"Buen provecho loc. col. Expresión de cortesía para mostrar el deseo de que una cosa resulte útil o conveniente para la salud o el bienestar de alguien,especialmente la comida"
View of Guatemala City from a distance.
I'm almost to the end of my second week here in Guatemala, and it sure has been difficult to have time to update the blog!
My flights to Guate were uneventful, which was nice, and I was able to get through Customs and Immigration in Guatemala City without any problems and without losing my bags. In my book, that's an awesome ride!
Once I made it to the outside of the airport, it was slightly crazy. most people were shouting at me "Antigua $10," and it took me a moment to find the others in my group in the huge crowd that was waiting. Once we were all assembled, Our director called up our bus, and we were on our way to Xela!
My flights to Guate were uneventful, which was nice, and I was able to get through Customs and Immigration in Guatemala City without any problems and without losing my bags. In my book, that's an awesome ride!
Once I made it to the outside of the airport, it was slightly crazy. most people were shouting at me "Antigua $10," and it took me a moment to find the others in my group in the huge crowd that was waiting. Once we were all assembled, Our director called up our bus, and we were on our way to Xela!
Guatemalan Countryside
It's hard to describe how terrifying it is being a passenger on the highways of Guate. Think riding in the front of an Irish bus, but on the side of a mountain, and with the traffic rules of India (a.k.a. none to speak of). It was like living through an episode of "Most Dangerous Roads." This picture looks so tranquil, but we were speeding along so fast, it was actually very hard to get a picture to turn out nicely. The speed, uncertainly, and sometimes outright danger combined with the altitudes made the ride quite exhausting. Not to mention the smell of burning garbage, which is quite pervasive in the countryside because frequently los campesinos don't really have much wood to burn, so they burn their garbage. It's hard to describe the images of extreme poverty that are so apparent here in Guate, we definitely live in a privileged existence in the U.S.
About 4 hours after leaving the airport, we were finally arriving in Xela with a police escort (because, you know, police escorts aren't conspicuous at all...), and we got our bus stuck. Yup, stuck. In the street. Between a car and a pole. My favorite was the Guatemalan ingenuity that got us unstuck: gather 20 or so random men from the street (as well as the six Johnnies we have with us on the trip) to physically pick up the car and move it. Memorable, to say the least! After that we were able to make it to the language school without any more problems and meet all of our host families.
I'm living with a younger family. I have a host mother (of course!), an abuela (grandmother) and a host brother and sister who are 14 and 4, respectively. So far, I've really enjoyed living with them, It's quite amazing how four year olds can make games out of almost anything - yesterday we (my host sister and I) spent twenty minutes walking/running back and forth down the hallway. It was, apparently, hysterical. Ah! La vida guatemalteca!
About 4 hours after leaving the airport, we were finally arriving in Xela with a police escort (because, you know, police escorts aren't conspicuous at all...), and we got our bus stuck. Yup, stuck. In the street. Between a car and a pole. My favorite was the Guatemalan ingenuity that got us unstuck: gather 20 or so random men from the street (as well as the six Johnnies we have with us on the trip) to physically pick up the car and move it. Memorable, to say the least! After that we were able to make it to the language school without any more problems and meet all of our host families.
I'm living with a younger family. I have a host mother (of course!), an abuela (grandmother) and a host brother and sister who are 14 and 4, respectively. So far, I've really enjoyed living with them, It's quite amazing how four year olds can make games out of almost anything - yesterday we (my host sister and I) spent twenty minutes walking/running back and forth down the hallway. It was, apparently, hysterical. Ah! La vida guatemalteca!
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