C 'Est Si Bon...Simone Simone!

Not an overwhelming task but daunting nonetheless. I have been meaning to blog and post pictures of Guatemala since I got back a couple weeks ago. I frequently am asked by East Coast Mo's if I went with sHE. So I will say 'No,' to those who think I went there for service. Although when I was there I have considered the idea of going somewhere with a purpose to service rather than purely tourism.

There are a couple things that have been with me from the beginning of all my adventures so I didn't want them to go unnoticed. I bought my Northface in China in 2002, and these sunnies I bought prior to my Australia trip in 2006.




Highlights of my trip:
chicken buses (basically pimped out school buses)
McFlurry's
Del Fructal- the most delicious pineapple juice
Licuados
Scabies!!! (I'd never wish that upon my worst enemy)
Always room for one more (cramming as many people as possible into a mini van or bus).
Tacos 3 for 10 Q
Rain!!
Stomach bugs
Continually being ripped off by the locals and witnessing my brother continually frustrated with them.
Typical foods: papa fritas, fritas y pollo..everything in fried here.
World Cup games
NBA finals

I don't really want to be a bore so I will highlight the main cities key events.
I left the states early in the morning. I met an really nice Aussie lady who encouraged me to pursue the idea of working Down Under.



Upon my arrival to the city I went to Hotel Virey to meet up with Ben. The Hotel was located in Zone 1 in Guatemala City. Not really a beautiful or safe place but definitely not the worst. I took the recommended walking tour of Zone 1 from the Lonely Planet guide. Can't leave home without that thing.


Maybe 7 avenida


Cathedral on the Square


Palace


Cathedral on the Square


School

And after a bit of confusion, for Ben, I walked into the Hotel at the time he designated. Early he had looked online and saw that my plane had arrived. He estimated the time it might take to get from the airport to the hotel and he showed up around that time looking for me. Long story short, when I wasn't there (I had gone for my walking tour)he wondered what had happened to me because the front desk of the hotel said they hadn't seen me. From here my journey begins...

Pointer: never PLANT peppermint. It WILL take over. So since it has taken over my yard. I put it to some use recently. Brilliant...I put it in my water.

Play of the weekend. Mrs. Warren's Profession. Lovely dinner at a Mexican place, great company, and witty play. I walked out with the thought that some people if they had a choice to do something better would still prefer their current circumstances. Why?

My first ride with clips and shoes went a little like this: Initially I couldn't get clipped in, next it started to rain, when I tried to stop because I would have been ran over by a car I fell over. I forgot I was clipped in, but I remain bruise free and alive. Second ride, clipped in without a problem, unclipped at the right moments and it rained again. My bike is my baby. Now I just need to purchase cycling clothes but I will refrain for the time being. I do wear spandex but without padding. In time maybe.

There is new kind of M&M's out, coconut ones. I tried the peanut butter and jelly ones which weren't very pleasant to me. I had some cherry chocolate ones last year which were delightful but haven' seen them since. Guess it wasn't a winner for everyone else.

New rule of thumb: if you buy something new you have to get rid of something old.

 


Once upon a time I really like to plan parties, invite lots of people and I was constantly running around. But after returning from Guatemala I just stopped. My 4th of July was very chill which I am grateful. I helped (hardly...only by extending an invitation to my friends) Casey put on a 4th party on the 3rd. He has an amazing set up, huge deck, couple grills, big pool, volley net, rock band, large entertaining areas and a fire pit. I went there and STAYED. I didn't hop around. I just wanted to chillax. I visited with my friends.
Early in the week I went with Jeff to play Frisbee golf (I once again proved that throwing a Frisbee is not a skill that I possess but I had fun), ate my first meal (maybe my last) at ?, and then bought myself some fireworks. Growing up my brothers always got the fireworks. We would get with our neighbors in the cul-de-sac and put on a little show. I don't remember ever lighting any fireworks. This year was my first. I was really excited about it. Like a little kid on Christmas to play with his new toys, my eyes lit up for my fountain fireworks. Casey had the bottle rockets so he kept the excitement going for everyone else.
 

