Good Friday
The past week has been pretty low-key in spite of my grand plans to go to Lake Atitlán or someplace wonderful where I could see water even though I can't actually swim. The decision to stay local was made by Ms. Destiny, but it was a good one. I spent a few days at an Airbnb/new hotel under construction, scheduled a few massages and rested up. By the way, Helping Hands Spa in Antigua is amazing for therapeutic massage if you ever find yourself visiting and in need of some corrective care or some good ole "me time".
Today started out pretty good. It's Friday and I got up early to do some adulting. Although I've been in Guatemala for a few weeks now, my life back in Oregon needed some tending to. And adulting done right deserves a little celebration! So, as I got ready for the day, I looked up a new place to have breakfast. One that would be open earlier than 8AM because today's plan was to go to a local co-working space called Impact Hub to get a few things done.
The backpack is proof that I was focused and ready to take on the day!
I chose a breakfast spot, packed my bag and off I went. As I walked into the town center I started to feel concerned. From what I know of Antigua, it is always busy with cars and buses and motorbikes. The streets are usually full of vendors and packed with locals and tourists coming and going, but I'd caught Antigua in rare form. The streets were quiet and empty. All of the shops I passed by were closed and I was a little nervous that the breakfast I was looking forward to might not happen.
A bit of background…Guatemala was conquered by Spain in the 1500s and the Spanish ruled for about 300 years. Long story short, Guatemala is primarily a Catholic country and today is actually Good Friday. In my mind, it was very possible that everything would be closed for the entire weekend. Thankfully, for my appetite, the restaurant I'd arrived at was just opening.
Breakfast. Oh, breakfast. Well, I was the first one to arrive the restaurant at a few minutes before 8AM. I waited patiently as the gentleman asked for a few minutes and then unlocked the gate to let me in. In spite of arriving promptly, I didn't actually finish with my first meal of the day until 10:30A. 2.5hrs for breakfast on a day when I had big plans to be productive sounds ridiculous and it was! But that's in part because I ordered and paid for 2 meals, neither of which I found suitable for consumption and had to leave to go to the place across the street which I know and love because I was still hungry.
I'd like to dedicate a moment to the interesting vegetarian/vegan establishment with the food I couldn't swallow. I'm still trying to understand how a place that is in the business of preparing food could disappoint with eggs twice. I’m no expert but should have known that is it was going to be strange when I sat down and saw the classical maybe neo-classical art underneath the table glass. I've made an executive decision that I won't be eating in any locations with images of ancient, naked Europeans as placemat art and a water station for dogs in the main dining area.
Don’t be fooled. Nothing about or what was labeled as french toast was delicious.
I finally finished breakfast and had even been productive since the good café had great wi-fi that I hadn't previously taken advantage of. After leaving, the day turned out to be pretty uneventful, which I appreciated. As much as I've been enjoying my time here and sometimes thinking that maybe I could live here I am starting to notice that I've never relied on my own body so much as form of transportation. I’d walked to breakfast, to the grocery store and then back to where I’ve been staying. In fact, I walk everywhere. Back home, I drive or arrange Lyft/Uber and I order almost everything to be delivered to me. I only leave my house when I want to and I like it. Antigua is a small and very walkable city and there is Uber but I'm starting to miss the comfortable convenience of home. I ended the evening ordering Dominos for delivery even though I'd gotten dressed, put on eye shadow and tried to order an Uber twice to take me to dinner. No complaints though. As they say, all's well that ends well.