Shrimp and Chicken

My adventure has finally begun. It is hard to believe that after a month of frantic planning I am here.

Yesterday my day was very long. In the morning my mom drove me to OHare. I checked in, said bye to my mom and went through security. My first flight was from Chicago to Houston. I said next to a man who was playing Sims 2 the entire flight and looked like he was going to hit me every time I shifted in my seat, must have been a good game. The plane arrived in Houston about 15 minutes early which was not any help at all because I already had a five and a half hour layover there. I shopped, went to this ridiculously expensive but tasty fish restaurant in the airport. I really do not know why that was where I went but the place was nice and did not look like an airport so that was nice. I had shrimp and chicken! Silly, but worth it. After the layover I flew to Guatemala and got there at 9:00.

The minute I got out of the airport I started seeing familiar things. The man who carried my bags was the same guy who had played the clapping game with us in July. My driver took us down the same streets we went down and I saw all the huge American restaurants. No lie, three story Taco Bell. Yuck. My drivers name was Eric. He was really nice and he was good at filling all the awkward silences. Also I did not fall asleep on him like I did the driver we had in July. Driving into Antigua was sort of like coming home. Things are familiar here. This place is sort of like Brigadoon. It seems frozen in time. I am staying with Carlos and his family in their other house. In July I stayed with Carlos at his own house but he is refurbishing that house right now. He knew that a student was coming but he had no idea it was me. It was so fun to see his surprise when he opened the door. That definately felt like a homecoming. After greeting me he said, "Since it is you I need to give you the better room!" I definately did not argue with that. This house is beautiful. Ornate tiles cover the floors and walls. There are beautiful carved wood windows with frosted glass. All of the doors face out to a garden courtyard. It always feels like you are outside. One of my favorite parts is that in the bathroom the plunger we gave Carlos and Andrea is right next to the toilet. Carlos made sure that I saw it even before I saw my room. When he showed it to me he goes, "We do not use it, we have a different one, this is part of our decoration." I definately traded up for a really amazing room. Queen sized bed with an armoir and a dresser. There is also a desk, TV, and stereo. One of my favorite parts is that they have a really nice cat who I have already made friends with. Nobody tell Orla.

Today I am just walking around finding my favorite shops and places. I went to the infamous ATM, I am at my favorite internet cafe, and I have been mawing down on pan dulce since 7:00. Classes do not start until Monday so I have this weekend to settle in and have some fun.

Everything about this trip feels so perfect and so right. I am so comfortable here. While right now I do not really know many people and that makes it a little lonely I still have this sense of calm mixed with excitement.

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