Guatemala City

First and foremost, I must express how incredibly grateful that I arrived from Portland, had no issues entering the country, and most importantly no issues with my hotel reservation. My flight arrived at 5:30AM local time and I’m glad I booked the hotel for the night before so I didn’t have to wait for a 3PM check-in time to rest. Can you imagine traveling a total of 10 hours and then having to wait another 8 hours to check in and lay down?! I can’t. Well, it’s happened before but I learned my lesson and that’s a story for another day.

This is my first solo trip out of the country that I wouldn’t classify as vacation or work and will last several weeks. I’m still trying to grasp that I’m actually here and the verdict is still out on what I’m calling this hybrid trip. Either way, the journey has begun and I’m excited about what lies ahead. The first thing I noticed, is that English is not spoken much at all which I kind of expected.

I’ve got some physical limitations and I knew I’d have to take special precautions and care while on this trip. Upon my wonderfully uneventful arrival, my first order of business was to rest and be flexible with the day. I first slept from about 6:45 until 10A. I got up, showered and thought I was ready to take on the day and before I knew it, I was waking up and the clock said 3:30PM.

I was proud of me! I didn’t stress about not getting out and about right away. In fact, I spent the first few days in the hotel drinking tea, ordering room service, getting my nails done and checking out the shops in Miraflores Mall. It was much needed down time and it gave me a chance to practice my Spanish a bit. I was intentional about being kind to myself and keeping the days open.

My favorite part of the first days in Guatemala was learning that I love the traditional breakfast of eggs, black beans, salsa ranchera and tortilla!