Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks Week Four: Guatemala
Good morning, y'all! Today we get to explore Guatemala in our fictional story, Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks. I hope you enjoy it and maybe grab some coffee to drink or a chocolate bar to munch on while you read.
Around the World in Fifty-Two WeeksWeek Four: Guatemala
After telling Sophie I didn’t care what I did and to book my week however she wanted to, I spent more than half of the twenty-one hour long trip from Beijing to Guatemala City, Guatemala watching documentaries on the Mayan civilization. I was therefore thrilled to receive an email from Sophie when I landed letting me know she had booked a short flight for the next afternoon to the Santa Elena airport. From there it was only a twenty-eight mile drive to Tikal, some of the most impressive Mayan ruins in the world. Sophie ended the email with, Visiting Tikal has always been top of my bucket list, so I thought you could do it for me and I’d live virtually through your blogs and vlogs. Have fun, be safe, and let me know if you have any questions. Since I had a little over twenty-four hours in the capital, I got my luggage than headed toward the doors to find a taxi. Thankfully I spoke a decent amount of Spanish from high school so it was a lot easier finding my way around than it had been during the last few weeks. Warm air and a cantata of noises hit me when I stepped out of the airport. A flood of memories brought happy tears to my travel-wearied eyes and a huge smile stretched across my face. I had visited South America once when I was a teenager, and even though this was Central America, the sights, sounds, and smells brought a rush of memories back. All of a sudden I was ready and rearing to go. I wanted to explore. To walk down the streets. To breathe in the smells and sounds and experience everything. Hailing a taxi, I gave the address of the hotel Sophie had booked for me, then leaned against the back seat and held on tightly to the door handle. Drivers in the city were crazy. The signs and painted lines on the road seemed to be more for decoration than anything else as we jostled and jolted to stops and cut corners way too close to the sidewalks and nearly missed hitting other vehicles and numerous people. I arrived at the hotel in one piece which I didn’t take for granted, and hurried to check in. It wasn’t long though until my hurrying was replaced with a placid attitude. Life in Guatemala was set to a whole different pace than China and after waiting for several minutes to talk to the hotel clerk, I decided to embrace the slower wheel of life and soak it in. After settling into my hotel room and taking a couple of minutes to wash up, I put on the small backpack an Exploration Airlines worker had packed for me and then headed down the street to find somewhere to eat. The backpack included a travel guide, some quetzal (which is the currency of Guatemala), an itinerary of when I was flying to Santa Elena and when I was flying back to Guatemala City, and several other helpful items. Sophie had told me during China, where I spent a fair amount of time doing menial yet time-eating tasks like finding travel guides and exchanging money, that she would take care of that for the rest of the year. That would certainly make life a lot easier. Sophie was a gem to work with. After wandering around on the streets for about a half an hour enjoying the bright colors and happy smiles of the people around me, I ducked into a promising looking cafe and found a seat. It wasn’t long before I had a plate of beans and rice and tamales in front of me. As I bowed my head to thank God for the food the delicious aroma of it wafted up and filled my senses. I forced myself to eat slowly and savor each bite, even though it was so yummy I wanted to gobble it all up at once. The tamales had a spicy bite to them and made my mouth water, but they were oh, so delicious. Everything was seasoned just right and even though the food wasn’t fancy, it was some of the best food I had eaten in several weeks. I watched out the window as I ate. The narrow street was incredibly full of people carrying large bundles tied to their backs, vehicles rumbling along at a slow pace, and animals being chased. Feeling something under the table I looked down and felt my eyes widen at the mangy dog that nosed around, eating scrapes that a previous diner must of dropped. I sat there for a moment, watching it, wondering why no one was shooing it away. Then it hit me that this was normal. No one noticed because no one cared. Dogs entering a restaurant were just life. After lunch I took a taxi to Museo Popol Vuh, a museum I had read about in the guide book. It wasn’t a large museum, but I relaxed and took my time walking through and reading the different plaques. Museo Popol Vuh had all sorts of artifacts from the Mayan Civilization, and seeing everything made me excited about going to the ruins the next day. The fight and subsequent drive to Tikal was beautiful. The name Guatemala means ‘Land of the Trees’ in Maya-Toltec language and it was easy to see where the moniker came from. Guatemala was a very mountainous and highly wooded. It’s the 107th largest country in the world and has the highest Jade production of anywhere. During the flight I sat next to a Tikal tour guide who was just getting back from visiting his brother in Florida. The flight time flew by all to fast as he told me about his beloved country. At one point he said the top export of Guatemala was coffee. Then he stopped talking for a moment and held up his hand, pausing the conversation, “You have got to try our coffee while you're here.” “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.” “But no!” Carlos shook his head. “I did not say you should keep it in mind. This is a must for anyone visiting our land; especially if you are writing abut it for other people like you are. No visit to Guatemala is complete without tasting our coffee.” Laughing at his seriousness, I jotted a reminder for myself on my phone where I had been taking notes, “There, is that better?” I smiled as I held my phone out for him to see. “Ah yes, much better, much better.” Then, with a grin he continued telling me about the people and customs and life that he was such a part of.
