I can´t even begin to explain how exciting it was to see this blue sky! First time in 10 days!
The two above pictures explain the chicken bus experience. Check out our faces.
That´s a picture of our bus and the road next to our bus. The flood was further ahead.
Anne, Taryn, Leah, Megan, Jenna, Me, & Kylie
I´m going to miss her!
Our BYU friends.
The McDonalds park where we got to lay out. Here are the Holland kids.
I´m a fan of McDonalds here.
The cookies Anne made.
This is Mario, he lives next door and he is my favorite 3 year old here.
haha the million kids hanging out at our house.
Kiley, Anne, and Taryn leave this week from us to go travel to other countries and then head back to the states. We couldn’t think of a better way to spend their last weekend in Guatemala then heading down to Antigua for a good time. Antigua is the beautiful city where I spent my first week here in Guatemala. We packed up after school and headed on a chicken bus to this Spanish colonial city to spend the night.
We a dropped our stuff off at our 5 dollar a night hotel and got ready for dinner. Our friends Leah and Megan from our sister school, Momostenango, were also with us because of an English meeting in the school earlier that day. We all got dolled up and went to dinner at this place called the Rainbow Café. This place had awesome food and awesome live music. I ate a salad! My first one in a whole month! It was pretty amazing to have vegetables! For those of you who know me know how much I love salad – it’s one thing I really miss from the states. Leah and Kiley gave the mic a try and sang a couple songs using the guitars. Kiley had met some BYU boys who were here doing research, so they ate with us as well. It was a good time. Then we met some of our fellow teachers from the school for a night of dancing. Francis, Dorge, Odien, and a couple of their friends met up with us to go to a salsa club. It was SUCH A BLAST just hanging out with all the friends I’ve met here. I’m really going to miss the girls that are leaving!
The next day I woke up and went and got some banana bread and cheese (two things that don’t exist in Patzicia) from my favorite bakery in Antigua to take home. I also got a couple souvenirs and then all of us girls met back up. We decided to stop by McDonalds before we headed out. McDonalds is one of the nicest restaurants in town because it is ALWAYS so clean. A clean bathroom is a rare find here in Guatemala. It was also kind of nice to have American food for once too – it feels like it’s been a long time. This McDonalds also had a little garden in the middle (like most buildings in Antigua) for us to eat in. The sun came out! We laid out in this little garden for about 3 hours just soaking up the sun that had been hidden for over a week. I even got a little sunburn! It was pretty exciting. This Holland woman also had us watch her kids for her because she was pick pocketed right then in the McDonalds – even with the security. After going on the internet (which was fast by the way J) we were back on those chicken buses again.
Like I’ve said before, riding a chicken bus in Guatemala is an adventure in itself. They are the cheapest and easiest way to travel in Guatemala but they definitely are not the most comfortable. They are called chicken buses for the reason that they literally try to fit as many people as they can on these monster things. If you were claustrophobic you definitely couldn’t travel this way – at least 3 people to a seat, people standing, and people practically sitting on you. Then just when you think they couldn’t fit more on there, the doors open and more pack on in. A man called an audante pushes through the people to collect how much they decide to charge that time. Smells of goods and the body odor of cramped people fill your senses. Add a crazy driver driving like a maniac in the hurricane rain on windy roads. THEN add jumping off the bus while it’s still moving – all this creates an experience never forgotten. When riding these buses you have to be careful of pick pocketers! Taryn got her pocket of her shorts cut and her wallet was stolen. It’s so cramped and there are so many people touching you it’s so hard to notice. On our last bus ride she had to call her bank to cancel her card immediately –big bummer.
