La Muela

This afternoon the girls from the initial group that arrived with me two weeks ago went to take salsa lessons and everyone in the second group that just arrived this weekend had to meet with our in-country coordinator Jessica, so I was left to my own devices.  I decided to go on our school-sponsored trip to La Muela, a local hike just outside of Xela.

The group was pretty small: myself, two other students, our guide Kevin (who also teaches at Celas Maya), and two of his friends.  Sadly, there has been an increase in armed robberies on the outskirts of the city.  Since we were so few in number, we decided against walking and opted instead to take a camioneta (a converted school bus from the United States) to the base of the mountain.

I enjoyed the hike much more than I had expected.  It was really less of a walk and more of a rock scramble, much like Old Rag back in Virginia.  And you guys know how much I love Old Rag.

The vista lived up to the hype: we were able to see most of the valley and many of the surrounding mountain chains.  The crazy rock formations created by previous volcanic eruptions also let us get insanely close to the precipice.  We were pretty cavalier (hiyo!) with how close we came to the edges of the mountain, and I am truly glad that none of us fell to gruesome and untimely deaths.

To finish off the day, I video chatted with my parents when we got back from the hike.  I tried to talk to Titan, too, but he couldn't figure out that I was actually in the computer screen.  Bah, I miss you, you stupid dog.