¨I feel as though the cardboard box of my own reality has been flattened and blown open. Now I can see the edge of the world.¨ – Tom Hiddleston
Buenos from Guatemala! I have now been in Guatemala on a short trip to visit my friend Iris who studied abroad at my school last year. It has been amazing so far and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to come visit!
Friday I was driven to the airport by my friend’s cousin. I managed to find my way around pretty quickly and got through security quickly. I had a couple of hours to sleep and walk around a little before my flight. This was my first solo plane ride and was a complete success! The only problem I ran into was after exiting the airport in Guatemala. Iris told me to just exit and I would see her. Little did we both know there would be a famous singer in town that day and the outside of the airport was packed. I felt like the star walking through paparazzi. Iris was nowhere to be seen so it was a bit stressful. Finally from walking back and forth five times I found her holding up a sign for me. She was freaking out and said thank goodness I found her. It was a great first experience in Guatemala! We then went straight to Antigua after we went to her house and packed.
Antigua was beautiful. It is an old colonial-looking town. We walked around the town a little and then checked in at our hostel. The hostel had bunk beds stacked all the way to the ceiling. There were three on top of each other. If only I wasn´t afraid of heights, I wouldn´t have chosen the bottom bunk. We met two girls from Finland who were really nice. We just hung out at the hostel until dinner. Quesadillas and a brownie sundae was my food of choice for the night. So delicious!
The next day was even more exciting! Iris took me and her friend William to a lookout point of Antigua. William has lived in Antigua for about three months and is originally from the states, but plans to stay here. He is a painter and a very intellectual person! He was extremely fun to hang out with!
After saying goodbye to him, Iris and I went to lunch. She went home to go to work and I checked into a hostel in Antigua. The hostel was so cool because it had a bunch of different hangout spots with a bar upstairs and a cute little restaurant hangout spot downstairs. That night I went to a play with a few of Iris´s friends from Antigua. It´s funny because I never thought I would see ¨How the Grinch Stole Christmas¨ in English in Guatemala. It was the cutest play I´ve seen! I went back to the hostel and had dinner. A couple came over to my table and sat with me and told me all about their travels from Mexico to Belize to Guatemala. I went to bed quite early because the next day I had some new adventures.
Sunday I went and got some breakfast and then headed to William´s house. He told me the previous day he would paint a portrait of me. He calls them the ¨four hour portrait.¨ I was his first one in Guatemala so I was excited! Iris and her friend, Mariana, came over to meet me a little later. After the portrait was complete, we went to dinner and then ice cream at POPS. If you´re ever in Central America, it is a MUST to try POPS! It is the best ice cream ever! We then left back to Iris´s house in Guatemala City. I was so happy to have experienced staying in a hostel by myself as well as get my portrait painted. I am so thankful to have met William because he will be a life-long friend! I am having the best time here in Guatemala and I will be sad to go home in two days! I will miss Iris, but I am already planning on coming back to visit and maybe even to stay!
Allie Lessard is a student at Endicott College and an official API Student Blogger. Allie is studying abroad with API in San Jose, Costa Rica.
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