Guatemala: Nuestro Día Primera en Antigua

We were about 25 minutes from landing in Guatemala City when the pilot came on the speaker to inform us that because of the thunderstorm covering the airport, and also due to the terrain around Guatemala City, the approach to land would be too dangerous. We don't have enough fuel to continue circling the airport for an indeterminate amount of time, so we're going to fly to San Salvador instead and refuel there (perhaps? I'm not actually quite sure...the pilot didn't say).

I was unfortunate in having an aisle seat for this flight. I say unfortunate because the thunderstorms have created a pillow-like landscape of cloud cover, behind which the sun is currently setting on the other side of the plane. The peeks I'm catching out the window are quite breath-taking and I'm jealous of the other passengers!

Here are two incredible pictures Jason snapped out his window:


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We have landed in San Salvador and are sitting at the gate, waiting for the American Airlines staff to drive in from their homes, which are 45 minutes away (they had already gone home for the day).

In the past 10 minutes I have:

1) Moved seats to sit with Kristina and Tim.

2) Opened the lavatory door because it said "vacant" to find a 30-something woman shocked and embarrassed as she was sitting on the toilet.

3) Unintentionally started a feast, as I asked the stewards if there were any snacks available for purchase. "Well...at this point, we'll just give them to you." Cue passenger movement en masse to the back of the plane for free food.

We've clearly got nobody for whom to look good at our row 22, free food picnic...is it obvious we don't really want to be on this plane anymore?

We're still not sure in which country we'll be sleeping tonight...more info soon.

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I'm glad to say that we arrived safely in Guatemala City last night!

A group of us just got back from a visit to Antigua, a very famous colonial town about 45 minutes outside of Guatemala City, during our first day off here in Guatemala.

It's pretty much impossible to capture the awesomeness of Antigua in words, so here are some pictures of the unbelievable things we saw during our tour this afternoon.

The fountain in the center of Parque Central.

Landmarks from L to R: Catedral de San José, Volcán de Agua (inactive), and Parque Central.

Inside the Catedral de San José ruins. Earthquakes have ravaged the town of Antigua for centuries. These are behind the front portion of the cathedral which has since been rebuilt (visible in the previous picture).

Looking through the collapsed ceiling.

The walls are filled with bodies/tombs. You can see some lettering faintly written underneath the portion of exposed brick in this picture, indicating the placement of some now-anonymous parishioner.

A video from the center of the ruins.

This woman of 100% Mayan descent (and her family) still makes purses, bags, table clothes, place mats, and other woven goods in the traditional Mayan way.

A ruined convent.

Flowers hanging in Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, a 5 star hotel built in the ruins of the Santo Domingo Monastery. Many parts of the ruins have also been converted into small museum showrooms (e.g. crypts, a room behind the altar with religious artwork, etc.).

Part of the garden in the courtyard of the hotel.

Taking the parrots away for the night.



A video inside the courtyard.

The monastery, which has been converted into an outdoor performance space/wedding chapel.

Charlie, Ted, myself, Kiana, and Annette in the hotel courtyard.

Today was pretty much the most incredible day off we've had in an unbelievably long time. Multiple times this afternoon I found myself thinking, "This is really weird. I can't believe I'm actually standing in Mayan ruins in the middle of Guatemala..."

I can't wait to experience more of this unbelievably fascinating and beautiful country over the next few days! Off to Lake Atitlán early tomorrow morning!