Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and busses)

Hola from Guatemala!

I have had a long, long day of traveling but finally arrived in Guatemala city this morning at 6:30.

My travels began with a train from Seattle to Portland, then a bus from Portland to Salem. I visited my family for a few hours in Salem. After an interesting visit we drove up to the airport in Portland.

I went to check in my suitcase at the United desk and they informed me that my itinerary had changed and my flight had left three hours earlier - or it had been cancelled, I'm not quite sure what happened. They had record of leaving me a voicemail a month ago, but I never got it! So they booked me in for some other flights and I took off for the first leg which was about to start boarding!

I flew from Portland to San Francisco, San Francisco to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Guatemala City. All my layovers were about 30 minutes and I think my seats were upgraded along the way, so that was nice.

I settled into my window seat for the last leg with the intention of going to sleep. We were set to take off at 10:55. Sometime near midnight they informed us that there were troubles with the plane and we'd all have to get off and get further instructions on what to do next. As soon as this announcement was made the flight attendant got new information and told us to sit tight. A few minutes later he announced that the captain decided he would fly this plane after all and we would take off soon. How confident we all felt!

But there were no troubles with the plane and we arrived safely this morning. I was concerned whether or not my ride would still be waiting since I was an hour and a half late. But he was still waiting - thank goodness!

As we neared Antigua, on a steep, steep, switch-back road, he pointed out one of the nearby volcanos with a column of smoke rising from it. He said that at night you could see fire spitting out of it. Excellent.

I am spending today napping and settling in. Happily I am staying with Tomas and Delcia, where I stayed last year, so I know where everything is and how to get around town with no troubles. Tomorrow I begin a few days of Spanish classes!

adios,

aimee