Guatemala '08
I've been home for six weeks now . . . six weeks to prepare for my trip to Guatemala. The time is 4am on the fourth of January. My ride to Chicago O´Hare is picking me up in twenty minutes. I have not yet packed. I have not purchased a guide book. I do not speak Spanish. I have not even looked at a map of Guatemala. I guess this one will have be by the seat of my pants . . .
John picks me up at 4:20 am and we hit the road in the darkness of the late morning. As we reach Racine county, traffic hits a wall. At a county road K, traffic in both directions, all six lanes, are directed to the frontage road. John and I ponder what could shut down I-94 at 5am in the morning. After 40 minutes of bumper to bumper traffic, we are allowed back on the freeway at highway 20. It begins to rain as we click on the radio. The windshield wipers aren't working and the radio states that I-94 is shut down due to the mysterious existence of a body in the middle of the freeway. We both look at each other . . . this is an ominous beginning to our day.
I arrive at Chicago O'hare and meet Taryn, my traveling companion for the next few months, at the US Airways check-in desk. Neither of us have slept. US Airways informs us that our flight is delayed and that we will miss our connection flight to Guatemala City. After a bit of running around, US Airways books us on a 6am flight out of O'Hare tomorrow morning and puts us up in a hotel for the night.
As we wait for the shuttle to our hotel, the both of us realize that we are completely exhausted. We hit our beds like a sack of potatoes at 9am. The next seven hours are spent in a zombiefied daze of Jerry Springer and a legless man.
By 4pm, we are not quite rejuvenated, but our bodies will not allow us to sleep anymore. We take the Blue line into downtown Chicago and have a blast wandering the streets: dancing puppets, the bean, grant park, and the plain, dark, majesty of the city disappearing into the fog. It was like a beautiful, classy stroll through Gotham City . . .
Dinner at Rock Bottom Brewing Company and we headed over for a visit to John and Sue, my aunt and uncle. Despite being overworked and ill, John and Sue took us in, gave us a beer, and gave us a tour of their AMAZING sky line. After an hour, we bid our gracious hosts goodbye, with many apologies for our intrusion.
Blue line back to the hotel, crashed at 2am. `Awoke´ at 3am to catch our 6am flight. This time around, our flights were on time and our luggage followed us all the way to Guatemala City . . .
John picks me up at 4:20 am and we hit the road in the darkness of the late morning. As we reach Racine county, traffic hits a wall. At a county road K, traffic in both directions, all six lanes, are directed to the frontage road. John and I ponder what could shut down I-94 at 5am in the morning. After 40 minutes of bumper to bumper traffic, we are allowed back on the freeway at highway 20. It begins to rain as we click on the radio. The windshield wipers aren't working and the radio states that I-94 is shut down due to the mysterious existence of a body in the middle of the freeway. We both look at each other . . . this is an ominous beginning to our day.
I arrive at Chicago O'hare and meet Taryn, my traveling companion for the next few months, at the US Airways check-in desk. Neither of us have slept. US Airways informs us that our flight is delayed and that we will miss our connection flight to Guatemala City. After a bit of running around, US Airways books us on a 6am flight out of O'Hare tomorrow morning and puts us up in a hotel for the night.
As we wait for the shuttle to our hotel, the both of us realize that we are completely exhausted. We hit our beds like a sack of potatoes at 9am. The next seven hours are spent in a zombiefied daze of Jerry Springer and a legless man.
By 4pm, we are not quite rejuvenated, but our bodies will not allow us to sleep anymore. We take the Blue line into downtown Chicago and have a blast wandering the streets: dancing puppets, the bean, grant park, and the plain, dark, majesty of the city disappearing into the fog. It was like a beautiful, classy stroll through Gotham City . . .
Dinner at Rock Bottom Brewing Company and we headed over for a visit to John and Sue, my aunt and uncle. Despite being overworked and ill, John and Sue took us in, gave us a beer, and gave us a tour of their AMAZING sky line. After an hour, we bid our gracious hosts goodbye, with many apologies for our intrusion.
Blue line back to the hotel, crashed at 2am. `Awoke´ at 3am to catch our 6am flight. This time around, our flights were on time and our luggage followed us all the way to Guatemala City . . .
posted by chubalicious at 10:31 AM
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