Our goal was to head over on a bus to Acatenango to a fair to meet the teachers from our school. They were going to drive us home when it got dark because it’s not safe to ride the buses at night. We left in plenty of time to get there, but of course it started raining which slowed everything down. We were about 2 miles from the town and all traffic stops. The driver and the audante get out of the bus to see what’s up – FLOOD. No one can pass. So we just sit there as it gets darker and darker. We’re in the mountains where Guatemalan gangs live just sitting on the bus waiting to get robbed. There’s no way that the traffic is going to be moving and there is also no way our friends are going to be able to meet us. The audante owed Kylie 45Q for her change on the bus so we waited for that until we realized we had to get out of there unless we wanted to spend the night on this bus. So in the torrential downpour rain all 5 of us girls (Me, Jenna, Taryn, Kylie, and Anne) start walking the other way down the road. The town we were 2 miles away from had no hotel or a place for us to stay – plus we probably wouldn’t have been able to get passed that flood anyway. Then we see this truck going the other way and Kylie asks if we could have a ride. Yikes.
So there we all were, in the back of this truck in the pouring rain on our way back to Patzicia which we thought was about 30 minutes away. That was another problema, we weren’t really sure where we were. We sat there drenched terrified thinking of all the million outcomes of the situation. And really we had no other option at the time – it was a bad situation that had turned a lot worse. These guys could have pretty much taken us wherever they wanted; done whatever they wanted to us. We didn’t know where we were and said a prayer that we would just make it back safe. We sat in this truck in high alert ready to jump out if they went off onto a different road. Anne watched to make sure they didn’t go on their phones to call their friends. I watched the road to make sure they stayed on the main road. And we all sat there very scared driving on these windy mountain roads and being scared or angry with each other would get us nowhere. After about a half an hour we were back on the other side of Patzicia. Oh the relief we felt to stop in our town. Then we walked over a mile home still in the pouring rain along the side of a highway. When planning my trip to Guatemala I wasn’t aware I was going to have to plan for hyperthermia haha. We had been soaking wet in cold mountain temperatures for at least 3 hours. We got back and did everything we could to get warm – BLAST this darn rain that NEVER ends. I was so happy we were all safe. By far the scariest experience I’ve had so far in Guatemala.
Sunday was pretty mellow compared to Saturday. We went to church and then had the kids in the neighborhood over to play. We must have had at least 25 kids over. They love watching movies on my laptop (we borrow kiddy movies from our director Denise). We also play games and do art stuff with them. They also help me practice my Spanish and I help them with their English. Anne made homemade peanut butter cookies that were simply amazing! The kids loved those!
So there you go - my first hitchhiking experience. Can you believe I’ve lived in Guatemala for over a month now? Crazy huh? It’s been a little tough but yet completely wonderful. Never a dull moment here. I will see you all in less than 3 weeks!
We a dropped our stuff off at our 5 dollar a night hotel and got ready for dinner. Our friends Leah and Megan from our sister school, Momostenango, were also with us because of an English meeting in the school earlier that day. We all got dolled up and went to dinner at this place called the Rainbow Café. This place had awesome food and awesome live music. I ate a salad! My first one in a whole month! It was pretty amazing to have vegetables! For those of you who know me know how much I love salad – it’s one thing I really miss from the states. Leah and Kiley gave the mic a try and sang a couple songs using the guitars. Kiley had met some BYU boys who were here doing research, so they ate with us as well. It was a good time. Then we met some of our fellow teachers from the school for a night of dancing. Francis, Dorge, Odien, and a couple of their friends met up with us to go to a salsa club. It was SUCH A BLAST just hanging out with all the friends I’ve met here. I’m really going to miss the girls that are leaving!
The next day I woke up and went and got some banana bread and cheese (two things that don’t exist in Patzicia) from my favorite bakery in Antigua to take home. I also got a couple souvenirs and then all of us girls met back up. We decided to stop by McDonalds before we headed out. McDonalds is one of the nicest restaurants in town because it is ALWAYS so clean. A clean bathroom is a rare find here in Guatemala. It was also kind of nice to have American food for once too – it feels like it’s been a long time. This McDonalds also had a little garden in the middle (like most buildings in Antigua) for us to eat in. The sun came out! We laid out in this little garden for about 3 hours just soaking up the sun that had been hidden for over a week. I even got a little sunburn! It was pretty exciting. This Holland woman also had us watch her kids for her because she was pick pocketed right then in the McDonalds – even with the security. After going on the internet (which was fast by the way J) we were back on those chicken buses again.
