Cantabria Hotel Guatemala City

... her flight to Guatemala. And no, mom, she
wasnŽt sleeping or being a space cadet or anything, her connecting
flight was delayed. When she finally arrived and was about to deboard
the plane, it was 6:35 pm. And her flight had started boarding at 6:15
pm. Or so she thought. So she proceeded to run through the Miami
airport like a chicken with her head cut off, looking for Gate E5. She
passed E7, E6, then... E4? WTF? And let me tell you, the only thing
worse than ...

... and side, names, chome and stainless. Yeah. Badass.

Our hotel was only two blocks away so we walked. It was immediately apparent that this was a different city. First of all there were many more people. It was crazy crowded. And second of all there were tons of gringos. It was a tourist destination.

We arrive at the hotel, settle in. The hotel itself was nice and clean. It had tile floors, an inside courtyard and was ...

... place.

It was the latter. We tip the boy for his guiding services. We enjoy awesome guacamole, and beer in a distinctly local place. Pipi in the left bathroom. Popo in the right. Complete with instructions on use.

Beer Count: 9 Gallo Draft, Cerveza Victoria

At the restaurant one of the guys from the ferry walks by. He was a foreigner who had gone native (moved there ...

... us for a 45 min (a little scary on the roads, we passed a semi truck by an inch) drive to Antigua. The sweetest man, who loves God and talked to us about serving God and for some reason about having babies... or so we understood. He said he would pray for us on our journey, which was nice to hear! Our hotel is small but nice. It is safe and right beside a garden where we hear ...

... But anyways, she's really nice and makes great food. And she cleans my room and makes my bed! Scrappy, the family dog. Well, in a nutshell, he's old, smells bad and is just rather unpleasant. He also does his business anywhere he pleases, it seems. Marta brushes it off, saying he's old. Warren and I have been plotting his demise. As it's probably been clear by now, Marta and the fam are pretty traditionally Guatemalan Catholic. This ...

... off the packed bus. THEN on top of that, once all these people had poured onto the bus the conductor still had to try and clamber over everyone so that he could get the money for tickets. It was absolutley incredible and at one point Brad and I thought what the hell are we doing here. I can tell you one thing for sure we have collected a gem of a story that will not be forgotten for a long time to come!

... Israeli girl, Anet, in a bar the previous evening and persuaded her to join us. And she was terrible. She started panting and sweating before weŽd even reached the mountain. When we reached the mountain, I could feel a strange rumbling under foot. The guide assured us that the volcano was dormant and safe, that the rumbling was from a neighbouring volcano that was too far away to be a threat, but I wasnŽt sure. Meanwhile Anet had got ...

... happen in the first place. Basicamente, most victims of the 80s violence were indigenous (around 83%, I think) and Mayan burial rights are, to the Western mind, inconceivably important, tying to ancestral communication and the like. So long story short, the forensic lab in the City was a really profound and strange experience, but certainly invaluable to further understanding this complex country. From Guatemala City, we drove some 6 hours to El Estor. Stay tuned for the next episode.

... with, and her little dog Terry is just adorable! Managed to enrol myself in private spanish classes for the next week or so, and so far it has been challenging but good. The early morning starts... not so good! For four hours a day, my lovely teacher Sabrina bombards me with espanol, espanol and more espanol. Luckily conversations are beginning to feel a little more fluent, although alot of the time, grammatically not so perfect. Afternoons are spent ...

... around the dashboard area. Thus, the chicken bus is ready to roll, and roll they do with an average of fourteen hours a day doing more miles than it covered in one week back on the school run. Looks are important for safety because if the paint is fresh and the chrome is gleaming, then there are chances that the bus is fitted with new brakes and put in to service with regular maintenance, which is not to be neglected when statistics reveal an average of one chicken bus ...