After a day full of long, exhausting, and sometimes-uncomfortable struggles with traveling, we have arrived in Antigua and are checked into our hostel, El Gato Negro.
On roughly one hour of sleep, we stumbled into the airport at around 4 am looking for a smooth transition abroad. Despite booking tickets and talking to people down here in Guatemala, our original plan was to buy a one-way ticket and figure out our length of stay as we went along—well, Spirit airlines wouldn’t have any of that. They refused to let us check in without a return itinerary—claiming that the US required one (I still don’t believe her, as everyone we’ve met down here got down on a one way ticket). So because of this ‘technicality’ we were forced to set a date in stone on our return—something we didn’t want to do. For me, I return on March 10, and for Harvey and Adam, March 13. After a mad dash to the gate and a photo finish as three of the last people to board the plane, we made our first hurdle successfully.
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| Lots-o-legroom |
While the flights were fairly unremarkable beyond the $3 waters and cramped legroom on board, probably the biggest highlight was flying in over Guatemala City. While our approach was fairly cloudy, the Guatemalan landscape looked fairly similar to that of the Sierra Nevadan foothills—lush vegetation and V-shaped valleys. Dotted in the landscape were various villages/towns/cities growing like vines up the side of the mountains, and from above Guatemala City was absolutely beautiful. The city architecture seemed to be fairly modern with various skyscrapers however whatever aspects of the developed world modernity were also contrasted with the tightly cramped corrugated steel and plywood shacks that reminded me of images and film I’ve seen of Rio. Driving through the city, I was satisfied with that experience—just driving through it. Upon first impression, the combination of pollution, population and structured chaos was a nice novelty, but Guatemala City didn’t seem like a city I cared to spend much time in or walk around at night.
Upon our arrival Jamil’s Habitat coworker, Kat, greeted us. She arranged for a shuttle to take us (also with two fellow coworkers of hers) from the City to Antigua. Adam, Harvey and I were fairly quiet during our trip that wound through the Volcanic Mountains that separate the two cities—a quietness that resulted from being dead tired as well as trying to take in as much of this journey as possible.
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| Chicken Bus |
Our van shared the road with a surprising number of nice, new cars (Audis especially), cars that I wish we had in the US (practical VW-made micro SUVs), plenty of cyclists, and “chicken bus,” which we were told are decommissioned school buses from the United States that no longer pass emissions tests up North. In the van, Kat told us a story of one of her coworkers who spotted a chicken bus that bore the name of his elementary school in New Jersey on the side of it. Hopefully I’ll be able to spot a bus from Illinois District 57.
From the large black clouds that were released from the exhaust pipes of nearly every car, I think it’s fairly safe to assume that Guatemalans probably have more important issues at hand other than caring about vehicle emissions. However as with the San Joaquin Valley in California, both the landscape and I’m sure our health suffered as a result from dense, cough inducing clouds of smog.
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| Ruin |
We arrived in Antigua after an hour and change commute in our van, and I was instantly drawn to her uneven cobblestone streets and vibrantly painted stucco buildings with clay roofs. Benefitting from the beautiful climate, most of the buildings we’ve been inside have central courtyards and some sort of access to a roof—where one can enjoy both the bright/hot sun and the cool breezes that pass twist through the buildings interiors every few minutes. Antigua’s bright stucco is also contrasted with many deteriorating remains of the former capital city that once stood here but was destroyed in July 1773 due to a series of violent earthquakes in the region. Perhaps my most favorite aspect of Antigua so far is the fact that when I walk down an unassuming street and look inside any random doorway, more likely than not I will see a beautiful opening to a restaurant/hotel courtyard with lush plants growing or maybe even an elaborate fountain.
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| El Gato Negro Doorway |
Our hostel has one such doorway. With it’s deep maroon exterior and black doorway, El Gato Negro, opens to a courtyard café accented with stone pillars and a spiraling iron staircase that leads to the roof—where views of the surrounding volcanoes are abundant. With it’s blooming flowers, rope hammock, and Cal blue and gold walls, the hostel has been a more than inviting hangout for us. Oh, and the free breakfast and coffee kick ass.
One block from our hostel is Parque Central—literally the park in the center of the city. In the center of the square stands a fountain adorn with buxom maidens that spew water from, um, “clever” places. The square is typically crowded with people taking pictures or trying to sell jewelry or hand-woven fabric to those taking pictures, and surrounding the square are various colonial buildings that house government agencies, cafés, and shops—all painted in vibrant colors.
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| Parque Central |
When we first visited the square I couldn’t help but note how much it looked like Sonoma. In fact, Adam and I were just commenting on how much Antigua reminds us of California not only in regards to the characteristics of the landscape, infrastructure, and climate, but also in the demographic make up of the city. Since Antigua is the “showpiece” of Guatemala, the city attracts not only a large number of tourists, but also a large number of expats catering to these tourists. It is directly because of this that we felt it would be a good idea to get our feet wet in the Guatemalan experience in Antigua, however the influence of western culture is very, very strong in this city and for us, we didn’t travel all this way to go to clubs playing American music with a bunch of gringos. So the western influence can be a bit of a turn off, but for now we are happy for it in many ways, as I for one feel like a helpless child here not knowing the language. Thankfully Harvey and Adam have been Spanish champions of sorts down here, and I’m trying to pick up as much as possible in order to make my life easier.
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| Parque Central |
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| Parque Central |
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| Antigua |
