Dear Reader,
I saw a lot today. I saw Quezeltanango at 3am. I saw (and felt) what twisty mountain roads are like while high on Benadryl. I saw what Guatemala City traffic looks like (heads up, it absolutely sucks). And finally I saw my Dad in skinny jeans (the jury is still out on that one). It was travel day and it was unappealing to say the least. As I'm writing this, I've never been more physically exhausted in my life. My head is spinning as I'm trying to understand how I woke up in Guatemala just a mere 17 hours ago and finally I'm sitting here on my bed trying to stay conscious as I write today's daily reflection.
It's dark at 3am, like insanely dark, like I can't tell what is part of my body and what is not kind of dark. So it's no wonder that in pursuit of the bathroom, which is just a mere 5-7 feet from our room, I stumbled and fell about 3 times (I'm very uncoordinated). I blame it on the fact that my body wasn't awake yet. In fact, I'd go as far to say that from about 3am to 10am I wasn't actually alive; I was just sleep walking. That's my only real explanation of this disastrous morning out of a horror movie. To be honest, I don't even really remember much of it. One second I was stumbling to the bathroom, the next I was hugging Griselda and telling her goodbye. I lost/forgot a solid 30 minutes of my life and I didn't even care because it was simply too early.
We took a taxi ride over to the bust station and during our 15 minute wait (we got there at 3:55 and the bus started boarding at 4:10), I painstakingly tried to prepare myself for the 4 hour bus ride that was to come. On the way here, I didn't know what I was getting into. There was nothing for me to worry about, because I didn't know how bad the bus ride would be. Before getting on the bus to go back home the only thing I can think about is how horrible the first ride was and I'm terrified that this will be the same or worse. Luckily a few days before Kit and I hatched a plan for both of our sakes. During our amazing hike to see the volcano, Kit and I both caught colds. For the past week to combat congestion we'd been taking Benadryl. Although I felt better by Tuesday, I got sick again on Wednesday after the market. Basically the plan was to take 2 Benadryl to combat congestion (and I was really congested this morning. I couldn't breath through my nose) and pass out while on the bus. In other words, I self-medicated my way through hell and I don't regret it. My fear of the bus ride was very unwarranted. I was awake for maybe the first 20 minutes of the bus ride, but then I was out. I don't really remember falling asleep, but when I woke up we were just outside of Guatemala city. It was pretty great!
Once we arrived at the bus station, we got a taxi to the Guatemala City airport. We payed the taxi and then proceeded to check in and go to the Delta counter. Unfortunately, the delta counter didn't open until 10:30 and it was 9:00 so we waited it out for a bit. Kit was resourceful with her time and wrote her daily reflection. I, on the other hand, settled down to read a good book. When 10:30 finally rolled around we handed over our baggage, went through security and then started walking to the gate. Not willing to taste test Guatemalan fast food (in hindsight we really should've, it would've been an interesting comparison to Senora's home cooked meals) we just went to McDonalds for lunch. This was turning into somewhat of a pattern, but hey Mick D’s has some quality food, though I can't say I will be eating it now that I'm back to the U.S. One of the saving graces of Guatemalan McDonald's was the likely hood that the chicken they used was not the hormone filled stuff that they serve in the U.S. In spite of that, my sandwich, which I was actually kind of excited for, wasn't exactly five star dining, but the fries, as always, were very good. Over lunch we talked about what we were most excited for with coming back home. Kit was excited for American food and not having a carb with every meal and I was excited for my own bed and a hot shower (the shower was always cold in Guatemala).
After lunch we had a few hours to kill (it was like 11:00 and our flight left at 1:15) so we went shopping through the airport. Most of the shop-keepers spoke English, but that didn't stop me from asking (or at least trying to ask) questions in Spanish. I had 33Q to burn through and I was ready. The exchange rate was 7.74Q for $1, which meant if I tried to exchange my money I'd get less than $5 in return, not counting whatever exchange fee there would be. Basically it was better for me to just spend my money rather than save it or try to exchange it. I settled for four knit bracelets that said Guatemala on them. They weren't exactly the hallmark of culture and in no way could represent the experience I'd had, but they were cute and worth the 32Q I put down for them. I'm not usually the type to buy trinkets and gifts for myself while on vacation, but I know that these bracelets will always hold special significance for me.
After shopping we still had more time to kill so we went to a restaurant for wifi, because unlike the Atlanta airport, there is no general free airport wifi in the Guatemala city airport. We ordered some drinks (once again in spanish) and settled down to wait it out for the last 45 minutes until our flight started boarding. Kit once again did the responsible thing and worked on her blog, while I continued reading my book (it's called Daughter of Smoke and Bone and it's AMAZING). When we were done, I, alone, (big emphasis on alone because Kit usually has to help me with the Spanish stuff) asked our waiter for the check and settled our tab. This felt like a really big step for me. It was another moment when I could show just how much I'd learned in only 2 weeks time. I felt so proud of myself and that's when I decided that I couldn't let my knowledge go to waste. I would continue learning and practicing even after we got back to the U.S.
To make a long story (cause all of my blogs are excessively long) shorter, Kit and I boarded our flight and in a short 3 hours found ourselves back home in Atlanta. We got our bags, went through boarder control and security, found our families in the airport lobby and parted ways. I was on my way home one of the things I missed most while on this trip, my bed (yes I missed my family too, but I can't sleep on my parents at least not comfortably anyway). It's now 10:30 and while my bed is comfy, somehow I'm still awake and thus I writing this reflection. I'd say that overall today was long and exhausting. As I've said before, I'm going to miss Guatemala, but I'm also really excited to be back home. I can already tell that this weekend will be one full of laziness and sleep, which I'd like to start on right now. Good night Reader!
Sincerely,
Journey
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