¿por que no?

¿por que no? it´s becoming my mantra, of sorts. the gringo-fied version of why not?

took a bus from xela to chimaltenango, in which there was a chicken to my left and a small boy vomiting up the contents of his stomach to my right, families sitting 8 people across, street-vendors jumping in through the back and front doors peddling a dizzingly assortment of food, all whilst the driver is taking hairpin turns on mountain curves in a u.s. school bus circa-1970 (i now understand why the rosary dangles from the rearview mirror and the locals cross themselves, father-son-holy spirit, when it´s time to go for a ride). and that was just to chimaltenago. an easy bus switch got me to antigua safe, sound and smelling ever so slightly of sweat, tortilla and chicken. delicious!

so as you can tell, my time in xela is over for the time being. its bittersweet, really, because as antsy as i was to get on the road, i found myself leaving just as xela and i were becoming good friends. after moving out with my host family, i checked in to the black cat hostel in xela. there were cheaper options, to be sure, but the showers were hot, the bartender was cute and the breakfast quite nearly heaven-sent.

i was there for a week, and the whole time there was about 6 other guest, give or take a backpack. my dorm room was all to myself. cool and creepy at the same time, but i did get to check every bed to make sure i had the best one. and after a couple days, the hostel workers got accostumed to me stealing extra blankets and pillows and just left them on my bed. i got to know the other employees and travelers, and we´d sit for hours in the sunny courtyard enjoying the unexpectadly hot midday sun and free cervezas. nights were spent out at cafes, dancing to live music, staying at places afterhours because the owners wanted to help me practice my espanol, taking a tour of xela by motorcycle. side trips to fuentas georginas, a natural spa heated by volcanos, steam rising from the agua caliente and mixing with the clouds making everything seem hazy, lush, tropical, smelling like sulfur but thats ok because you know it´s natural. weekends at the local futbol stadium cheering xela to victory (3-nil!), yelling incredibly innapproriate things for a lady to say in spanish but wasn´t realized until later. i forgot how much i liked to get to know a city, try it on and see how it fits. it fit.

but time to move on. bused my way down to antigua, a city i always find myself unintentionally returning to, and it felt weird being around so many tourists. felt weird paying tourist prices again, as well. but good times were to be had, as antigua is a fun city for a saturday night and i got the opportunity to embrass myself learning some sort of salsa-tango fusion from, of all people, a fellow san diegan.

next day, on a shuttle to lanquin. a blurry, bumpy, windy, dehydrated ride but worth it because central guatemala is so incredibly beautiful. i´m staying with some friends i´ve met along the road, not at el retiro where rachel was, but at another hostel that is only known by word of mouth. it´s just as tranquillo, a bit more laid back, with probably a bit more bugs, but i like it. i sleep in a loft under a thatched roof next to openness, no shoes, no mirrors, nothing but nature.

tomorrow i head up to tikal, by way of flores, most likely with a huge group of israelis that are staying in my dorm with me. maybe they can teach me more hebrew, considering my repetoire consists of ¨shalom,¨¨mazel toz¨and ¨l'chaim!¨

i know it´s been ages, and i´m trying to remember small things and funny stories that have happened, but mostly it´s been alot of living, loving and learning. and that´s why we´re all here, right?