Hiking the Volcano Santa Maria

The eastern view from atop Santa Maria.

The eastern view from atop Santa Maria.                © MICHAEL SHEAD

The Volcano Santa Maria; been there, done that…and it was tough!

Ever since I heard about the moonlight hikes of the volcano Santa Maria, I thought that it sounded like a blast!

Hiking through the moonlit darkness into the dawn and then seeing sunrise from the towering peak and viewing up to 11 other volcanic peaks including looking down onto the live crater of Santiaguito, sounded like a great adventure for this Kansas farm boy.

So, here’s the story of my volcanic hiking adventure…

The Mountain

  • Name: Santa Maria
  • Height: 12,375 ft (3772 mts)
  • Type:Volcanic
  • Comparison: Mt. Fuji in Japan is about 10 feet taller
  • Trail rating: Strenuous
  • Trail distance: Approx. 6.21 miles (10 km)
  • Elevation increase from trailhead: Approx. 4,173 feet
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The hikers

I had been dreaming of doing this hike for two years so when I found out that some friends were interested I planned it for Nov. 15th, 2013 (technically a few days before the full moon but it worked better for our schedules). There were five friends from ASELSI and three guys visiting town from Michigan plus our friend Kevin, from Totonicapan, our guide, Hansy, two friends of his and two police officers for safety. (Apparently there have been some thieves prowling the trails and they recommend armed escorts to prevent attacks.)

In Quetzaltenango, we met up with Hansy near the stadium and his friend wowed us with a  story of Hansy’s record ascent of the mountain (an incredible 45 minutes). Then we drove over to the central park where a van pulled up at about 12:30 a.m., and we headed out to the Santa Maria Summit Trail trailhead which ended up being quite a long ways from the foot of the mountain but, unless you’re on dirt bikes, that’s as close as you can get in a van. Continue reading

Review: Keep Talking by Freiderike Klippel

Definitely a book worthy to be in the hand of every language teacher — Keep Talking by Freiderike Klippel. Klippel brings together a wonderful culmination of exercises and teaching techniques and ideas which should be practiced in many a classroom.
This book contains 123 activities all organized and categorized to be of maximum use for the teacher. For convenience, the activities are listed so a teacher can look up an activity which will fit her classroom needs specifically. There are three major headings for the activities: Questions and answers, Discussions and decisions, and Stories and scenes. Each activity is categorized by topic, language level, type of student organization needed whether from groups to individuals, amount of preparation involved, and time in minutes for the exercise to be completed.

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Purposeful Attitudes

23 February, 2000

Human attitudes toward each other reflect a deeper level of consciousness toward God.  In her short story, “The Displaced Person,” Flannery O’Connor shows how self-righteousness and prejudices are within the characters while subtly allowing the reader to recognize those same attitudes in himself.  The text has the feeling that there is great significance in the words that hold a sense of power.  Still, the story retains the smooth rhythm that keeps the attention of the reader with a natural ease.  O’Connor uses a limited omniscient point of view to give the reader a sense of being alongside the ever-observerant Mrs. Shortley in the fields, barns, and conversations as she sees, hears, and takes note of all that occurs until the author carries on the story without her.  The symbolism O’Connor creates in this story is beautifully mysterious, strangely prophetic, and subtly vibrant.  Despite the seriousness of the ending, the displacement of characters en masse keeps the reader acutely aware of the irony of misconceptions, biased attitudes and disregard for Christ. Continue reading

Mission Trip Devotional Resources

Team Devotionals in Action

I recently hosted a mission team from Michigan and they had some great team devotional and individual resources that they brought with them to encourage the youth to build in quiet times and deeper devotional times into their team’s down times.

I’m going to start referring new teams to this resource for those who don’t want to or have time to re-invent the wheel with their own custom devotional resources for the team.

LeaderTreks also has pre-trip and debriefing tools available.

Mission trips should be more than just mountain top experiences. They should be life changing.

via LeaderTreks Student Mission Trip Resources

Review: The Screwtape Letters

The Screwtape Letters

by C.S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis address the walk of humans into Christianity from the viewpoint of a demon named Screwtape via his correspondence with his “dear” nephew Wormwood who has been assigned to befuddle a young man who, despite his antagonist, becomes a Christian. This book brings to light many of the ideas and perceptions humans experience in most any point in life. The unique approach of viewing from the demon’s point of view creates a reverse thought pattern for the reader. Since the book is written from the viewpoint of a demon, that which is good in the eyes of a Christian is called detestable by Screwtape. C. S. Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters to give an outside view of Christians and Satan’s attacks on their relationship with Christ. Continue reading

APROFAM Medical Clinic in Quetzaltenango

Are you an expatriate looking for a women’s health clinic in (Xela) Quetzaltenango, Guatemala? Maybe you’re a Spanish school student, missionary, or traveler needing some extra medical attention.

We moved to Xela for Spanish school and we also happened to be pregnant so we checked out the APROFAM (Asociacion Pro Bienestar de la Familia) Clinic. Since we were looking for a place to have our baby in Guatemala. Here’s what we thought…

Especially for women,  APROFAM provides a full-service clinic and mini-hospital complete with multiple in-house surgeons, doctors, overnight rooms and birthing facilities.

This clinic is part of a nation-wide clinic service and offers an all around good choice for locals and expatriates as well. Located on 3 Calle 7-02 Zona 1 in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, APROFAM is just a few blocks from Parque Central (Central Park) just off of octava avenida (8th Ave.) Phone: 7765-3886 Continue reading