Feliz fin de semana! I wrote this post yesterday but didn't get the chance to post it until today. So, when it says today it was actually yesterday and tomorrow is actually today. Confusing enough? Also, I think I've fixed the photos on my last post so that you can actually see them.
It is my fifth and final week here at ARCAS and like the turtles that hatch here, I am eager to move forward and explore other corners of the world.
Last night was my final patrol and although I only saw one nesting turtle, it was a great way to end my stay at ARCAS. The sand reflected the starry sky with a galaxy of phosphorescent algae. Fireflies and bats navigated the warm air as I reminisced the last month. I can't believe I've spent 3 hours a night, 6 days a week for 5 weeks patrolling the beach. I remember my first night of patrol, how terrified I was of the silhouetted men coming and going on the dark beach. Once I became more confident the next week, I approached a parlamero who had just found a turtle in hopes of purchasing the eggs. I asked, "¿Tienes huevos?". He looked at me like I was insane for a moment and then proceeded to sell me the eggs. A few days later, I realized the reason for his puzzled look. "¿Tienes huevos?" translates literally to "Do you have eggs?", but in Guatemala "huevos" is commonly used to refer to male reproductive organs. I had approached a stranger on a dark beach in the middle of the night and asked the equivalent of "Do you have balls?". My most hilarious Spanish mess up to date.
Today, the park hosted a Feria Ambiental (environmental fair) for the students of the neighboring villages. We planned environmentally themed games for the attendees and it was a huge hit but also a bit of a culture shock. I lead a fishing game in which the kids dangled a fishing line with a clothespin "hook" over a sheet. A volunteer then clipped either a drawing of either a fish, a turtle, or a piece of trash to the line. Each time someone caught a fish, they'd win a ticket for the prize raffle. The goal was to emphasize the amount of trash in the ocean and the importance of sustainable fishing for turtle conservation. While they claimed to understand the concept, I witnessed multiple kids waiting in line toss their snack wrappers onto the ground. When confronted they were quick to pick up the litter but there was a disappointing disconnect between what they were learning and how they reacted.
When it came time for us to do the raffle, the kids crowded around me and the 3 other volunteers who had the prizes. I felt like I was in a mosh pit as the hundred or so kids swarmed us like wasps to fruit. My hair was pulled, I was pinched, and a boy tried to climb me like a tree. Because the kids were so violent towards each other during the raffle, we had to cut it short. A mob of desperate kids swarmed us and tried to grab the remaining prizes from the box. All that was left were a few pencils and a washcloth, but their determination was fierce. It was hard to tell whether the kids were so ravenous for prizes out of actual desperation or if they just wanted to win something. We distracted the prize crazed kids with a piñata, which was promptly decapitated and gutted.
Besides the slight chaos of the raffle and the piñata, the Feria Ambiental was a huge success and I loved seeing the local families enjoying themselves at the park. I took lots of photos on my camera, but I don't have a way to upload them yet. Hang tight and I'll post a photo blog in a few weeks!
Tomorrow, I'm going kayaking in the mangroves and then I'll pack my backpack for another adventure. In the next 8 days I plan to visit the Mayan ruins of Yaxhá and Tikal, I'll cross the border into western Belize to go caving, then I'll make my way to eastern Guatemala to visit the limestone pools and rivers of Semuc Champay and a Quetzal reserve outside of Coban. I'll then head to Antigua where I'll spend 3 weeks volunteering on a coffee farm and taking intensive Spanish lessons. Life is sweet!
Thanks for reading, I hope you have a splendid weekend.
I'll definetly miss the mapache pups at Parque Hawaii!
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