As some of you might know, not all countries use the same currency. Strange, I know. Those of you who have traveled have probably had the experience of trading some familar cash for cash that looks a whole lot like monopoly money. We were just getting used to the peso when tada! Here we are in Guatemala with the Quetzal. Mexico was nice because the exchange rate was nice and tidy, ten pesos, one dollar. Move the decimal point, and you got it. And the quetzal? Eight to one. Math is hard.
There is also a sort of hidden exchange rate as well, that being the time exchange rate. A 10 minute bathroom break on the bus-that-sounds-like-it-is-full-of-tin-cans-but-is-actually-just-really-about-to-break is actually a 30 minute period to time for the driver to disappear and the jostled international tourists to roam around looking, well, foreign. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind it. I'm down with sitting outside the bus waiting for it to go. I'm okay with driving in circles for no clear reason prior to leaving, and I enjoy the opportunity to look at cows while a tire is changed. I'm not being cynical. I really don't mind.
Anyway. After a longer than expected ride, we have made it to Guatemala. The land is truly beautiful, at least what we have seen so far from the windows of the bus. It's just so green. No other word for it right now. Just green.
Tomorrow we take our last bus for a while from here in Flores to Rio Dulce, where we will finally be able to set our packs down for more than a few days. We volunteer at Hotel Backpacker for two weeks. This is required of all volunteers in the children's village so that we can, according to the folks running both things, get used to the food and and the climate. Then after two weeks we go across the river and move into the children's village, where we will be...who knows...playing with children, hopefully.
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4 comments:
Hello leah love! i'm sitting in your mom's house playing with kitty's and your beloved pup who i have a feeling your mom does not want to give up:) she really is a lovebug! heading back to denver monday and then off to japan next month...whew! even sooner. talk to you sooon!!
<3 Briana
Hi! We are off on our own adventure now...about to hit the AT on Saturday. Mexico and Guatamala sound awesome! We miss you!
I read your entry. I laughed! I cried! I annoyed people sitting near me. good stuff.
Do you remember how I used to forward to you e-mails from my old TA Daniel about his adventures in Quito, Ecuador? That was how I learned that Quito has the world's second highest elevation and its currency is the US dollar. If I knew where he was, I would send him links to your blog.
What is the phoenetic pronunciation of "quetzal"? When I read it, in my mind's ear it sounds like "pretzel." -M.
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