Pausing Here and There

So, I left the states at midnight to arrive in Guatemala in the early morning. My mission was simple: get to Antigua and meet my sister by the fountain. She expected me around 9 since this would allow a reasonable amount of time for travel between the capitol of Guatemala city and the tourist town of Antigua. I stepped out of the airport run over with that similar attack on the senses I got when I arrived in Dheli in 03 and Yaounde in January of this year. After asking several taxis, I found that no one was willing to leave the city. I don’t blame them. It was christmas day after all. So I looked for another option. This too failed as the shuttles to Antigua wouldn’t leave for several hours. Little did I know, they would have gotten me there before my delayed arrival at 1pm.
What did I do during all that time you might ask. Well, I got me a ride…
I walked back into the airport finding two familiar faces of some gentelman that were on my flight. I asked where they were headed, and was pleased to hear Antigua. Naturally, I asked if I could hitch a ride. They accepted without revealing that there was some other buisiness along the way. About an hour into the trip I asked, ¨how far is it from here?¨ The response. ¨Oh man, Antigua? that´s the other direction. We have to go see our mother first. Then we will take you.¨ We went up into the highlands passed rolling green hills and small subsistence farms. We wrrived at the house, where I was greeted with hugs and ¨feliz Navidad¨ The family was very excited that I had come to join them and upon my arrival brought me beans rice and tortillas.
We only stayed a short while, as there was much to be done on this christmas day. Riding in the back of the pickup´s cab, I gazed out the window excited to be in a new country, anxious to see my sister. We made on more stop before going to Antigua. It was a little sketchy, but who was I to contest. My driver, wearing a shirt with Carmen from south park, went into a buisness building with one duffel, and came out with another. The switch was quick and to most unnoticed. Don´t ask me, because I don´t know. But my theory is the Guatemalan Mafia gave me a ride.
We got to the fountain, where I was encouraged not to get out. My new friends wanted me to join them for the festivities at the track. Drinking and horses were the only promises. So, I gracefully turned them down, and left them there to find Elizabeth.
Jacob

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 26th, 2006 at 9:36 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.