Guat's up?

Our suitcases on top of the van!

This is already much later than I promised, so I apologize. School has a funny way of just demanding all of my attention, and even then, I still struggle to get everything done. But, as promised, here is one of my blogs dedicated to my time in Guatemala. I hope to have the other one up soon, but as seen in my last blog promise, it may not happen. I have every intent on trying though!

My fellow ASBers (the group of 12 students and two adults) and I left for Chicago on a Sunday night, planning on getting to Chicago at about midnight on Monday as our flight took off on Monday at 2 a.m. After a loooong drive to Chicago, we boarded our plane and arrived in Guatemala at about 6:30 a.m. We quickly grabbed our luggage, breezed through customs, and entered the country of Guatemala. As warned by our trip supervisor, Ali, we had to hold onto our suitcases tightly once we exited the airport because taxi drivers may try to take our bags and put them in their cabs. Nervous, I gripped the pull out handle and ventured out into the morning sun. It was gorgeous outside! It was almost 80 degrees and it wasn't even 7 a.m. yet! My worries vanished quickly as we waited for our "taxi." Valerie, the Merida study abroad program director for Central, met us at the airport exit. Then, all of our suitcases were tied to the top of the van for our hour trip to Antigua.

From first glance, I was shocked at the state of the capital city. I knew before leaving that Guatemala is a third world country, but I assumed that the capital would be much nicer. It was compared to the rest of the cities we visited. There was a lot of rusted metal sidings used for fences, roofs on remote houses on our way to Antigua, and piled on the side of the road. It was definitely dirty, but immediately I felt like there was something I could do to help the people. On the way up the mountains, we had gorgeous views of the volcanoes, most of which are active. One was actually spewing a little ash as we drove.



Most famous arch in Antigua.



The drive did not feel like an hour; we were all too preoccupied with our surroundings to notice the quick trip. As soon as we arrived in Antigua, we dropped off our luggage at our hotel which used to be the vice-president's home. There was a courtyard that was dripping in vines and as the sunlight streamed through the non-existent roof, I thought I must be in paradise. There was a hammock off to the side of the courtyard, and I could have swayed there for hours if I could have. But, considering we only had a day there, we figured we should probably explore a little.

Antigua was the capital of Guatemala from its establishment, but in 1773, an earthquake destroyed most of the city, leaving it in ruins, many of which can still be seen today because much of the city was left the way it was after the earthquake. The capital was then moved to Guatemala City. The grandeur of the city was not lost, though. I could see the Spanish colonial influence on the city easily--the bright yellow colors of the churches, the massive archways, and the monumental cathedrals and churches. And I cannot forget that the entire city sits in the shadow of the Volcán Agua (Water Volcano), the volcano know to spit ash from time to time.

The alfombras made of sand.

On our walk, we visited a few churches, and because it was Lent, we were able to see some very interesting mixes of the Catholic and Mayan religions. In the churches, there were alfombras (carpets) of colored sands. It looked just like a carpet from far away, but the detail up close was spectacular. The hours spent on putting those together would be exhausting, but the cultural significance is truly amazing. The bright colors are seen all over Guatemala, and it is almost synonymous with their country. Also, there were many, many, many, statues and depictions of saints and Jesus in the churches, but not only that, they were very gruesome when depicting Jesus. There was a lot of fake blood, and the welts on his back from the whips were disgustingly life-like.



The market with vibrant colors.

From there, we moved onto the market to practice our Spanish! I haven't had Spanish in two years, and I'm sad to say that most of what I knew has been lost. I can ask simple things, and I remember my numbers, so I was good to go for the most part. If the bartering became too heated or complicated, I switched to English, and most of the time, they spoke in English recognizing that my accent wasn't quite right or that I am white. My first purchase of the day wasn't the best--it was my first time bartering, but I got better as I went on. A note on the currency: the equivalent of a dollar in the US is the Quetzal (also the name of the national bird). One US Dollar is the same as 7.8 Quetzales. I was swimming in money! I came out of the bank after changing $160 with over 1000 Quetzales. Also, the things there are very cheap--I thought I was spending a lot of money, but I was buying scarves for just four, five, or six dollars. In the end, I spent about $120 dollars on everything (food, souvenirs, water) while I was there.


Me with the Volcán Agua.

After a day of shopping in which I bought most of my souvenirs, we headed to Pollo Campero, the restaurant equivalent of McDonald's (although there are McDonald's there...more on that soon). It was all chicken, hence the name Pollo, and it was pretty good. Very cheap food that was more than filling. I ended up with a breaded chicken sandwich, fries, and a soda for something like six or seven dollars. Another side note: we were warned about some of the food before going. If we wanted to remain un-sick for the duration for the trip, we could not eat food that did not have a peel (tomatoes, lettuce) because they way they wash the foods is different. Also, no water off of a tap (and that meant not getting any in our mouths while showering or brushing our teeth with sink water). This was not a reflection on the Guatemalan water system--it isn't necessarily dirty; we are just used to purified and processed water, whereas their stomachs can handle water that hasn't been through that kind of treatment.

From there, we toured the local McDonald's. I'm not joking, it was like a sit-down restaurant. The McCafe had cheesecakes and a whole separate room! There were gardens and a fountain with outdoor seating. Pretty damn fancy for a McDonald's. We went back to the hotel for a bit, and then some of us explored some more. We went back through the markets and made our way back to the hotel. After a nap on my part, a few of us went to dinner and walked the streets at night. But one of the greatest adventures of the night was the shower! My room didn't have a shower, so we had to use one in another part of the hotel. My roommate was using it at the time, so I asked another person in our group to use theirs. It was a fairly large shower, but the water kept getting hot and cold and it puddled at my feet. And most of our group had broken showers, so the hotel was fixing them at all kinds of the night. Right after that, I passed out in bed.

The next morning we packed up our things, had breakfast, explored a few ruins before leaving for San Jorge La Laguna, the small town we would be working in. I will pick up with the blog at San Jorge soon. But, this was getting long, and I know most people just don't have that kind of attention...oh, look, something shiny! Gotta go!