Antigua- it's a long way from Fairbanks, Alaska

Perhaps that title seems a bit obvious but the phrase keeps repeating itself in my head as I walk around this fabulous city. We left Fairbanks at 1am on the redeye to San Francisco Sept. 13. We touched down around 10am and spent the day with friends in the city, enjoying sunshine in Alamo Square and dinner at Suppenkuche, one of the tastiest German restaurants in the city. We got back on the plane at 10pm and flew to Ft. Lauderdale via Atlanta, arriving at 7 am, a very long night that I spent in a Theraflu coma due to an encroaching head cold. Took Spirit Air at 9am direct to Guatemala City with my knees wedged tight against the seat in front of me for 3 hours. Oh, to be the size of a Central American, just for one flight.

We unfolded ourselves at Guatemala City International Airport and braced for the onslaught of a city of 15 million. It never happened. We got through customs in 15 minutes, exchanged $100, and jumped on an Inguat minibus to Antigua. Our driver Juan was incredibly knowledgeable about the area and even the U.S. When we said we were from Alaska he even asked about Palin. Her politics appear to mirror Guatemala's president who also has a passion for power and corruption. So we have that in common, which is nice.
We bounced onto the cobblestone streets of Antigua in the early afternoon and found many of the streets blocked off in anticipation of Sept. 15, Independence Day. We checked into Posada Dona Clara. The owner's son, Alejandro, checked us in and the place looked decent for $25/night. We kicked around the city a bit, had dinner and watched the celebrations start to crank up. Marching bands all around the city, fireworks, food stands, and lots of glow in the dark children't toys. Awesome.
We came back to the hotel around 10p and as we settled in an American woman came to the door. She looked to be about 800 years old and was like an oracle from an old European film. "Beware the thieves!" she said. "I'm stuck here, I hate it, the owners will steal from you and all Guatemalans are bandits! I hate these little people!" We thanked her for the creepy advice and shut the door in her face. At midnight we were awakened by yelling as a Dutch couple came home to find their room next door to us ransacked and all their belongings gone. Alejandro was summoned and in a stroke of genius found their belongings in a nearby room. Clever Alejandro. Turned out a camera and 300 Euro were taken but passports were left behind. The police came, the couple made a statement and we went back to sleep, sort of. The next morning we decided to move, but went out for breakfast first. I carefully arranged the zipppers on my pack so I could tell if they had been tampered with and we took all our valuables except for a few $5 and $10 notes which I left in the pack, but not too deep. When we returned my zippers had been opened and $20 from the notes was missing. We packed up and went to confront Alejandro. He did not seemed worried at all, almost as though he expected us to say something. Then he said the room was locked and no way anyone could have gotten in as we have the only key. He asked the maid if she stole from us, she said no and that was the end of that. Alejandro and the Posada Dona Clara should not be trusted. Do not stay there. The worst part is that I can't listen to my favorite Lady Ga Ga song without feeling ripped off so it's a double wammy. Alejandro, you pinche bendajo I curse your hotel and hope you accidentally sit on your imitation mirrored Ray Bans.

So we moved into Casa Antigua and it is pure bliss, but at $55/night it ought to be. The staff is delightful, there's wifi, coffee and endless courtyards. Impeccably clean and they even did our laundry.

Hotel Casa Antigua

Independence Day in Antigua was a combination of Drum Line meets Bring It On as every school in Guatemala brought forth their marching band/cheerleaders/brass orchestra and went at it as loud as they could. The result was 12 hours of ear shattering madness punctuated by fireworks. Totally awesome. The mix of indigenous people was amazing. Tiny little people from the highlands in traditional dress, teenagers in tight jeans texting and messaging, and high rolling politicians from the capital. Someone gave a rousing speech about patriotism and the entire square sang their pledge of allegiance which made me want to grab the nearest armed guard and start pumping off shotgun rounds into the air with my shirt off yelling "Guat E Mal A! Guat E Mal A!" But I didn't.
This entry has gotten rather long so I'll cut it off here and post more about the people of Antigua next time. We meet up with a surgical team tonight that will take us into the Highlands for a week where we will volunteer at a clinic run by Pura Vida.