Sight-seeing in Zona Uno

Tuesday morning I was taken on a tour of Zona Uno (Zone 1) of the city with the school's director's husband, Jacob, as well as Randy and Jen (the other two 'trailing spouses' that are new this year). Up 'til then, I had been somewhat intimidated by Zone 1 since it can be dangerous and is definitely not a place you should be after dark. However, it's the oldest part of the city and there are some really beautiful buildings to see, including the Palacio Nacional. As well, you really get a sense of the people and city with so much going on there during the day.

Jacob first took us to a gigantic Chinese import shop. It was a really nice place with tons and tons of Chinese goods, from fresh produce to drums of soy sauce, hand-carved furniture to lucky waving cats, to saki and swords. We had fun browsing the aisles and seeing such uncommon items. I bought some cans of cocount milk since it was half the price I had been paying at the grocery store, as well as some chili garlic sauce (sometimes called rooster sauce).

Next we went to a tiny, nearly-hidden Arab import shop. The entrance to the store was just a door between two stores on a busy street that led to staircase and up to a small open room. Once again we enjoyed browsing the uncommon goods. There I bought some apricot paste (you just cut it up and eat it; it's very tasty!) and figs.

We then headed to the big market, which is located just behind the main square where the national palace is located. You could spend a lot of time in the market, perusing the hundreds of stalls which sell all kinds of things. We've been to a few markets before and this one seemed to be about the same, just bigger. Beth and I will probably pick up some Christmas gifts there. Here I bought a small bag of delicious macadamia nuts, a pound of GIANT blackberries for less than $1 (!), and some strange fruit I've never tasted before (can't remember what it's called, but it looks like a small apricot). We will probably take everyone who comes to visit us there as it's a neat experience.

Last we went to a restaurant that served typical Guatemalan food. It was a fairly upscale restaurant for the zone it was in. There was even a live marimba band playing, which added to the ambiance. I had some sort of vegetable soup, steak with mushrooms, refried beans, guacamole, and tortillas. It was very good.

Now that I've gotten to see a lot more of Zone 1 and understand its layout a little better it's not so intimidating. It was a fun outing and very nice of Jacob to take us around like that.