Daze of Days

Did you know that you have muscles in your fingers, armpits, neck and wrists? Well I do NOW…. because they, and the 200 other muscles that I have successfully managed to ignore my twenty-five years are today SCREAMING at me;

“HA! We DO exist! It’s about time you gave us proper recognition! Use us! Abuse us! Let’s go Rock Climbing AGAIN!”

All I have to say is, “UNCLE!”

But the pain was well worth the gain. What an exhilarating experience! I have all new respect for those of you who make a profession of this sport.

“Just stick your wrist in that crack, twist it 90 degrees until it’s locked there and swing your right foot over to that 1/8th of an inch “ledge” to support your weight. Just center your gravity and push.”

And, for the record, this is not something I would have EVER done five years ago. But after a few years of regularly exercising the mental muscle and my motto, “C’mon, what would you do if you weren’t afraid….just do it..” — I’m gettin’ pretty good at this “pushing my limits” stuff. In any case, it took me to the top of the wall and farther even than the three other climbing novices that were in my group — two of which were men. Admittedly, the little tomgirl in me was jumping up and down in excitement at “beating the bigger boys”.

This week is my last working at the project. Ug. I’m dreading Friday. Saying goodbye is NOT my strength. I usually prefer to just slip out stealth-style. But with kids, it’s different — and now I have to be all grown-up about it. I repeat. Ug.

Saturday, I’ve signed up for a MONSTER hike up Volcan Acatenago. It’s peak is less than 1km from the erupting Volcan Fuego and I’m spending the night up there, so if a look down into the lava spewing Fuego isn’t worth the trek, the sunrise certainly will be. (For where else does the “sol” in solbeam come from?)

Monday morning I’m off to the Lake Atitlan…again. This time though, I’m making my way directly to the famous Pyramid Retreat Center, where I´m shutting myself up in a lake front hut and taking a vow of silence. I figure a week of reflection is the least that is due for such an intense year of learning and social consumption. And I’ll NEED a solid grasp on all my “inner peace” to get on the plane the next Monday.

So my vow of silence will probably be extending to the keyboard over the next two weeks. Please excuse my absence whilst I clean up my messes and kiss my goodbyes! (And when I return home, I’ll FINALLY have the chance to catch up on emails and the dozens of adventures I never had time “on the road” to document.)