Our First Days in Guate.

Hi All,

Well, our travel blog, "teco/teca," is now up so we can keep you all informed about our experiences while living abroad in Guatemala. Before I get started recounting our first few days, I'll explain the name of our blog now to avoid confusion. To English speakers, someone from Guatemala is a 'Guatemalan,' and to Spanish speakers, they are a 'Guatemalteco.' So, our title basically means Guatemalan boy/girl. Clever, huh?

Aug. 7
Beth and I, along with Beth's parents, Steve and Jackie, got up from our Days Inn hotel in K.C. at 3:20ish a.m. to get to the airport in time for our 6 a.m. flight. Unbeknown to us, we got up too early as the airport didn't technically 'open' until 5 a.m., so we killed some time before our final goodbyes. We had five big suitcases--about 300 lbs. of luggage--as well as three carry-ons to haul, and our main concern was getting my new 20" iMac through without any troubles from security. Thankfully, I didn't even have to unpack it (which would have been a PAIN) as the lady in charge was confused by what exactly it was ("It's a computer and monitor all in one," we explained. "....so it's a monitor?," she said hesitantly. "Yeah...it's a monitor," we agreed.), so that worked out and off we went!

Our flight to Atlanta was uneventful and we each slept most of the way. It was delayed by about 40 minutes (and we only had an hour layover), but somehow we still got there in time to make our connecting flight with roughly 20 minutes to spare. On the way there, Beth and I played each other in a couple rounds of trivia on the screens in front of us, chatted with the man beside us who had adopted a Guatemalan child years ago (adoption is big in Guate.), and did some reading (I'm reading Chaim Potok's "The Chosen").

Flying in to Guatemala
The flight took about three hours and once we were near landing, we could really see the lay of the land. The city was amazingly broken up by large plateaus and ravines, with dwellings strewn everywhere--the majority being ramshackle, with rusting tin roofs--all surrounded by mountains and volcanoes (though we couldn't see the volcanoes from our p.o.v.). For a second, it freaked me out as it looked like we were going to land right into all those dwellings, but of course we didn't and everything was fine.

The airport was surprisingly modern, which makes sense, as it's basically all been redone and is up to some international standard now. So, we breezed through, found our bags right away, carted them up, and headed for customs. Again, here we were concerned about them questioning my large computer. But, we got our first taste of Guatemalan "law-sez-faire" and were just directed on through with absolutely no questioning or searching our bags! We found our contact right away outside, met some other new faculty, and boarded a bus with them and headed for our hotel. We were immediately struck by the pleasant weather and we still can't get over we'll be living in 60-78 degree weather YEAR-ROUND!

Our suite in the hotel is very comfortable and nice looking, with open windows and nice breezes (no need for a.c. or heat), located in Zone 10, also called "Zona Viva" since it's the nightlife section of the city, catering to tourists and the middle-and-upper classes. Once in, I hit the bed and napped for a couple hours, despite the noisy traffic just outside. Beth napped too, but not as long, so I'm not really sure what all she did while I was unconscious. I'm pretty sure I still had all my money and vital organs when I woke up... We got up mid-afternoon and headed out down the busy street the hotel is located on, Avenida Reforma, to get a look at what's nearby. I was a little nervous walking around, as we've read many times the city can be dangerous, but overall, people either didn't even look at us or they smiled, so it was fine. We walked five or six blocks and found a multi-story, open-air mini mall. I got an espresso, which was pretty good, and we meandered about looking at the shops and just taking it all in.

That evening, we met up with Beth's direct associate, Jennifer, who is the principal of the elementary at the CAG. She took us to a restaurant called Hacienda Real, which serves up very tasty Guatemala food, with their specialty in meats. I had a wonderful beef tenderloin with a dijon sauce; Beth had a kind of ceviche, which was basically a tasty shrimp soup; and Jennifer had a light dish with some sort of fish with cheese, crackers, and capers. We split a bottle of a red Chilean wine--yum! It was all really good and filling. After dinner, we headed back and crashed, getting a great night's sleep.

Aug. 8
Beth was up bright and early in order to have the continental breakfast downstairs and make the 7:15 bus. I slept 'til 9...and it was great. (Although, I'm not planning to make a habit of that at all. I plan to walk Beth to school each day, so I'm on an early schedule, and be especially productive in the mornings.) She attended orientation all day until 3, taking lots of pictures along the way of the beautiful campus. (We'll upload more soon to Flickr.) She's really excited about it all, and I'll let her chime in to tell you all more.

I haven't yet mentioned my new friend, Randy, whom we met on the bus ride from the airport, but this is basically where he comes in. Randy is also a trailing spouse like me, hailing from Toronto, and is here to spend his free time painting and a little web design work--basically the same situation I'm in! His wife, Iniyal, originally from Sri Lanka, teaches 6th and 7th grade math at CAG. So, he and I hit it off and have gotten along great and have many similar interests. Anyways, we met up around 11 a.m. to head out for some coffee and find some cheaper bottled water (the hotel's was a bit pricey) and tried not to look like vulnerable tourists as we tried to find this mysterious building next door that had a market (we never found it). But we had a good time walking around and chatting over some Cafe Americanos. We also had lunch back at my room (PBJs, graham crackers, and Japanese peanuts) and watched an episode of Flight of the Conchords. Later, we met back up to taxi over to the school together to meet our spouses and search for apartments.

The apartment hunt wasn't well organized, so Beth and I bowed out and decided to go see another faculty member's place and try our luck the next day with realtors. Beth's friend, Kelly, lives in suite with two other girls and this place is amazing. It is really big, with numerous balconies surrounding it, and best of all, the roof of the whole building is theirs, too! It has an awesome panoramic view and you can easily see the three volcanoes: Fuego, Agua, and Pacaya. I've already told Kelly she has to throw a rooftop party soon. Check it out:


After seeing her place, Kelly and her roommates, took us on a driving tour. Kelly is very brave. Guatemalan driving is crazy, with few laws regarded--stop signs being optional. So it was both exhilerating and fun to see the area. But by the end, I was ready to get out as I had inhaled so many fumes from all the traffic that I was feeling queasy.

We had a few hours to relax before dinner, so I did some reading and Beth searched online for more apartments. Around 6, we met up with Randy and Iniyal to go out to dinner with a friend I had made online a few weeks back. Her name is Amy and she is a teacher at another school in the city. I saw her profile on couchsurfing.com and struck up and email correspondence. Amy knows lots of CAGers, and we had dinner with her and another couple already working at CAG. We ended up having some appetizers and beer (had my first Gallo--Guatemala's Budweiser).


Later, Amy took us to another restaurant/bar, tucked away in this interesting building, which was U-shaped and had an open area in the middle with just three bars. It had a Middle Eastern flair, though the owner was Guatemalan. We ordered some hummus, tabouli, and kabobs--all were really tasty! I had another local beer, Moza, which is a dark, Bock style and was really good (probably going to be my Guate standby). We hung out for a couple hours and enjoyed the music., conversation, and food before retiring for the night.

Well, that's a lot to read, and I'm sure there's more, but that's it for now. We're having a great time so far and are looking forward to finding a place soon, making more friends, speaking and learning more Spanish, and traveling! We'll be heading to Antigua, the former capital and popular tourist destination, this weekend with the new faculty for some fun. Thanks to everyone for your prayers of safe travel and keeping!