First Day in Guatemala

I'm here! And yesterday was basically a day of travel. A small plane to Houston, then a 737 flight to Guatemala City. From there, I wanted to get to the Linea Dorada bus station, so I took a taxi. Getting the taxi was the most uncomfortable part of the day, just because I really had no idea whether it was a real taxi, and had no idea where we were going. I exited the airport and a man quickly ushered me to a car. I told the driver where I was going, asked the price (70 quetzales / $9... still don't know how reasonable that was), and off we went. I was of course just being a little paranoid, thinking maybe I was getting scammed, but as I spoke some to my driver in broken Spanish, I felt a lot more at ease. I asked him what I could, like, how many zones are in Guatemala city, about how long the drive is, and where I was taking a bus to. He was very friendly!

I spent about 2 hours waiting for the bus at the station, during which I watched a Mexican movie from the 70s that I could kind of understand. The bus arrived, I got on, and it was a comfortable ride (I opted for one of the more cush bus lines... I'll try chicken buses next). The countryside was absolutely gorgeous during the ride. Very lush, with green grass everywhere and beautiful trees with some flowers. I saw several soccer games played by teenagers in these beautiful fields. Also, there was a lot of clear poverty. Most of the structures I saw were cinderblock or corrugated metal. I obviously can't say too much from the view of a bus window, but I'm sure I'll be learning more soon.

I met two friendly people on the bus that are also PLQ students, and they were nice enough to take a taxi with me from the bus station to the hostel I stayed at, as they were staying nearby. So, everything felt really safe and easy. I stayed at Casa de las Amigas, across the street from the school. Met more friendly people, drank some water, took a shower, read a little, and called it a night.

Today I'm starting school at PLQ. It seems wonderful so far. Our orientation included logistics about our stays as well as a political overview of Guatemala for the past 500 years. It was of course very general, but still really informative. I'm excited to learn more about the history, as well as learning Spanish!

Ok, so the play-by-play gets boring after awhile. Hopefully my writing style will improve over the coming weeks!