Guatemala

We are in Ixtahuacan, Guatemala. Finalmente!

It has been a long journey, and the journey has no end. So, we travel on.

On Monday night we ate Thai food with my parents and drank delicious, hoppy beer. On Tuesday night we ate Chinese food in Guatemala City with Todd. It's so strange how quickly we can go from place to place.

Guatemala City is big, and dirty. We walked up and down the avenue, and Todd remarked how nice it was that they have blocked off a street for pedestrians. In Guatemala, pedestrians do not have the right of way, and it can be unsafe to walk up and down the streets.

The city has a lot of petty crime, so I held close to my purse. We must have been asked for money 100 times by different people begging on the streets, many of them with physical disabilities.

There are no services for disabled persons, and they have to make a living. In addition we saw many children selling toys and flowers. It is a sad reality to see children working so hard, after going to school in the morning. Having fun is a luxury, I suppose.

One boy came up to our table at the restaurant, begging and begging for us to buy this loud spinning toy that had bright lights. We told him we did not have money and he said "liar". How true.

Ever wonder where all the old trucks, and Greyhounds, and school buses go? They are all in Central America.

Then, there was the famous "chicken bus". We rode a very comfortable bus from Guatemala City to Huehuetenango. Then we caught a "chicken bus" - a blinged out school bus that leaves you no room to move. They threw our bags on top of the bus (really, threw) and then we walked on the bus.

Where were we going to sit? I didn't see an empty seat. A man moved so I could sit down, butt cheek to butt cheek with strangers. There were 3 to a seat, and then at least 1 person standing between each row. At one point I had to face towards the window because a man's bottom was literally in my face. That was when I started to laugh.

For Guatemalans, this is all they have known and the closeness to strangers is not strange to them. I find it kind of beautiful. There is a comradery that happens on these buses, and a sense of human-ness that I have not seen before.

I hope to share more soon. It is safe to say that our time in Guatemala will be like the people here, slow-paced and friendly.

Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.
He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.

Ralph Waldo Emerson