The Chicken Bus

Hey there,
This has been a great weekend. I finally rode a Chicken Bus! Here in Guatemala there is a public transport system quite unlike that in Texas. Old school buses from the states are brought down, painted wildly, named (we rode on "Norma"), have big sound systems installed, and go from city to city. There is the driver, whose whole job is to drive this old school bus as fast as it will go on the roads here, and his assistant, whose job is to yell the destination out the door while hanging out on the last step, take your money, put your luggage on the top of the bus, and drag people in when the bus slows down (it doesn't actually stop very often, just slows down enough for someone to get on or off!) Martin and I decided to go into the city, so found someone yelling "GUATE, GUATE" and away we went! For a whole 25 cents, we rode into the city and back. While we were we wandered around the markets for a few hours. I bought toenail clippers and he bought jeans. We could have bought just about anything! It was a blast!

I'm being introspective this afternoon. Maybe it is having a relaxing weekend (yes, riding the chicken bus was relaxing!) or all the rain, but whatever. Today for lunch I went to a different section of Antigua than I've been before and it was beautiful! Think River Oaks with a spanish flair! I had one of those perfect moments...do you know those? Sometimes they happen so fast it's only later you recognize it for what it was, but sometimes, very rarely, you realize it while it is happening. I had eaten a wonderful brunch, and was sitting in a beautiful restaurant, with an absolutely PERFECT yellow rose on my table in full bloom. There was a pianist and a sax player playing, the rain was falling softly, and it was perfect! I was so grateful that I'm here, learning (slowly!!!) spanish, experiencing life in a way I haven't in a long time.

This is the first weekend I've stayed in Antigua since I moved into the hotel, so maybe I'm finlly settling down. I'm kind of debating staying here until after my birthday. I'm finally feeling "at home", have a couple of friends/acquaintences here, and I'm not sure I want to uproot just yet. I keep looking on line to find a trip I can afford to Argentina, but so far nada! I'd like to see the glaciers, and the Straights of Magellen, but we will see.

I talked to Nicole last night. Looks like I'm going to need to be in Wilmington a bit earlier to get a place to rent for the summer. She's going to look for me a condo on the beach, so you guys should plan your beach trip now! Take care of yourselves....
Earline