a window to life

24.05.23
my friend fell in love in tzununa. after all we still left together but for her it was harder than for me.
the tuktuk picked us up at 4:45 in the morning, her partner came with us to see her for some more moments.
we took a bus in san marcos. up the mountains, overlooking the lake one last time. the volcanos, the sun rising behind the mountains.

after an hour we changed busses and drove, drove, drove, tired and exhausted from the lack of fresh air in the bus.

about two hours ago we got into heavy traffic, the bus driver started talking on his phone, the hot sun heating up our little bus, the street full of cars and none of them moving.

then after a while we were told the news: the border on the mexican side is closed. that already happened a few months ago for no apparent reason. the options are few – taking a hotel at the mexican border and waiting for some unknown time, maybe days, or taking a more expensive 2.5 hour longer route to another border where we would possibly only get a 7 day visa for mexico.

lucas visa for guatemala is 20 days expired, mine is somewhere on it’s last days. the little guatemalan money we have left will be spend on the fee for her visa.

now we’re driving again, on the way to the other border where hopefully everything will work out and the shuttle to san cristobal de las casas will pick us up.

luca has left her partner behind, he might come to see her in europe this summer. I have left friends. they were home for me in the last few weeks. we cooked together, shared laughter and tears, cuddled together in a single big bed, hiked acatenango. I am blessed with these friends, friends that are a home and family and source of joy and growth.

I remember times when I came over to their place with pain in my heart and always they laid their arms around me and listened to me as I cried my pain out to them. and even after that they wouldn’t leave me until I would be able to laugh again through my tears.

they are planning to visit luca and me in san cristobal in a few days; as today shows again, nothing in life comes as expected.

now it is the middle of the day, medio dia, I am hungry and the bus is warm. colorful houses in little towns, mountains with tall trees that look like they could use more rain. dusty sand roads.

I am saying goodbye to my time in guatemala and slowly to my time in central america as well. in europe my family and friends are awaiting me and more adventures. and my heart is being called to travel again. and explore places I’ve never been to before. my heart is called to the middle east.

we crossed the border without problems and as so often, luca didn’t even need to pay her fee. after that we changed busses again, another seemingly endless bus ride without stops for eating.

around 8pm we arrived to san cristobal. we took a taxi to the community house that has moved into a park of san cris since I’ve last been here five months ago.

here, people were awaiting us and homemade vegan dinner was ready. the first real food since we’ve left tzununa early in the morning.