I MILKED A COW (and went to a jungle)

 This weekend was probably the most legit adventure I've ever been on.  We went to a rural village in the middle of a jungle.  I don't think my writing style is going to be very interesting right now because I'm tired and I have so many bug bites on my feet that I'm about to lose my mind.  But I want to post anyway.  The community we stayed in is called Veracruz and one of our professor's friends, Matt, spends a lot of time there.  Matt married a Guatemala woman and lives outside of Antigua, and currently devotes his life to developing relationships with and helping the people of Veracruz become more economically involved outside of their community.  We went to see the village that he works with, and experience what real life of most Guatemalans is like--and it was incredible.  We sweated and hiked through the jungle all day Saturday and Sunday morning, with breaks now and then to see water wheels that provide energy for the community, hold baby goats and see interesting animals, empty corn cobs of their kernels to make tortillas, swim in a river or waterfall, and play soccer (futbol).  And by hike I mean push giant leaves out of the way and avoid giant holes while Pilar (Matt's daughter) hacked at branches with a machete and ants ate at our ankles.  It was the greatest thing ever.

We arrived Friday evening and went right out to see some of the community, but Guatemala had another torrential downpour and we were soaked in minutes.  I have no pictures of this exciting event because my camera was tied inside my shirt to try and keep it dry (I succeeded).  The road turned into a river and we sloshed through the mud despite the rain, though we put off our initial destination for the following day.  We stayed in a beautiful blue and yellow cement house (of which I somehow managed to not take any pictures) that had been turned into a "hotel" for visitors, mainly Spring Arbor students.  All of us were just stunned by the never-ending green that surrounded us.  Antigua is lovely, but its cement walls and cobblestone streets are starkly different from the lush jungle vegetation.  Several ladies from the community cooked us wonderful food for every meal, including fresh tilapia for Saturday lunch.  And by fresh I mean that morning we ventured to the neighboring community where we watched our fish being caught, sadly oblivious to their inevitable fate that was to take place in just a few short hours.  I pleasantly reminded everyone of this fact as we sat down for lunch--"These fish were alive two hours ago!"

Through the jungle-y trees you can see the village from which we retrieved our fish!

I kept thinking "This is how the disciples did it!  Except probs in the ocean from a boat and not the the jungles of Guatemala but still..."  It was really cool to see the guy fishing with a net.

The finished product!  Please crane your neck slightly to the right to see this picture at the proper angle.  Also, those are not french fries--they're fried green bananas!  The meal was delicious.  I ate every piece of meat I could find in the fish, and I tried to find the brain (because I take every opportunity I get to dissect a creature).  I cracked open the skull and found a small pink lumpy encephalon that might explain why fish are not very smart.

This incredible spider was hanging out at the fish farm.  Seriously, isn't that just the coolest spider you have ever seen?

On our way to get tilapia, we hiked through a forest of rubber trees!  They all had curved slits cut into the bark and a cup at the bottom to collect the sap, just like a maple tree.

The rubber forest

It looked like a coconut shell was used to catch the rubber sap, which wouldn't be surprising given the abundance of palm trees around.

We still had one more hike to get in before lunch and so we climbed Corn Mountain (I just named it that).  It was a steep hill, full of holes, uneven patches, and rows of corn--all planted by hand.  The Guatemalan farmers have to be in amazing shape and as nimble as a goat to be able to maneuver these fields and care for the corn.

Here's just one side of Corn Mountain, with some more jungle in the background.  Corn is so important to the Guatemalans that they have several different words for it.  Maíz is the most familiar word, but it actually just means the corn kernels, off the cob.  Elote is the corn while still on the cob, and milpa is the corn plant.

I love corn.  Since I'm missing fall in the US, I considered this my corn maze for the year (even though it was 30-40 degrees warmer and the corn was definitely short enough to see over).

This isn't in Guatemala, but it goes along with the corn theme.  I just really like corn, and when I saw this truck on the road four years ago I was very excited.

Saturday afternoon is when the real machete-hacking, ant-biting jungle fun began.  We trekked through the brush to see two springs where the waterwheel creates energy.

The jungle path.  This was an easy part.

Me and the wonderful sweet Sarah!

It is currently 11:57, waaay past my bedtime.  I could go on and on about the beautiful Veracruz, a place that may very well have hosted our best weekend in Guatemala.  This morning we went on another hike to a river deep in the jungle, swam in the water, and climbed a waterfall.  All of us wished we could stay for another week.  I'll leave you with a picture of my first time ordeñando una vaca:

Guys, I can't even tell you how happy I am that I got to milk a cow.  I grew up surrounded by a city on one side and farms on the other, and I have been dying to milk a cow my entire life.  AND IT HAPPENED.  In a Guatemalan jungle.  While I was going at it, Lydia asked me if I was excited or having fun or something and I could only laugh in response.  Pure joy :)  It still makes me happy to think about it.