Guatemala, oh how I've missed you.

So I'm happily back in Guatemala, which feels like a homecoming after Mexico. I thought I would be sad to leave the 2nd world comforts of Mexico behind, but I'm so used to the Guatemalan way of life that it seems more normal to me now. I actually missed the Guatemalan breakfast/dinner of eggs, blackbeans, and plantains. Now that I've had it a few times since I've been back I'm officially sick of it again. But it's comforting to know that I'll eat it about 100 more times in the next few weeks.

I spent a few days in Flores, which is a tiny island in a big lake in the Petan, aka the hot jungle part in the northern (top hat) section of Guatemala. I liked Flores a lot. It seems like a city, but it's all confined to this island, so everything is three blocks from everything else. It's beautiful. I watched a lot of sunseets over the lake and sat on a lot of docks. Erik and I ran into another friend of ours from the Language school and we ended up all hanging out together for the rest of the time in Flores. We found a cheap hostel with lots of young people and good food. Mornings and evenings were really pleasant, and the middle of the day is too hot to think or move. I took a lot of cold showers.

Yesterday was another really long day. We got up at 4am to catch the earliest bus to Tikal. Got there right after the park opened at 6ish. We wanted to go early so we could see everything before it got too hot to move. It was a good plan. It was actually cool enough to walk around and see all the huge temples. We climbed a few, got some bangin' pictures of the temples sticking up through the tops of the trees. So I've gotten my fill of Mayan ruins in the last week. I need a little break from all the archeology. If I see anymore I'll turn into my parents.

So after Tikal we caught a bus at 2pm for Coban, which is luckily not in the jungle. It's so great to be back in a place where I need a blanket at night. Coban feels a lot like Xela, which makes me like it a lot. I'm pretty much just glad that I can wear long pants and a tshirt and feel comfortable all day long. I just wasn't made for that tropics business. Tomorrow we're going to Semuc Champey, then my travel buddy has to go to Belize to fly home, so I'm on my own for a little while. I may meet up with some other folks from the language school, or I might head for El Salvador and eat my weight in Pupusas. If everything goes as planned, I'll be flying back to DC sometime around the 15th of May.