DREAMS…

Over a month ago…

“Paulo boludo,” called Carlos, as I was leaving the Finca Tatin on a launch boat “do you want me to build a massage room for you?”

Surprised by such offer, I shrugged and waved him a hesitant adieu.

Don’t take me wrong. I enjoyed my time at the Finca Tatin. A lot. I met some amazing people. Amazing. I build some cool friendships. Moreover, I learned valuable lessons about launch boats, power generators and solar panels, house building and how to recycle a hell lot of stuff. I read many books and wrote many wee stories on my blog. This place was very inspirational and educational in every single imaginable way.

However, when I left this paradisiacal place, I wasn’t sure to come back. Maybe I’d resume my travels down the Latin continent. Maybe I’d settle down in Guatemala City for a while. Maybe I’d return to Europe. So many maybes. All those thoughts and doubts crossed my mind.

Then the massage course in L.A. (Lake Atitlan) happened. I knew that I was gonna like it but what I didn’t expect was to love it and be really good at it. My teacher told me to get a massage table ASAP and start giving back rubs right left and center.

Present time…

With the help of Maria and Ana, my Guatemalan friends, I bought a cool massage table, oil and sheets.

Been feeding my newly infatuation with lots of cool videos with techniques, tips and procedures from a fantastic massage therapist, MassageNerd.

And, unsurprisingly, I’m back at the Finca Tatin.

I’m glad to be back to something close to my heart, something familiar.

“The strongest instinct in human beings is not survival. Virginia Satir said something to me that has resonated with me for forty years. She asked, "What do you think is the strongest instinct?" Like a robot I responded, "Survival." She said, "No, Richard. The strongest instinct in human beings is the need to look at the familiar.” - wrote the NLP co-creator Richard Bandler in one of his books. I couldn’t agree more.

Also, the massage room is undergoing construction and should be finished soon. In the interim time, I’ve been massaging in some of the oddest places at the Finca:

• At the main wooden dock,
• in the heart of the jungle, next to a water spring (a fantastic and very relaxing spot. The sound of running water is ever sooooo soothing.),
• and, on top of a floating platform in the middle of the river.

     

So, I’ve been performing massages for a while now. I still love it and see myself doing it for a very long time. Isn’t it funny how, if your dream is meant to be, you will always meet people that will help you find your way?

What is your dream?

Ciao 4 now

~ Paulo ~

CASCADITAS…

Me encanta descubrir los sitios más insólitos en donde he vivido. Esos sitios  conocidos apenas por unos o completamente olvidados por la gente. Donde habita el olvido, como cantaría Joaquín Sabina.

En Barcelona, conocía una placita oculta llamada Plaza San Felipe Neri donde los soldados solían fusilar a los guerrilleros durante la sangrienta guerra civil española. Aun se puede ver las abolladuras y huecos en la fachada de una iglesia barroca, el resultado del impacto de tantos disparos. Es un sitio que además de tocar el corazón de uno, también sirve de recuerdo para que jamás olvidemos las atrocidades cometidas durante los conflictos armados.

Ya en Londres, hay una cueva con olor a húmedo y viejo con banquitos y barriles que hacen la vez de mesa. Decenas de velas blancas esparcidas por las paredes y mesas substituyen la electricidad y dan a la cueva un poco de ambiente. Los dos empleados sirven más de 100 vinos directamente del barril y para acompañar, unos quesos buenísimos. El sitio ideal para esos encuentros clandestinos y románticos de media tarde. Afuera, las aglomeraciones de ingleses y turistas bajan y suben la calle ignorando por completo un pequeño letrero anunciando el sitio “Gordon’s Wine Bar”.

Asimismo, cerquita de Ámsterdam, Holanda, hay un lago tranquilo con playa y dunas de arena blanquísima, donde casi nunca hay nadie. A menos de 300 metros esta la carretera principal frecuentada por miles de coches de camino a la playa de zandvoort que llega a abarrotarse de gente que casi no hay sitio para que uno ponga su toalla. De veras, ¿donde preferís estar?

En Guatemala, existen miles de sitios desconocidos (o olvidados) incluso por los chapines. Sigo en la Finca Tatin, Livingston y hoy día, después de la comida, decidimos asomarnos al Rio Lámpara con la esperanza de encontrar un manantial y una cascada, que según los que la habían visitado, era pequeña pero divina.

