Oh, that's in METERS!

Acatenango, the volcano, kicked our butts.

We figured that when a guide company says "extremely strenuous", they mean for everyone else. We were humbled by this monstrosity whom we originally thought was just under 4,000 feet high. Try just under 4,000 METERS high, which when attempted from the lowly valley of Antigua is quite a haul. We didn't see it coming.

It's the typical story - a guide picks us up at the hotel at Oh Dark Thirty (that's really early for those of you who don't speak military time), we have a silent ride to pick up the other victims, then it's off for an hour to get to "base camp". The road turns to a single lane dirt road about four minutes into the ride and we have a harrowing, dark ride halfway up the mountain passing buses. How did buses get up here? We went over a bump in the road that I was sure was the volcano.

We won't take you through all the gory details, but 4 hours later we summited and were met with blasts of icy wind and rain and views that made your stomach drop. So incredible it made the slog back through the mud endurable. Easily the hardest hike Emily and I have ever taken part in, possibly any physical feat. Luckily my bride is of hardier stock than I and carried our pack with all our water and gear up the entire mountain while I gasped for breath. I love her. We also have to give credit to Michael and Sarah, a brother and sister team who also made the climb and who were arguably more hardcore. For example, not only did Emily carry our pack up the mountain, the Angel Michael literally pushed me the last few thousand feet to the top.

Since then we've been nursing sore muscles and enjoying Antigua. We recently moved into the Honeymoon Suite of our language school, which is all of seven feet from where we enjoy our Spanish lessons. Four hours this morning, a little grueling but definitely worthwhile. It was fun to explore the nuances of language in a beautiful courtyard with other students happily chatting away. If you're going to get the same room when you visit, be advised everyone shows up at 7am and congregates outside your door.

I don't think you can visit Antigua without snagging a kid. They're so cute it hurts; we'd post pictures but I want you to read the rest of the entry instead of calling a Guatemalan adoption agency.

Other highlights include the discovery of coffee that once ingested causes you to crave it every 45 minutes. It's a little scary, but once you figure out what's happening it's a remarkable alarm clock.

Speaking of, we've been on the internet 43 minutes now and we're at least 2 minutes from the nearest coffee shop. Gotta go!