On the road again...again

So even though I have been here for 4 days, I don´t want to just jump in to being in Cuenca, and it is going to take a few days to catch up to where I am now (and I won´t be able to write on Saturday, since I´ve got a wedding to go to. No, I don´t have friends. Don´t be silly. I´m going with my family to the wedding of one of the 25 or so nieces or nephews they have. That is what happens with 8 siblings on one side and 12 on the other! I can´t imagine.).

So back to leaving Guatemala. I had all morning to decide how to get to the bus station for my 2:30 bus. I had been planning to walk, since I´m tough. And cheap. But then I did a test ¨walk¨and decided it would be at least a half hour walk in 80 plus degree weather, with all my bags, through crowded streets (the main market was between my house and the bus). I was already imagining my sweaty back and front, since I´d have to wear my daypack in front, big backpack in back, and have my army duffel over one shoulder. So I decided to save my self about an hour of unhappiness and pay $2.50 for a taxi. A decision I think everyone but my dad would understand. I was jealous of the other student in my house, whose bag was the size of a backback we´d use for school - for his 3 month trip in South America. But then I thought that he must not have anything more than toothpaste and soap plus 2 pairs or underpants, and I wasn´t so jealous. If I was travelling as opposed to studying of course I would have packed lighter.

So I made it to the bus station and got in my front row seat. The woman next to me was about 50 and spoke English. She told me that Latin America was no more dangerous than anywhere else, like America, and it only got a bad wrap because it is smaller so when something happens there it is bigger news. Then she was very very concerned about how I had found a place to stay in Guatemala City for the night that I knew would be safe, how I was getting there from the bus station since a taxi wasn´t safe, and how she didn´t want ¨her people¨(her words, not mine) to have to drive into downtown to be picked up at the bus station. Umm, that sounds a little dangerous to me. I would never be worried about taking a public, metered, registered taxi in the US and the only downtown bus station I can think of not being safe is LA. So I found her a little contradictory. There is also construction on the highway and we had to stop about twice for 10 minutes each (but I think we were lucky and the waits can be longer). One interesting aspect was that at the places where there are stoppages, there were many people walking around selling drinks, nuts, other food and tourist items...quite entrepreneurial. The bus drivers (there were 2 on our bus for no aparent reason because one drove the whole way, and we weren´t stopping to pick up people, therefore needing a money-collecting guy) didn´t let those people on our bus. We arrived in Guatemala City about an hour and a half after the normal time. Which doesn´t really make sense since out stops werent that long, but maybe it meant we hit more traffic coming in to the city. I stayed in a house right by the airport that students from the school often stay at coming or going from Guatemala City. I spoke with an older couple from Oregon who had come to study Spanish for 7 weeks - very brave for 50+ in my opinion, and volunteered that I hadn´t spoken to anyone who had had a bad experience in Guatemala that everyone warns about. They sort of agreed, but the guy said they had been at the hostel since 2 pm and he had heard gun fire twice. I suggested it was firecrackers (which went off a lot in Xela, apparently it is a Guatemalan tradition for people´s birthdays) but he said he was pretty expert on guns and that it wasnt fireworks. But when I asked the people at the hostel about finding dinner, they told me about a restaurant 2 blocks away, where I walked alone, in the dark about 9 pm, with no problem. So just like Johannesberg, even in a supposedly very danger place ,there are safe areas.

Contrary to what I would have expected for a Latin American airline in a Latin American airport, the flight was in the air before the scheduled departure time (I didn´t think people of Spanish descent were noted for punctuality). While the Guatemala City airport was pretty basic, ther San Jose airport in Costa Rica where I changed planes was shiny new and very western, with a Schlotzky´s Deli - I haven´t ever eaten there, but its pretty American. I guess the airports reflect the economies of the countries - Costa Rica is the wealthiest Central American country, and the most expensive. I happily helped myself to samples of chocolate (dark!) cover nuts and dried fruits in a big gift shop, and a sample of coffee with my first Equal in 3 weeks (I think sugar substitutes are really expensive in Central America). My plane to Quito was boarding as I got out of the shop - again, early. The flight was shorter than I expected , less than 3 hours, and I didn´t realize Ecuador was so close to Costa Rica. The flight pretty much went by all of Quito (quite expansive) before turning right and landing, so it was good to have an overview of the city. Clearing customs, and checking my bags for my flight to Cuenca was efficient, leaving me with 3 hours until my flight to Cuenca, so I happily made my way outside the airport to take a metrobus, a bus with its own lane so quick, into Quito. I wanted to get an idea of what it was like, in case I found Cuenca boring. The benefit of Quito is the number of volunteer opportunities, a school that sounds like a good one, and a lot of places within weekend trip distance. But I´d also read it was polluted dangerous and not all that charming. What I saw wasn´t terrible at all (I´ve seen worse) but it was also Sunday, so I think the streets were quieter in terms of both cars and people than in the week, when maybe it is a mad house. I didn´t get down to the old city because I was confused by the bus system, but did walk past where the school I´ve heard about is located, and a little bit in the New City, where tourist facilities are concentrated. But I didn´t explore much. I was glad to just have a little chance to see what it was like. Back near the airport, I found a place to eat (worried that like in Guatemala, there would be no food on Sunday and I would have to go to bed hungry). I stuffed down my plate and rushed off to the airport since the boarding card said 4:15 for the 5 pm flight. Of course we weren´t called up until 4:35 or so...but after the earlier flights being early, I would have felt pretty stupid missing my flight. Which was quite empty and took about 30 minutes. And there I was in Cuenca! I was picked up by my host brother, about 23, and his cousin. We got to the house around 6, where the rest of the family was - another son 17, the father and mother. Their daughter is a year older than I am but lives in Southampton, England. The house is huge, with 3 stories, and for this week I have a room on the top floor, with sloping ceilings a-la-Doughty House, and my own bathroom. The other student, my age, from Norway, has a bigger room on the second floor and she is only here for a week, so I wonder if they will move me next week. The additional privacy on the third floor is nice, but the bed sags in the middle and the slopping ceiling makes it a little inconventient. We did get dinner after all, but not until about 9 pm - this family eats late!

Well, have to go to salsa class now, but I will probably be able to catch up more tomorrow. I´m sure you´re all anxiously awaiting (just kidding, I don´t really think that).