Guatemala: Day 7

Unfortunately, we were both a little sick today. It wasn't anything that needed a doctor or medicine, but I think the food just started to take over my stomach. We did get to eat an extra yummy breakfast! The cooks made us pancakes and mosh. It was the best.

We also talked with Pedro, the little boy who lived near by our hotel. He was always peaking through the fence and watching us. He would just smile and wave. He was always excited to see us, but a little shy when we tried to talk to him. Probably because our Spanish sounded so horrible haha. He was super cute though. Everyone on the trip just wanted to bring him home with us. Since it was our last day in La Tinta, we had to hang out with Pancho the monkey and the crazy Lemur. They made our stay so much fun.

Then we walked around La Tinta a little bit and found the bank to switch money over. Then we traveled out to the hospital to the pediatric wing. There we got to give toys to kids. It was so sad to see the sick children. Their cribs looked like little white jail cells. I was so excited to bring them bright, colorful toys. There weren't many children in the hospital, I assume most families could not afford it. But the ones that were there were very pitiful. We overloaded their beds and rooms with toys.

Afterward, we went to the lot outside the hospital for the ambulance ceremony. It was supposed to start at 10 a.m. but mayor didn't show up so we decided to entertain the locals that were waiting with us. David performed a lip sync concert & Chris and I did a few country dancing moves. They probably thought we were some kind of circus.

We waited for a few hours, but the mayor still hadn't arrived so Kyle, Chris, Katie and I left for our next adventure. (The ceremony didn't end up starting until 1 p.m. that afternoon, but that's just the Guatemalan culture).

Our destination was Flores and ultimately Tikal, some of the world's best ruins. We started on a small micro bus and it was SO hot. We sat in the back with no air- not even window air. We counted 28 people crammed inside of a van meant for about 11. It was also pushing 95 degrees outside so yes- sweat dripped everywhere. Luckily, I was editing my pictures on my camera so it distracted my attention from focusing on the wooden add-a-seat and the slimy, stickiness of my body baking.

We arrived in another town for another bus, then another town for another one- here we got a yummy smoothie/milkshake drink. It was so refreshing. I was also starving, so Kyle found me some sweet bread. We never could have traveled so much without him! Then we scheduled our next bus which was a big, nice charter bus to Flores. We had one quick stop so we could go to the bathroom and Chris bought some Limons (so tasty) but the bus was pulling away so the cashier was super slow giving him his change so that he had to run and catch the bus without it!! Tricky salesman.

The charter bus wasn't air conditioned but the breeze from the window felt SO good. We even had curtains to block the light so we could sleep. Once in Flores, we stayed in a cheap hotel. Funny though, I felt like our last hotel with bamboo walls was nicer. This hotel was teal concrete with salamanders crawling all over the ceiling.

Flores was a really romantic city because it's a little island. The water and lights from the buildings are beautiful at night. We even found chocobananos for 1 q! They were soooo good! Definitely my favorite treat. We walked around a little and looked for a car rental place, but they were all were closed. So we ate Burger King, which was super expensive compared to our other meals! It tasted a little different too, but the milkshake was yummy.

Then we compared skin infections... mine looked like giant poison ivy- red bumpy with pus coming out. I'm glad it was only on my ankle though. Kyle's looked like ring worm and Dave was covered in bug bites (as was I). Katie and Chris were the lucky ones. Thank goodness their pharmacy has Calamine lotion though! It at least helped the itching.