It was a little surreal to realize I was actually in Guatemala, because the flight was so short. Max six hours from Utah to Guatemala City. Upon arrival, my travel companion, Amy Maxwell, and I decided to buy tickets to Flores, a tourist town close to the Tikal Ruins. We got on a red bus, and rode forever and ever, and then realized that we did the whole run of the bus. It was actually a lovely thing because we got to see a lot of Guatemala City. We rode the bus back to the bus depot and bought our tickets again.
Guatemala city is unlike any city I have been to. It is a madhouse. It's a very lively city, but I think any more time there and I would have been insane. It's loud, like a city. At 5 foot 9 I am taller than everyone.
My Castellano, the Spanish dialect I learned on my mission to Argentina, is working just fine for me. The Guatemalan lilt can be a little hard to understand. I think it is more relaxed Spanish. I'm no linguist.
For now we are just traveling with small backpacks. It's nice to travel like hippies.
We took a nine-hour bus ride to Flores and the movie for the night on the bus was 'American Ninja 2.' I have never seen something more compelling. Action, ninja skills and great acting combined to put me asleep about five minutes after it started. I recommend it over Tylenol PM.
We got to Flores and promptly boarded a micro to Tikal for another long ride. We got to Tikal and wandered into the park. It was hot and muggy and it felt good to sweat Guatemala City out of my system. The first animal we saw was the darndest thing. The call of this bird is wild. It's called Montezuma Oropendula. Amazing. It literally entranced me.
We saw the spider monkeys, climbing through the tall ceiba, cedar and other trees. They were evil and cute, and they didn't venture to come near us. The ruins are inexpressibly awesome. My imagination was going a bit wild as we climbed in and around and atop the temples and complexes. We took a lot of time exploring. It was surreal to climb the trails through the jungle and then have a temple pop up right before you.
We took a nature trail and saw some parrots hanging in the hood. We returned to the ruins the next day and were confounded again. The first day we had looked at little ruins mainly, and then we stumbled upon the big boys. We climbed temples that towered over the jungle, on rickety wooden ladders, and I got nervous a few times. The view was astounding and I thought a lot about the people who lived there.
Most of the intricate artwork had eroded, and I thought that if I was thinking it was lovely now, it must have been a diamond back in the day when everything was ornate and decorated. We also saw a toucan with a bluish beak.
We were driven back, through Santa Elena, to get money. At the ATM there was a guard with a semi-automatic gun.
My chacos are soaking in the soul of the country on which I walk. I have also drunk a lot of water. A lot of water. A lot of water.
Andrea Nelson is a senior majoring in anthropology, studying midwives in the K?che Mayan communities of the highlands of Guatemala.