Antigua

5/18
Got up, had breakfast, and asked about getting a ticket to Copán on Friday (the hope is to get one in the morning from Atitlán to Antigua, and then one from Antigua to Copán so I get to Copán by Friday night and can bus back to Ceiba in time for Carnaval Saturday night). They said they weren’t sure, so to check back in an hour (then they said they only had tickets for 4am).
Went to parque central and had a latte and cinnamon roll from Café Condesa since the pancakes at the hostel didn’t fill me up. It was good – a lot drier than the ones at home – without the gooey sugary stuff in the ones at home. I walked over to the market, which was interesting to walk through. I saw a bunch of puppies in tiny cages, though, so that was sad.
After going back to the hostel to check about getting the ticket for Friday, I went to parque central and read for a while. An older guy came and sat down next to me and started chatting. He’s lived in Antigua his whole life and works in real estate, and told me about how Antigua used to have less people and was dirtier, only a few stores/restaurants, etc, but with tourists it has gotten better. He said he thinks it’s also helped that lots of people come here and buy property or marry someone from here. I got lunch at Café Condesa again (oatmeal pancakes with a banana, 3 strawberries, 3 blackberries, and fruit salad) with a mixed fruit liquado.
Then went back to the hostel to get the shuttle to Panajachel.

5/17
Got up and had breakfast at the hostel (included) – I chose the desayuno antigueno – coffee, beans, eggs, plantains, and bread. I bought my shuttle ticket to Lake Atitlán, and then walked to the parque central and looked at a photo exhibit they have set up there. Got a latte at Café Condesa – it was so good!!
When you sit in the central park, especially in the morning, lots of women come up to you to try to get you to buy fabrics, jewelry, etc. The first one that came up to me actually had a fabric that I thought was really nice, so I ended up buying it from her. It’s not really a blanket, as it’s much smaller, so not quite sure what I will do with it, but it’s pretty, and it was interesting talking with her and with the other women as well.
When I was done with my latte, I walked over to the ruins of Convento de la Merced. The fountain there is the biggest in Hispanic America, but I felt like I was missing something, even though I walked through the whole thing. Maybe because I was comparing it to churches in France, but it was kind of disappointing. After that, I just walked around some more and then went to lunch at Café Condesa – had a broccoli omelet, bread, potatoes with green onions, fruit salad, and coffee.
After lunch, I walked to get a ticket back from Atitlán to Copán…so frustrating, as the lady kept telling me it wasn’t possible to do it in one day, and that I’d have to leave Atitlán a day early and spend the night in Antigua, and then go to Copán at 4:00 the next morning. It was funny, though, when I was at the ticket office, I met a guy from the States who met Shauna, another one of the volunteers here, on the plane from SPS to Ceiba – small world!
I finally decided to just try to get a ticket when I got to Atitlán – Iguana Perdida (the hostel I’m staying in at the lake) said I should be able to, so going to hope that they are right! I went to a café by parque central and got iced tea and a little chocolate bundt cake. While I was sitting in parque central, a random guy came up to me and just started talking – people here are very friendly and it’s not odd for people to just start talking to you. Later in the evening, I went to MonoLoco to use the internet and then went upstairs for dinner. Just after I had ordered, I saw the Irish girl (Sharon) from Copán and the shuttle, and she invited me to have dinner with her and a guy from her hostel. Turns out the guy, Jason, is from Portland but just graduated from UCSD med, is taking a year to do an MPH, and then wants to go into Family Medicine – which is what I want to do, too. I had fish tacos with mango/pineapple salsa, and a limonada con soda. Today I saw a golden retriever for the first time since I’ve been in C.America (and I saw three!), and it made me miss my dogs!

5/16
Got up and waited outside for the 6am shuttle to Antigua. The guide from yesterday (Miguel?) was walking by, so chatted with him. The shuttle picked me up a few minutes early, and went to get a couple more people. The border at El Florido is very close to Copán Ruinas. We first went to the Honduran office (where there was a big sign about not trusting people who promise opportunities to travel, guaranteed work, help with documents, and to report people involved in human trafficking, and another sign saying to report any officer who tries to get you to pay an exit fee), and then walked across the border to the Guatemalan office, where we got a Guatemalan visa (they recently changed the rules so you need separate visas for the CA-4 countries) and paid a couple of dollars to enter. Around there it’s a lot drier – there are plants, but they’re not as vibrant a green as in Honduras, and there’s lots of cactus and bare stone/dirt. The shuttle bus stopped so we could eat, but they only took quetzales, and as I didn’t have any yet, wasn’t able to eat. The Irish girl that Ruth and I met on the way back from the bird park was also on the shuttle and didn’t have any quetzales, either, so she gave me one of the two cookies she had…we were both starving! There are signs all over for different politicians, and one saying that “Los políticos son una mierda. Ya estamos harta.” Gas is US$4.70 here…not sure what it is at home now, though!
Got to Antigua around noonish, walked to the hostel and checked in, and then went to look for an ATM. I was looking for a credomatic since I recognize the name and have heard lots of horror stories about ATMs here in Antigua, but I couldn’t find it and was so hungry that finally just went somewhere else. It was probably actually a good thing, because later I read that they are actually the ones with the most problems recently! I went to eat – it took a while to find somewhere, but finally figured I was so hungry it didn’t matter if I paid a little more. The place I went ended up not being very expensive (probably around what you’d pay in the US), and the food was really good (probably extra good because of how hungry I was!). I got a pineapple liquado and a chicken baguette with fries – the bread was so good! After that, went to use the internet, but the connection at the place I chose was really slow. After that, just wandered around, got an iced mocha, and just looked around various shops (they have a ton of shops with jewelry, pottery, etc here). They are very pushy here – they follow you around and really try to get you to buy things! Somehow walking around, I ended up getting lost – I walked away from the center, all the way to the edge of the city, and then probably in circles trying to get back. Since I was so far from the city center, it got a bit sketchy, so I was very glad when I finally saw my hostel – but then realized that I had walked past it earlier and hadn’t noticed since it doesn’t stand out at all.
I went back to the hostel and read for a bit and showered (SO good to have hot water!!!), and then went to use the internet at MonoLoco – same price as the one I found earlier in the day, but much faster connection and much better computer. After that, went to Bagel Barn for a free movie (Gritos de hambre), but it was so bad that I ended up leaving about a half hour into the movie. For dinner there I had a combo that included a frappe, bagel with veggies on it, and cake. When I got back to the hostel, I talked with some of the other people there, who were really nice – from China and England.

PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100412530228018.2819587.10735354&l=44c0ca0123