more randomness

random things about guatemala that are either funny, annoying, or interesting.

breaking a Q100 here is like pulling out a million dollar bill. it's roughly the equivalent of less than $15 but it's a big deal. you can even be paying for something that is Q40 and they will ask you for smaller bills. unfortunately when you get money from the bank it is usually Q100's and even if you ask for "biletes mas pequenos" they still don't want to give you all small bills. it's less than a $20!

cobblestone is a nice look. it's old and colonial and makes the towns look special but it's annoying to walk on! i've been close to breaking my ankles walking on the cobblestone, and there isn't much sidewalk here either. most of the towns have cobblestone roads and so i'm not sure if any cars last longer than 5 years. the amount of bouncing and wear on the car much be incredibly bad.

pollo frito (fried chicken) is the national dish, i think. everywhere you go there is fried chicken for sale. i even had some for breakfast today cause it was the easiest thing i could grab before taking the bus. someone said that it's pretty safe too because it's deep fried so that's a plus...not that i need an excuse to eat fried chicken! i've had it quite a few times here and it's been delicious.

refrigerator? what's that? to follow up the fried chicken story is the story of meat and chicken stores. they are called carnicerias and polloterias. they are regular stores placed at random intervals next to "normal" stores like ice cream shops or pharmacies. the weird thing is you just see meat hanging from hooks out in the open, flies buzzing around happily. chickens just laying on the counter, all in a row, yellowish skin and all. i guess it's not much different than china town but for some reason i think huge portions (like a leg or back) should be refrigerated properly. i just eat at restaurants naively believing that my meat/chicken came from a proper source, that way i can sleep.

"hello" is how people answer their phone here. i always expect to hear HOLA (silent H) and yet they are always saying hello. i'm gonna have to start answering with "hola" i suppose.

trash everywhere. it is a bit disturbing to see so much trash everywhere. driving along the roads you see trash, plastic bottles, candy wrappers and plastic bags. i think in mexico there was actual recycling cans in places but so far not in guatemala. people just litter everywhere and don't look around to see if anyone saw them. it's odd.

real glass bottles are what coca-cola and other soft drinks come in, especially at restaurants. they save the bottles then the company comes to collect the empties and that's how they get new ones. just like the old days! the bottles are all really old and used looking, it's actually kind of neat. i didn't know about this whole process before and just walked away from a restaurant in mexico with one. i got to my friend's house and he's like "how'd you take that away?" and i had no idea what he was talking about. i ended up returning the bottle so that i could go eat there the next day. :) soda is very popular here and they have plastic bottles at the store in HUGE sizes, like 3L. it's an incredibly big bottle and i'm not sure how they drink it all without losing the fizz. i even saw a 2L bottle that came attached with a bottle of rum! good idea.