Indy to Chicago to Guatemala City!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The majority of today was spent frantically packing. The laborious process of selecting my clothes and other required items is almost enough to make me not want to travel. I do so detest packing! About a half hour before I was supposed to leave, I finally had loaded all of my belongings for the next five weeks into an overstuffed, hot pink suitcase, a green duffel bag, and my backpack. I took some pictures with my family before leaving. It was especially hard to say goodbye to Emily, knowing that she will be back in Texas when I return. (The picture with Emily is on my mom's camera, hence why it is not included here.)



I ended up leaving around 4:30, which was only half an hour later than I had hoped. My main goal was to avoid rush-hour traffic in Chicago. The drive up to Chicago was uneventful, other than my phone battery nearly dying. I talked to Tammy for about two hours of the drive and also Grandpa Bob (for 10 minutes). It was a strange feeling, talking to Tammy as I drove to her house, knowing that she would not be there. Around Chicago, the sky became very dark and looked like a bad storm was coming. I didn't have to drive through too much rain, though. When I arrived at Tammy's house, two men were in a boat in her pond with the waterfall. They were scrubbing the lights with a mop. There was also a guy standing on the rocks drinking a beer. They were speaking Spanish, so I guess that was the first part of my immersion experience! Tammy, I took this picture for you since you could not be there to see it:

Tammy's brother, Brennan, was there to welcome me, along with the two Golden Doodles, Mibby and Manzi. They (the dogs) are such enthusiastic greeters! Soon after I arrived, Tammy's friend Erin came over to play games. She brought banana cupcakes with chocolate icing. Yum! We talked for a while and then played games. We started with Forbidden Island, a cooperative strategy game where you are trying to save treasures on a sinking/flooding island. We won. Then we played Ticket to Ride, a strategy game where you are trying to build railroad routes through Europe.

Within five minutes of Erin leaving, Tammy called. I talked to her for about a half hour and then Tammy's parents came home. After talking about two logistical matters (car keys and departure time in the morning), we went to bed. It was weird staying in Tammy's room without Tammy. I had a good night's sleep, although it was too short. I was kind of excited at first so it took me a while to fall asleep. I slept about 12-5.

Thursday, June 16, 2011
I got up at 5:10 and got ready to go. I didn't have a lot to do, so I finished quickly. I went down and ate breakfast with Tammy's dad. We loaded my suitcase into his car and left for the airport about 5:45. The nice thing about the Michaelis Bed & Breakfast (other than the price and the hospitality of the staff) is that O'Hare is very close by, just a short "shuttle" ride away. I got to the airport without a problem and began the process of checking in my bags. My suitcase weighed 52 pounds so I removed my bilingual Bible and stuck it in my other bag. Then my suitcase weighed 49 pounds. I had looked online to see how many bags I could check, but I obviously wasn't looking in the correct location. I thought I could check two bags for free, but it turns out that I could only check one for free. I checked my suitcase and decided to take my green duffel as my carry-on (my backpack fits under the seat). The line for security was long but kept moving slowly. After I made it through security smoothly, I headed for my gate. Well, if I had planned on carrying-on my duffel, I probably should have brought one with a shoulder strap. I had a sweaty, long, heavy walk to my gate carrying my duffel which weighs 30 pounds and my backpack which probably weighs as much. When I went to board, shortly after finding my gate, a steward made me check the size of my carry-on and it was too big to fit into the overhead bins. After a momentary panic attack, I was much relieved when they said that they would have to check my bag (for free) through to Guatemala. It really worked out quite nicely!

My flight to Miami (leaving at 7:45) was uneventful. I started writing in my new journal. I love new journals, especially at the start of a new adventure. The promise of the blank pages excites me as I try to imagine the experiences I will soon be having. I also did the gentle and moderate Sudoku puzzles and tried my hand at the Mensa questions. I miss racing Tammy on the Sudokus (even though she always wins). When we landed in Miami, I scarcely had to walk to find my new gate. I immediately whipped out my cell phone and started calling people and making the most of my last few minutes (or so I thought) of my time on U.S. soil. However, most of the people I called did not answer. :( I ended up texting some people and talking to my mom for just a few seconds. We boarded about 11:45 for the flight which was supposed to leave at 12:15. I was one of the first people on the plane, so I got a chance to call a few more people (Tammy, Anne, my mom, and Emily) and texted back and forth with Jenny. We appeared to be leaving on time until the pilot came on and announced that there was a delay. He came back on a few minutes later to say that some people had checked bags for our flight but had not boarded. As a security precaution, they had to look through all the suitcases on the plane and pull off those suitcases. We didn't know how long it would take. We were allowed to keep talking on the phone, which was nice. The steward delivered cups of water to us. Finally, we left almost an hour and a half late. I was worried that I was not going to arrive in time for my bus. One thing I really like about flying to/from a Spanish-speaking country is that all of the announcements are made in both Spanish and English. I started feeling really excited to use my Spanish. There was a family sitting next to me (and across the aisle) traveling to Xela also. I spoke a bit with the mom (in Spanish). She has lived in Washington, D.C. for over 20 years, but she is from Xela. There was also a cute kindergarten-aged boy sitting behind me (who enjoyed kicking the seat until he fell asleep) and a dog in the row in front of me (grey Shih Tzu), who whined for the first half hour of the flight. We could see a lot of the coast of Mexico as we flew. The water looked so beautiful. I am posting a picture, but it does not quite do it justice.


We arrived in Guatemala City about an hour and twenty minutes late. I power-walked to customs and was the first passenger from our plane to get there. I went to the bathroom and exchanged some money while I waited for the suitcases to start coming out. I found mine (both arrived safe and sound) and headed outside. I saw Patricia holding a sign with my name (with some creative spelling of my last name). I greeted her and she helped me load my stuff into the van. Alberto drove. They told me that it was too late to catch the bus to Xela. It was 2:50 and the bus leaves at 3 across Guatemala City. I was really disappointed that I would not be able to make it to Xela tonight to stay with Sandy, but I tried to be gracious. Patricia's Bed and Breakfast is close by the airport. I am going to stay here tonight and then tomorrow morning I will take the bus to Xela. I left a voicemail for Sandy and Alberto told me how to access the internet, which they thankfully have here. I haven't really seen Alberto or Patricia since they left me in my room around 3. It is 6:20 now. I am assuming that they will feed me some dinner, but I'm not worried. There is a pretty courtyard outside my room, but it has been drizzling most of the afternoon. I was sitting out under the canopy, but there are little holes in it, and I was afraid for my computer. Here is a picture of the courtyard and one of my bedroom:




I am still getting used to throwing my toilet paper in the trashcan. I think habits are very interesting. I have to really remind myself not to throw the toilet paper in the toilet right now, but when I return, I will have to remember to not to throw it in the trashcan! I think studying people's habits and how they are formed would be a fascinating study.

Well, if you have made it all the way through this post, congratulations! I will NOT be posting this much on a normal day. However, sitting in a room by yourself can lead to excessive writing. Also, the internet is excellent here so it is fairly quick to post pictures (not that I'm in a hurry).

Hasta mañana!