Another week gone by in Sumpango! This week has been very busy, per usual. I rode more camionetas. Friday was quite an eventful day. We met for Spanish class at 8 am at a volunteer’s house. At 10 we made our way to the gasionera (or the gas station by the Pan American highway). We then caught a bus to Guatemala City, or Guate. Everything was going smoothly on the bus (I got a seat!), until about 10 minutes in. We came to a full stop. We sat in traffic for a good 30 minutes and arrived near where the road splits, to Guate or Antigua. The police directed us towards Antigua, which was really frustrating! We sat in traffic on the road to Antigua (I apologize for not knowing the name of the highway) to wait to turn around. We turned around and got on our way back to Guate! We arrived back on the Pan American highway and there was more traffic, but it moved pretty quickly. We went a couple miles and saw a non-normal amount of people standing by the other side of the street (It is a highway with a split down the middle.)
My Spanish teacher, Isabel, who comes with us on most trips, spoke on the phone to another Spanish teacher, Felipe, who was also heading to Guate that day. Now keep in mind that on this trip, we were only allowed to speak Spanish, so naturally I understood less that I would have in English. Isabel said that there was a robbery on a camioneta and that is what was causing all of the traffic. Now I am going to tell the rest of the story, however I want to warn family members and make sure they know that this does not happen often. So the camioneta was heading from Guate to San Lucas (a city in between Guate and Antigua). Evidently the robbers stopped traffic and robbed the camioneta at 7 am this morning. I don’t know much else of the story, but I know that there were 4 fatalities and 10 injuries.
We arrived in Guate at about 11:30 and went to the mall (oh yeah, that’s right). We got a taxi, and the five of us (Richard, Sahisha, Riley, Isabel, and myself) all fit into one cab. We took the taxi to the American embassy, and it took us about 15 minutes. We walked around the American embassy, not inside, literally around. You might think: why would you not go inside? Well we had similar thoughts. Peace Corps defined this trip to Guate, and we were only supposed to know how to get to the American embassy. Since I have never been out of the United States before this trip, I never really knew how America operated in other countries. Let me just say: It is serious! There are no pictures allowed, you go through rigorous security, and there are guards all the way around the complex.
We walked another kilometer and found the hospital Peace Corps uses in Guate. Again, we only had to know where it is, rather than actually go in. I hope I never have to know that information in my two years here. We called a taxi, well I say we, but really it was Riley. I didn’t have the courage to try and talk in Spanish over the phone. I will though. We caught a taxi back to the mall, which is called MiraFlores.
We arrived at MiraFlores, and went and found food. I was like an animal searching for its dinner; I was starving. This mall is huge, at least bigger than all of the malls in Nashville. There are three floors, with a wide variety of stores. Many stores are American, or sell American products. In MiraFlores, some American stores include Forever 21, New Balance, 4 McDonalds, Sketchers, and Victoria’s Secret. I had Burger King for lunch. It was truly amazing! While I have only been in Guatemala for 2 weeks, I am already starting to miss American food. And just the taste of greasy, unhealthy fast food made me feel at home. I then spent more money on a chocolate gelato, and an awesome mocha. I spent a total of 60Q on food, which sounds like a lot, but it’s actually about $9. (Side note: I did get sick last night from all the food, but I have reflected on it, and it was so worth it!)
We left Guate at about 2, and headed back for Sumpango. There was no traffic, so it took us about 50 minutes. The four of us got back to Sumpango and walked around for about an hour. We climbed a huge cobblestone hill, in which I would be afraid to go down. I, of course, did not have my camera, as I left it home for the trip to Guate. The views were amazing, and I am going to get pictures soon!
Today was another day of class, and then we went home to have lunch, and met back up to walk around. We walked up this huge hill, and I would think it has to be one of the biggest hills in the city. We were so wiped, so we found a panderia, and got some tres leche. I am now sitting on the roof of Sahisha’s house, using her internet. It is very sunny and I hope to get some resemblance of a tan. Hasta luego!
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