04.07.2009 - 05.07.2009 Neverending journey!!!

04.07.2009 - 05.07.2009 Neverending journey!!!

Although I've got some experience in travelling now and although I know what I need to bring and what not, I had a really hard time packing. After all the hazle and after a very busy week at home I could not wait to finally arrive at my new destination in Guatemala. If it weren't for the journey...

Unfortunately there are no direct flights. I had to fly via New York and Houston. I'm not going to coment on my opinion about the American way of handling things (fingerprints etc...) for I could fill pages on that. Anyway, the journey was going to be long and because I was so excited about it I took one train too early, which unfortunately I only noticed shortly after we left the train station. Gosh, having to be at the airport three hours early for flight to the U.S. is a pain already but I was there nearly four hours early, me - the one person who's rather late than early. Isn't it great to learn from mistakes?

Because I tried the new don't-sleep-much-during-the-night-so-you-are-tired-enough-to-sleep-on-the-plane-tactic - and because I got up one hour too early of course - I only had two hours of sleep. Therefore I really was tired and couldn't wait to get on board. Even before the meals were served they anounced that the board kitchen has run out of coke and the passengers were kindly requested to order something else. Poor American passangers. Other than that the journey was really good. The food was alright, the movie was entertaining and "my" flight attendant Matt was very nice. He asked me about my plans and I told him that I'm heading to Guatemala in order to learn Spanish. For the rest of the journey he adressed me in Spanish which was really cool although most of the time I had to answer in English. He came back all the time to offer me more drinks and to chat.

I was really lucky because the Japanese guy who initially sat next to me decided that he'd rather sit elsewhere and disappeared. Therefore I had two seats for myself. I'm a terrible sleeper in a upright position and now I could cuddle up and sleep lying down.

After about 20 hours of journey I finally finally arrived in Guatemala City shortly after 9pm local time where I was picked up. It was all organized by the school I'm going to attend and I was greatful I didn't have to take a taxy and find a place to sleep myself.

In the information material from the school we were asked to bring Dollars and change them at the airport because we needed Quetzales to pay for the bus journey to Quetzaltenango the next day. Unfortunately the chaning bureau was already closed and the ATM wouldn't give me any money. The guy who picked me up said that that there was nothing we could do because banks only open at 9am and the bus leaves at 8am. He said that he'll buy the bus ticket for me and I can pay him in Dollars. Great, that's solved.

The homestay where I was going to spend the night was my first impression of a Guatemalan home and it somewhat reminded me of Thailand. Therefore my last thoughts before going to sleep were dedicated to my favourite Thai dessert - mango with sticky rice and coconut milk - mmmmhh... I wonder what kind of culinary experiences were awaiting me here.

The next day we were served two mini pancakes, melon and pinaple for dessert before we were taken to the bus station. My fellow students agreed that that didn't last long but at least it was good.

The bus journey to Quetzaltenango lasted about four hours. Halfway there was a toilet and snack stop. I had the opportunity to better get to know the two students from breakfast who will also study at the same school. They're called Nanna and Luciano and are a couple from Danmark. Here we go speaking a lot of English already, my biggest worry! But to be fair, I would not have been able to have a conversation in Spanish and neither did he. Nanna seems to be the only one who's got skills that can be seen. But I really liked them and enjoyed their company. On the bus I sat next to an elder Guatemalan guy who had completely ignored me until then. But after the stop he turned out to be talkativ after all. He started to ask me questions about where I'm from, what I do and what my plans are in Guatemala. I was surprised I managed to sort of put together sentences that half way made sence, if you have a lot of imagination that is.

Finally in Quetzaltenango we were supposed to take a taxi to the school but we were surprised by an employee who came to pick us up. What a service :)

After one and a half day of travel we finally made it! They called our host families to let them know that we're here and told us that they will pick us up at 3pm and that we could use the Internet free of charge in the mean time. It was 1pm. But hey, considering all the waiting time at the airport and sitting around in air planes and buses... what were another two hours of waiting time? Yeah, at least we got the free Internet, yet another nice service, tell me another place you get that!

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Part of trip: Guatemala

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