Internet access is infrequent here.  At the moment, I am typing in an internet cafe.  Almost every word is underlined by the spell checker because I am not writing in Spanish.

We arrived at our hotels at around 7.  I am staying at Posada Don Valentino.  The students are in a dorm at the Black Cat Inn.  The hotels are about a block apart.  John took us downtown to a secure ATM.  Strange to take out 1000 Qu.  About $125 in USD.   Then he took us to an Italian restaurant where we had pizza for our first Guatemalan meal.  Most restaurants here close at 10.  In this area, it´s not a good idea to walk alone at night.  I noticed that when Kat and I got back to the hotel, we had to knock.  The concierge opened a window to see who we were before letting us in.  We slept great.  I have a double bed with a very hard mattress and a small bathroom.  The bed takes up most of the room.  We´re told that TP doesn´t get flushed anywhere in the country.

We met as a group for breakfast at The Black Cat.  Then a trip to the grocery story, right next to my hotel,  for people to pick up things they needed or to get minutes on their phones. I had to buy a converter for the laptop cable.  Guatemala uses the same power as we do, but all outlets are 2 pronged.  So my blog may have photos added later. Andrew unlocked his iphone and is bringing it.  He´ll have to get up early tomorrow because the day starts at 8 30 and he will need to take care of it before that.

I talked to Sara on the phone last night, and again this morning.  She and her daughters will meet us for breakfast, then go on our walking tour with us.  Her daughter has music lessons today.

We´ve had free time since then, and people went in various directions.  I´ve been wandering the cobblestone streets of Antigua.  This used to be the capital, until the last earthquake destroyed the town and the capital relocated to Guatemala City.  All of the streets are cobblestone here.  It´s nice to see flowers in bloom.  Temperature is comfortable, though I should have taken a jacket to the restaurant last night.  While walking downtown, I ran into Karen and her son.  Then we bumped into Pedro and Jose again.  Good thing because the concert may start at 8, not 9.  Got more hugs from Pedro.
John says we´ll take a taxi.  It´s about a 20 minute walk, so that´s probably safety.  I think that 4 other peopel are going with me.

That´s all for now.  We´re meeting as a group to go to the market.

We were an hour late arriving in Mexico City.   Fortunately, there were no lines for customs, because we had to pick up our luggage to go through, drop it off, then go through a security check.  Much easier than the US, though – didn’t have to take off shoes, jackets or anything else.  

After boarding, our flight to Guatemala was delayed for an hour due to plane issues.  This gave me a chance to meet a few great guys sitting by me, Nicho (Dionisio), Peter (Pedro) and Jerry (Jose).  They’re a lot of fun – tried to tell me that they don’t speak English and that this is Jose’s first time on a plane.  In fact, they travel all over the place to perform their concerts, and their English is very good.  I’ve been invited to go to a concert tomorrow night as their guest at Hermita de la Santa Cruz in Antigua.  Nicho Hinojosa is performing.       http://www.nichohinojosa.mx/ They’ve encouraged me to bring Sara, mi amiga en Guatemala. Nicho and Jose live in Monterey, Mexico, while Pedro lives just over the border in Texas.   Pedro tells me that if I come to the concert, Nicho will dedicate a song to Lola.

I’ve been reading various books about Guatemala.  I started in the children’s section at the library, like I usually do, because books written for middle school aged kids give a bit of an overview/flavor of everything.  On the plane, I’ve been reading a Lonely Planet Guide, and a book called “Bridge of Courage.  Life Stories of the Guatemalan Companeros and Companeras.”  It’s an anthology of oral histories from people about their experiences in the 1970s through the 1990s, grouped into the period leading up to the revolution, the civil war itself, and the time after.  This version of the book was updated in 1995, and the Peace Accord wasn’t signed until 1996.   Stories of repression, terror and murder by the army.  Much of it comes from the inequity within a country where in 1993, 87% of the population lived below the poverty line and 2% of the people owned 70% of the land.    US foreign policy supported the status quo through multiple administrations, effectively backing domestic terrorism – this is from the introduction by Noam Chomsky.  In this same time period, I graduated from high school, then college, and started my career and my family, with only moderate awareness.

 

Posting from DTW.  We came early enough to miss rush hour.  Though so far, there are only a couple of inches of snow, and the roads weren't bad.  The second wave of snow is supposed to hit this afternoon.  But hopefully, it will be clear for tomorrow's travelers.

Andrew has gone back home to finish his homework, due today.   He'll fly down on the same flights tomorrow that I'm taking today.

