I am typing this in an internet center on the Calle Principal of a tiny town in Guatemala called Monterrico, on the Pacific Coast. As I sit here typing this my body is dripping with sweat. This is just about the most humidity I have ever experienced. Maybe Corrumba, Bolivia was worse. If you are outside, on the beach, laying in a hammock as breeze from the ocean blows in, it is quite pleasant here. But right now Im in a little stucco building into which very little air is circulating, even though there are numerous open windows and doors.
So, I will make this short. I basically want to say that I am here, and having a wonderful time. AFter a day of travelling to get here which consisted of 2 hours of driving to OHare, 2 hours of flying to Houston, 6 hours of waiting in the Houston airport, and then 3 hours of flying to Guatemala City, I arrived at the very pleasant Hostel Dos Lunas. After a night there I spent another day travelling from Guatemala City to here, getting my first experience of "chicken buses", the main mode of distance travel in Guatemala - these are actually old school buses from the US and Canada, usually painted some garish combination of colors and given a name and other decorations. I am attempting to upload a photo from my camera of one of these.
Suffice it to say that I eventually made it after 5 hours of travel to get what i think is only about 150 kilometers. But it was fine. The last half hour featured a small boat which took down a mangrove canal from one little village, La Avallana, where the bus route ended, to Monterrico. Monterrico is a dusty little town devoted mostly to weekend Guatemalan beach enthusiasts, and the beach is supposed to be the best in the country. It is a black, obsidian beach, very beautiful, very hot, with beautiful crashing waves. Im staying at a hotel that is literally right on the beach, called Johnnys. I woke up and stepped outside, blinking, and had one of those moments where I couldnt quite remember or believe where i was. Its a paradise. palm trees, hammocks, little bungalows and a bar that serves cheap food and drinks. Various tourists, including several gringos, but not too many, since this is during the week. Overall I am having a thoroughly wonderful time. I am still getting over my cold, but I feel the hot weather burning it out of my body as I lay on the beach.
On Sunday I am due in Xela, the small city in the highlands, not far from here )nothing is THAT far, Guatemala is fairly small. where I will be studying Spanish. Till then, Im just trying to relax, and get some hot climate time in, since Xela is very high altitude and is quite a bit cooler temperature. This sweltering place will help me to appreciate that, I think. Anyway, learning spanish is the important thing, and I feel like even lounging here in this beach town for the last 24 hours i have learned, or reinforced, a lot.
ugh, i am beginning to wonder if i will be able to upload a photo. i have already spent an hour installing software, etc, which has costed me 12 quetzals. only about US$2.70 but i was hoping to be out of this hot room sooner! see what i go through for you? well, screw it. another time. this connectino is too slow, the computer is too slow. fuck it.
but anyway, here i am.