El Dia Dos (Day 2) -- Mike Stacey

Hey everybody. Mike Stacey from 11B here. After a long day of traveling, and a somewhat unexpected delay on the highway, everyone made it here safe and sound. We are in a little town outside of Guatemala City called "La Antigua." Not sure how far outside it is, or even what direction. Most of the boys in my van lost their sense of direction once they left the airport, and winding mountain roads (on the way to the hotel I am writing from) didn't exactly help that.

After a horrendously long delay at Houston International, everyone was glad to get on the plane to Guatemala and rest. Everyone knows how boring some airports can be, and sometimes how exciting others are, and unfortunately due to the lack of variety of stores in the terminal some people began to resort to "crazy" games by about mid-afternoon. Fun was had by all though, and some slept, while others played cards. Mr. Peterson held a somewhat impromptu Spanish lesson throughout the 7 hours, and most left with more knowledge of Spanish than they came with.

After reaching Guatemala Airport, the cultural experience began. Hot, humid gates with no air conditioning reminded everyone that they weren't in the USA or Canada anymore. As we picked up our bags from the terminal (all 86 of them), the boys loaded ALL the bags into the vans, while the girls laid back in the vans and watched. (Apparently it is a cultural norm here for the males to do all the hard labor.) =P

Excitement was beginning to build, and singing contests were beginning to develop between the vans. The girls would have won if it was judged on harmonious melodies, but the guys would have won if it was judged on pure effort. =P Famous songs such as "Don't Stop Believin" and "John Jacob JingleHeimerSchmidt" were painfully sung off-key by my van, all the way through the winding mountain roads.

Reaching the hotel was a welcome reprieve from the long ride, as the journey here was slowed up by a procession on the highway. Our driver in our van told us that the procession was made up of boys from Guatemala City marching to Antigua on foot, which is apparently a tradition here.

The hotel we stayed at overnight is an old colonial house that was obviously influence by Old Spanish architecture. There are mini-courtyards with fountains all over the hotel, and you can climb up on the roof and overlook the entire "city" and see the dormant volcanoes in the distance. The rooms are quite quaint, and there are vines and ferns climbing all over the walls.

One of the abnormalities of the hotel is there are random holes in the walls in some of the rooms at head height, so every room gets to shower with a breeze from the outside. There is no invasion of privacy however, it is a nice relief from the humidity that is present here in Guatemala.

As everyone has rested up quite nicely, we are all ready to go touring in Antigua, the old colonial city. Instead of going the last day of our trip, we get to go touring the central market and practice the art of "bargaining" today.

Signing off from "La Antigua", on behalf of homeroom 11-B,

Mike Stacey