Week 1: Guatemala City

I decided to write a blog because I thought it would be more interesting and detailed than a brief facebook comment or a generic email. It will also act as a journal for myself, which should provide accurate details of my trip that I can read in the future to reminisce. After the incessant and mundane drinking that took place whilst I was on exchange in South Korea, the whole trip turned out to be quite a blur.

I must admit that in the days leading up to my departure from Australia I was excited, yet apprehensive. It is quite daunting not only to travel to a foreign country by yourself, but also to a country where your native (and only) language is not widely spoken. Not only that, but I am travelling to Central America, a region that has an unenviable reputation. So why did I decide to go there? Because during my time in South Korea I met many European polyglots and Latin Americans that were bilingual and I decided I wanted to learn another language, in an effort of self-actualisation. My anxiety, however, was eradicated shortly after landing.

I made it to Guatemala City after a horrid 30 hour commute from Brisbane Airport. The flight to LA was seemingly fast, which can be attested to a charasmatic and talkative Aussie chick who sat next to me and was keen to sink some beers despite them costing $7 each. After that, things went downhill. LA airport was atrocious: poorly organised, long queues, thorough customs checks and flight delays. Once I arrived in Guatemala I was suprisingly upbeat and energetic. Candy, whom I met whilst on exchange in South Korea and also stayed at my place when visiting Australia, and her brother, Andres, picked me up from the airport. Candy, her sister and I went to a Mexican restuarant that night at about 11pm despite the streets being eerily quiet and heavy rainfall.

There are a few things that I noticed about Guatemala at first:

1) There are barbed-wire fences everywhere. Houses resemble fortresses.

2) There are security/military/police at virtually every street corner armed with shotguns or rifles.

3) It is common for families to have a full-time maid, who live with them.

4) The Guatemalans are very short. I have encountered about 3 people that are of similar height to me, even after visiting several shopping centres.

My only responsibilities in the first week were to get out of bed, shower and go to bed. Candy had organised activities for virtually every minute of every day. The next day Candy, her sister, her sister's boyfriend Jose, their friend Oliver and I had a tour at the Gallo brewery. Gallo is the most famous beer in Guatemala. After the five of us acted somewhat interested in the brewing process we enjoyed some free "samples".

Next we trekked to Antigua, a touristic city in Guatemala. There we drank quite a lot and I was taught some Guatemalan drinking techniques. The following day Candy took me to some malls so I could buy some sunglasses. I also tried a "choco banano", which is a frozen banana completely dipped in chocolate and covered in 100s and 1000s and nuts. An afternoon session of 4-Kings followed and then the group of us went to an Australian bar called Rattle 'n' Hum. We met Guisela, who is another exchange student that I met in South Korea. She had also stayed at my house in Australia.

The following day I toured the city centre, which is allegedly one of the dangerous parts of the city. I toured museums and cathedrals and also saw the infamous Guatemala City sinkhole. We also managed to have some fun at a carnival, which was reminsicent of a school fete. We went down a slippery slide on potato sacks and shot pellet guns at targets to win prizes. Embarassingly, I was the only person to miss the first shot, which included Candy and her sister.

On the friday, we did some adventure sports such as flying fox, rockclimbing, and some high ropes obstacle courses. It was very fun. That night I went out for dinner with Candy's mum, whom is a very busy woman. In fact I had not seen her since the night I arrived and I felt very guilty considering she had offered a room, food and much more. So it was nice to have a meal at a restaurant with the family. After that we went to a very latin bar and I felt an obligation to learn salsa after feeling very out of place. I was offered to dance numerous times from the girls but due to my sobriety and inability to dance, let alone salsa, I declined.

The next day we spent a ludicrous amount of time looking for a shirt at the malls and came out empty handed. That night a second, Guatemalan-themed birthday party was arranged for me. It was good to see how the Latin people celebrate the occasion. There was a piñata and lots of Candy's family and friends came to celebrate. Two German students from Korea even made it, who made a detour from their Mexican holiday. It was a very loose, yet very enjoyable night.

Unfortunately, the next day I had to venture off to the location in which I would call home for the next three weeks and commence studying spanish. That was when reality sank in the fun and games would have to diminish a little. I had one of the best weeks of my life in Guatemala City. The people were so friendly and hospitable, I was quite sad that I was leaving. Candy had been an excellent host and before I knew it, the week was over.