The next day I went on a Carlos-guided tour to Tikal. The ruins were impressive, far more so because of all the studying I had done in the previous forty-eight hours. Our group did a lot of hiking and gasping in wonder and snapping pictures. I shot some footage for a vlog and Carlos even let me interview him in front of the Tikal Temple which is an impressive 154 feet tall and was built somewhere around the 4th century BC. Listening to Carlos, my mind could hardly comprehend all the work that had taken place on the piece of ground where I was standing. Not only had the Mayans of ancient times worked diligently to build the city and then keep it up, but since the “Lost City” had been rediscovered by explorers in1848, innumerable man hours have been dedicated to the project. All around the ruins were towering ceiba trees, the national tree of Guatemala. They were different from what I was used to and after our vigorous hiking I enjoyed sitting next to one of the towering trunk, munching on a delicious chocolate bar, the first of which was invented in Guatemala during the Mayan times. Between the coffee, claim to fame regarding chocolate bars, beauty of the landscape, wonder of the ruins, and friendliness of the people, it was not hard to imagine why 1.2 million people visit the country each year.
After a delightful few days of exploring and meeting new people, I spent Saturday in the Market Place, looking for a gift to send home to Sophie. I ended up buying her some of the most delicious coffee I had ever tasted. Sunday morning I was pleased to find a local church to attend, then early Monday morning I was back at the globe, my adventure in Guatemala over and a new adventure about to begin.
Around the World in Fifty-Two WeeksWeek Four: Guatemala
After telling Sophie I didn’t care what I did and to book my week however she wanted to, I spent more than half of the twenty-one hour long trip from Beijing to Guatemala City, Guatemala watching documentaries on the Mayan civilization. I was therefore thrilled to receive an email from Sophie when I landed letting me know she had booked a short flight for the next afternoon to the Santa Elena airport. From there it was only a twenty-eight mile drive to Tikal, some of the most impressive Mayan ruins in the world. Sophie ended the email with, Visiting Tikal has always been top of my bucket list, so I thought you could do it for me and I’d live virtually through your blogs and vlogs. Have fun, be safe, and let me know if you have any questions. Since I had a little over twenty-four hours in the capital, I got my luggage than headed toward the doors to find a taxi. Thankfully I spoke a decent amount of Spanish from high school so it was a lot easier finding my way around than it had been during the last few weeks. Warm air and a cantata of noises hit me when I stepped out of the airport. A flood of memories brought happy tears to my travel-wearied eyes and a huge smile stretched across my face. I had visited South America once when I was a teenager, and even though this was Central America, the sights, sounds, and smells brought a rush of memories back. All of a sudden I was ready and rearing to go. I wanted to explore. To walk down the streets. To breathe in the smells and sounds and experience everything. Hailing a taxi, I gave the address of the hotel Sophie had booked for me, then leaned against the back seat and held on tightly to the door handle. Drivers in the city were crazy. The signs and painted lines on the road seemed to be more for decoration than anything else as we jostled and jolted to stops and cut corners way too close to the sidewalks and nearly missed hitting other vehicles and numerous people. I arrived at the hotel in one piece which I didn’t take for granted, and hurried to check in. It wasn’t long though until my hurrying was replaced with a placid attitude. Life in Guatemala was set to a whole different pace than China and after waiting for several minutes to talk to the hotel clerk, I decided to embrace the slower wheel of life and soak it in. After settling into my hotel room and taking a couple of minutes to wash up, I put on the small backpack an Exploration Airlines worker had packed for me and then headed down the street to find somewhere to eat. The backpack included a travel guide, some quetzal (which is the currency of Guatemala), an itinerary of when I was flying to Santa Elena and when I was flying back to Guatemala City, and several other helpful items. Sophie had told me during China, where I spent a fair amount of time doing menial yet time-eating tasks like finding travel guides and exchanging money, that she would take care of that for the rest of the year. That would certainly make life a lot