Guate (only a month late)

I've always bragged that I lived in a global south country and never had "anything" happen to me; this trip set a few things straight. Enjoy the chronicles of (mis)adventure. As you may recall, the time surrounding Christmas was especially blustery. In fine midwestern fashion, it took us 7 hours to travel from GR to Chicago--leaving NO time for me to pack a suitcase. My roommate met us at the highway with a few things and rushed us to the airport. We arrived after Tasha's flight was scheduled to leave, but due to the massive sheet of ice spread over the midwest, we were able to make it out of O'hare.

Our first day in Guate, we headed out to Coban (about 4 hours from the city) in hopes to spend a day enjoying the water at Semuc Champey. The drive went well (minus the scare of being pulled into a police checkpoint--never know what you're going to get there) and we made it to Coban. As we went to book our trip to Semuc, we learned that we needed to pay in cash. No problem, ATM down the road. Unfortunately, that ATM decided to consume my card...yes, my only ties to cash were embedded in the bowels of an ATM in Coban, AltaVerapaz, Guatemala. Sweet, right? To add on, no cash=no Semuc. So, the next day we turned around and went back to the city.

Beautiful drive, Great conversation, not a complete loss.

We went out for dinner and decided on Antigua for the next day. That is, until Tasha woke up with her eyes swollen shut! A severe allergic reaction led me to believe we might have to take a trip to the hospital (which are even scarier than the police checkpoints). No need, swelling and bulging went down and we were able to enjoy Antigua with 75% of our vision in tact.

Things started turning around here. The next day we went to the ruins at Mixco Viejo with some friends from school. Mixco Viejo marks the edge of the Spaniards' path of conquering. The ruins were very different from any I'd seen, and I love the histroy. The only downfall of this day was a touch of carsickness from the windy/bumpy roads there. Not bad.


From there on, we were home free. Spent a day in the city market shopping and a day at the spa with pools heated by natural hot springs and cheap massages. Couldn't ask for more! After Tasha left, I spent time catching up with friends from my time in Guate. I got to climb the volcano with the Greene's (YL staff in Guate), navigate through random "ecological parks" with Sherry and Javier, catch up with Trisha (my old roommate), spend a day at school seeing students, help out at soccer practice with the new freshman goalie, and spend time with my dear friend Karina and her super sweet daughter Ily.


All around, it was a great time to be back in the country I love with people who played an extremely important role in my life.