My dear friend, Adam, came with his fiance. He was my assistant firework lighter.
Side note, I am so happy for them. They look so happy together. It was one of the joys in my life to see my friends meet someone which they mutually adore. One day...

 
I was gagging on the smoke I was inhaling for this picture. Smoke free is the way to be. These little sticks came in handy to lite up the fireworks.

I have no pictures of the 4th of July. I went to a friend's, Hannah, for her belated birthday dinner which she shared with the Nation. How kind of her. Then I tried to meet up with Adrienne, Carmen, and Aaron at the Capital for the concert and fireworks. I unfortunately got there too late. I sat by myself for a while listening to the show (good old Gladys is all I remember now) until I realized that Scott and Steve also couldn't get in and were roaming around the National Mall. I met up with them in the knick of time to watch the fireworks. I would have missed them entirely if I had stayed in my spot by the Capital. Fireworks bring me so much joy. Celebrating the birth of the United States also inspires me. A free nation was needed in order for the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to be restored. The Lord has everything worked out, he has a plan. God bless America!

Day of departure from Atitlan there was a few games we watched. Germany vs England & Mexico vs. Argentina.

The views of Lake Atitlan from the bus as we snaked up the mountain were breathtaking. I was twisting and turning to catch glimpses of the lake. The road was so tight that the bus coming up would take over both lanes to make the corners.




Most memorable part of the trip to Quetzaltenango, AKA Xela was the RAIN. It poured all day. It was wet and cold. The rain was related to the tropical storm in Mexico. Xela was near to the border and got the edge of the storm.



We hassled with getting our laundry done. It was our final destination basically before parting ways and we wanted to get things cleaned...to be rid of our bug infestation. They wanted to charge us so much, so we waited to find a laundry mat which when we went the next day we found them all to be closed, it was Sunday.

Ben and I hiked Volcan Tajulmulco. We looked into going with a group but decided against it. We didn't want to do an overnight hike, nor did we want to pay $150 for a guide. So we ventured to Tajulmulco by ourselves. The peak is the highest in Central America at 4,220 metres (13,845 ft).


It took us until about mid afternoon. It started hiking along a main road in to pastures, then we climbed steeply through soft, slippery tundra. At the end the wind picked up, fog covered our path, and the rain began to fall.






We came across the campsite for the groups, and went the wrong way initially and had to retrace our steps. We scrambled up rocks and through lava rock hoping for the peak before too long. The temperature dropped and my hands were freezing.




We hiked up two peaks, not sure of which was the tallest and got pictures of both before quickly descending the mountain to warmers temperatures, and fairer weather. It was a beautiful, and actually not a long hike for us. We kept up a fairly quick pace the whole way and we didn't start at sea level. Although I didn't feel as short of breath as I did in Cuzco, Peru which has the same elevation.




Ben and I traveled to Guatemala City making it there in the evening. I ended up staying with him at a hole-in-the-wall hotel in the main city for the night. We ate our last meal together at Burger King.

After he left me the next morning to continue his journey up through the rest Latin America back to LA, I ventured out to find the sink hole in Guatemala City. I walked through a nicer part of the city, the upper middle class section. People were out walking their dogs, running, and the houses looked nice behind the high fences.




I found the sink hole with help from none other than the missionaries.


I had a day in the city by myself which was spent incredibly ill in the mall. I didn't want to lay around in a hostel all day so I spent it in the theatre and mall's restroom. I watched 2 movies, one I don't ever want to remember.

We took off on my flight home only to turn around because of mechanical problems. They kept us in the airport all afternoon. All the other flights back to the states had already left, and their wasn't another plane they could put us on. So we waited. Late afternoon, they got us on the same plane. This time the weather in Atlanta or wherever we were going was horrible so we circled around for a while hoping it would change, only to be rerouted to an airport that didn't have customs. We landed, changed crew, refueled and took off again. It was 1AM by the time we got to some city. They got everyone a hotel voucher but my voucher did not include transportation. I'll just end it there, but it was really complicated. I will just say I stayed in the airport, and flew home at 6AM. I hate Delta customer service.

