Town of Cumberland

Thankfully the trip was uneventful. Immigration and customs were fine, no events, and my luggage was passed over. I walked outside of the terminal and was instantly greeted by Alex, who is the driver for Maximo Nivel, the organization that works with IVHQ.org, where i booked the whole adventure. Alex and I started what should have been a half hour drive to Antigua, but it turns out that the former President of Guatemala, Alvaro Arzu, who helped end the civil war in 1996, had died suddenly. So the roads were jammed with people, also going to Antigua, for the burial. Needless to say the trip took a lot longer than we anticipated, more like two hours. The road from Guatemala City to Antigua is very hilly and VERY curvy in places, we were going so slow that it didn't bother me too much, but as you'll later find, riding those same roads on the chicken buses was a bit treacherous. Along the roads we passed SO many broken down cars, with families just standing on the side of the road. It was amazing. I also saw a motorcycle with a man driving, his young daughter (like 5) behind him, his wife behind her and she was holding a one year old to her chest. This is normal here, whole families pile onto motorcycles or into pickup truck beds. Tons of little kids and families in pick up truck beds.

So as we're driving, I learn about Alex. He is a native Guatemalan, married with three children, aged five, three and 4 months. He is a doctor in Guatemala City, but is burnt out and decided that being a driver was better for him and his family. So thats what he does, he drives people around, like a private cab driver. He brought me through Antigua, which is all cobblestone and colorful storefronts and we went into Maximo Nivel headquarters where I met Cecily, who checked me in and notified me that I had an orientation at 9:30 the following morning. (PS, as Im typing this, the thunder is CRAZY. I think a storm is coming). Alex then brought me to my host house, owned and operated by Olga de Molina. Olga speaks no english, not one bit, but we made do. She brought me to my single room, which is literally a bed, an armoir and a side table. But its clean and fine. Across the hall is a bathroom with a small sink, a toilet, and a shower, all in one room. You pull the curtain when you shower so the toilet paper doesn't get wet. There is only one spigot, but the water temp and pressure was fine. The bummer is you don't flush toilet paper in Antigua, like none. Regardless of whats on it, do not flush. It takes some getting used to. That and the fact that you can't drink the water, or even brush your teeth with the water. Throughout the city there are free potable water stations that you can fill your bottle up with. They are in stores and cafes, etc. You just walk in and fill your bottle. We have one in the host house too.

SO night one, I am told that "la cena es a seis", or dinner is at 6pm. Since I got there around 3 or so, I unpacked and walked around a little bit, not too far, as I was exhausted. I found a bar called Monoloco which is super touristy, but right up the road from the house. I went in for a couple of coronas, then came back. Dinner, it turns out, was only me, despite the fact there are about 8 people staying in the house. They are all in a language program and dinner on Sunday is not included for them. So I had a broken conversation with a lovely cook that doesn't speak english over chicken, spaghetti and squash. I was asleep around 7pm (9pm Maine time) and slept until about 5am. I heard the young crowd come home from their fun night, but barely acknowledged it. So tired, and so grateful for a solo room.Read more