Separation Anxiety

Laura and my next stop was to Guatemala's second largest city,  Quetzaltenango, know by locals as Xela. We added this to our itinerary because the girl who moved into my room in Buenos Aires recommended it.  She is Guatemalan and said ion her opinion it was the pretties part of the whole country.  Now, I definitely agree with her that it is absolutely gorgeous.... that being said would I recommend you go there??  No. It is really far out and while popular for Spanish immersion courses, there is very little happening in the town itself.   What attracts tourists to this region is.... wait for it... volcanoes.  Having seen our share of volcanoes on this trip, we opted for the more leisurely tour up to the hot springs.  The rest of our time in Xela was pretty much spent eating, reading in the main square, people watching, and watching TV in bed.  It was nice to have time to relax, especially since I was sick.

 As mentioned we parted ways with all 4 other girls (Lia, Ereni, Chloe, and Gail) in Lago de Atitlán.  Already it felt kind of strange traveling as just two. Then when we got to Xela our hotel offered a room with a double bed for 60 Q (about 7.50USD) total or our own room for 50 Q (6.25USD) each.  Since I was sick Laura decided we should opt for the second option.... as if spending 24/7 with each other up until this point wouldn't already have infected her (not she did end up getting sick on her second day in town).   I was fine with this as by this point I felt like shit and all I wanted to do was sleep.  Well despite the fact that we were only across the hall from each other I really started to miss Laura.  I would find myself having things to tell her all the time!  haha.  I decided it would be stupid to cross the hall for every small thing that popped into my mind so instead I would make a list.  Not only did she laugh at me for this, but also asked what was I going to do when we actually separated in Sept?!? GOOD QUESTION!!!!

Well I found out the next day when I said goodbye to Laura for 2 days.  I wanted to go to Managua for the weekend to hang out with my friend Bryan.  Unfortunately the tickets were rather expensive to Laura opted to take a flight on Sunday night.  I left her early Saturday morning to catch a bus to Guatemala City.  That in itself was an adventure... Is there ever such a thing as a smooth transport in this region!? Well long story short, my bus broke down.  After waiting for 2 hours on the side of the road I decided I wasn't going to make my flight unless I took a different form of transportation.  So with the help of one of the guys on the bus I hailed a local shuttle to take me to Guatemala City.  From the outside the shuttle looked like the same mini-buses we had been taking all throughout Guatemala..... inside was a different story.  It was jammed pack with about 25 Guatemalan men. And I was on a makeshift bench created at the front of the van facing all of them! it was so hilarious i just had to take a picture! In the end I made it with plenty of time.

It was definitely worth the money and trip!  I had such a great time going out with Bryan, his girlfriend Eliza and friend Joe.  The night I arrived we went to a concert that one of their friends was putting on and then out at night to a club that no joke looked like a pyramid in Tikal.   The next day the four of us went to Laguna de Apoyegue, a lake in the center of a volcano.  It was such a beautiful and fun place!  Sunday night the three ladies flew in and we all enjoyed a WONDERFUL night's sleep and glorious shower at Joe's luxurious apartment thanks to his job at the US Embassy.  The next morning we began the Nica portion of the trip!