Guatemala Day 1: Embarking on a journey

This morning the bus was filled with feelings of grogginess and excitement.  By the time dawn broke we were wavinggoodbye to Wal Mart, and starting our long trek to the exotic country of Guatemala.  13 hours and 2 flights later we were walking into a very foreign country.  With the only spanish phrase I know being, “no hablas espagnol” I was ready for adventure.  Already planning on relying heavily on my trip mates as well as my excellent charades abilities.

When we finally landed in Guatemala we were greeted at the airport by our group coordinators and some delightful Guatemalan children.  A little boy took it upon himself to draw us a few quick doodles as we were packing up.  I snapped a quick picture of him as we were leaving and we were off.

An hour later we were pulling up to our host families in Antigua.  The host family I was with was this adorable middle aged woman.  She welcomed us into her home with a hot meal and lots of laughter.  Her house, like the classic Guatemalen household, was surprisingly large.  The garden area is in the middle with rooms on either side. We were not the only foreigners staying with her, and as a result my roommate was a girl around my age from San Diego.  The solo man of the group was also forced to share a room with one of the older Canadian men in the house.

 

Pictures to come later!!