Guatemala City, Guatemala to Antigua
It was a long ride to Guatemala City, supposedly 8-10 hours. We would stop at little towns along the way, and tons of people would get on the bus, offering all sorts of different goodies, calling out their names, back and forth through the bus. It was kinda funny. “Empanadas! Agua pura! Dos quetzales! Tomales, Tomales! Empanadas, empanadas, dos quetzales!” Sometimes the bus would continue with these vendors still on, so they would yell to the bus driver to stop, and everyone on the bus would laugh. There was one other ‘gringo’ (in general, foreigner) on the bus, and I think he must have had the shits, because we almost left him behind at one stop, and not too long later he asked the bus driver to stop for ‘el baño’.
The bus station where we arrived in Guatemala City is in a pretty bad part of town, so hopped right into a cab and we went to a hotel. For some odd reason, there was no answer at that hotel, so the guy took me to another place that he said was recommended, which was super nice of him. The hotel was really cute, with outside patios (almost everything here has outside patios in the middle of the building), and really high ceilings. I watched strange Guatemalan TV, with some local programs, some American shows, either subtitled or dubbed over (like the Simpsons – hilarious), some French program, something out of Mexico, and a Korean station (huh?).
There’s not much to see in Guatemala City…I walked up and down one street on Saturday morning, where vendors put up all sorts of stands (clothes, CDs, electronics, food), but nothing was of any interest, so I just took the next but to Antigua, which is about an hour away. On that bus, more vendors solicited their goods, this time, some sort of Winnie the Pooh coloring book with songs in it.
Have I mentioned the buses here? They are all old US school buses, which brings back memories of going on field trips back in the day. Anyway, here in Guatemala, they’re painted all beautiful; all sorts of different colors with pretty decorations.
So, I got into Antigua; the bus terminal is right next to the market, which is huge. People sell all sorts of stuff, from fruits and veggies, fish, meats, household items, clothes, and all sorts of touristy stuff. Anyway, I found a hotel for the night, and signed up for a Spanish class starting on Monday (this was Saturday). I didn’t do much that day…I was sitting in my hotel and heard a bunch of talking downstairs and all that, and then they started singing some religious songs. Some woman would sort of chant something, and then they would sing more songs. Repeat. They kept repeating the same stuff over and over again, and of course I had no idea what they were saying because it was in Spanish, but I think they were praying the rosary or something of that nature. Anyway, I wasn’t too into it (read, I was actually pretty annoyed), so I decided to leave to get dinner. I walked downstairs and it was like I was standing right in the middle of some sort of mass or ceremony or something…It was kind of awkward, so I just sneaked out.
Walking through town, I realized the big Guatemala/Mexico soccer game was on that I’ve been reading about. Everywhere I went was packed, and you could hear cheering (or groaning) throughout the street in unison. I finally found a place to eat and watch the game. Guatemala lost, which I guess is no surprise, but it’s really disappointing for the Guatemalans because they don’t think too highly of the Mexicans…something about how they sing when they talk. I don’t know…it’s all the same to me.
Tags: Guatemala, Tag Index
Tania