easier. Sophie was a gem to work with. After wandering around on the streets for about a half an hour enjoying the bright colors and happy smiles of the people around me, I ducked into a promising looking cafe and found a seat. It wasn’t long before I had a plate of beans and rice and tamales in front of me. As I bowed my head to thank God for the food the delicious aroma of it wafted up and filled my senses. I forced myself to eat slowly and savor each bite, even though it was so yummy I wanted to gobble it all up at once. The tamales had a spicy bite to them and made my mouth water, but they were oh, so delicious. Everything was seasoned just right and even though the food wasn’t fancy, it was some of the best food I had eaten in several weeks. I watched out the window as I ate. The narrow street was incredibly full of people carrying large bundles tied to their backs, vehicles rumbling along at a slow pace, and animals being chased. Feeling something under the table I looked down and felt my eyes widen at the mangy dog that nosed around, eating scrapes that a previous diner must of dropped. I sat there for a moment, watching it, wondering why no one was shooing it away. Then it hit me that this was normal. No one noticed because no one cared. Dogs entering a restaurant were just life. After lunch I took a taxi to Museo Popol Vuh, a museum I had read about in the guide book. It wasn’t a large museum, but I relaxed and took my time walking through and reading the different plaques. Museo Popol Vuh had all sorts of artifacts from the Mayan Civilization, and seeing everything made me excited about going to the ruins the next day. The fight and subsequent drive to Tikal was beautiful. The name Guatemala means ‘Land of the Trees’ in Maya-Toltec language and it was easy to see where the moniker came from. Guatemala was a very mountainous and highly wooded. It’s the 107th largest country in the world and has the highest Jade production of anywhere. During the flight I sat next to a Tikal tour guide who was just getting back from visiting his brother in Florida. The flight time flew by all to fast as he told me about his beloved country. At one point he said the top export of Guatemala was coffee. Then he stopped talking for a moment and held up his hand, pausing the conversation, “You have got to try our coffee while you're here.” “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.” “But no!” Carlos shook his head. “I did not say you should keep it in mind. This is a must for anyone visiting our land; especially if you are writing abut it for other people like you are. No visit to Guatemala is complete without tasting our coffee.” Laughing at his seriousness, I jotted a reminder for myself on my phone where I had been taking notes, “There, is that better?” I smiled as I held my phone out for him to see. “Ah yes, much better, much better.” Then, with a grin he continued telling me about the people and customs and life that he was such a part of.
The next day I went on a Carlos-guided tour to Tikal. The ruins were impressive, far more so because of all the studying I had done in the previous forty-eight hours. Our group did a lot of hiking and gasping in wonder and snapping pictures. I shot some footage for a vlog and Carlos even let me interview him in front of the Tikal Temple which is an impressive 154 feet tall and was built somewhere around the 4th century BC. Listening to Carlos, my mind could hardly comprehend all the work that had taken place on the piece of ground where I was standing. Not only had the Mayans of ancient times worked diligently to build the city and then keep it up, but since the “Lost City” had been rediscovered by explorers in1848, innumerable man hours have been dedicated to the project. All around the ruins were towering ceiba trees, the national tree of Guatemala. They were different from what I was used to and after our vigorous hiking I enjoyed sitting next to one of the towering trunk, munching on a delicious chocolate bar, the first of which was invented in Guatemala during the Mayan times. Between the coffee, claim to fame regarding chocolate bars, beauty of the landscape, wonder of the ruins, and friendliness of the people, it was not hard to imagine why 1.2 million people visit the country each year.
After a delightful few days of exploring and meeting new people, I spent Saturday in the Market Place, looking for a gift to send home to Sophie. I ended up buying her some of the most delicious coffee I had ever tasted. Sunday morning I was pleased to find a local church to attend, then early Monday morning I was back at the globe, my adventure in Guatemala over and a new adventure about to begin.
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