El Rio Lámpara es un brazo del Rio Dulce,  y igual que su hermano mayor, cuenta con varias familias indígenas como inquilinos y varios cayucos cruzando sus aguas. A una primera vista los dos ríos parecen iguales, no obstante no lo son. Mientras que en Rio Dulce hay un montón de lanchas, yates y cayucos pa arriba y pa abajo, el Lámpara nos dio la bienvenida con sus aguas limpias e inmóviles. Subiendo su caudal, mirando a los lados, nos deparamos con márgenes vacías y verdes y fue imposible no llenarnos de una sensación de paz y tranquilidad.

Llegamos a una zona donde el barco, debido a la poca profundidad, no podía avanzar más y nos bajamos de la lancha y empezamos la caminata hacia la cascada.

Veinte minutos después llegamos a nuestro destino. Una cascada chica pero muy hermosa.

 

Éramos los únicos visitantes, así que inmediatamente nos quitamos la ropa y nos tiramos a las aguas cristalinas.

Este sitio esta como olvidado pues sé muy bien que no vienen tours organizados ni está en las guías turísticas, así que empezaré a traerle visitas, no obstante tengo que asegurarme de no contaminarlo con mucha gente (¿Os diste cuenta de lo que pasó con el Lago Atitlan?)

Asi que “Shhhhh …¿podéis guardar un secreto?...”

Ciao 4 now

~ Paulo ~

…SOMETHING REAL…

What do you do when your hard drive fails? You go mental, right?

I haven’t updated this space in a long time mainly due to not having a working hard drive. One day it started shooting out “I/O access” errors then, next thing I know it would blatantly refuse to boot up.

Finally, after a couple of weeks of scratching my head, I managed to repair it. Thus, my system is working again but all data was lost.

I had many unfinished blog posts - they just needed some last minute editing and bits of TLC - but they’re gone now. If I were somewhere else, I would have lots of spare time to redo them. Not here, not now. I’ll see if I can fill that gap somehow.

…

A few weeks ago, I wrote an entry labeled “Where is the real Caribbean?” Click here to revisit it.

http://pauloishere.blogspot.com/2009/10/caribbean.html

Daniela, a cool Italian girl emailed me recently informing me that she has found the “Real Caribbean” down in Nicaragua and although a) it is far away, b) difficult to get to (by plane only) and c) it rains a lot, Corn Islands are everyone’s dream place.

Stubborn as I am, I maintain what I stated previously – there are no Caribbean beaches in Guatemala not up the Belizean Coast – so the nearest and truly amazing white sandy beaches are the isles officially known as Sapodilla Cayes.

Well, turns out that Carlos, the owner of the Finca Tatin, Livingston, Guatemala, used the above little story to promote his new “Belizean Cayes Boat Trip”. Escorted by a group of seven curious tourists (plus a baby), he asked me to come along (free of charge, of course!)

With a busy agenda filled with snorkel, snorkel, snorkel and even more snorkel…, the seven tourists (Mercedes, Javier, Lorenzo, Laura, Jake, Agustina and Alfonso), the baby (Sunny), the Finca Tatin owner (Carlos), the captain (El Enano / The midget) and yours truly, hopped on a large launch boat with a 200 horsepower engine and set sail towards our paradisiacal Cayes. 

With such horsepower - the difference is ever so noticeable - we crossed the waters smoothly & rapidly and in less than 60 minutes, we spotted the small archipelago, sitting on the distant horizon line, waiting for our entourage.

And as soon as our lancha passed the first islet (Ragged Caye), several cameras started recording the event.

Had to do a quick stop at the Nicholas Caye to pay the Marine Reserve entry fee ($10 per person).

 

Back on the boat, and surrounded by natural beauty, every single one of us was gagging for a bit of snorkeling already. Thus, even before we set foot on what would be our Caye for the night, we dressed down to our swimming suits, put on a pair of goggles & fins and jumped in the water.

 

The sun was hot, the sea water was just perfect, the coral reef was colourful and the rest is … just stories narrated via the four hundred photos taken swimming underwater, catching our dinner, strolling down white sandy beaches, getting attacked by sand flies, swinging on hammocks, etc.

 

  

C L I C K  H E R E  T O  S E E  A L L  P H O T O S!

Twenty four hours later, tired but very pleased, we were heading back to Livingston, Guatemala, knowing that we all took part of something amazing…something REAL...something Caribbean.

Ciao 4 now

~ Paulo ~