Guatemala City: An Outsider Looking In

Our second day in Guatemala started bright and early. Despite the weather forecast claiming thunderstorms would ruin our exploration, the sun was out and not a drop of water fell from the sky. It was truly a beautiful day – sunny, with a light breeze, not too hot or humid. The heat in Guatemala was much more tolerable than in Texas and we found ourselves enjoying the reprieve.

As we left the hostel to walk the streets, I noticed that all eyes were glued to us. Guatemala isn’t as diverse as America, especially where we were staying, so many of the Guatemalans we passed were unused to seeing foreigners. Although we wore sensible clothes – jeans and t-shirts – and kept to ourselves as we walked, we couldn’t avoid staring eyes. This would be a common theme throughout our trip.

Jordan and I decided to head towards zone 10, which as I mentioned in my previous post is where most of the tourists reside. As we walked I noticed that the people seemed less stressed, less in a hurry to get where they were going. The zone we were staying in was poverish, but not as much as others. None of the locals seemed to have expensive phones or cars (that is, until we got to the richer zones) but they were dressed well. We often saw mothers selling fruit on the side of the road with their children tied to their backs or walking in groups, each dressed in their traditional native garb. This clothing, which is called traje, represents the 22 Mayan ethno-linguistic groups in Guatemala. Each woman’s traje dress had its own unique style of colors. This was the first time I’d ever seen traditional dress worn casually, instead of in ceremonies or celebrations. Although not every Guatemalan wore these traditional outfits, it was beautiful to see a culture preserved in its people.

We explored much of the city, including Torre del Reformadorand, an iconic statue in the center of the area. When we got to zone 10 we were greeted by colorful shops with matching flowers, hot dog selling street vendors (Guatemalan hot dogs are filled with guacamole and salsa) and, thank the heavens, a Starbucks. I had started our walk basically clinging to Jordan, but by the time we reached the “safe” zone I was comfortable in my surroundings.

This is when not knowing Spanish really started to become a problem. Finding breakfast that wasn’t from McDonald’s was tough when we couldn’t ask the locals for recommendations. A quick Google search led us to a barely open restaurant with a very limited breakfast menu, and when I attempted to order a banana shake I was given a fruit plate with honey. Good thing I love fruit and honey!

After breakfast, Jordan found a massage spa close to us. I’d never gotten a massage before, but after walking for two hours it sounded wonderful. Everything in Guatemala is cheap. For a 90 minute, full body massage, Jordan and I would only pay $27 each, which is about 230 quetzals.

I won’t get into too many details about our couples’ massage, but I will say this – as wonderful as it was, not being able to speak to our masseuses was very awkward, especially when we had to get naked.

But then again, when they started rubbing my shoulders I could have died of happiness.

Later in the day we found an outdoor market close to our hostel. There we enjoyed Guatemalan baked goods, mango snow cones and cheap souvenir items.

When we started getting hungry for dinner we decided to stroll the streets and look for a local spot. While doing so we crossed a plaza, filled with people celebrating (there was a marathon scheduled for that night) and admired the Spanish colonial architecture that Guatemala is known for, such as the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura.

Near the palace we found a cute vegan restaurant (I regret that I don’t remember the name) and dined on vegan curry and traditional Mayan moonshine. The alcohol was very potent.

The moonshine was recommended to us by an older, married couple seated across from us, named Suzanna and Robert. Suzanna was an American who moved to Guatemala after marrying her Robert, a local Guatemalan tour guide. Over dinner we had a lovely conversation about the differences between America and Guatemala. Suzanna believes America is oversaturated with choice – that we have everything we could ever need and more, which leads us to depression and anxiety. She feels that after moving to Guatemala, and raising her children there, she escaped the capitalist waste that plagues America. She found the happiness and simplicity of the Guatemalan people too beautiful to ignore.

Suzanna and Robert were very sweet. They gave us tons of advice and recommendations, and even added us on Facebook. Our conversation with them is one I will never forget.

After dinner we Ubered back to our hostel. I fell asleep with a smile on my face after an unforgettable first day in the city.