Buenos Dias Guatemala

At last a good sleep for more than a couple of hours. 

I’m not a breakfast person but this morning I have a few hours to kill before I’m collected to start my assignment and breakfast was included in my tariff so here I am. 

A half decent coffee, papas, frijoles con tomate y platano freis (spuds, beans in tomato and fried plantain); tasty, light and just what I needed. Breakfast isn’t breakfast without toast and that needs a spread. NZ butter would be my spread of choice but oh well I may as well give the local stuff a try. And jolly good it was too. 

Then I read the paquete:

No wonder. 

And so my adventure began. As arranged I was collected from the hotel by a driver from Maximo Nivel, the company that manages to volunteer network on Guatemala for IVHQ. Maximo Nivel are also a language school and have not only live in students but younger volunteers staying there as well. As an old fart I get to stay in a local home, something I have been dreading but here goes. 

I am writing as we drive to Antigua City taking it all in as we go.  I’m excited to be once again in unfamiliar surroundings and able to appreciate the differences  to home. 

I’m wearing my seatbelt. Neither driver or the other guy are. No one is speaking but I’m happy to just sit and take it in. 

Vendors are on the road side hawking to the traffic, kiosks on the road side sell anything you can think of, hundreds of power/phone lines hanging off poles that look to be falling over, unfamiliar signs (that surprisingly I can mainly understand), shantys and ramshackle shops, then up pops a shiny new McDonalds, a slick apartment building and a modern school. Contrasts we dont see at home. 

The road dips deep into one of the many valleys carved between the hill tops. The undulations make transmission gully seem flat. There are trees and green everywhere. The word Guatemala means Green Trees. 
Chicken buses (old discarded US busses) crawl past, crowded with people and painted up like a piece of art. I expected them to be ramshackle; they aren’t but are definitely pre-historic. I read they are real cheap the travel in. 

The journey continues along the concrete slab road (actually really nice except for the vibration that you get as you pass over the joins), the scenery and the green are spectacular. We take a turn off and we soon drive onto boneshaking stone roads. Just like they used to be. (In fact they have to be regularly torn up and re-laid as the stones and the infill deteriorate). 

I don’t know how to describe how beautiful the place is. Low level buildings painted hues of ochre, rust or white, tiled roofs, decorated doors, character just oozing out. I was gobsmacked the moment we arrived. 

It is now 8:30pm and I write as I lie on my bed in my homestay. My host is a lovely lady called Jessica and she lives with her two sons and rents out rooms, some above her some and some down the way. More on that later. 

The driver takes me to the Maximo Nivel to sign in. Their premises are also home to a number of foreign students, meeting rooms, hangouts, kiosk and I guess their offices. The setting is glorious and with a stunning view of some of the volcanoes in the distance. A quite recce and then I am taken to Jessica’s place. 

My room is basic, very basic but clean. I get to share a bathroom with three others that stay here and Jessica provides breakfast (which I dont eat) and dinner at 7:00pm. 

That done and I walked back to Maximo Nivel (10 minutes walk) for our briefing. I’m hungry and I want to go exploring so am happy when its over and we do an orientation walk. 

The place is crawling with tourists but they are mainly Latin Americans so for me its just like hanging with the locals. I pass a market and have a nosey, street food to die for. Further along restaurants to please every palate. I am sad that I am committed to dinner each night as there are so many food places to try. Beautiful old buildings, churches, art shops, museums all bursting with character and all telling me ‘not today’. I cant wait to explore. 

Sadly I only have a few pics as I was so gobsmacked I didn’t think of photos but over the next few days there will be lots. 

Orientation over I walk back to my ‘home’ for the next five days weary but buzzing with excitement. 

Jessica had dinner waiting and I dined with other guests. Women from UK, Denmark, USA and a guy from Canada. Some volunteering and some here to learn Spanish. Guatemala offers the cheapest Spanish schools anywhere so people come for a week or two to get a head start on the language. 

Dinner was quite good unremarkable, black beans with fried plantain and rice. All traditional foods but not enough to fill my big toe. That suits me because now I can have an early dinner out and come back for a top up. 

Tomorrow at 7:30am I am being assessed for Spanish proficiency so I can get some Spanish lessons while I am here. I will then be taken to my assignment, working with the elderly in a nursing home. It sounds a bit different to the stint I did in Argentina where the elderly were mobile and attending community centres. 

Already I have booked a salsa class and a cooking lesson for Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons which will still leave me time to explore this gorgeous place.