Stories from Guatamala: Part III (Heading West!)

After visiting with Maria, we headed West the next morning, naively believing we could quickly jot over to Lago de Atitlan, given that it was only 110 kilometers away. Somehow, it took us all day.

Arriving in Antigua Guatemala for the first time.

A quick stop in Antigua to "switch buses" took awhile. I like the chair Niki's in that was a the hostel we waited at!

Hanging out in Antigua, waiting for our bus.

When we finally got our new bus, we circled Antigua filling it until we had 16 people (including one child who didn't have her own seat) on the bus. Then the bumpy, fume-y ride to Lago Atitlan began.

We were not prepared for the fumes and the bumps. Oh my. (Photo credit: Anika Huhn)

By the time we reached Panajachel, the skies over Lago Atitlan we getting pretty dark, so instead of spending time there we elected to take the boat across the lake without delay, to get to our night's destination of San Marcos.

Clouds gather over Lago Atitlan (Photo Credit, Yi-Hsin Lin)

The skies darkened and darkened... we added rainjackets, and then a tarp, in our efforts to stay dry as the boat hopped over the rocky lake.

It is getting wet and windy, and the boat is tearing across the lake. We keep leaving the surface of the lake and smacking into it again, hard. (Photo credit: Yi-Hsin Lin)

We're all trying to stay dry. It is partially successful. (Photo credit: Yi-Hsin Lin)

When we finally arrived in San Marcos, we scooted into the first hostel we saw, no questions asked... we found out later that it wasn't even the hotel we thought it was, but after all the traveling and rain, it didn't matter to us! After drying off, we ventured out for dinner.

The main street of San Marcos's tourist area, with a stream running down the middle

We had Indian food (there are so many non-Guatemalan food options in Guatemala!), celebrated Yi-Hsin's birthday, and unwound a bit.

Happy Birthday, Yi-Hsin!!! (Photo credit: Anika Huhn)

Then we headed back to our hostel and waited out the rain until morning.

Stories from Guatemala, Part II

Whoops, I have a blog! Ok, here goes: Guatemala Continued:

On Wednesday, Yi-Hsin and I set out to visit Maria, who I sponsor through Children International. We toured the Children International facilities in Patulul, then visited Maria's home (where I got to help feed the chickens!) and had dinner at a restaurant where we got to catch our own fish in a barrel :-)

Maria is 16 now, studying accounting part time. She also helps her mother out at home, and has just started to work at a shoe and clothing store part time.

Thanks to Children International for helping to facilitate the day. They provided a translator who helped out when my Spanish reached its limits, as well as setting up logistics for the day. I'm already looking forward to my next trip!

Me and Maria! (Credit: Yi-Hsin Lin)

Yi-Hsin, Me, and Maria! And chickens and ducks! (Credit: someone with Yi-Hsin's camera)

With Maria. She gave me the cute teddy bear I'm holding. (Credit: Yi-Hsin Lin)

Maria catching lunch, with her mom. (Credit: Yi-Hsin Lin)

Stories from Guatemala, Part I

I've largely caught up on the craziness resulting from being away, so let's start with some Guatemala stories and pictures!

Day 1 was on a Tuesday. Niki, Yi-Hsin, and I all boarded planes in the wee hours of the morning and converged in Guatemala City around 11am. We got in touch with the Quetzalroo Hostel, and they picked us up at the airport.

We drove through part of Guatemala City (or Guate, as locals call it) on our way to the Hostel, and got a bit of a tour from our driver. The city is laid out in an orderly fashion, with numbered avenues and streets, and 22 "zones." Our hostel was in zone 10. Zone 10 was near the airport, and had a significant number of museums and hospitals.

Along the way, we saw a Ceiba tree, which are giant trees with a wide span of branches, traditionally used as a location for markets.

Ceiba tree, credit to www.panoramio.com

Driving down Avenida La Reforma, we saw some striking statues, including the one pictured below. Guatemala has two Nobel Prizes, one for Peace and on for Literature. Guess which one this statue is commemorating?

Credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/balam/sets/72157620538149039/detail/?page=3

We hung out at the hostel for a while, in part due to our tiredness and in part due to our need to acclimate to the country. We weren't really prepared for the combination of arriving during the rainy season and a street system without awesome drainage. There were some *massive* sprays of water from the street every time we ventured outside that evening. A few other photos from the day:

Silverware from lunch. Lots of silverware in Guatemala has holes in uncommon locations on the handle. (Credit: Me!)

Guatemala has lots of Crepes. They even have a Crepe chain of restaurants: Luna de Miel. (Credit: Yi-Hsin Lin)

Hanging out at the Quetzalroo hostel in Guate. (Credit: Niki Huhn)

Angry Quetzals

The things you see in a Guatemalan airport...

5:49

Not even 6am, and I'm on boarding stairs! No thanks to the guy at the check in counter who misread my ID as Kimberly Davis and printed me tickets to New Orleans via Detroit... I guess I could've gone, but Guatemala via Atlanta sounded more fun to me, so I fixed the mistake.

Moving

You know that person who always seems to leave exactly 3/4 of a parking space in front of their car, making it impossible to find parking? Tonight that is me. Because Lord help us all if I need to maneuver this beast of a UHall around anything in the morning.

Fire Alarm

We had a fire alarm at my apartment building just now. It wasn't a huge deal, just routine. The fire alarms blared, I grabbed my sandals and went outside, and considered going to the store while I was out anyways. A couple of trucks arrived, so did the building superintendent. Firefighters stomped inside, they presumably did some investigating, and then the noise stopped and we got to go back inside.

On my way back inside, I saw one of my neighbors, slowly making her way to the door. Because she has MS and moves slowly, she never made it outside before the alarm was over. All that time, and she never made it out.

If this were a "real" alarm, she would have been in serious danger. It blows me away that there's not something - anything - in place to make sure she gets out of the building quickly when needed.

If I weren't moving away this week, I'd offer to check on her in the future. But even that would be a bandaid to a larger problem. Could technology solve the problem? Apps to let the Fire Department know if you're still in the building, maybe?

What a strange interlude in my day...