Hell yes, I'm taking photographs.Like this one. 1970's era US school bus, you have officially been pimped. We call these chicken buses. The name comes from the tendency of some Guatemalans to carry livestock on board. You can also get a good impromptu sermon on board here.
I'm in Antigua now, down in southern Guatemala. Very touristy, but very pretty little city. Colonial architecture, old churches ruined by old earthquakes, yellow buildings, cobble-stone streets. The bus ride down here from Flores was madness. We started driving at 11 pm, everybody on board planning to sleep the ride thru, everybody on board ending up real dissapointed. The driver was on some kind of speedy meth type drug, flicking the lights on and of off randomly, high pitched humming to himself, eyes huge open, overtaking other buses on a tiny road, speeding speeding way to fast. For a while I watched the road nervously, then decided, fuck it. I'd rather not see my doom.
I've spent the past two days walking around. This is a hell of a good city for walking. The out doors market is a labyrinth of stalls selling everything, EVERYTHING, clothes food electronics 'documents' music black market dvds plumbing equipment etcetera like mad. Hilariously enough, I saw a pair of white shirt tie backpack young Mormon missionaries perusing the pirated dvds. There are little Mayan kids working at the fruit stands, which is adorable and depressing. And terrifying, I saw a 4 year old girl hacking at a coconut with a machete, and in my mind I saw her cutting off a thumb, over and over again for the rest of the day. Also, a big ol' meat market, chicken beef pork, and no refrigeration in sight.
Hell, everything in this country is interesting and frightening. Home improvement stores with armed guards in front, bullet proof vest and combat style shotguns, glaring. Burger Kings in 300 year old colonial style buildings. Poverty and wealth like crazy. Little girls in full Mayan dress in groups, talking to each other with the seriousness of adults, all having experienced hardships I could only imagine.Okay, the person in line for this computer is getting impatient, I should run, yes, but I'll post again soon.
2 comments:
yay pictures! did you get a battery for your camera?
ooooh. Pertty pictures. Now did you mail back the old camera?
Frankly the only reason I'm leaving a comment is to assure you that you are not blogging into the void, and that your words are letting me and the family get a bit of vicaroius travel dust on our boots. Have some fun for us,
Brennan.
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