There are 5 others from our trip on this flight, according to my list.  (Doug, Kat, Tess, James and Leena)  So far, I don't see them.  But I only met the once at our pretrip meeting, so I'm not positive I'll recognize them.  

Hope I figure it out, because we have a 2 hour layover in Mexico City.

There are a total of 20 people in our group.  About half are traveling today, and the rest on either Saturday or Sunday.  We'll be in Antigua through Sunday, then go on to Santa Cruz la Laguna, where the school we'll be working at is located.

We will have a slight departure delay.  Our plane is on the way from Minneapolis.  It's currently scheduled to land at 10:05, so we won't quite leave at 10:10.  Plenty of time for the connection.

Update - they found a new plane, so we'll leave on time.
And, I found Doug, Kat, James and Leena.  Ben is here somewhere, and Tess is coming tomorrow.

Time for me to log off!

Checked in... Have my boarding passes printed. I am flying on AeroMexico through Mexico City. The first flight is really Delta, so I'll get my frequent flyer miles. The insurance company has declared my car a total loss, so I'll be car shopping when I come home. That's all I want to know about the car for now. :) This winter storm watch is a big concern now. Livingston and Wayne county have declared Snow Emergencies. I am seeing predictions between 2 and 8 inches of snow for tonight. This from annarbor.com Motorists be warned: A winter storm headed for Ann Arbor could result in very difficult travel conditions Thursday night and a messy morning commute Friday. Exactly how much snow we’ll get depends on how the storm tracks, but it has the potential to be the biggest snowfall of the season so far I've never tried to go to the airport at 5 am for a 10 am flight before, but I am not missing this one. DTW usually handles snow well. Andrew is taking me to the airport. His flight is at the same time on Saturday, and his dad is giving him a ride to the airport. Given that Andrew and I have now had cars totaled in 2012.... ....time to learn about shuttle services?????

Enough about the car. Guatemala is what's central for me now.

John, our leader, has posted some pictures and an overview of the two projects that our group will be working on. http://atc-guatemala.blogspot.com/2012/02/atc-santa-cruz-solar-and-natural.html

The view from the roof of the school looks stunning. And from these pictures, it looks like a pair of work gloves is worth tossing in the suitcase, just in case.

We are supposed to have a winter storm tomorrow, with up to 5 inches of snow. It will make the drive to the airport slower on Friday, but all the more pleasant to arrive in sunny, warm Guatemala.

Whew! This could have wrecked the trip before it started!

I was on my way to work this morning. Roads are a bit icy. Pickup truck coming toward me on a curve lost control and hit the side of my car. Side airbags deployed and I slid into the guard rail. The pickup kept going and hit the car behind me head on.

Fortunately, the pickup driver has racing experience. (No, he wasn't speeding.) He knew enough not to brake on the ice, just to steer through it. If he had braked, he'd have hit me head on.

No one was seriously injured. The paramedics attended to the driver of the white car, whose chest was hurting from the airbag deployment. The pickup driver was limping, but didn't get medical attention. And I am alternating between typing and putting an ice pack on the large bruise/lump on my left knuckle. Ironically, it is easier to type on my blackberry than a full keyboard right now.

The family of the pickup driver gave me a ride home, and also a ride to the body shop to get everything out of my car. Very nice people.

It looks bad. But if Chris, the driver of the pickup truck, didn't have experience and good judgement on ice, I might not be writing this now.

This used to be my 2010 Ford Fusion. I hope that the guy in the body shop is right, that it's totaled. I'd rather not have to drive a car with as much repair as it would need to fix it.

This is the pickup truck that hit me. The damage along the driver's side came from my car.

Damage to the pickup from collision with the other vehicle.

This is the car that the pickup truck hit after mine.

Driver (Jeremy?) with his vehicle

Impact with my car probably slowed the pickup before hitting this one. Mine would have been worse than this if he'd braked and hit me head on....

Collision knocked me into the guard rail.

I was able to open to door to get out of the car, but couldn't get it open again to get my drivers license.

Two days left, but I'm already flying.

Immunizations done (Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid).
First time I've signed a waiver that not only mentioned illnesses, but also social and political unrest, guerrilla and terrorist activity.  Not to mention getting medical evacuation insurance.  We'll be in a group in generally safe areas, so I'm not concerned.

Most of the trip, we'll be on Lake Atitlan.

Aldous Huxley called it the most beautiful lake in the world, and wrote:   "Lake Como <in Italy> it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."

So this trip is
- a vacation to paradise
- an opportunity to learn about solar electricity
- a chance to make a difference to the local community.

Spectacular scenery, learning new things, volunteering....this trip has it all.