MOUNTAIN BIKING ON VOLCAN DE AGUA:
I didn’t go volunteering today. Instead I decided to go mountain biking. I figured it was a once in a life time deal that I could go biking on a volcano. The agency was known for more adventerous things that not every fat american could do, which I liked a lot. The owner had freak out and was scolding multiple employees in hearing distance from us. He didn’t even try to conceal it. And when he turned out to be wrong, he couldn’t admit it and just kept complaining. He was really nice to us, but not to his employees which I did NOT like. The employees were super friendly and nice and gave me advice for traveling.
We took the back of a truck to a village where we got out and entered the trail. The places we biked on were walking paths for the farmers between different property. It was really fascinating. We basically spent our time in the woods on on the farmside. The view was spectacular. The only problem was that I had to look down to make sure I was taking a good path and couldn’t always take in what was around me. I was unable to bike up most of the hills and had to walk. Of course I was sweating and out of breathe. I blame it once again on the altitude. The hills was super steap and we had to bike on the first gear if we wanted to make it and I was not used to such a loose gear. We mostly did mounatin coasting/breaking. I barely had to pedal, but my thighs still got a work out because half the time you had to be in a neutral position to absorb the rocks and that was standing evenly on the pedals. My hands also hurt from breakin so much. Another think I wasn’t used to was how easily the handle bars turned; the super hard seats that LITERALLY bruised my butt; and also the shock absorbers on the bike. Only the last feature was nice. Came in handy.
It had just rained the day before so they guy said lots of the good sand was washed away. Ha meant nothing to me but the fact that it always felt as if the bike was going to slip out from under me. The back wheel almost NEVER felt sturdy. I was so cautious going down the mountain. Once I got caught in a rut and I was going to fast so I kind of stepped off the pedals/stopped pedaling. That one hurt a bit. Another funny thing I did was I was losing control and there was a little stump of a tree and I missed it with my front wheel but caught it with the back. I expected to roll right over it but it was a strong stump and it stopped me in my track. I felt bad for running into a tree but it won the battle. I am surprised that that was the worst of it. It was really tough. I am seriously surprised I didn’t fall. I went super slow and the kid from my house Les bombed down the hill. I was cautious because I didn’t want to get cut up. If I had better pants I wouldn’t have cared but I had to wear shorts because I only had normal pants. Nothing that would be good for biking. My sweatpants would have been too loose and could have easily gotten caught in the gear.
We went biking at the base of Volcan de Agua. We were pretty high up in altitude but we were no where near the top. It is called volcan de agua because there used to be a lake in the top of the crater with a river that ran down the side all the way down. However when it erupted the lake disappeared. We saw the dried up rock bed where the water used to run. It was amazing to see. Also the day was perfectly clear so we could see Antigua really well.
On our way back we passed by el proyecto. We also passed by the church ruins where all of the Semana Santa statues are kept. There was a lady inside keeping guard. There was an iron fence surrounding it. We also made a stop at a bakery. Of course I got banana bread.
When I got back, I took my picture with cloudberry. The people never asked me to pay and I didn’t know if Les had already covered it. I asked him when I left and he said I wasn’t covered. I didn’t go back in because I didn’t want to support a mean boss. If he was a good person I would have paid. But we tipped the guide well so I don’t feel bad. The good person got my money J.
SPANISH CLASS:
Paty charged my battery at her house with her universal charger to see if it was my battery that was broken or the charger. I was thrilled to learn that it was just the charger because a charger only cost $5. Nothing else I remember because I didn’t write for a while. Oops.
HOME:
I was able to talk to Martha for a while on facebook J
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