Xela, Reu, Champerrico

Me and Joseph in Reu

Champerrico
Xela market. Women in traditional dress
Xela
I didn't last long in Xela. It was a bit overwhelming after being at the lake for a whole month. The city is big, loud, dirty and I felt like I was going to get hit by a car at any moment. I spent 2 days there with the girls I went there with. We wandered around the town by foot both days and did lots of shopping, observing and eating of deep fried street food. So good, and so cheap. On St. Patricks Day, we decided to splurge and ate a really nice dinner at an Indian restaurant. Weird, I know...but we all wanted something other then deep fried Guatemalan food. On Friday, I caught a bus to Retalulue (Reu) to visit Joseph, Curt and Semilla Nueva. The bus ride was unbelievable. It's so beautiful out here, so lush and so much life. There are fruit trees everywhere, it's so green and it's amazing to pass through these small villages. So many times I wish I could've jumped off the buss to walk around and look around.

It's hot here in Reu. 100 degrees everyday and so humid. Its almost like being in Hawaii...but without the beach, or any body of water for that matter. Reu is smaller than Xela and there are virtually no tourists. Its a much different feel from the rest of Guatemala. People dress like us Americans...in scandalous clothing. It's so hot here that it would be hard to wear the traditional dress. The nicest place in town is the McDonalds...well Im not sure about that but I think only the weathy go there as it's expensive and air conditioned. There are street vendors all over the parque central seeling fruits, veggies, clothes, knick knacks and meat. There is raw meat hanging everywhere in the blistering heat. I'm on the verge of becoming a vegetarian after seeing all the meat hanging up around town.

Yesterday, I went by bus to Champerrico, the beach on the pacific coast, with Curt's girlfriend Katie. We were the only white people for miles and miles, which was nice at first as we were not in a touristy place, but it became pretty intense as the day went on. When we got to the beach, we layed out with our books. Not 5 minutes after, did we have a group of men surrounding us asking us to come with them, to hang out, to practice our Spanish with them, etc. We had to be very assertive in that we were fine by ourselves, that we came to relax and enjoy the sun. We did get a break from people and did some swimming in the warm, blue sea. The water was unbelievable. You couldnt go to far out though as the rip tide was strong. Katie and I had lunch at a small restaurant on the beach, no problems. Towards the end of the day, we went to take showers before getting on the bus and we had the whole beach staring at us. I guess it's uncommon for them to see a)white people, b) white women, and c) white women in bikini's. When we went to the showers, I was going to watch our bags while Katie showered and we were going to trade. A woman who worked at the restaurant insisted on watching our bags while we both rinsed off in the showers. I went with it...and it was like we were putting on a shower for everyone at the restaurant. The woman stood and watched us even as we were both out of the showers and getting dressed. Pretty crazy!

The next few days I will just be relaxing and hanging out in Reu. My plan is to meet up with my friend Alex on Monday and head east towards Semuc Champey, Tikal, the carribean coast and eventually out of Guatemala. That's all for now...