I am glad I got to spend some time traveling with Ben. It was a first traveling with him. He speaks great Spanish. Guatemala. I can't say I care to visit the place ever again. I enjoyed it but compared to other places I have visited it hasn't had the same effect on me.

Day of arrival was entirely a travel/ transit day. We ate hurriedly at Pollo el Campero, which Ben thought we didn’t have in the US but I had recently driven by one. It is the KFC of Central America…nasty stuff. We never to returned to that place the rest of the trip and chose instead to eat street food which constantly made me ill to various degrees but I persisted. We were picked up by a local as we stood under the cover from the pouring rain; he drove us to our bus station. I don’t understand why but stations change locations frequently and there are several stations so there is no guarantee that the bus station will be where you think it is. I was only slightly drenched because this young professionals kindness. During this route we had several buses and shuttles. It ended up being a long day.
We learned very quickly that the natives wanted to rip us off on every turn. I will mention this only once because it became routine. We learned very quickly to carry small change around during travel days especially. Ben would ask the locals when we got on the bus how much the ticket costs. When the ‘money/ticket collector’ came around we handed him nothing but that amount and didn’t give him an opportunity to up-sale (double the cost; it happened a few times) and take advantage of us. “Principle” became the definition for our actions per Ben. The only other place that was this bad was Peru he said, and I’d have to agree.

My first night in Guatemala was a special treat which I will share with you in detail because looking back it strikes me as funny. Our late, rainy arrival to this small border town gave us little option to continue our journey. Ben and I joked about walking across the border in the dark of the evening because unfortunately the border closes at 7PM. This little non-touristy almost ghost town with 1 hotel is where we stayed for the night. A little lady who I thought was so kind gave us the initial price of 90 Quetzals for the room. We agreed,left our stuff in the room, and went down to the restaurant. After ordering our food I went but up to use the restroom and discovered two things. We didn’t have running water and on the backside of the door was nailed room prices from the Guatemalan Tourist Commission.


The woman has overcharged us for our room. I ripped it off the door and showed this to Ben. The woman’s response is if you have a TV you are charged extra for the room; see that is what it says on that paper… which clearly it didn’t read anything like that. I am laughing to myself because our TV is between 14 to 19inches. She continues to be head strong which in turn makes Ben furious. We just decide together to pay the difference for dinner, and leave her short of what she overcharged us for the room. We proceed to our rooms after dinner, and while we are getting ready for bed we hear a knock on the door. The little woman walks into our room over to the TV. She unplugs the TV and carries it out of our room.

Ben and I are laughing about this, just when we thought we were rid of her she knocks again at our door. Similar to the newspaper boy in Better off Dead, she insists that we still owed her money for dinner. Right, exclamation, so if you give us the money you owe us for the room, we will in turn give you your money for the food. She wouldn’t budge, maybe it was her pride or maybe she wasn’t intelligent enough to understand logic. I can’t think of a word to describe the scene that took place. Afterwards I was afraid the woman was going to come back and strangle me in my sleep. Ben teased me about it.
Let’s just say the next morning we weren’t sticking around for breakfast.

Copan Ruinas/Copan Ruins
After our small border town experience we hustled the next morning to Honduras where we visited Copan Mayan Ruins. At the border we paid an exit and entrance tax, even though we were just going over for the day. Lame. We dropped our belongings off and walked the 1 km to the ruins. The town is called Copan Ruins which is a bit ridiculous, they must have got lost in creativity. The ruins were really beautiful. I’d never seen any Mayan ruins before. It was very well manicured with green grass, and very clean.




Archeologists predict that about 20,000 people lived here. There was a specific area for housing, and plaza for entertainment. There was a sketch drawn of what it possibly looked like back then.







