Guate City

Whitney and I have gotten into a pattern of dark and early starts. It's like getting up "bright and early" except the sun isn't up yet and you're so tired that you'd fall asleep standing up if you stood still for any amount of time longer than five seconds.

Our shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 5am but that was 5am Guatemalan time, which can mean anything between 5:05 and 7am. Luckily we were not waiting until after the sun came up and the shuttle arrived around 5:15. It was obvious from looking at the shuttle that it would be nice than the one we took to Panajachel. First of all, there was no luggage on top of it and second of all, it wasn't anywhere near full. There would still be enough twists and turns to rival an Olympic high dive but that can't be helped at this point in time.

We stopped for a bathroom/coffee break about an hour into the ride and since it was surprisingly cold, we ordered chocolate caliente con leche (hot chocolate with milk) to simply hold and warm ourselves up, or in my case, spill on my pants. I drank what was left after it had cooled down to a temperature that wouldn't melt my tongue. I also bought a loaf of what I thought was banana bread since breakfast foods were few and far between... turns out it was carrot bread which was surprisingly pleasant. I picked away at it throughout the remainder of the drive and still have plenty for the next few days.

When we arrived in the city, we actually got dropped off at the airport. Guatemala City has a sketchy reputation so it was easier for our bus driver to drop us there than to take us directly to the hotel, but we still got there in plenty of time. We got changed at our hotel, which is called a hostel, but the rooms are far more private than your typical hostel and off we went. We only had today here but like I said, they've got a bad rep and despite being the capitol, it isn't a place that caters to tourists.

We walked about 15 minutes to the Central Park -- we'd been told that it was the prettiest part of the city and the only traditional tourist attraction that we could walk to, so that's where we went! We arrived at the National Palace at 10:59 which meant that we were just in time for the 11am tour!!! The one snag in the plan... no English. The tour guide came up to us and explained in Spanish that there would be no English but we decided we would go along for the ride since it was a beautiful building and we didn't have any other plans. We did see an information desk when we got inside and asked them if they had any information that might help us in English but they told us that the only translation they had was Korean. Because that's helpful! (Seriously? What a random language to have. I don't think I've seen a single Asian tourist since I've gotten to Central America).

It was ok though because Whitney and I simply made up our own commentary. All you need to know was that it is an important government building, because that's basically all we know now and we paid for the tour! Our best lines of the day included people having to enter a room by sliding on their bellies like penguins, mattress surfing for diplomats ala Princess Diaries 2, a daily performance of The Phantom of the Opera where they drop the chandelier and of course, the incredible architectural fete of being the only building ever constructed from the ceiling down. There were also a lot of murals that needed to be interpreted; essentially the Spaniards wore clothes and the Mayans did not. At one point we found a clock that some might say was two and a half hours behind but I know better; that clock is on Guatemalan time!

After that, we visited a church. There are a lot of churches here but not a lot of information, unfortunately. It was pretty but we left quickly to go to the post office. And then we made the discovery of the century! I thought finding Dunkin Donuts in Antigua was great but the Dunkin Donuts I found in Guate City was better. This Dunkin has a special window... for ice cream. Yup, these Dunkin Donuts do frozen dairy comes! Chocolate, vanilla or twist for less than 50 cents US. Like I said, this was a life changing discovery because I no longer care that there isn't anything to do here, I need to come back. Also, I have seen three Dunkin Donuts in Guatemala which is three more than you can find in the entire state of Montana, so someone needs to get on that pronto.

And then we returned to our hostel. We didn't really have any plans so we ended up committing a cardinal sin of travelers by going to the McDonald's up the street for lunch. Now, I haven't been to a Mickey D's in over a year and a half but I hate to admit that I kind of loved it today. I won't be filling up on Big Macs for the rest of the trip but we actually had a decent lunch.

Next we had a mini Parks and Rec marathon at our hostel. We did our laundry and hung out. We watched Parks and Rec because we wanted to watch Inside Out but we couldn't find anyone who would stream it in Guatemala. TV doesn't exactly play by the same rules and since we were in an Amy Poehler mood, I thought I would introduce Whitney to the brilliance of her show.

We got pizza for dinner because, again, it was easy and are getting ready for bed now since we have ANOTHER early bus ride in the morning (this one to EL SALVADOR!!!). I'm in for a HOT night because although the temperature here had actually been on the cooler side, the mosquitos are out! Our hostel is called La Coperacha, but everyone thinks we're saying La Cucarachas, which we are not because I, unlike Whitney, know what that means and would never stay at a place called The Cockroaches. Names aside, however, that doesn't stop bugs from getting into this open air hostel and our beds actually have mosquito nets over them. Those mosquito nets (which I am sitting under now wearing a long sleeve shirt, yoga pants and long socks) add at least 10 degrees so this should be fun. (I'm telling myself that it is worth it to avoid getting bitten but if I get bitten, I'm not sure what I'll say).

Onto the land of pupusa tomorrow! ¡Adios Guatemala!