Day 2 - Dec 4, 2009
Our second day in Guatemala has been full of memorable moments and great learning experiences... but sometimes the learning experiences are not the ones I want.
Our clean rooms with its baby blue trim woke us up early in the morning thanks to its bright skylights. We needed to get ready because our ride to the bus station was picking us up at 8am. Our driver who had brought us the night before to our hostel was already waiting outside before we had zipped up the last of our backpacks. He patiently waited.

We decided that since we had an hour before the bus was to leave to Rio Dulce, we would make some stops along the way to exchange some money at the bank, eat a $3 breakfast at a McDonald's drive-thru...

After waking up at 7:00 and getting a ride with a local taxi to the bus station we started the first day of are Guatemalan Adventure.

The day was warm and humid as we weaved our way through hawkers trying to sell their wares in the open air bus station. Spotting a waiting area up ahead we quickened our pace trying not to run into the small kids polishing shoes.

Just moments earlier after reaching the bus station we had discovered that the bus we where supposed to take had been sold out. We decided we where just going to have to sit down and wait it out. I guess sitting down gave the impression that we where not going anywhere soon. Because it didn't take long for the local hawkers to notice that they had a captive...

I really wanted a different type of vacation. One where I could still get away from the cooler weather of Canada but where I could have an unforgettable experience. In particular I have wanted to do something that allowed me to give of my time to kids in need. After 2 months of extensive research I have found a short itinerary where I hope to accomplish all of this.

I am bringing my two young teenagers with me and we are going to visit two orphanages in Guatemala. One in the East and another 20 minutes from Antigua in the West. We hope to share and learn from our experiences with these young Guatemalans. We also plan on posting stories and photos as they occur...