¡Bienvenidos!
I arrived safely in Guatemala City yesterday. The flight was long and I only slept about three hours in total (que triste). I arrived at the airport, went through customs, with minimal complications (I didn´t know I was supposed to fill out any formas.) I found a tour guide at the airport who helped me grab a taxi and off I went. Carlos was muy rapido, dodging in and out of los autobuses, las policias, y los motocycles (sp?). All the way to the alamo bus station.
The thing about Guatemale city (and all cities in Guatemala) is it´s divided into zones, not unlike my diet. The worst part of Guatemala city is Zona 1. This is the area where you might find Jesus. Jesus Gonzales, that is, the drug dealer. You may also run into a few "whores", bandidos, and a software pirate or two.
So, guess where the alamo bus station is? Smack in the middle of the carb portion of my diet, Zona 1! Fortunately, there was a nice man with a 12 guage shotgun protecting the station. I think he was part of the police, but one can never be certain in these parts.
Once on the bus, I drifted in and out of sleep being awoken by the occasional passanger pickup, street vendor, and police barracade. I also caught some choice songs on the radio station that the driver was listening to. You haven't lived unless you´ve heard "killing me softly" in spanish.
I finally arrived in Xela (not Xala. Sorry BJ). Took another taxi driven by pedro the pedophile. I swear, he had to honk and whistle at every little girl on the street. Granted, most girls look good in a catholic school uniform, but being that he was 50 and the girls were 11 or 12 years old something wasn´t quite right. He did get me to school in one piece, though.
Once at the school I met Ingrid, the woman who runs the program. She is also the one who decided not to confirm my reservation until I arrived (she is very very nice and accomodating, though.) Fortuantely she did arrange a family for me to stay with and teacher to instruct me.
Well, I need to be off. We´re going on a field trip to a weaving factory. Hopefully I´ll be able to log on soon and tell you all about my family, my classes, and the fellow student who is also tall, white, named matt, and lives in The OC. Confusing!
PS forgive any typing errors. This keyboard is diferente and I don{t have my trusty spellchecker.
I arrived safely in Guatemala City yesterday. The flight was long and I only slept about three hours in total (que triste). I arrived at the airport, went through customs, with minimal complications (I didn´t know I was supposed to fill out any formas.) I found a tour guide at the airport who helped me grab a taxi and off I went. Carlos was muy rapido, dodging in and out of los autobuses, las policias, y los motocycles (sp?). All the way to the alamo bus station.
The thing about Guatemale city (and all cities in Guatemala) is it´s divided into zones, not unlike my diet. The worst part of Guatemala city is Zona 1. This is the area where you might find Jesus. Jesus Gonzales, that is, the drug dealer. You may also run into a few "whores", bandidos, and a software pirate or two.
So, guess where the alamo bus station is? Smack in the middle of the carb portion of my diet, Zona 1! Fortunately, there was a nice man with a 12 guage shotgun protecting the station. I think he was part of the police, but one can never be certain in these parts.
Once on the bus, I drifted in and out of sleep being awoken by the occasional passanger pickup, street vendor, and police barracade. I also caught some choice songs on the radio station that the driver was listening to. You haven't lived unless you´ve heard "killing me softly" in spanish.
I finally arrived in Xela (not Xala. Sorry BJ). Took another taxi driven by pedro the pedophile. I swear, he had to honk and whistle at every little girl on the street. Granted, most girls look good in a catholic school uniform, but being that he was 50 and the girls were 11 or 12 years old something wasn´t quite right. He did get me to school in one piece, though.
Once at the school I met Ingrid, the woman who runs the program. She is also the one who decided not to confirm my reservation until I arrived (she is very very nice and accomodating, though.) Fortuantely she did arrange a family for me to stay with and teacher to instruct me.
Well, I need to be off. We´re going on a field trip to a weaving factory. Hopefully I´ll be able to log on soon and tell you all about my family, my classes, and the fellow student who is also tall, white, named matt, and lives in The OC. Confusing!
PS forgive any typing errors. This keyboard is diferente and I don{t have my trusty spellchecker.
posted by Mateo "El" Barbero at 2:30 PM
7 Comments:
Thanks for bringing me to your blog so safely!! I'm looking forward to reading of your adventuras!! Stay safe, mi amigo... sue xx
I'm glad to here you got there safe.
It's la motocicleta, or la moto for short.
shotguns, pedophiles, speaking spanish...
so what's so different from LA?!?!
Hey Matty! Have fun and be safe, in that order (as Grandma used to say).
Thanks everyone.
Sue, I´m glad you made it. Be safe and have fun...=)
Lazlo, estas tarde chico. Aprendi esta palabra hoy.
rafe,
Hey el smogo grande in guatemala. Mas que LA.
Jake,
It´s good to hear from you. HOw´s modesto?
You have arrived; most excellent!
Wow Matt! What an adventure...I'm glad you invited me to read your blogs. May God bless your journey! p.s. We can't wait for you and BJ to meet Landon. We will be in So. Cal. in August...maybe we can hook up!?
Post a Comment
<< Home