Other events of the area: World Cup game US vs. England which was tied huge error by the English goalie. Cheap mangoes, good street food.


There is a bit of discrepancy of a very significant event of my trip. Ben and I still wonder if it was that awful hotel on the border or Copan Ruinas that gave us our little friends that we battled the rest of the trip. Ben and I contracted a lovely little bug called a mite, or scabies. Initially when Ben diagnosed himself I was in denial that I had it. I claimed that mine were from the bug bites at Copan. It wasn’t until we got to Livingston that I was convinced and the torture ensued. Scabies is skin condition caused by a highly contagious/contractible microscopic bug, spread by contact with those infected or by sharing clothing or bedding. The mites cause scabies burrow into the skin and deposit their eggs, forming a burrow that looks like a pencil mark.

Treatment: Jabon Scabidcida, and Invermectin (a single dose oral pill to ensure you’ve killed all those babies). Let me give you a rundown of what how the rest of my days in Guatemala were spent. Generally, with the exception of a few days because we lacked running water, in the morning I would take that soap into the shower with me. I would scrub my skin vigorously, and the same with the clothes I was wearing with that soap. That soap smelled something like paint thinner and I was rubbing all over me. After a couple days my skin started to peel off. Some days I would spot treat, hands, feet, face, neck, or shoulders because the shear torture of the possibility that it was spreading. After my shower I would put back on the wet bathing suit and clothes I just scrubbed and go for a walk. I would walk until my clothes were dry. I wore the same pair of clothes for most of my trip. Why did I do that? It is highly contagious, if I touched something or wore something that I had the mite I would infect myself all over again. This happened. I did really well with the itching most days, but one day in particular brought me to tears when it had spread up my neck to my face where it became swollen and more intensely itchy than any other day. I got a miracle that day. A pharmacy brought out this magic little cream. I thought would just take the itch away but the next morning the spots were gone as well. I went and bought myself another tube. For those who think that getting scabies rarely happens, well this is your forewarning. Get some premethrin spray before you travel…there are some dirty backpackers out there. 

Afternoons are incredibly rainy in Guatemala. There are two seasons here, Summer and Rainy. I came at the height of the rainy season, which is fine with me. It kept the temperature down and the humidity tolerable. Most activities are done in the morning because the clouds roll in about 1 and it rains all afternoon into the evening. The rain has caused a lot of landslides and washed out some of the roads. There was a fair amount of rain but some days were clear and beautiful, other days the rain was relentless.
Livingston is the name of a town in eastern Guatemala, at the mouth of the Rio Dulce River at the Gulf of Honduras. It was Guatemala's main port on the Caribbean Sea before the construction of nearby Puerto Barrios.
Livingston is noted for its unusual mix of Garífuna, Maya, Indian and Ladino people and culture. In recent decades Livingston has developed a large tourist industry. Good and bad to have tourism, then it isn't really a cultural experience because it is influenced so much by tourism.
What I thought I was going to see: awesome Garifuna Caribbean music in the evening, and beautiful Caribbean coastline. What ended up happening: upon our arrival we were haggled by the locals so they could get commission. Even when you told them you had a place to stay they would follow you until you reached your place, as if they had brought you there so they could get commission (it wasn't just in Livingston but Lake Atitlan as well). Ben would inform the owner that these guys didn’t bring us here, so they wouldn’t have to pay them. We were both slightly famished haven not eaten all day, and not had much to drink. We figured we'd go on this small hike to Siente Alteras (7 Alters), and eat afterwards. Siente Alteras has a small hike along the beach to a series of waterfalls that you can swim in. The beach was filthy…plastics bottles, Styrofoam, all kinds of garbage and sticks, logs. We spent most of our time walking on the trash not the beach, because there wasn’t really a beach to walk on. Ben and I walked so close to the waterfalls but turned back when the guard had said it was closed. The guard would permit us to see the waterfalls but we couldn't remain there. I was starving and so thirsty by this time…it wasn't nearly as short of a walk as the Lonely Planet has suggested. We walked back to a small Cantina were I experienced my first, Pineapple Del Frutal. Amazing fruit juice for 50cents. That was my juice of choice from that point on. I miss it now that I am writiing about it.

