The Rain Never Stops

We arrived in xela after trekking on a borrowed greyhound for 4.5 horas. Along the way we stopped at a small eatery that called itself " comida rapido." The entrance is adorned with beautiful artisan crafts from indigenous women and their hijos trying to sell them. The eatery is a cateria that sold frioles, arroz, queso, and some mysterious indistinguishable goop. We looked past that to the food foreigners fall back on....processed foods. Familiar logos like the Quaker oats man and Dorito logo welcomed us to half of the products there. Jing bought delicious good peanuts con sal as an effort to appeal to her "support locals" and "when in guate" sentiments. Back on the bus, a movie begins. THE ROCK plays...a babysitter...en espanol. Next thing I know, my head is bobbing and drool is making it´s way down the angle of my boca.

True to the season, Xela is rainy and moist. The rainy season runs from Mayo to Octubre and the rest of the year is dry. The temps hover between 50s at night to 60s and 70s during the day. Every morning, the city is bathed in rays of sun that manage to shine through the clouds. Every afternoon however, like clock work, storm clouds roll in and drench the city. Jing and I never leave home without our sombrias and thank our Gortex rain impermeable hiking shoes daily. Best purchases ever. Because of the rain, everything is a little moist from the hiking trails in the mountains to the "fresh" air. We can call ourselves, regular guatemaltecos.

Xela has a pretty amazing and advanced drainage dystem with storm drains and angled roads preventing what would be a natural disaster in Cville, daily. The sidewalks here are ridiculously high. We think that because of the proprensity for the streets of Xela to flood without fail, high sidewalks are essential to prevent waters from engulfing the stores and people. The downside of high sidewalks is you feel like you have to launch yourself onto them! I am developing quite the quads and trasero thanks to these as well as our long hikes en la fin de semana. Jing will not be happy if i post such sexy photos so i will honor her requests....for now.

Trusty GTX waterproof lifesavers

Eerie storm clouds rolling in. The large yellow structure with a Guate flag is our school, ICA.

Caught in a torrential downpour riding on the back of a pickup on the way to Fuentes. That´s for a different post.