First Few Days

Since I have been in Guatemala I haven't had a chance to write everything down that my parents and I have done, so I will do my best to remember (or at least the best moments). Saturday morning we ate at Bagel Barn, our favorite place to have breakfast because we are obsessed with bagels, and my dad swears they make the best strawberry smoothies ever. On a side note, we ate there every day - yep, we are pathetic. We decided it would be best to walk around that morning trying to get our barrings; the last time we were in Antigua (which was about 2 months ago) we stayed on the other side of town. We managed, pretty quickly actually, to find my school that I would soon be teaching at. I spoke with several people there and made a plan to return on Monday so I could move into my new place!!! The rest of the day is a blur really, I am pretty sure we just walked around all day. I do remember being out that night, and since it was Saturday a lot of people were out. Multiple shops were open, the streets were lit - it was a really cool sight to see. I never remember walking down 5th avenida before or it being so busy and full of life.

Sunday we got picked up from our hotel and went to chichi (Chichicastenango) for the best known market in Guatemala. We spent between 4-5 hours there walking around, buying a few items, eating, and learning about the market. This market is enormous...it is only open on Thursdays and Sundays, and around 8,000 or so people travel to this market every time. It was great...it is filled with food/drinks, clothes, jewelry, tapestry...you name it - they have it! Like I said we got there by van...ridding on a bus/van is always the scariest thing, even before tropical storm Agatha hit. The roads are usually fine, but are extremely windy and the buses don't seem to mind or think best to slow down. I swear they are not fearful drivers, no matter what conditions! But because of Agatha the roads were torn apart (or gone completely), there was mud covering parts of the roads - at times, we would have to drive on the opposite side of road with oncoming traffic, then weave over to the correct side because of the condition of the roads...the driver didn't think twice though! The worst, but best part (and I say worst but best, because I like how they drive -they aren't scared) it was raining that day and foggy (of course); therefore, the driver could barely see out of his window. Thank god I wasn't in the front because I would have been sweating so much and possibly crying! I am not a happy driver/passenger in rain. It was an experience that is for sure! On the ride home we sat next to a lovely couple that quit their jobs, bought a sail boat and are sailing around the world for the next ... years (they said they aren't sure if they would go back yet.) I just think this is great! I got there card and may take a trip with them to Belize sometime! I have always wanted to be on a sailboat.

Monday, I moved into my room, went shopping for some small items and I think walked around more. It is funny how quickly I forget. I know we went shopping for a tool to fix my shower...and a tool for my bike. Which by the way, I didn't think I was going to get my bike here, but it happened. I love my place, I love my room and my bathroom, but if anyone comes to visit - they/you will hate the shower. It is really weird and I barely get any hot water...let me rephrase, you get hot, but with barely any water. The more I turn the knob to release more water, the cooler the water gets! I think it is funny and great, what do I care??

Since I found out that I didn't need to be at work until Thursday morning, I got to hang out with my parents on their last day in Guate. We took a tour of the town - which I highly recommend when you visit! I learned a lot from this tour and plan to revisit all of the museums and hotels again. We lucked out during our tour because it didn't rain. In case you don't/didn't read the weather reports or watch the news, since the time we were in Guate, tropical storm (at that time - and then hurricane) Alex was passing over us. We luckily just got the tail end of the storm - which was good, but that meant rain everyday, pretty much all day.

To make the rest of this short - my parents left the next morning and I hung out at my new place!! Work was in the morning!