Quick Update!

Sorry I haven't blogged in like a week! Last Friday I forgot, then I went on the weekend trip, and then I got sick! YUCK! It was really gross, you don't want to know the details. But Monday-Wednesday, besides doing my normal things, I basically just slept all day so I didn't have time to update this. And I've officially decided, I never ever want to travel alone again!! I was having an amazing time before I got sick, and I'm having an amazing time again, but it was just so completely awful being sick and alone that it is just not worth it. :/ And I was really only sick for one day! Anyway, I started a blog about the weekend but never got a chance to finish. :( I'll try to eventually! But guess what?! Tomorrow, I'm going on another weekend trip! Woo! This one's crazy. Here I'll post the itinerary:


Tikal, Río Dulce & Livingston
First day (Friday)
4:40 AM - Start to collect everyone from their houses
5:00 AM - Leave Antigua
8:00 AM - Breakfast
9:00 AM - Continue driving
11:30 AM - Arrive at Fronteras, Río Dulce. Visit San Felipe Castle, Izabal Lake; time to swim. Picnic lunch.
2:00 PM - Continue driving
5:30 PM - Arrive at Flores. Location for hotel. Free time, including dinner.
Second day (Saturday)
5:00 AM - Leave hotel for the park
7:00 AM - Breakfast in the Tikal ruins
7:40 AM - Tour of the Tikal archaeological site with English guide
11:00 AM - End of tour, leave the park.
Option to go ziplining: $30. In this place there is a restaurant where we will eat lunch.
1:30 PM - Leave for Fronteras, Río Dulce
5:30 PM - Arrive at Frontera Río Dulce
6:30 PM - Arrive at Lívingston and transfer in pickup to the hotel on a beach 5 km outside of town
7:00 PM - Arrive at hotel
7:30 PM - Dinner
Third day (Sunday)
8:00 AM - Breakfast. Time for the beach
10:00 AM - Leave hotel, go through Lívingston. Tour of Río Dulce
1:30 PM - Arrive at Frontera. Lunch
3:00 PM - Leave for Antigua. You can have dinner in a restaurant on the way or in the capital.
9:00 PM - Arrive at Antigua.

Lotsa traveling!! I haven't decided if I'm gonna try ziplining yet. :) $30 is like really cheap though, right?! How can I pass that up??

OK now I'm going to answer some questions my mom sent to me in an email:

It looks like avocados are very common in the dishes Guatemalans prepare - you must like that!
I also noticed something like a fruit salad with watermelon, bananas and (is that pineapple?)
Are avocados, watermelon, tomatoes, lime and corn among the most common fruits and vegetables grown in the area?  What else is common there?
Are the drinks mostly fruit drinks, like aqua frescas?
It's really great that you got to practice talking in Spanish while comparing the differences in the educational systems of Guatemala and the United States.  Maybe you can learn more about the culture and values of the people there also.  It's so neat that you're learning much more than just the Spanish language, even though that's happening, too.
What a funny story about your bus trip...what's usually a 20-30 minute walk is just a 5-7 minute bus ride, right?  At least now you know where to get off if you decide to take the bus again.
Oh, just to double check...you're one hour ahead of us, right?  

YES avocado is like my FAVORITE and they have it in practically every meal so I LOOVE it! <3 In the morning we usually have a fruit salad with some combination of watermelon, banana, pineapple, cantaloupe, and persimmon and we put yogurt and granola on it. I can't eat the granola though cause it has peanuts in it. :/ I know avocados & watermelon (2 of my favorite foods ever!) are really common here, and I think tomatoes, limes, and corn are too but I'm not sure. Oh I also absolutely love that they make everything with cilantro! Woo! For breakfast we have tea or coffee (I always have tea), lunch is a fruit drink (kinda like agua fresca I guess) and for dinner we just have water. About my Spanish classes...it's so cool because we always start with a little conversation about something random! Her family, my family, differences between Guatemala and the United States, food, how they celebrate holidays here, etc. etc. and it's so great! :) I get to practice my Spanish and learn a lot about the culture here too! About the bus...the past couple days while I've been sick, I've been taking the bus or a tuc-tuc (like a mini taxi) everywhere because I've been really tired. And yeah, it makes the trip a LOT shorter. Pretty much turns a 30-minute walk into 5-10 minute ride. And it's cheap! Did I mention the cost already? About 20 cents for the bus and $1.50 for a private tuc-tuc ride. Timewise - I am in the same region as the Central Time Zone, but since Guatemala doesn't have Daylight Saving Time I'm just 1 hour ahead of San Francisco time.

I've got to go to dinner now, and after that I'm gonna pack for the trip and try to follow the Giants game on Twitter lol. I need to sleep early cause we're leaving so early so I'm gonna try to go to sleep right when the game ends haha! But if I finish getting all my stuff ready for the trip before the game ends I'll try to write more in the blog!

BTW even if I don't get a chance to update my blog, I'm still gonna try to keep my pictures updated just so ya know. Enjoy!