Like I’ve said before, riding a chicken bus in Guatemala is an adventure in itself. They are the cheapest and easiest way to travel in Guatemala but they definitely are not the most comfortable. They are called chicken buses for the reason that they literally try to fit as many people as they can on these monster things. If you were claustrophobic you definitely couldn’t travel this way – at least 3 people to a seat, people standing, and people practically sitting on you. Then just when you think they couldn’t fit more on there, the doors open and more pack on in. A man called an audante pushes through the people to collect how much they decide to charge that time. Smells of goods and the body odor of cramped people fill your senses. Add a crazy driver driving like a maniac in the hurricane rain on windy roads. THEN add jumping off the bus while it’s still moving – all this creates an experience never forgotten. When riding these buses you have to be careful of pick pocketers! Taryn got her pocket of her shorts cut and her wallet was stolen. It’s so cramped and there are so many people touching you it’s so hard to notice. On our last bus ride she had to call her bank to cancel her card immediately –big bummer.
Our goal was to head over on a bus to Acatenango to a fair to meet the teachers from our school. They were going to drive us home when it got dark because it’s not safe to ride the buses at night. We left in plenty of time to get there, but of course it started raining which slowed everything down. We were about 2 miles from the town and all traffic stops. The driver and the audante get out of the bus to see what’s up – FLOOD. No one can pass. So we just sit there as it gets darker and darker. We’re in the mountains where Guatemalan gangs live just sitting on the bus waiting to get robbed. There’s no way that the traffic is going to be moving and there is also no way our friends are going to be able to meet us. The audante owed Kylie 45Q for her change on the bus so we waited for that until we realized we had to get out of there unless we wanted to spend the night on this bus. So in the torrential downpour rain all 5 of us girls (Me, Jenna, Taryn, Kylie, and Anne) start walking the other way down the road. The town we were 2 miles away from had no hotel or a place for us to stay – plus we probably wouldn’t have been able to get passed that flood anyway. Then we see this truck going the other way and Kylie asks if we could have a ride. Yikes.
So there we all were, in the back of this truck in the pouring rain on our way back to Patzicia which we thought was about 30 minutes away. That was another problema, we weren’t really sure where we were. We sat there drenched terrified thinking of all the million outcomes of the situation. And really we had no other option at the time – it was a bad situation that had turned a lot worse. These guys could have pretty much taken us wherever they wanted; done whatever they wanted to us. We didn’t know where we were and said a prayer that we would just make it back safe. We sat in this truck in high alert ready to jump out if they went off onto a different road. Anne watched to make sure they didn’t go on their phones to call their friends. I watched the road to make sure they stayed on the main road. And we all sat there very scared driving on these windy mountain roads and being scared or angry with each other would get us nowhere. After about a half an hour we were back on the other side of Patzicia. Oh the relief we felt to stop in our town. Then we walked over a mile home still in the pouring rain along the side of a highway. When planning my trip to Guatemala I wasn’t aware I was going to have to plan for hyperthermia haha. We had been soaking wet in cold mountain temperatures for at least 3 hours. We got back and did everything we could to get warm – BLAST this darn rain that NEVER ends. I was so happy we were all safe. By far the scariest experience I’ve had so far in Guatemala.
Sunday was pretty mellow compared to Saturday. We went to church and then had the kids in the neighborhood over to play. We must have had at least 25 kids over. They love watching movies on my laptop (we borrow kiddy movies from our director Denise). We also play games and do art stuff with them. They also help me practice my Spanish and I help them with their English. Anne made homemade peanut butter cookies that were simply amazing! The kids loved those!
So there you go - my first hitchhiking experience. Can you believe I’ve lived in Guatemala for over a month now? Crazy huh? It’s been a little tough but yet completely wonderful. Never a dull moment here. I will see you all in less than 3 weeks!
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