A Tale of Two Worlds, Part 2
The trip from Merry Ole England to Guat was pretty torturous. With hanging out til 1AM, frantic last minute packing, and a heated discussion with 2 boys at the reception desk of the dorm in which I was close to having a physical altercation with (grrrrrrrr), I finally embarked on my journey with an hour and half of sleep. I am shipping 2 suitcases back to Barcelona and took a large backpack with me. Advice to anyone who is transversing across the world: buy as little as possible. Every book, jacket, pair of awesome shoes, any other crap you pick up needs a place and home. It's such a nightmare. Especially for a pack rat and collector of books and fine things like me! I have crap in Skokie, 2 flats in Barcelona, in No Man's Land btw London and Barcelona, and in my backpack. I'm also paying for a covered parking space for my moto. Did I mention that I bought a second hand moto (a.k.a. scooter)!?! I went ahead and took the plunge and bought one. It just became such a burden to take public transportation or get rides as I diversified my interests: school, Chinese class, futbol practice, rugby practice, and....best of all, the beach. I was scared to death in traffic and there is a lot of it in Barca!!!!! Check out a picture of the model here. I had a minor accident in which I nearly killed someone (of course I'm being a bit dramatic). I would write more if it wasn't so traumatic and led to a falling out with this person (another grrrrrrrrrrrr). Kudos to Lisa Kim for being brave enough to ride with me the first and only week I drove it!!! You brave, girl!
Alas, I digress. I board my flight to NYC and on my way, I thought "How strange! I'm going back to the states". It was exciting and strange at the same time to be back in the homeland. I was only passing through. Handling U.S. bills again, they felt small and like play money. I jumped on a flight to Miami. When I got there, my flight was delayed for a couple of hours and had to wait in this hot, smelly, yucky terminal. I talked on the phone with my dad and brother and that was really nice to talk them while in the U.S. And finally I boarded a flight to Guat City.
Needless to say, when I landed I was sweaty and dirty...not to mention EXHAUSTED! However, someone from EDE Consulting would pick me up and bring me to a hotel momentarily. Only when I went through the exit, uhmmmm I didn't see ANYONE with a sign with my name or anything! It was 10PM local time by then. So I tried to make some phone calls with the few numbers I had but no luck. I didn't even have the number of the guy who was suppose to pick me up!! I felt a bit frantic and was unsure what to do. Luckily, I had last minute scribbled down the name of the hotel that the company arranged for me (which if I hadn't emailed them that week, I wouldn't even have had that!), but of course I didn't have the address. I calmed myself down. I asked a tour guide how much a taxi normally costs and started asking the pesky taxi drivers if they knew where my hotel was. Yes! One of them did know and I negotiated a better fare.
When we arrived at my hotel at 11PM, my jaw dropped. This is my hotel?! It was like a version of the W Hotel - it was awesome! Thanks, EDE Consulting! It's called the Otelito (Mia take note. You might want to stay here when you visit! Let me know and I can get the company rate for you). After a beautifully delicious meal and a FANASTIC shower, I finally got to sleep. And sleep I did! I finally woke up at 12PM. Surely I would hear from EDE Consulting today! Uhm, only I didn't receive any emails or messages! The hotel was kicking me out so I needed to figure out something fast!
I wandered to 2 shopping malls that the hotel staff directed me to. I got a phone card and started making some calls. I was unsuccessful at reaching anyone who knew I was coming. It was a Sunday so it was impossible. Crap! What do I do? It was 4PM by then. I didn't have the address of the office or the home I was staying at in Quetzeltepeque and it's not the safest to travel at night. I was told this village is about 3 hours away. I even tried to find some hotels in this village but it was barely even mentioned on the web. The really kind receptionist convinced me that I should stay one more night and he booked a taxi and a bus for me to get to my village for the next day. He even got in touch with a friend of his there. This woman who I didn't know would call the office for me and find out the details. And she said if there was no one available, she would meet me at the bus station herself and I could stay at her place. Wow! It blew my mind!
Back in the hotel room, I phoned an incoming student to IESE who lives in Guat City. It was a stroke of good luck. I noticed on the school forum the last week in London that there was a student coming from Guatemala! I emailed him and he responded with his number and great recommendations for what to see and do. He answered the phone and said he would pick me up in a couple hours to have dinner. Great! We went out for a Guatemalan meal at a nice restaurant. He's very kind - an Indian who studied in the U.S. So how did he manage to get to Guatemala? Well, he came to Guatemala for a wedding of a fellow student, met her sister, and there you go! He's been living here for 4 years! Then, he paid for my dinner and he hadn't even met me before! The 2nd incredibly generous act that I experienced!
