Hola! I'm here safely, and I even have wi-fi at school so here's my first real entry.
What a different world it is after only taking a flight for 5 hours! (SFO to San Salvador, and then 45 min from San Salvador to Guatemala City) The flight was uneventful on TACA. The food can be better. So a nice lady affiliated with the school picked me up at the airport and took me to the bus station. I had 4 hours + before the bus comes, so I took the chance and walked around in searching for a bank/ATM and a SIM card for my cell phone. Not knowing any Spanish, it was quite an interesting experience. Guatemala City is not a nice place. The streets are narrow, dirty, and need repairs, with cars/trucks giving out fumes which kinda envelope the whole place. I tried to talk to people using my little phrase book but it doesn't really work. Hah. But I did manage to find the bank and I also bought a local cell phone with a local number for Q.325 (about US$40) The exchange rate is US$1=Q7.8 or 7.9. Easy for me coz Q.1 = HK$1.
Bus ride from Guatmemala City to Xela takes 4.5 hrs supposedly. The bus was not too bad, no a/c but windows can be opened. It was not hot but the exhaust fumes from all other vehicles was choking. The condition did not improve either even when we were out of the city, but I got more used to it. All kinds of people got on the bus along the way - many many stops. There were some street vendors with food and drinks and even pencils to sell. They probably got off the next stop. I was tempted to buy some food coz I was hungry but I resisted. The radio on the bus was blasting dance music - it was quite funny. There was Michael Jackson at some point I remembered. The road was mostly climbing because Xela is in the “highlands”. Not much to see along the way except scattered houses that were made of corrugated metal sheets/bricks and people walking along the dirt road. Living conditions are not good. The bus stopped right by a turn about half way into the trip and it turned out to be a flat tire. There are three other girls who are enrolling in the same program on the same bus with me. So I was not too worried since I have company now, even though if we don’t make it there by 7pm the school would be closed. The delay was about 30 mins only but we had to check in a hotel for the night. My new school mates know way more Spanish - I am so lucky!! Imagine if I had to do this by myself… We found a small restaurant and got sandwiches and beer. They did all the ordering of course. So after a lukewarm (more like cold) shower it's time for bed. It had been a long day but it's been good.
