Guatemala Bound

Dallin and I recently enjoyed a marvellous 10-day trip to Guatemala where we travelled at warp speed with my parents, and left our kids at home with my in-laws. The trip was great because Dallin got to experience and learn about our hispanic culture, we got to see relatives who I haven't seen in about 20 years, and we got to tour some absolutely beautiful parts of the country on our own schedule. I came home very appreciative of what we have here in the states: clean drinking water, a government system that works (although that point could be debated today considering our economy), and the lack of poverty that is so prevalent throughout the entire country of Guatemala.

Since this is a blog and my journal, I will include all of the details of our trip. But for those of you not interested in hearing EVERY detail, you can simply skim down and just look at the pictures. And since I can't write about our entire trip in one sitting, you will be stuck reading about it over the next several posts. So, enjoy!

Day 1: Getting There

We left Reno in the afternoon and as a totally random side not, we unexpectedly ran into my older brother at the airport in SLC. I had no idea he was travelling and while we were walking to our gate, I see him sitting at a restaurant with his laptop. We got to catch up with him briefly before his flight, which was a real treat for me since I haven't seen him in a while.

Anyway, continuing on, we arrived in Guatemala City early the next morning where my parents were waiting at the airport to pick us up. My father was born in Guatemala and lived there through his adolescence, so he and my mom agreed to tour the country with us. For those of you who have never travelled to Central America, driving in Guatemala is not for the faint of heart. There are laws, however most people, especially the bus drivers it seems, have little regard for others' lives and their own for that matter. People constantly swerve in and out of lanes, motorcyclists seems to appear out of nowhere, and crammed red school buses (nicknamed "killer tomates) that have people literally hanging out of them seem to own the roads there. So you can see why I wasn't about to let Dallin take the wheel there. So, my dad did all of the driving on our trip.

After getting picked up, we did a quick drive through the city and ended up visiting the LDS temple in Guatemala City, which was really neat.

After walking around the temple and a quick brunch, we headed to my great uncle's house, who I haven't seen in years. He was recently called as a member of the Seventy in our church and it was really neat hearing about how he received the call.

Afterwards, we caught lunch back in the city at a great place called Casa Chapina, where they serve typical Guatemalan fare while you listen to a live band that serenades you and you can learn how to make tortillas there too. The fried plantains were my absolute favorite while we were in Guatemala. We ate these all the time growing up and I can eat them for every meal and NOT get sick of them. They were sooooo good there!

Then we had to head back to the airport because we were flying to Peten, which is where the great Mayan ruins known as Tikal are. Below is a picture of Guatemala city that I took from a lookout point along the road.