Tikal

Tikal, the city of the Mayans (which apparently doesn't mean anything about corn like some say but means something along the lines of "I found it" by the man who "discovered" Tikal- they aren't really sure what the people called themselves). Tom, Rachel and I flew into the Flores airport, then drove by truck, to the park. We stayed in the Jungle Lodge, which had even nicer accommodations than I expected. We had hot water and a fan and everything. The little things you enjoy but never think to expect in foreign countries. =)
I enjoyed our little bungalo, very good location and food, though they totally stick it to tourists (price wise). Example 1- Tom and I decided to get some ice cream one night....well..they 'couldn't' make change so Tom ended up paying six dollars (yes that's six US dollars) for two tiny things of ice cream. I shall go down in history as being Tom's most expensive ice cream date ever for what we got (side note- what's funny is that Tom used to buy me ice cream all the time and bring it to me when I was having a bad day. In fact that's one of my first and very best memories of him...me crying to him on the phone about a really bad day week and my freshly spilled ice cream (no joke) and him showing up five minutes later with a half gallon of it for me. He tells me regularly I should eat more of it because I'm too skinny haha). 
We got to Tikal pretty late at night and discussed with the front desk the possibilities of doing a "sun rise" tour instead of a day tour. We found out the sunrise tour happened at 4:30 and decided it wasn't worth it. Don't get me wrong- seeing the whole valley from Temple #4 at sunrise would've been breathtaking, but we'd been traveling all day, were hot and tired and knew realistically it wasn't going to happen. We met 3 girls (Charlene, Bree and Erin) there who would be on the trip with us later and though we only had a limited interaction with them there, I knew they'd be fun girls on the trip, which was proved correct.

We woke up at about 6ish hoping to possibly see the sunrise in the park on our own, but the sun was already up so we slept for a few more hours then went to breakfast.
Around nine we met "Charlie" (real name Carlos), who was our tour guide. He's a wealth of knowledge and I'm so glad we got him! He was actually born in Tikal, which is incredibly rare since they take the mothers out of the park and into Flores when they are about 2 months from delivery (he was premature), yet he'd traveled the world, speaks 4 languages, and got his degree in engineering from a college in Florida. I loved his accent though it took my awhile sometimes to figure things out if I got hung up on a key word in a sentence (like the word nutritious- he would say this is "new-tree-us").

He knew so much about agriculture, religion, medicine etc etc and shared it all with us in Tikal. He showed us plants that could numb your mouth (for dental purposes or pranks haha) or how the flowers would "hide" if you touched them on the grass. He even said, "Let me tell you what the Mormon's think" when I asked him about Quetzalcoatl and was actually right, though he doesn't personally agree. He made it fun but also very educational. (total side note- there are sooo many things about this tour and this area of Guatemala in general that made some stories in The Book of Mormon come more to life for me. I can totally see how people can get lost and never found for generations in these jungle areas. And the "watchman on the tower" yeah... that took on an entirely new meaning. Tikal was great for helping me bring the scriptures to life in my head a little more. 
Charlie also pointed out that some things "Just are cultural" that can't be explained and don't necessarily need to be- some things just "are". He said, "There are things about Rachel that just make Rachel, Rachel. You don't say, 'Oh Rachel did this because it has this deep meaning'. No. You say, "heh that's just Rachel" and the Mayans were like that as well." Historians never say that ya know, and I liked that! I asked why some temples were built taller than others, and I'm sure some historians would say "because this symbolizes the sun and this the moon" and sometimes they might be correct, but as Charlie pointed out, sometimes it's just the "ego" of the time and one ruler saying, "My temple is bigger than your temple" and that's that. Charlie proved he's pretty "all knowing" about Tikal so I knew when he gave us those answers, he wasn't just making excuses.
It began to rain, at the end of our tour, and for reasons I can't explain, I had left all my rain gear at the hotel. Tom, being the gentleman that he always is, gave me his rain coat. I think he enjoyed the rain actually (it was warm), and Charlie was going with out a coat as well so they both were feeling "manly". We ran up Temple #4, only stayed there briefly to see the view (which may I say was actually breathtaking!), and then ran back down. We experienced our first ride in an overcrowded truck on the way back to the hotel, but it was fun. I love love the rain and especially warm rain...in the  jungle...while seeing amazing things haha.

Charlie also thought that Tom and I were dating and when we clarified that we aren't, he insisted we should be. He made Tom kiss me (on the cheek people) in front of Temple #1 because "you have to have a jungle kiss." None of the pictures are great because I kept laughing. Tom and I totally don't have that kind of a relationship (don't get me wrong- Tom gives the best hugs ever and I (no joke) thought, "I need a Tom hug" when I was stressed before this trip- I got several and needed them). At parting, Charlie said goodbye to Tom and Rachel and then looked at me and said, "I think Tom is the one. Trust me. He is a good man. You should love him." Then he hugged me goodbye. Well, sorry Charlie...I highly doubt Tom is my "one" (though I love him dearly), but he did possibly find his wife on this trip, and will have to name his first daughter after me but then again I'm not gonna blog gossip....

After dinner Rachel and I did some zip lining right outside the park. Tom is afraid of heights (like actually being up high not just falling which is slightly different) so he declined, though he reportedly bonded with some of the workers while waiting for us. I've been ziplining in Hawaii before (this was Rach's first time), but this was so much more fun. They let us go upside down AND "super man" style. It was amazing! Best ziplinging ever!

One other note about Tikal....I had been warned about howler monkeys  but I had not pre-googled them to know what they would be like...um...let's just say that at 3:30a.m. my first morning there, I awoke to that sound. My first thought (strangely) was about the dementors in Harry Potter and that "Some one is getting their soul sucked out!" Yeah....then I kinda woke up more, and I recorded them on my phone (couldn't get my recording to post). It actually freaked me out at first, but then I found it very cool, and was excited to experience that in the jungle instead of on youtube or at a zoo. I highly recommend Tikal to everyone. It's a little expensive and out of the way, but it's a must if you go to Guatemala....and ask for Charlie when you get there!