Sunday, December 30, 2007

Big scary Gringa!

I'm really sorry that I can 't download pictures here, as I get farther and farther out the internet gets worse!
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San Pedro was sort of trippy and psychedelic. The crazy painted chicken busses, arty handpainted signs, dreadlocked hippies everywhere, the strange combination of devotional phrases on the walls "solo jesus se cambiar su vida!" "Dios te amo!" with the swirly yellow design painted in my hotel room, guys in cowboy hats, the constant salsa music, the very evident drug culture... It was just a wierd place with a weird vibe. The town is divided into two parts, the hippie part and the guatemalan part. I stayed up a steep hill in the guatemalan part but went down near the dock for internet, dinner and a movie,"old school", which was playing inn a restaurant, to my delight. The other places in town weren't really my scene. I didn't want to sit on a pillow and gets stoned out of my mind, call me crazy. And I like to shower regularly. 
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I am now at the Iguana Perdida in another town, which I liked immediately. It does remind me of Mayoka Village in Malawi. Everything on a tab system, rustic lodges and cottages, lovely lake view, lush beautiful plants, a thriving bar... and I've already met a few nice people. I have my own room with a straw floor and no electricity. It's open to the outside so I hope I have no spiders in there. A few other hotels are down the trail and I had lunch at another place that was playing Chicane, which made me happy. The town of santa cruz, however, is as rustic and Guatemalan as you can get. It's a grueling 20 minute walk up a steep hill. Absolutely no restaurants or stores for tourists. Just a few churches, stores and houses with dirt floors. As I walked around, some little kids saw me and screamed GRINGO! GRINGO!!, and ran away shrieking and laughing. It was actually really funny. The giant tall white girl scared children.
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I wish I could upload some photos but it might be a few days. Also I don't plan on doing much here besides read, eat and drink so my writing might be a little lacking. If you go to my youtube videos though, You'll see a new one of a taxi ride in San Pedro.
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OK, it's hora feliz and I'm going to get my Gallo on. Gallo is Guatemala's beer.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

woot! should i be worried that i'm always first here lately? yes, i am a travel blog geek too. it is what sustains me during the non travel times!

i love your descriptions of the funky little towns and your interactions with the locals. i love how you just chilled with the little girl and let her play w/ your camera...that is what its all about, the people. have fun and stay safe! hey do you have a flickr pool or where do you host your photos?

Anonymous said...

I love the Lost Iguana. Maybe Paco el Pato can stay there too. I may start calling you Gringa upon your return...Gringa Succia. I think that's dirty...or clean...can't remember). I can't believe your class is over already....I am sure you learned more than you realized. I just shared an O'Fame pizza with Sarah D. YUM. Moo. Moo. Kitty.
Still miss you, glad you're having a good time. Love the blogs.
Adios para ahora, y Feliz Ano Nuevo.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! Maybe we could make a short film called Attack of the Gringa. Just got back to work today, it's supposed to snow. Wish you were here! Bears won yesterday. Still waiting for the CTA to go on strike. -Kellogg

sara said...

Funchilde, I do have a flickr pool. Just look under Schirmy. I haven't uploaded anything in a few days, but there are maybe 30 Guat photos there. I put the best ones here, but I'm not allowed to upload photos at the Iguana, unfortnately.

Bump/Liz, you know when I had to write the childrens story, I was totally going to plagerize the general idea of bump, but I couldn't remember the ending and it's way too complitated for me to write! Can't wait for the reading!

Christine, I hear you guys are going to see a mariachi band tonight. I wish we were all together for NYE, actually I think you of all people would dig this place, with your spanish and your dominican republic experience..