Liis

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huh, today I realized that sometimes we don’t notice how much we mean to someone or how much they actually care about us. and the people, who we think that care about us, actually do not care that much. 

i guess we all have our doings and excuses for not doing something. and then you see there are people who are willing to put an effort to do things they promise and show their love and care. 

I’ve been quiet here for almost two years now. Gosh, life’s been a whirlwind. 

So, a quick throwback:

got a job in child protection services, offered a job as a youth services specialist 5 months later (same municipality), went to Paris with my best friends, one of my besties got pregnant!, had an awesome training in Croatia about youth policy, went to Guatemala with my mom (absolutely awesome trip!), met a great guy on this trip, another bestie got pregnant!, had a training in France about youth policy, went to the States (for a wedding and to meet up with that great guy I met in Guatemala), had our first youth exchange in the municipality I work in (it was a success!), moved to a new place,  that great guy moved to Estonia, went to Lithuania, went to Poland for a music festival, went to Italy with Anu (maybe more about that later) and yep, here I am now. 

And absolutely enjoying my life. To be honest, so many things are so uncertain at the moment, but I guess that’s what I need to learn right now - how to be patient and enjoy the moment regardless of what’s going on in my life. 

ma pole ootamises kunagi hea olnud. alati on mul miljon uut plaani valmis, mis teha selle originaali asemel, mida ma ootasin. ma nüüd ei teagi, kas see on mu pluss või miinus. palju ägedat on sellest välja tulnud, et ma ei suuda oodata. aga palju jama kah. nii et, ei oskagi kohe öelda. ja nüüd ma jälle ootan. kuid olen juba ligilähedal selle plaani muutmisele ka. miks? sest ma ei suuda oodata. sadatuhat mõtet kerib peas (jah, palju ülemõtlemist ka). ma kohe ei oska rahulikult istuda ja oodata. aga äkki jäängi ootama? siuke mõte tekib kohe. aga äkki ei jää? äkki ongi kohe mu oodatud asi käes, aga kuna ma ei suuda seda ära oodata, siis läheb see mul käest ära ka. no mis sa teed? 

Kirjutan selle postituse teadlikult eesti keeles, et mitte solvata asjaosalisi... :D (Ja südamest loodan, et google tõlget keegi kasutama ei hakka. Või siis, et google tõlge paneks pange!)

Eile hommikul istusime siis Anuga oma hosteli eesruumis pingil ja ootasime oma mehhiklasest tuttavat. Paar päeva tagasi oli ta ise pakkunud, et viib meid lennujaama. Kohtasime teda oma esimeses hostelis. Ülitore inimene. Iga päev veel kirjutas Anule ka, et tuleb võtab meid esmaspäeva hommikul peale ning viib meid ilusti lennujaama. Leppisime kokku kella poole üheks. Ta ütles, et hakakb kaheteist ajal töölt tulema. No kell oli juba siis üle kolmveerand ühe, kui ta polnud veel ikka vastanud, et kus maal tema on. Ahjaa, meie lend pidi kell 15.55 minema. Cancun - London. Soovitavalt võiks siis hiljemalt kaks tundi kohal olla, lennufirma veel ütles, et sellele lennule soovitab 3 tundi varem olla. Ja meie asusime Playa del Carmenis, umbes tunni aja kaugusel Cancuni lennujaamast.

Nii. Tema siis vastas 10 minutit enne ühte, et “vabandust, ma ikka veel tööl, jään natuke hiljaks”. Me Anuga hakkame naerma ja räägime omavahel, no kui kaua on natuke??? Et meil pole enam aegagi :D Tegime kiire otsuse, et üritame bussi peale saada. Kirjutasime talle, et meil pole aega oodata, et lidume bussi peale. 

Jõudsime bussijaama. Tädi ütles, et 10 minuti pärast läheb buss. Kell 13.10 siis. Muidugi kaardiga maksta ei saanud, pidin turboga veel pangaautomaadi leidma. Leidsin. Sain raha ka.Tädi oli seal üsna rahutu, et kuidas ma ikka ei loe enne, et kaardiga ei saa maksta, ja et mul sula pole. Aga saime piletid, tänasime ette-taha. Saime kenasti bussi peale. Olime päris õnnelikud juba, et oh, ilusti graafikus. Aga muidugi, enne peatusime esimeses terminalis ja siis teises ning lõpuks kolmandas - seal, kus meil oli vaja olla. 

