Just. Simply. Happy. -- Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

I'm starting this post from Circles Cafe. The mosquitoes and flies are horrendous, but the internet is decent, the outlets are plentiful and the cappuccinos are rather divine.

Can't win 'em all. 

My legs are speckled with bright pink bites. I've learned to distance myself from the sensations in my legs, else I would be overwhelmed by the incessant itch and a) driven to madness and b) have legs the size of balloons. I also ignore the existence of my ass (I wish the insects would do the same). The bloodsuckers feast upon my uncovered feet during yoga (and the rest of the day) and sneak bites of my backside whilst I'm using the composting toilet. Also, it's a good thing I'm not as squeamish as Boy when it comes to spiders, as the arachnids of Central America are...err... neither tiny nor timid. I rolled over onto my left side last night, curled up in a fetal position and poised to turn off my headlamp when I noticed an eight-legged monstrosity glaring at me from approximately two inches away.

His glare was short-lived. While I have great respect for these creatures and all that mosquito eradicating work they do, I don't appreciate spiders the size of apricots approximately two inches away from my face.

It's June 2nd. I've been volunteering at The Yoga Forest for a little over two weeks now, and am beginning to feel myself settling into the routine of things. It's a routine that I could maintain for a very long time (if it included visits from my Boy, more consistent cheese (which would come with Boy) and perhaps a hot shower every now and then).

It's especially maintainable because of Erin, my couchsurfing friend in Panajachel. Hayley taught the evening class on Saturday, so I boarded a boat for Panajachel right after lunch. I stopped by Cafe Kitsch to Facebook Erin that I'd arrived and sip a deliciously dairy-FULL chai tea (I'm pining for dairy nearly as much as I'm pining for Boy. He is aware of this. In fact, this is why he loves me). However, the internet failed just as soon as I'd sent Erin the Facebook message, "I'm here!"

Poop. Hey there, Guatemala. I hope Erin was able to get my message... Oof. I don't know if it went through...

"Disculpeme," I approached the barista. "Can you restart the internet?" I performed some silly charades, hoping that she would understand "internet" and "restart."

The barista managed to communicate that the modem was located in the building next-door. And that the building owner was out and wouldn't be back until mañana.

Double poop. Hey there, Guatemala. Always with the mañana. 

Thankfully, the couchsurfing app now stores all previously uploaded messages, and I still had a message from Erin that included her phone number. I showed the number to the barista and asked if I might be able to use her phone to make a call. But even though the number was very local, she refused to let me use her phone for the quick call. Never before have I encountered people so reluctant to lend me their phones. Not in Turkey, not in Morocco, not in Mexico. Erin says that if you want to use someone's phone, you ask them if you can "rent" their phone. And then you pay them a Q or two for each minute.

Luckily, my Facebook message had gone through and I was able to meet Erin as she biked down to Cafe Kitsch.

We spent the rest of the evening, umm... making bacon --

There are many reasons I love Erin. This is one. She suggested we have bacon as a snack before going out to get pupusas loaded with chicharron and cheese.  

-- drinking rum cocktails, eating pupusas, and saying hello to every tenth person in Panajachel (everyone knows everyone). 

We watched a movie that night.

I cooked an omelette the next morning. With more bacon. And more cheese. 

Heaven. 

And then I returned to The Yoga Forest, full of bacon, freshly showered (with deliciously hot water) and feeling ready for another week of teaching. Since May is a slow month and there are no other yoga interns until after I leave, most of the teaching responsibility falls to me. And even though I'm passionately in love with teaching yoga, leading two classes every day and keeping up with the other chores can be a bit tiring. So the weekend of bacon and cocktails with Erin was so needed.

When Couchsurfing works well, it works really well. I feel so damn lucky to have met Erin.

I also feel so damn lucky to be a part of this community at The Yoga Forest. I haven't felt so welcomed and supported by a whole community of people since I magically happened upon Slovenia last year.

I love listening to the pre-breakfast music --

-- the post-breakfast music -- 

-- playing with the kittens --

-- being freaked out by the kittens --

-- listening to Jeremy's permaculture lessons --

The permaculture lessons are different every day. This lesson was about grafting and pruning. I left my hammock swing chair feeling inspired to create a cherry, apricot, plum, avocado tree. 

-- whipping together salads with avocado, fresh greens and berries that I forage --

blackberries, mulberries, salmon berries and black raspberries. 

-- and I especially love the fact that almost everything at The Yoga Forest just makes sense to me. The composting toilets, the fact that all our food scraps go to the rabbits. The rabbit poop goes to the chickens (they eat the worms out of the rabbit poop), and the chicken poop fertilizes the soil.

The Yoga Forest is a place that makes me want to invest in a community. It makes me want to stay in one place long enough to build something this beautiful. Something so beautiful that it attracts people like the ones I've been lucky enough to spend the last two and a half weeks with.

I haven't fit this well since I left Slovenia last summer.

I could stay in a place like this indefinitely... it's so peaceful. So healing. So people oriented. 

Even though my first week and a half were spent in and out of absolute misery due to my giardia, I can easily say that this is one of the most fulfilling, life-changing experiences I've had as a vagabond thus far.