Guatemala con los padres 9/14/11

This morning I took one of the most amazing showers… such hot water and great pressure (it’s the little things that make me happy). After that exciting activity, we left the hotel to walk around Antigua. It was pretty early, so not much was open. But, we saw some of the churches, the clean streets of Antigua, and other buildings that I can’t really remember, such as
this one. It was pretty touristy, but still beautiful.















I was also super surprised that Guatemala was actually trying to make a city handicap accessible. It was the first time I saw that!















Because of Independence day, there were many people in the central park. We heard a few school bands play, saw some dancing children, and saw a whole group of kids in costume. Everyone was so happy!















We walked around looking for a traditional candy shop (which we found, but was closed), and apparently the best bake shop in town (which was also closed). Instead, we found a place called Cookies, etc. and settled there to have some coffee. Naturally, when we saw freshly baked pastries, we had to try some of those too, even though we knew breakfast was being provided for us at the hotel in an hour (we were on vacation!).

I had a banana cholocate chip muffin, which was actually really good, with some incredibly strong coffee. We also bought a PrensaLibre, the national paper of Guatemala, so I caught up on some news and practiced my Spanish reading. I’m actually still working on it, which means I am reading week old news. But considering how out of the loop I am, its news to me!

After eating, we walked back to the hotel to eat some more! We had our second breakfast of fruit, coffee, juice and bread on the roof of the hotel, with this amazing weather and view:














After breakfast, we got in the car again to head towards Xela. I was excited to show mom and dad my “home away from home” and for me the trip went quickly.

We arrived in Xela around 2:30 and checked into Hotel Bonifaz. I was so excited to finally be staying there! It was such luxury compared to what I am used to. After we were settled, we went to café Artesano, one of my favorite places to get lunch (I think I’ve already described the sandwiches because we ate them after the beach trip).

Then, I showed mom and dad La Democracia Mercado. We walked around, and mom picked out some flowers to give to Doñia Patti, my Guatemama. After stopping by the hotel to grab my amazing bag of trail mix, we headed towards my house.

Unfortunately nobody was home, although it may have been a good thing because I was able to show mom and dad everything without seeming too awkward. After unpacking various items, we headed to the school and I gave mom and dad a tour there too.

As we were walking back, we ran into the street fair for independence, and as we watched, the crowds continued to fill in. I’ve never seen so many people in one place in Xela ever! It was really cool to see all the bands playing, and some of them were pretty good. Many played popular American songs, such as Madonna and Shakira, as well as popular Spanish songs.














We enjoyed the bands and crowds, and then decided to go into the hotel bar to relax. We could still see the bands out the window and hear them. After a while, we headed to a restaurant very close to the hotel. I had never been there before, but had passed it many times and found the lights inside mesmerizing. As it turns out, the lights weren’t really all that cool… just those “snow” kinds that people hang on houses for Christmas. But, the fajitas I had were really good and cheap! After dinner, we headed to bed.