Vaatasime kella. Kell oli 14.40. Naersime jälle ja lõime ruskasi kokku, et jess, ära tegime, et pardale mineku sulgemiseni on 55 minutit aega, et küll jõuame. 

Lennujaamas pidin prilli ikka ette panema, et midagigi sealt lugeda saaks, et kus meie check-in tehtud saaks. (Jah, tahtsime küll enne online check-in’i teha, aga Thomas Cook Airlines ei lase Cancuni lennujaamas online’i teha!) Aga leidsime õige koha, saime pagasi ära antud ja siis tuli järgmine monkey meile kaela. Nimelt olime Mehhikosse sisenenud maad mööda ning selle onu andmete kohaselt oleks meil ainult 7 päeva olnud, et riigist välja minna, et oleks ilma mingi paberimajanduseta saanud. Saatis meid migratsiooni. Aega hakkas juba vähemaks jääma. Pooljoostes lidusime migratsiooni putkasse. Ning voh opsti, tahtsid hoopis päris kenakese summa raha, sest me tulime maadpidi, aga ära läksime õhkupidi. No siis pidin jälle leidma automaadi, et sealt veel raha võtta. (Ja otseloomulikult kaks inglise härrat olid mul ees, kes ei saanud automaadist raha ning siis vandusid seal ja neil läks üldse kaua aega.) Aga sain ka selle raha kätte ning lõpuks templi õigesse kohta. 

Jooksime siis tagasi onu juurde, et oma pileteid saada. Hakkas juba kätte andma, kui tuli tal meelde, et oh, peaks ikka kontrollima, kas piletid lähevad õigetele inimestele. Uuris seal mitu minutit, siis juba hakkas tagasi andma kui teine onu tuli, et kas ikka on nemad. Uuris veel ja tegi märkmeid. Mina hakkasin juba kannatust kaotama. Aga saime ikka piletid kätte ning nüüd panime küll joostes turvaväravateni. 

Jõudsime sinna ning esimesena peab eksole piletit ja passi näitama. Seal onu ikka imestas, et oi Estonia! Püüdsin viisakas olla, aga samas, et mitte kauaks juttu rääkima. 

Ning järgmisena otseloomulikult püüdis see masin minu koti kinni, et tuleb ikka üle vaadata. Aga ega seal Mehhikos ju kiiret kuskile pole. Seisin järjekorras üle 10 minuti, et üldse mu kotti vaatama hakataks. Ja siiis uuuuris ja uuuris ja otsis ja otsis, aga midagi ei leidnud. Võisin koti kokku pakkida ja vurama panna jälle. 

Õnneks oli värav lähedal ning boarding oli täies hoos. Jõudsime. Ei jäänud maha. Aga ikkagi naersime ja nõustusime omavahel, kui on sellised asjad, kus sa kindlalt pead olema, ega sa ei saa maha jääda, siis usalda iseennast ja ainult iseenda jõude. Ning ära iial usalda mehhiklast :D

Ning, tere London!

As I see, I’ve only uploaded couple of pictures from Bacalar. But by this time we already have been to Tulum and Playa del Carmen as well. In a fact - we are in Playa at the moment. Not planning to go to Cancun (only to the airport). And to be honest - the closer we get to Cancun, the more touristic everything is. Bacalar was so nice and quiet and more like a real life. Tulum was already a little bit more touristic and Playa is actually pretty bad in that case :D Can’t imagine how Cancun is...

TULUM

Our second day we went to the beach. Yes, it’s freaking pretty. Yes, it looks like we have googled all the pictures. But yes, it’s actually that pretty. Only minus - loads of seaweed. Everywhere. Tried to swim and that freaking seaweed was in my mouth, ears, eyes, hair, even my pants and bra. Oh well, everything can’t be perfect, can it be?

Our faces because all of that seaweed :D

One day we rented bicycles. And if you know me well, you know that I do not like bicycling. At least not too much, not even close to how Anu loves it. But I love her, so I will do it :D We went to see the ruins by the beach, but the ticket to get in was quite pricey and since we just had seen Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala we decided to skip these ones. We still had a really nice bike ride. Even though, poor Anu always had to wait for me, because I am veeeeery slow on a bicycle... Sorry! :D Yeah, you do not want to go on a bicycle trip with me. I would rather run next to you.

