Don’t worry…..We’re still alive!!
We arrived in Esquipulas, Guatemala a little over a week ago. Ever since, we have been on Guatemalan time which, if you don’t know, is much slower than US time. Hence the delayed update. Let me start from the beginning of our journey to catch you up.
Considering our other travels this one paled in comparison but was, in itself, a bit more difficult than we had expected. As with any international travel there were surprises along the way. Here was our itinerary to give you some insight:
Thursday May 31st
6 hours spent driving to Dallas
Friday June 1st
wake up call at 4:05am
4 hours spent in an airport
3 1/2 hours spent on a plane
5 hour bus ride across Guatemala turns into a 7 hour bus ride
20 minute detour through a small town with little streets
10 minutes spent driving on the wrong side of the road past hundreds of cars stuck in a traffic jam (Yeah, our driver was that guy)
1 hour spent waiting for the line to start moving (although we were close to the front now)
15 minutes of slow traffic as we drove by the huge tree that fell and caused the traffic jam and the dozens of people with machetes and chainsaws “fixing” the problem and retrieving some good fire wood.
2 1/2 hours finishing our drive and arriving in Esquipulas, Guatemala
While it was a bit difficult to get here, it has been totally worth it. Esquipulas is surrounded by beautiful mountains covered with an array of different tropical trees and wildlife and the sunrises and sunsets are breathtaking as the clouds drift low across the mountains. We have spent the first week becoming accustomed to the city of Esquipulas and the surrounding areas. We have met so many amazing people and seen so much in our short time here. Orlando, whose house we are staying in, was here for the first 6 days with us until he had to reluctantly return to Lubbock. We miss him already but are now having to rely on ourselves which is a good thing. We have been spending quite a bit of time with his family, who don’t speak english, but do a great job communicating via charades and very slow spanish. We just wanted to give everyone an update on where we are so far and that we made it! More to come soon…
