Caleb, Jess, Zainab, and I all went on a weekend adventure across the
border to Flores, Guatemala. That’s country passport stamp number 3 in
the past 4 weeks! I didn’t have any expectations for Guatemala. I hadn’t
looked up any pictures of the towns or anything, so it was an extra big
adventure this time. I have also never crossed a country’s border by
land (not flying), so that was also a fun new way to travel as well.We caught a taxi to the border and walked right through immigration without any problems. Then we walked straight through a small parking lot that seemed like no man’s land since technically we had left Belize and had not entered Guatemala yet. After one final check point, our passport pages glowed with a new red and green stamp and we were in Guatemala!
The
first Guatemalan surprise was the local wardrobe choice. Being from
Oklahoma, I would describe it as Western or country outfits. Everywhere I
looked there were cowboys with their hats, boots, and plaid tops
tending to their huge, white cows (a very different type of cow than are
on my dad’s land at home). It was interesting how my mind responded
with mixed emotions upon seeing familiar lifestyles and outfits in a
foreign setting.We spent the weekend in an awesome hostel and met people from all over the world. A few people were traveling after finishing college, some were taking a gap year from school, some were studying spanish while in Guatemala and all of them had interesting stories to share of their travels and plans for future destinations. We met many of them on the guided tour of the ruins that we did on Saturday.
It was supposed to be a sunset tour, but about halfway through it started sprinkling and so the cloudy weather didn’t allow us to see the sunset. We walked along paths through the jungle as the guide explained to us the different temples and pyramids and the reasoning behind the architecture of the structures. It was really interesting to learn about how much the solar calendar influenced the Mayan’s way of life.
The bus rides were long and crowded on the way home, but that is all part of the experience of traveling! I have learned that there is no such thing as personal space on public transportation. For a 2 hour portion of our journey we were in what the Guatemalan’s call collectivos, which is essentially a minivan. The operator managed to fit 25 people into one minivan!! By the end of the day we were happy to be “home” in Dangriga.
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Read more from Brooke at https://brookeswanderings.wordpress.com/
To find more internship and study abroad opportunities within Walton College, visit http://walton.uark.edu/global/index.php
