Overcoming the fear….

After the jaunt to the chocolate factory we walked through the plaza. A stark contrast from the night before. I wanted to see the famous or infamous fountain.

Fountain of the sirens. We have since been told it marks a time when a Spanish conquistador met a group of local women who had refused to breastfeed their babies. Appalled and angered he marched them to the plaza, strapping them to the trees with metal chain until they submitted and fed their babies. Thank god for men!

Opposite the park is the cathedral, damaged and rebuilt over the years due to successive earthquakes.

Food here is very cheap, portions are huge, probably catering for the American tourists, of which there are plenty. So we treated ourselves to a bit of lunch. There are plenty of places to try out here.

We had the place to ourselves. What we have noticed is WiFi passwords are very quirky here. This place was no exception as I had to type ‘fatndrunk’ into my phone. The previous night’s password was ‘I want more beer’. At least they are unforgettable.

We were due to meet our fellow travellers and tour guide later in the early evening, so enough time to visit the National Museum Of Guatemalan Art and a supermarket. The museum is housed in a magnificent building close to the plaza. Amazing art work spanning the centuries as well as spectacular views.

We saw some really impressive pieces, as well as the obligatory ostentatious religious art and artefacts.

I love going to supermarkets when we are abroad, perhaps I need to get out more but I find them utterly exciting. This supermarket was no exception, deceptively massive. There were many bargains, I was especially taken by a kilo of refried beans for the equivalent of £1.50.

There were wine samples to try but you had to pay for them, bonkers! But on the other hand so many of the products had free gifts attached to them, mostly things that incongruously had no connection to the products they were sellotaped to.

I saved our till receipt to share but put it somewhere safe, so safe that I will never see it again. The point I was going to make was how cheap everything seemed but of course not for the people who live here. It definitely felt like their version of Waitrose.

The orientation meeting was imminent. This is the part where I feel the fear but have to overcome it. Small talk with strangers! We were treated to hibiscus punch, an aromatic delight made from hibiscus flowers. Hibiscus has many advantages, lowering blood pressure, helping with weight loss and period pains.

With everyone assembled,our tour guide introduced himself to us. He seems really nice, with a disposition that screams that he has the perfect job and life. My name is Guy, he said, pronounced as Ghee, like clarified butter, he didn’t say that, that was me as I can’t think how to describe how be pronounced it other than referencing ghee.

There were a lot of names bandied about, including George, pronounced Gi o’er, sounding like Yorkshire dialect but actually from Switzerland. There’s it much you can do with my name, but I do recollect some Cameroonian friends insisted on calling me Tonna.

Let’s make this fun, boomed Ghee, speak to someone you don’t know and introduce them. We had a list of questions, their name, where they were from, what bit of the holiday they were looking forward to and finally their favourite fruit or vegetable. Sounds straightforward but for me it felt very tangibly like a real life nightmare situation.

Of course it didn’t go to plan. Ghee had already bagged mango so we had to choose something different. I was paired with Adrian, who was also from Switzerland. To be honest I think he was pretty mortified having to introduce me. Primarily because I had given a few bat shit crazy answers. Around the round me went, dutifully our fellow travellers introducing each other. We were second from last,which made the experience worse, as I realised my answers put me firmly in the ‘loony’ category. Each pair, would say things like, hi, this is Angelica, she loves pineapple or this is Gavin he adores mango too. Then to Adrien, this is Donna, her favourite fruit is refried beans. I think the others first impressions of me may have been tinged.

Ghee went through the itenarary, well practised and slick. We could do our own thing or join him for meals in the evening, he knew the best places.

With all this wrapped up, we followed him like oversized school children to his favourite restaurant. He is very enthusiastic!

This was black bean soup, yummy. Also I love the fact that chilli in various guises are dumped on the table. On to drinks, Pete and Gi o’er ordered Gallo, the national lager. It is the most consumed beer/lager in Guatemala.

Pete’s massive litre bottle next to Gi o’er’s, quite a discrepancy.

We had an early night as we had to be packed and on the bus by 4 in the morning. This was beginning to feel more like a boot camp. Guatemala City is the largest city in central America with the biggest transport issues. By heading off earlier we would avoid the traffic, even at that time of day we found it very busy.

Our room, comfortable but basic.