Ben and I went back to our place and ended up falling asleep for a few hours. Around 9 I aroused and was a bit pickish. When we went out to find something to eat every restaurant was closed, and the music that we went to find was no where to be found. My Livingston…ugly dirty beach, no music, and not much to do. Nothing like I expected or wanted.

How they sell it to you:
Livingston... so Called La Buga by the Garifunas, Livingston is home for the Guatemalan part of the Garifuna culture.
The Garifuna society, also known as the Black Caribs settled in Livingston around 1795, conserving their own language, music & religion. Livingston is the only Carib settlement in Guatemala, which makes it a very unique place in our country. This colorful town is located on the north bank of Rio Dulce, making it the gateway between the river and the Caribbean.



The Garifuna are very proud of their traditions, and their distinct customs, food and music, which set Livingston apart from the rest of Guatemala. Complete with their own language and culture, the ambience in Livingston reminds visitors more of Belize and the Caribbean than of Latin America, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons why Livingston appears at the top of the itinerary of many visitors to the area.
Keeping in mind that the reggae is fierce here, as is the incredible seafood. You will also have the best banana pancakes of your life. These descendants of escaped slaves really know how to kick back.
As there are no roads to Livingston, the town can only be reached by boat. Getting there is not a problem, though, since many lanchas are available that connect Livingston with Rio Dulce, Puerto Barrios and southern Belize.

Cool right? Hardly. With the recent storms and not being tourist season I had a totally different experience than the usual tourist.


Watermelon Licuado was the one good thing that came from my trip to Livingston

After watching a morning soccer game of Holland we took a chicken bus to Antigua. We stayed at the Jungle Retreat, which gave us free breakfasts. It took us 3 transfers on the chicken buses to finally arrive later afternoon in Antigua. The most popular city for Westerners to live, retreat, and retire in Guatemala. You could feel the wealth of the foreingers here. Everything was clean. Police roamed the streets to keep the tourists safe.

Ben and I decided to do different things on Sunday. I took a bus to ChiChicastinango which in known for there enormous market. Ben went to Pacaya.


I had a enjoyable day in ChiChi. I got a purse, and a face mask for a steal. The lady was upset at me for getting the mask for such a low price she would give me a bag to put it in. I bought tamales, and a delicious smoothie made from mango and a few other tropical fruits.





There was a really cool indoor produce market, a lot of people were in their traditional tribal dresses. I wandered around with a lady, June.




We walked up to a really cool cemetary.



Although in the afternoon a had a newly acquired infestation of scabies on my neck, creeping onto my face. It was the first time I couldn't stand the purtitis is caused. I cried. I took a shower and vigorously scrubbed my skin without the relief I sought after. When Ben returned we discussed our day. He was disappointed by the lack of lava and recommended me not to spend the money to see it.

Ben and I discovered some food stalls by a church that had papusa's, sweet corn drink, and sandwiches. It was probably the tastiest street food I'd eaten in Guatemala.



I left Ben, wandering in pain aimlessly. It was a bit of a miracle that I came upon the pharmacy I did. They had this cream meant to treat the itch mite, yep that is what I had. The soap wasn't doing the trick rather destroying my skin. After one application and a nights sleep, my face had no trace of the parasite.

I walked around the city in the morning. Weaving North & South, East & West. There were many churches, and cobble stone streets.



I came across a ghetto fair, with all kinds of run down rides, and 'fair food' I purchased some tacos, and a nasty chocolate covered apple. America has a way with food, making it all taste so delicious.

Ben and I hiked up the hillside of Antigua to a cross to get an overlook of Antigua.

Ben found a fantastic Pandeleria.