When I returned to the hotel, THANK GOD! HALLELUJAH! I got a message saying that someone would pick me up at 8AM the next morning and take me to the village. I was so relieved. Thanks for everything, Otelito! What an adventure to get to Guatemala and to finally get in touch with someone from the company. It's an unreal experience...landing in a foreign country and not knowing a soul. However, I knew it would be another adventure to find out what I would do, the people I would work with, and to discover what this little village is all about...I really feel that it was only through the grace of God that I managed to make my journey safely...To Be Continued...
Alas, I digress. I board my flight to NYC and on my way, I thought "How strange! I'm going back to the states". It was exciting and strange at the same time to be back in the homeland. I was only passing through. Handling U.S. bills again, they felt small and like play money. I jumped on a flight to Miami. When I got there, my flight was delayed for a couple of hours and had to wait in this hot, smelly, yucky terminal. I talked on the phone with my dad and brother and that was really nice to talk them while in the U.S. And finally I boarded a flight to Guat City.
Needless to say, when I landed I was sweaty and dirty...not to mention EXHAUSTED! However, someone from EDE Consulting would pick me up and bring me to a hotel momentarily. Only when I went through the exit, uhmmmm I didn't see ANYONE with a sign with my name or anything! It was 10PM local time by then. So I tried to make some phone calls with the few numbers I had but no luck. I didn't even have the number of the guy who was suppose to pick me up!! I felt a bit frantic and was unsure what to do. Luckily, I had last minute scribbled down the name of the hotel that the company arranged for me (which if I hadn't emailed them that week, I wouldn't even have had that!), but of course I didn't have the address. I calmed myself down. I asked a tour guide how much a taxi normally costs and started asking the pesky taxi drivers if they knew where my hotel was. Yes! One of them did know and I negotiated a better fare.
When we arrived at my hotel at 11PM, my jaw dropped. This is my hotel?! It was like a version of the W Hotel - it was awesome! Thanks, EDE Consulting! It's called the Otelito (Mia take note. You might want to stay here when you visit! Let me know and I can get the company rate for you). After a beautifully delicious meal and a FANASTIC shower, I finally got to sleep. And sleep I did! I finally woke up at 12PM. Surely I would hear from EDE Consulting today! Uhm, only I didn't receive any emails or messages! The hotel was kicking me out so I needed to figure out something fast!
I wandered to 2 shopping malls that the hotel staff directed me to. I got a phone card and started making some calls. I was unsuccessful at reaching anyone who knew I was coming. It was a Sunday so it was impossible. Crap! What do I do? It was 4PM by then. I didn't have the address of the office or the home I was staying at in Quetzeltepeque and it's not the safest to travel at night. I was told this village is about 3 hours away. I even tried to find some hotels in this village but it was barely even mentioned on the web. The really kind receptionist convinced me that I should stay one more night and he booked a taxi and a bus for me to get to my village for the next day. He even got in touch with a friend of his there. This woman who I didn't know would call the office for me and find out the details. And she said if there was no one available, she would meet me at the bus station herself and I could stay at her place. Wow! It blew my mind!
Back in the hotel room, I phoned an incoming student to IESE who lives in Guat City. It was a stroke of good luck. I noticed on the school forum the last week in London that there was a student coming from Guatemala! I emailed him and he responded with his number and great recommendations for what to see and do. He answered the phone and said he would pick me up in a couple hours to have dinner. Great! We went out for a Guatemalan meal at a nice restaurant. He's very kind - an Indian who studied in the U.S. So how did he manage to get to Guatemala? Well, he came to Guatemala for a wedding of a fellow student, met her sister, and there you go! He's been living here for 4 years! Then, he paid for my dinner and he hadn't even met me before! The 2nd incredibly generous act that I experienced!
When I returned to the hotel, THANK GOD! HALLELUJAH! I got a message saying that someone would pick me up at 8AM the next morning and take me to the village. I was so relieved. Thanks for everything, Otelito! What an adventure to get to Guatemala and to finally get in touch with someone from the company. It's an unreal experience...landing in a foreign country and not knowing a soul. However, I knew it would be another adventure to find out what I would do, the people I would work with, and to discover what this little village is all about...I really feel that it was only through the grace of God that I managed to make my journey safely...To Be Continued...
posted by Chica Chan @ 1:44 PM
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