Anu absolutely loving it.

And that cheesy sign picture (and that lovely truck back there).

And I have to mention we have noticed (specially in Tulum) that all the walls are so cool and nicely decorated. 

A wall in Tulum.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN

By the time we made it to Playa del Carmen, we didn’t really want to see the sun anymore. Yes, we are using sunblock. A strong one. But still, it’s really intense here. (Well, by today, it’s already nice again. I could see the sun :D)

So we spent the day just being on the roof in the hostel, in a shade of course, and we read our books. Went to the beach around 6 P.M. just for a swim. 

In the evening we were on the hostel’s roof again and every Thursday some people are playing Dominos there :D So we joined as well! And you know, people, Anu killed them all :D She was just so good at this. Also, after 12 A.M. they sang me birthday song. In three languages! My birthday came very well. 

Domino night!

The next day we changed the hostel, but we were back in the evening for my birthday party, on top of the roof again. We grilled the best burgers ever. Went to bed around 6 A.M. 

The next day we slept till 11 A.M. and went to the beach around 3 P.M. We got to see a wedding! 

Also, we wanted to have a nice dinner yesterday. So we were walking around the town and were thinking about Mexican food obviously, but then we saw Chinese food place and we were sold :D It was freaking good. 

So we have made our way up to Mexico now. Added some great pictures from past few days :)

I sometimes go through the pictures from the beginning. And oh man how much I actually miss Ireland! Such an amazing place. My dream is to go there again in few months with my sweet mama. I really want her to see the place I’m so in love with!

So few days ago we hiked Acatenango volcano. Finally! After 4 months being here. Since we work in a hostel and lot of people from here have done it and when they came back they all have been saying “ah, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done!” I was expecting it to be a little harder. I’m not gonna lie - it was challenging, but it was not the hardest thing I’ve ever done. (All of you who were with me in Norway last year - our hike was WAY harder.) For me the hardest part was probably 4 am the next morning when we started climbing all the way to the top. My body was in shock with first 5 minutes. But I made it to the top! And it was stunning!

Acatenango is 3976 m high and the last time it erupted in 1972.  If you walk around the peak then on a clear day you could see basically the whole Guatemala. Also from there you can see Volcano Fuego, which is active at the moment. It was absolutely gorgeous to see that! We were really lucky, because volcano put on a nice show for us that night!

If you are planning to hike the volcano, there’s few tips I would give:

take it easy the night before, it will be tough for your body :)

don’t forget to take warm clothes, gloves, hat - it will be cold, specially 5am on the way top of the volcano.

take at least 4 liters of water with you.

enjoy and don’t whine :)

Today me, Katie and Matt went to the Chocolate Museum. We learned so much of the history and also we got to make our own! It was delicious.  You can check out more about the workshop here. Definitely would recommend it to the travelers :)

So I’ve been thinking a lot about the people we have met lately. I’ve been so blessed with the people in my life. I think we really did a right decision not going home on March 8th. 

As many already know we have a third Estonian - Kadri - staying with us. She came only for two nights about 3 weeks ago. Then she stayed and stayed. She tried to leave - she went to El Salvador for few days. But of course she made her way back to lovely Antigua! We have had so much fun. I knew her face and name from back home, but we never hung out. Now we have had hilarious times while getting to know each other. She really is an awesome person, very positive and easygoing. And great news people! She is staying here! She will volunteer in another hostel in town - Tropicana. You can say Anu and I are pretty happy about that!

Also, I met this Guatemalan guy Sebastian, who actually is living in Alabama (in Jacksonville, Kristian! He lives in Jacksonville!). I met him while working in a bar and he came there with his friends. They invited me to the lake with them. So I went and had an crazy awesome time! His friends are so much fun! As well, I honestly have never met better guy than he is. He is such a nice guy! I guess living in a hostel, seeing all those travelers and hearing crazy stories I have forgot that there are those guys still around somewhere. 

Happy to have met you, Sebastian! Hopefully see you again soon!

