk, I realise I have only 15 minutes left in my lunch time so I decide to go back to the others.

However, as would be expected from an adventurer in a strange land, I got lost. Not only is there many small paths, but the paths and natural spaces in the forest are very similar and seem to switch places all the time. When I realise the path I was following is no longer a path, I decide to keep going in the direction I think is the way out. I think to myself, that even without my intuitions, I have a 25% chance of getting out in the right direction. I try not to think of the other 75% chances. I sure hope my intuition is good. The more I walk, the more I am getting worried about my situation. I see flashes of newspaper articles detailing the disapearance of a Canadian volunteer in the forest, found after several days of searching. I also remember the jungle survival videos I had watched, not the useful things, just that it is really easy to get disoriented and to panic when lost in a jungle. It is true that everywhere I look, everything seems the same and yet nothing is the same. With this idea in mind, I keep walking in the same diestion, jumpinmg over rocks and getting stabbed by dangerously spiked branches wondering if I would even be able to find my way back to the path.

Luckily, I find the way back to a section of the path I took to get lost in the first place. I am pretty releived to have found the original path and my way back. Hopefully, The Adventures of Max the Adventurer will always have happy endings like this one, and maybe be less stressful.

Having lost a bit of time trying to find my way back, I realise I am 5 minutes late. I run back to the others and find something towork on. No one seems to have noticed I was late. I am back to the lemon trees, and it is very hot. Hard work, but it is so relaxing after my adventures.

At night, the others decide to have a disco party, which seems to be the only kinf of music they want in a party. (I have later found out that my old rock music would also be enjoyed by the group) Lots of dancing and laughing and the party ends at the late hour of 10.

Viernes el 22 de enero

El viernes, fue a la capital. Tomé el autobus a las siete de la manana entonces, me despaché mucho en la manana. En el traje, hacia muchas paradas. En uno, un parco aquatico, compré dos tamilitos que fuen muy ricos. En el autobus, Jean-Yves vino buscarnos. A la casa, comimos muy buen y me mostraron mi habitación. Leí el periodico y hablé con Carlos un poco. Despues, hizo una grande reunion para hablar de los obras y de las visitas a venir. Despues de ir al internet, fue a comer la cena. Y despuesm no tenía nada a hacer, hablé un poco y me acosté.

Samedi le 23 janvier

je me suis levé plus tard samedi, c'est à dire à 6h45! On dort définitivement mieux ici. Il n'y a pas de poules ou de chiens. Par contre, il semblerait que dans le dortoir principal, il est difficile d'être tranquille etant donné la quantité de personnes. Heureusement, on m'avait placé dans une chambre à quatre, sans éviter la jalousie des femmes de la chambre voisine. J'ai ensuite pris une douche, avec de l'eau chaude! Quel luxe! Il faut dire que avec les chaleurs qui sont venues plus tard, la douche tière ou froide de Rio Dulce ne fut pas désagréable. Après, je suis allé déjeuner. La disponibilité de quantités et variétés incroyables de nourriture me pousse à prendre trois déjeuners: des fruits, des oeufs, de la tourtière, une omelette, du café, et du jus d'orange. La vie, pour ce qui est de la nourritue, est beaucoup plus facile à la casa à la capitale! Je me suis ensuite préparé à partir et nous sommes partis pour le tour de ville de 10h. Nous étions tellement à faire la visite que en plus de l'autobus scolaire, nous avons du prendre le minibus. Je me suis donc embarqué dans le minibus, perdant ainsi quelques explications de Carlos mais ayant plus de chances de parler avec les autres dans le minibus, le nombre de personnes étant beaucoup plus réduit. Nous avons par la suite, visité l'Avenue de la Réforme avec ses monuments dédiés à divers pays dont un inukshuk représentant le Canada. Nous avons ensuite essayé d'aller voir un quartier riche où se situent plusieures ambassades mais ce quartiers est contrôlé et puisque nous n'avions pas de documents touristiques officiels, les gardiens nous ont dit que nous ne pouvions pas y accéder. Même les photos semblaient être interdites pour nous, alors que les riches qui faisaient leur jogging du matin nous regardaient avec curiosité. Par la suite, nous avons visité une église baroque ainsi qu'une autre beaucoup plus moderne. Nous avons vu les bâtiments gouvernementaux et fcait un petit tour dans d'autres recoins de la ville en autobus. à ma grande stupéfaction, Carlos décide de nous emmener au McDonald pour dîner. Et cela sans aucunes plaintes du groupe. Je n'ai donc pas eu trop le choix, même après avoir tenté de trouver une alternative dans le coin, j'ai suivi le groupe. Nous sommes ensuite allé voir une carte topographique en relief, complétée en 1905! J'ai discuté un peu avec le gardien de la place et il était si heureux que je sois venu lui parler que cela m'a donné envie de parler plus souvent aux gens d'ici.

Nous avons ensuite eu un certain temps au centre de la ville pour visiter par nous même. Au retour à la casa, j'avais encore rien à faire. J'ai perdu un peu de temps sur internet, puis j'ai soupé, et enfin je me suis couché.

Sunday, the 24th of January

After a quick shower and breakfast, we left at 7h30 for the Pacaya volcano visit. It is the same deal as for the city visit: big group, two buses. I spoke a bit on the way with Denis. It is very interesting to talk to all these people with so much experience behind them. I definately have a lot to do before retiring. The bus went out of the city and up into the mountains. When we got to the parking space, we saw the famous children renting our walking sticks as well as the men selling horse rides for most fo the way up to the volcano. It was a very nice day and I very much enjoyed hiking in the moutains with such beautiful views. The group, being too slow for me, I decided to go ahead and speed up a bit. It was nice to walk alone in the naturem a bit of rest from all the socialising from before. When I got to the area where there was lava, the hike became much harder. First, there was a long way to go on volvanic sand, and then it was up a steep hill of sharp and unstead volcanic rocks. I even found it a bit dangerous, and without the knowledge that many people have gone this way and came back, I probablu would not have gone any further. At the top, or the farthest people went because ti was not the actual cone of the volcano, I met a couple of Americans who were nice enough to let me follow them and their guide. Walking around in dangerous rocks and lava left me a bit uncomfortable and following a guide reassured me enough to be able to get closer to the lava. It was extremely hot at this point, and I found myself constantly moving my hands around as if it were possible to get them away from the heat. I also checked my shoe soles a few times, just to make sure they were not melted, like the few ones I saw abandonned on the rocks. It turns out they had not melted, but the sharp rocks had left little the the original cleanliness my leather shoes once had. I finally got to see the lava for the first time in my life! It is quite spectacular when we realise the temperature necessary to melt rocks. As I came back down, I met my group right where the dangerous section started. Suprised that they would decide to climb that far, i waited until they passed me to follow them after. Something very unlucky then happened. We are often able to picture terrible accidents because of all the movies we watch but its never the same when we see the real thing. There was an avalanche of rocks and a huge rock came tumbling down right through the group trying to get up. Seeing people trying to get out of the way and eventually one of them getting nearly crushed is not a pleasant sight. The group did not keep going after that. Slowly, we brought the woman who had her wrist fractured and several deep cuts among other things down the small hill to a safer area. Others too, had many cuts and bruises, but nothing as serious. I felt lucky in two ways, I had had the chance to go up and see the top before, and also nothing bad had happened to me. But I also felt bad for the othersm those injured and who didn't get the chance to see the lava. We returned to the bus, as the ambulance left for the hospital. Back at the casa, I realised that my face was burnt. I am not sure if it was from the sun or from the heat of the lava...