Radisson Hotel And Suites Guatemala City

... getting shot, mugged, knifed, robbed, harrassed, pillaged, attacked, beaten up, sick, or whatever else people worry about while abroad. All it takes is some common sense and an open set of eyes and ears and lots of questions to the locals.<br><br>I particularly enjoyed listening to how this one dude had his backpack stolen off a chicken bus because he fell asleep and had left it in the aisle. He was actually proud of this idiocy and was ...

... I've become so used to living there that, returning home, I sometimes have a hard time grasping that this used to be my life...it's so dramatically different than what I'm "used to". It's a rough period of "re-adjustment", but just about all of us who go into the Peace Corps and come home have to go through it, it's part of the deal. Luckily, they tell me most people survive and live normal long healthy lives so there's nothing to worry ...

... try to update the blog when I get to Belize. we have been travelling every day and haven't had a chance to settle anywhere or take a break. Some highlights:<br><br>we hiked a national park<br>we hiked a volcano<br>we swam in a really cool river<br>we drank 40 beers in a van<br><br><br>

... that I was leaving. After all the time I'd spent thinking about going back, getting sort of excited to return to Canada, I still couldn't believe that I was at this last juncture. On the plane, I was sitting next to (surprise) a Guatemalan guy, and I had one of my last conversations in Spanish. The plane. That was quite something, being on an airplane heading unwaveringly towards the United States. It was scary, really. I didn't want to go, honestly. There were ...

... over to a local soccer stadium to play some soccer for an hour. It{s basically an indoor sized statium that{s outdoors with a room. The team runs around for an hour trying to get a feel for the game and the field in preparation for playing locals tomorrow. Things are not looking good.<br><br>Steak for dinner.<br><br>After dinner we play games. Sherades, celebreties are popular hits.

... See the refernce in the Mongolia blog).<br><br>Dinner was spaghetti. Not very Guatemalan but I find out later the owner had about an hour to cook dinner. It was good. He even bought shredded cheese - very expensive.<br><br>I go to bed early trying to rest the eye.<br><br>(I feel like the old woman in Dark Crystal who can take her eye out when I talk about resting my eye.)

... a daughter Natalie who it turns out is the granddaughter. The mother of the daughter is off working in some ice cream shop. It sounds like she would not be living in the house. Drama!<br><br>Tasks for building a house in Guatemala:<br><br>- cutting rebar<br>- bending rebar into c-bars<br>- tying the c-bars onto bigger pieces of rebar making a spine that will eventually go into cement blocks as ...

... sécurité n'étant pas le point fort de la ville. La ville n'étant pas non plus très attractive d'un point de vue architectural, on n'a vraiment pas l'impression de manquer grand chose. On se rend ensuite au restaurant où la famille d'Ana nous rejoint pour le dernier diner ensemble. On leur fait nos adieux, fait les dernières photos, échangeons nos mails,..., fin de soirée un peu triste. Retour à Antigua pour le bouclage final des sacs. La journée de demain s'annonce longue, très longue

... was the official airport shuttle bus to avoid being ripped off. When I emerged from the airport, there was a throng of people, and in amongst the crowd, there were at least ten different people waving official looking sings to Antigua, all ranting in Spanish. Now I dont speak Spanish. I see it more as my mission to ensure that the rest of the world learns Englsh, by speaking slowly and loudly in English at anyone who doesnt speak the language ...

... before supper is over and I can crawl in bed. I have a nice room with a shared bath and breakfast in the morning and they picked me up at the airport. I am using the free wifi service now. My Delta flight left DC about 30 minutes late. It was an uneventful flight until we arrived in Atlanta. We were already late and many of us passengers had very short wait times until our next ...