Appikene kui imelik on mõelda, et algselt oleksime pidanud homme lennukile astuma ja sammud Euroopa poole seadma. Nagu Anu ka juba kirjutas... (Ja ma nüüd panin tähele, et ma alustasime blogipostitust täpselt samade sõnadega haha.)

Ma olen ka viimasel ajal päris palju mõelnud, et mis meid siin Guatemalas hoiab ning miks me otsustasime kauemaks jääda. Anu tõi päris palju punkte välja, mis on nii tõsi kui tõsi saab olla. Ja need asjad ajavad hullult naerma. 

Ma tooksin ka välja mõned asjad lisaks, mis ma olen tähelepannud:

Baaride, klubide, hostelite omanikud saavad kõik omavahel täiega hästi läbi.Kõik külastavad üksteise baare ning käivad erinevates kohtades lõunat söömas, austavad üksteise eri-õhtuid (ladies nights jne) jne. See teeb Antiguas töötamise hullult mõnusaks. 

Liiklus Kesk-Ameerikas on katastroofiline! Läksime eelmine nädal Anuga viisat pikendama Guatemala Citysse ning sinna läksime kohaliku bussiga (chicken bus). Naersime Anuga terve tee, samal ajal olime jube hirmul - käänuline tee, mille bussijuht läbis ikka 100 km/h kihutades, vapsjee ei kottinud, et kurv on ning äkki tuleb auto vastu :D

Gängi-elu on siin ikka tõsine teema. Kuigi mina pole kokkupuutunud mingite ohtlike olukordadega, siis ümberingi need asjad ikkagi toimuvad. Näiteks alles praegugi oli uudistes lugu, et Guatemala Citys lasti õhku üks chicken bus, sest bussijuht ei maksnud raha gängsteritele ära. Siin selline diil neil, et gängsterid nö kaitsevad busse/bussijuhte röövimiste eet ning bussijuhid peavad neile maksma. Ja kui ära ei maksa, siis noh, jama lugu! 

Me and the girls went to San Pedro for three days. Anu had to work on Sunday, so she joined us on Monday. I was so excited to get out of the town for few days. We stayed in Mr Mullets hostel. Good choice if in San Pedro, Guatemala! They have an awesome garden, where is the bar and also a pool table. 

Anyway, this morning we decided to go kayaking. We befriended one guy who stayed in our dorm and also one of the staff member came with us. Me and Anu were in the same kayak, Natalie and Josh in another and Pat was on a single one. We had  S O  much fun! Pat’s paddle broke in the middle of the lake. (Lake Atitlan is HUGE!) We offered him one of our own paddles but he refused and somehow he managed to find his way back. Us four stayed on the lake. At some point we decided it’s a good good good idea to jump into the lake :D Getting back on the kayak wasn’t even that bad to be honest. Also we decided it would be cool to try paddle boarding with the kayaks :D Obviously we fell a lot. On top of everything we thought it’s a good idea to stand on one kayak - all four of us. And the kayak started sinking.... :D Some people were sitting on the rocks on the shore and were looking at us like we were crazy. We were laughing so hard. Josh and Nat jumped off the kayak and our kayak was full of water. Also Anu’s shirt fell in and Natalie dived to get that back :D Morning well spent! 

Also met so many cool people at the lake. We were walking around yesterday and suddenly saw a guy whom I saw more than 2 months ago in Nicaragua. We were in the same hostel with his friend and we hung out for few days in Nicaragua. World is so small!

Good to get out of Antigua from time to time. We all know how much of a country girl I am, so being in the city (even if it’s a small one) for two months in a row is so difficult for me! So the past 2 weeks has been good - three days at the beach and three days at the lake. Already planning my next get-away.  

So last night we decided to go out. Natalie, Joe and Anu went earlier, because me and Axel had to work until 9:30 p.m. We met up with them in Las Vibras, then went to Lucky Rabbit to play one game of beer pong. Me and Axel did 1-1, he bragged how good he was, so I wanted to win. Well, I lost with 1 cup. I was so close. Oh well, it’s just a game :) After that we went back to Las Vibras. Well, we had a fun fun fun night. 

Coming home was even more fun. I didn’t want to walk so I saw a police car driving by and literally begged them :D : “Tres Monos por favor!!!” And jumped into the back of the truck :D Anu was with me as well. And they drove us home.