Blogs from Guatemala City, Capital Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 15

Today we decided to take advantage of the salon being closed on Sunday to work on the salon. Because Dorita (the nanny/housekeeper) has Sunday as a day off Maria came along with us. We at first went to local hardware store to pickup some things we needed for both the house and salon renovations. We spent the day working on the 3 nail stations by rearranging the electrical wires and power bars so there are no more wires on the floor. Mimi climbed on roof to change the floodlights to those with motion detection. I assisted her because of the position of the lights it was easier to work two. We also added hooks to the side of the stations so clients can hang their purses and Maria helped us on that one. Around 2 or ... read more

The day we landed. Saturday. Any photos from that day? Post 'em here. Stories, too. Or you could just retype the itinerary from Global Exchange. ... read more

This country is amazing. I'm slipping into another zone. I arrived in Guatemala city, spent the night and another day. The poverty and the shock of walking through the streets of an unindustrialized city, hmm, what to say. It's the biggest city in Central America, yet it's so incredibly poor. I walked through hilled calles of adobe dwellings, peaked in doorways where mayan women mixed corn masa in barrels. In others, families would purchase baskets of dough, load them in taxis (not many can afford cars) to transport to family run restaurants or street food carts. Luckily I met a French man whom I toured around with while in Guatemala city, otherwise I'd be chained to my hotel room after 6. At sundown the streets are dark and desolate and without a chaperone I would have ... read more

i finally made it out of antigua but am now stuck in guata city. my bus from guata city to el salvador was delayed at the mexican border and is now running 4 hours late. ugh. but at least i have some time to upload pictures. my last night at the hostal was a fun one. i was trying to decide what to do for dinner when these italian guys that are staying at the hostel invited me to eat with them. they were making dinner....spaghetti...what else!!! they covered all the details...cheeses, wines from all over italy, bread, homemade sauce. yum. it took us over 3 hours to cook but once we finally ate, it was bellisimo! (i don´t think i spelled that right...lol) it was a group of 7 of us who dined together....it was ... read more

Hola friends and family. We have arrived safely. Our travel went smoothly, besides Wendy spraying blueberry yogurt over her shirt and face on the plane and me spilling salsa on my shoes and backpack. My first spoken Spanish words have been very simple, but I have been able to understand what people are asking me, in general. "Hola," "gracias," and "si" have been my words of choice! Body language gets you far and people have been very nice. Upon arrival, Wendy and I made an immediate stop at the banos (bathrooms). Then we exchanged money and walked outside to find our driver. Immediately, I noticed that we were obviously the minority in this country, but people didn't stare too hard at us. Victor, a driver from our hotel, picked us up from the airport in Guatemala ... read more