...and boy are my arms tired!

Where do I even start...

For the past few weeks, I had it in my head that I was going to be flying out on Friday, June 20th...and while that was true, my brain translated 1:35am Friday into 'Friday night' (as in, I would be in the US all of Friday day) rather than 'Thursday night'. So just as I was starting to get a buzz and go out to dinner with Michael at 6pm yesterday, my mom called up to wish me a good flight for that night! Once she said it, it was clear to me that I'd messed up my plans and instead of leaving in 30 hours, I was leaving in 6. It certainly freaked me out at first, but since I've been planning obsessively for the trip (except for, you know, making sure I knew how to read a boarding pass), I was already packed and ready to go.

The flight itself was fine...I slept for about four hours, at which point they woke everyone up for breakfast and Spiderman 3 - a movie that I thought I'd never watch again. It wasn't until the very end of the flight that my neighbors and I started chatting, one of them giving me advice on their favorite places in Guatemala, and the other sharing stories about being a Lit major from Kresge(!). The flight from El Salvador to Guatemala was so short I hardly read five pages out of Shopgirl - it's so nice to read for pleasure again, btw.

I don't know what the hell I was expecting when I landed, but the Guatemala City airport was not it. Large torn up rooms, no place to exchange money, and what seemed to be no walkable exit. My original plan involved walking to a nearby eatery and collecting my thoughts before finding a taxi, but seeing as I couldn't find how to leave the parking lot, I ended up talking to one of the mini shuttle guys who offered me a ride for $10. Pricey, but cheaper than the $35 that the Spanish school offered. It wasn't until we were way over by the shuttle (oh, there's the exit!) and they'd tossed my backpack in the back that I was told we couldn't leave until they had two more passengers and could I wait 20 minutes? Not feeling brave and having an odd loyalty to them for getting their hopes up, I sat outside the van reading Shopgirl while they went back to the terminal. About 30 minutes later I saw a chicken bus pull up and I couldn't believe my eyes - all those pictures Michael had of tiny tiny Guatemalan women in their bright textiles and the giant baskets on their head were true. It was such a trip seeing them all pile out of the bus, having their baskets tossed down from the top to them. It was at that point that I decided that I had no loyalty to anyone but myself - I wanted to get out there and experience Guatemala immediately. So I left and found a chatty taxi driver who charged me $5 to get to the bus station (which, considering the distance and taxis in SF, was absolutely nothing).

Even though I was now at the right cheapo bus, I had no quetzal's - Guatemalan dollars. The taxi driver had been nice enough to let me pay him in US dollars, but I knew I couldn't get away with that on the public transportation. It took me about an hour to find a bank that would exchange money, and in that time I learned:

* You can't carry a giant backpack further than the inside of the front door.
* All banks, car dealerships, and furniture stores have guards that are armed with a mean looking shotgun.
* Guatemala City not only has all of the basic fast food chain, but they also have a Hooters.
* Guatemala City smells like a mixture of gasoline, poop, and garbage.

Needless to say, when I had my $220 quetzal's in my pocket (aka $30US), I was extremely happy to bored the old Blue Bird school bus with the guy leaning out the door yelling "AntiguaAntiguaAntigua". There were some scary moments on the bus (I had no idea they could go that fast around corners!), but I was excited to just stare at the scenery that was getting more beautiful with every mile as we left the big city - everything is green here right now!

When we finally got to Antigua, I didn't recognize it...unlike the Metro buses, there's no announcer letting you know where the hell you are - so I tried to get off where I saw the most people walking around the street. Thankfully that worked out...I was still off the center by several blocks, but it inadvertently gave me a chance to explore. Funny how you can look at as many pictures before you go as you want and it doesn't do a damn thing. :p

The rest of my day has been fairly uneventful - bought a muffin so I could sit, gather my bearings and figure out where I wanted to stay - stepped in a mud puddle that shot dirty water all up my right leg - decided the to stay at the first place I came to ($7, dorm room, free internet, and free breakfast) - took the best shower of my life.

It's 2:30pm now, and I'm debating going out to run some errands (I need to exchange more money/buy a watch/find a rain poncho), going out to take pics (since I have only two of the airport right now), or taking a looooooooong nap. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, it's been a beautiful, slightly overcast day...and it just started thundering hard but sprinkling. It's cooler here than it is in SF right now!

That's a long freaking post, but like I said, it's been an overwhelming 12 hours. Next time, I'll try for pics!