VIVA GUATEMALA!
-bus divers take so much pride in their chicken buses (which we took all over the country) jazzing them up big time by painting them brightly and naming them. I was told that they are old American Bluebird school buses
-I assume that these were political parties but along the roads tons of the rocks are painted with various symbols on them, excessively done
-Guatemalan roads are WAY nicer than Belize roads. They were mostly all paved and I even spotted some freeways….who knew!?
-LOTS of garbage! I am pretty sure they grew it there. We heard rumors that since plastic bottles are new to the country recycling hasn’t quite kicked in, but in the bigger cities and along the highway I couldn’t believe how much garbage was lying around.
-since it isn’t as culturally diverse as Belize they strongly represent their culture and religion (Catholicism). The women are very traditionally dressed and their styles all together seemed a lot less modern.
-the women could carry pretty much anything on their heads it’s incredible! The men use a bag and strap it to their forehead; I couldn’t believe how much they could carry in that heat.
-Quezal is their national bird as well as currency. $1 US= 7 Q (it was super cheap there!)
-they have the best ice cream I have ever tasted and trust me I have tasted a lot! My favorite…coconut!
-as in Belize I couldn’t believe how well behaved the children are, even as babies you hardly ever hear them cry. My assumption is that it is because they are included in absolutely everything with parents, which is great to see.
-Southern Guatemala was so much colder than we expected. We were sleeping for the first time in pants and long sleeve shirts, the whole country was such a wide range of weather….Northern Guatemala was scorching hot in comparison
-I NEED to start studying my Spanish for Nicaragua and Costa Rica. I was labeled the official translator of our group but Sr. Dryfuss (my high school Spanish teacher) would have been so disappointed. If you don’t use it you easily loose it and I still have lots of work ahead of me. I am happy to say though that I improved a lot in the two weeks and gained a lot of confidence when talking to the locals (which I discovered is key). I can now carry on a basic conversation, order food and get by….one of the teachers from our school in PG offered to give us Spanish lessons so we will do a crash course before we leave. It has really made me have a new appreciation for people who have to take on English as a second language, it’s so intimidating being in a culture where you don’t speak their language, it can be so daunting at first. Something as simply as ordering dinner or finding a hotel room becomes a huge challenge, but when you are forced to use the language you can learn fast which I loved. Some tourists frustrated me when they would try and speak English to them but only louder and slower saying, “I hate that they don’t speak OUR language”. Hmmmm….maybe you don’t speak THEIR language. Just a new pet peeve, that’s all.
-we found the men in Guatemala to be a lot less aggressive and easy to deal with. They were generally very respective and as soon as we crossed over the border to Belize the cat calls began…
Overall I found the scenery in Guatemala to be breathtaking, I absolutely loved it! I can’t believe how much we were able to squeeze into two weeks and it was super cheap. What a great way to spend Easter Holidays!
-bus divers take so much pride in their chicken buses (which we took all over the country) jazzing them up big time by painting them brightly and naming them. I was told that they are old American Bluebird school buses
-I assume that these were political parties but along the roads tons of the rocks are painted with various symbols on them, excessively done
-Guatemalan roads are WAY nicer than Belize roads. They were mostly all paved and I even spotted some freeways….who knew!?
-LOTS of garbage! I am pretty sure they grew it there. We heard rumors that since plastic bottles are new to the country recycling hasn’t quite kicked in, but in the bigger cities and along the highway I couldn’t believe how much garbage was lying around.
-since it isn’t as culturally diverse as Belize they strongly represent their culture and religion (Catholicism). The women are very traditionally dressed and their styles all together seemed a lot less modern.
-the women could carry pretty much anything on their heads it’s incredible! The men use a bag and strap it to their forehead; I couldn’t believe how much they could carry in that heat.
-Quezal is their national bird as well as currency. $1 US= 7 Q (it was super cheap there!)
-they have the best ice cream I have ever tasted and trust me I have tasted a lot! My favorite…coconut!
-as in Belize I couldn’t believe how well behaved the children are, even as babies you hardly ever hear them cry. My assumption is that it is because they are included in absolutely everything with parents, which is great to see.
-Southern Guatemala was so much colder than we expected. We were sleeping for the first time in pants and long sleeve shirts, the whole country was such a wide range of weather….Northern Guatemala was scorching hot in comparison
-I NEED to start studying my Spanish for Nicaragua and Costa Rica. I was labeled the official translator of our group but Sr. Dryfuss (my high school Spanish teacher) would have been so disappointed. If you don’t use it you easily loose it and I still have lots of work ahead of me. I am happy to say though that I improved a lot in the two weeks and gained a lot of confidence when talking to the locals (which I discovered is key). I can now carry on a basic conversation, order food and get by….one of the teachers from our school in PG offered to give us Spanish lessons so we will do a crash course before we leave. It has really made me have a new appreciation for people who have to take on English as a second language, it’s so intimidating being in a culture where you don’t speak their language, it can be so daunting at first. Something as simply as ordering dinner or finding a hotel room becomes a huge challenge, but when you are forced to use the language you can learn fast which I loved. Some tourists frustrated me when they would try and speak English to them but only louder and slower saying, “I hate that they don’t speak OUR language”. Hmmmm….maybe you don’t speak THEIR language. Just a new pet peeve, that’s all.
-we found the men in Guatemala to be a lot less aggressive and easy to deal with. They were generally very respective and as soon as we crossed over the border to Belize the cat calls began…
Overall I found the scenery in Guatemala to be breathtaking, I absolutely loved it! I can’t believe how much we were able to squeeze into two weeks and it was super cheap. What a great way to spend Easter Holidays!
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