Have You Heard From Laura?

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I left San Francisco Saturday morning after 3 hours of sleep. On the flight to Dallas, I met Solon, a grad student a UCSF, also on his way to Guatemala. Solon is a second timer and is studying Spanish to help him in his new career as a nurse practitioner. Solon was a little concerned that I was flying into Guatemala city late on a Saturday night without reservations. Guatemala city has a reputation as a dangerous place, but I have a reputation for not planning ahead.

As luck would have it, at the Guatemala airport, there is a tourist information booth that is helpful with reservations. I booked a room in Antigua and quickly got a cab from the chaotic airport. The traffic was very light as it was about 11pm, but the smog was intense and I quickly developed a monster headache from the fumes. The cab driver couldn’t have been nicer. We chatted about everything on the 50 min drive to Antigua.

The hotel was fine at $20 US a night. I put earplugs in and went right to sleep. I was exhausted.

In the morning, Gail, who runs Posada de Merced, sent me to La Escalonia for brunch. It’s a plant nursery and garden restaurant. EXCELLENT recomendation. I relaxed in the garden and had a great breakfast of tea, juice, eggs with tomato salso, black beans and plantains.

I spend the afternoon walking around Antigua, which is really very cute. I later met Martin from England. He gave me some recommendations and introduced me to some German girls who also had some travel recs. We enjoyed the sunset from the Sky Bar, a true gringo hangout.

The mountains around Antigua are just gorgeous. The food has been great so far. I’m off now to meet my new gringo friends for evening drinks. I’ll decide about Spanish school and the rest of my trip tomorrow after Klaus arrives. Right now I’m really in the mood to climb a volcano. I think this is what I need to do first to work out the kinks of SF city life.

volcabulario el dia:
niebla – fog
puedo tener – may i have

Tags: , Antigua, Guatemala City, travel day

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