In central america central time seems to mean any time you want.
My tab is my clock and it knows I'm in guatemala because it keeps changing my server or browser to spanish:( but after sleeping for 12 hours when I get up at 10am for breakfast I'm told my free breakfast is over because they are in their own time zone and it is really 11am, so I buy pasta for breakfast.ricardo did a great job and right on time my shuttle comes straight to the hostel and we drive 3.5 hours to san pedro.i ride next to the coolest person I have ever met and we arrive in the most beautiful town I have ever seen. Again my driver takes me right up to my destination and my host mother walks me to my new home. It is seriously nothing like I expected big and homey and she slowly explains everything to me in spanish,i think I understand like half of what she says but she is so patient and kind its like she is willing me to understand and I think its working. She has three daughters and no sons and with me she has three more temporary girls so her husband is the only guy but he is just like her patient and kind, they have the closest thing to an aura I have ever experienced, when you are here you just relax.the town is the same way all steep cobblestone roads overlooking a huge beautiful lake a 5 min walk away.one of the other temporary family members is here volunteering as a myan culture teacher, she speaks perfect spanish and english and acts happily as a home teacher, she is my kindered spirit lol.after an amazing dinner she walks us all around town to the"bars"that play movies and close at 11 and the churches that are constantly setting off fireworks, at night everyone, locals and gringos alike, just go outside and walk around town. I have more people bother me or make cat calls or anything in the states not once since I have been in san pedro have I heard anything uncomfortable, the most I have been made uncomfortable is today when like the oldest man in town who is like 90 years old, nearly blind and with only 4 teeth tricked me into kissing him on the lips. we were saying goodbye to him and he asked each of us to give him a kiss on the cheek which is normal but because he is almost blind he needs to hold your hands and then your face and he just turned mine towards his and kissed me, and did the same to my friendbut it was only playful and absolutely not perverse.i walked into the hostel and the owner recognized me from my less than 24 hours in antigua and said of course I could swim in the indoor pool anytime no problem I was a vip guest i could do anything I wanted at his hostel, everyone is friends with everyone. I love this place.
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteYou probably wonder who in the heck I am but I am a fan of yours already and just so you know, I work with your Dad Charlie and am not some kind of wierd stalker. I'm Lora and I'm excited to be following your travels. I have some Guatamalean connections, mostly through my late husband Mike who spent what his parents called his "lost year" traveling aroung Guatamala and Central America. I have many momentos of his journeys, the most incredible being the photos he took, the weavings and art he collected and carried everywhere we went while he hitchhiked around and slept under trees and on beaches. He did start out in Guatamala City where his friends owned an import store, but then just took off on a great adventure.
I also write for a series of travels blogs for a marketing focus group. I recently finished a study of New Mexico and Southeastern Montana, no too exciting but interesting nevertheless. And they pay me!
I've trekked the Annapurnas in Nepal in 2008, traveled the southern Thai islands, sailed the San Juans and the Grenadines and love your spirit of adventure.
Safe travels to you my dear, I'll be following your great adventure!
REgards, Lora