When it Rains in Guatemala, It Pours

Sunday, July 1^st

We had a great start to the day with brunch at our hotel! There was a live band playing Guatemalan music on the marimba and drums. There was also a smoothie bar where I got a pineapple, watermelon, and strawberry smoothie mixed with milk and sugar. It wasn’t like the type of smoothie we think of, instead it was more of a frothy fruit juice. It was delicious!! After breakfast, we walked along the streets looking at various shops. We stopped at the Cocoa Museum and tried some chocolate as well as some chocolate tea. I have to say that it was some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had!

One of the many reasons why I already like this country is all of the dogs wandering around! There are pet dogs and wild dogs everywhere! I even saw a Pepper dog (aka a Boston Terrier). However, I think the most interesting one I have seen so far is a pet coyote. My mom and I were positive this one puppy was a coyote, so we asked its owner and sure enough it was. I’m not quite sure how I feel about someone owning a coyote, but it was cool to see one so close. Maybe I will come back to the States with a new puppy…hehe! 

Around 1:00pm when we were walking to the bank, it started raining. When I say raining, I actually mean torrential downpour. Within minutes, my sneakers and jeans were soaked! I thought leaving Seattle meant leaving behind all the rain, but I guess I was wrong! It remains to be seen what the rain will be like at the beach.

In order to get out of the rain, we ducked into a local sports bar. The Euro Cup championship was on between Spain and Italy. Guatemalans love soccer and the bar was completely packed! It seemed like most of them were rooting for Spain, which is interesting considering Guatemala’s history with Spain. Guatemala was under Spanish rule for a couple hundred years and during the Guatemalan Civil War relations between the two countries were extremely strained. We both decided on the Guatemalan beer, Gallo, which tasted like Mexican beer unsurprisingly. We had a great time watching the locals and some tourists cheer with every Spanish goal and with the eventual Spanish win. It was a good way to spend part of a rainy afternoon.

 Rain on the cobble stone streets of Parque Central

 The best beer in Guatemala apparently!

The only bad part of getting completely soaked in a tropical country is that nothing dries very quickly due to all the humidity. We had to resort to ironing the clothes dry, so that we wouldn’t have to carry wet clothes all the way to Hawaii.

Here’s to attempting to stay dry (or at least somewhat dry) for the rest of my trip!