Alright, so from the get go, I can tell you my mother is not going to be very happy about this post, but I am posting about a day in the life of cheese, so I must tell. After my last post, I went on to find out about buses out of San Pedro and back to Guat city for my flight early the next morning. Well they were trying to overcharge me, and I decided that would just not do, so I figured I would hop a boat across the lake, and could get cheaper prices in the large city of Panachal. Oh little did I know, with my (what I thought was improving greatly) spanish, and the different accent, was that the lady was actually telling me the last bus left at 4 and arrived at the airport at 8 at night, not that the last bus was a 8. So I hung out for the day in San Pedro, basking in the sun, the beautiful hippie town, and my foresight to avoid the overpriced tourist agencies. Oh little did i know.
I arrived in Panachal around 10 after 5, and a nice guy on the boat with me showed me where to go. The tourist agencies on this side were just as overpriced, so I made my way to the other side of town where the chicken buses left from. That is where I discovered my grave mistake. The last collectivo left at 4, same as the last shuttle through a travel agency. The earliest bus the next day was at 6 am, but at the time I should have already boarded my flight. Uh oh. The kind man who informed me of this offered me a taxi ride for the low low price of 100 dollars, 200 dollars cheaper than I would be charged elsewhere he claimed. Oh but of course, because of my lack of credit/debit card, I had only borrowed a little more off of Dave that I thought I would need, and even then about double what I expected would be neccessary just in case.
There I was, trapped in Panachal, with just under 300 quetzales on me, low and behold about 35 US dollars give or take. There were no more buses or shuttles running to the city, I was about 3 hours away (depending on the vehicle) and had under 12 hours to figure out how to get there. First I wandered the small city freaking out, but trying to hold it together. I had no way of getting a hold of dave as he was on the other side of the lake, and I wasnt even sure if he was still in San Pedro. The internet cafes were closed because of Semana Santa, and I was well, trapped and doomed, and did not want to have to call my parents to bail me out unless I absolutely had to. So I started stopping large shuttles and buses that were driving through the main part of town and asking where they were going. They were privately run, so i thought maybe I could explain my problem, pay the money I had, and hop on some tour groups bus or van. One van said they would be back in a half hour as they drove past, so I settled myself on a corner to wait, and continued asking other shuttles. Two guys were on that same corner, artisians, selling their wares on a table and asked what was going on. I explained my difficulties, and they sympathized, ¨Una problema muy grande¨ They let me stash my bigpackers bag under the table, because it was pretty heavy and awkward to get through the crowd with. Did I mention that because of Semana Santa the people were out in droves, tables lined up and down the street selling traditional items, to homecrafted things, to manufactured tourist gimics you can find around the world. There were police whistling cars and people through, music and food. An religious processions farther down the street with colored sawdust on the streets, and fake jesuses being carried on platforms. If I hadnt been so stressed, I would have really enjoyed the atmostphere.
I was talking to a busdriver who was trying to help me out, and call up other drivers he knew to see if he could help me out of my situation, when the two guys from the table on the corner started hollaring ¨chica! muchacha! aqui! aqui!¨ They found me a car going to Guatemala city. To be honest I barely though twice, but rather saw a woman and a man, and a younger guy in the back seat with a reggae hat on, grabbed my bag, and hopped in the car. The wasnt really a lot of time because the police kept whistling and trying to keep the traffic moving. I had hopped in with a family, Jorge Senior, his wife Glenda, and their sun Jorge junior. They were extremely kind. Jorge Senior told me he was a dentist, and specifically an orthadontist, and was telling me this to make me feel safer. They were extremely kind. Jorge junior wants to go to med school eventually, and he spoke amazing english and hes only 15. Oh how much I was I could speak another language that well when I was his age. We stopped for hot chocolate, and Glenda gave me a pink, purple and blue bracelet which I have not taken off. Everytime I see it, it reminds me how kind they were. They dropped me off at the airport, made sure I was inside safely, and hugged me goodbye. I have their address, and they made me promise if I ever return to Guatemala, I will visit. I plan on keeping that promise.
Now I know how dangerous hitchhiking can be, but this isnt my first experience with it. Its more common in Latin America, and well, I hopped in with a family, a family who was probably thinking, if one of my children ever got stranded, I hope someone would do the same for them. I honestly felt safe the whole time. I spent the night sleeping on the airport floor, and made it back to Costa Rica safe and sound, where I spent my last two days of break vegging out and relaxing. Im really sad that I only have about a month left, spring break was kind of the crossing point, the beginning of the end of my journey abroad. Papers to write, a few last places to visit, and some last drinks with friends. I keep managing to make it through without serious bodily damage, so hopefully I can make it one more month right? Until next time....
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