Hola Guatemala!

Number of sneezes in Belize:
Merilee: 11
Eric: 128

Eric has what one might call an unusual sensitivity to exposure to sunlight. If only we had kept track in Mexico...

The night before leaving Placencia we re-ran into some folks who we originally met along the highway. Unfortunately we didn´t get to spend much time with them, but it was great to meet more wonderful people. One of them was herself a cyclist, so perhaps we´ll convince them to meet up with us in some other fun country!

We left our little sun-kissed paradise (the last day it was finally sunny, so we hung out on the beach!) early on a rainy morning and had fun cramming all of our gear into a little water taxi...it´s like being at the grocery store and having the heaping cartful of everything, and everyone behind you is just antsy for it to be all over with. Luckily, nothing moves very quickly around here, so it was no big deal.

That day we rode 100+ kilometers to arrive at PG. Yeah, people are so laid-back that they don´t even take the time to call their town Punta Gorda. And there we met Mags. I thought he said Max at first, but then he lifted up his shirt and, lo and behold, his tattoo identified him as indeed Mags. This man with dreds as long as my arm works for a local inn, but it was more expensive that what we were looking for, so he invited us over to his house. We knew we´d have to pay something, but we figured it would be more fun than hanging out in an overpriced hotel room. Although he was a bit of a strange fellow, we spent the night safe and dry, and in the morning he offered us coffee and hot dogs. We packed up all of our sodden things (more overnight rain), bought tickets for another water taxi, got our passports stamped and went to Guatemala. I mean seriously, how boring. This whole country hopping thing is already getting old.

Well, what can we say about Guatemala...everyone is amazingly friendly and kind, we get blessed with cloud-cover every morning, and the scenery is beautiful. I think. You see, we don´t really get to look around. We have spent the vast majority of our time here trying not to get killed on the road. We are too young to die! Plus, I don´t think my parents would be happy if they had to assume responsibility for all my student loans. But seriously, the traffic is horrific, and trucks choose to run us down rather than slow if it is obvious that we have no where to go. It is the oddest thing - people give us all sorts of waves, beeps and thumbs up, but then whiz past us at 60 mph 6 inches from our handlebars. WTF? If only people drove as friendly as they are on the sidewalk.

Good stories from Guatemala:

Amidst a barrage of scooters, bikes, semis and vans, a small red car drove by, a young boy poked his head out of the window, and gave us a smile and a peace sign. That made my day!

Eric went into the market at lunchtime to look for a bit of food, and I stayed with the bikes. I sat next to a little boy of about 4, and he immediately asked what my name was. I told him, asked his name, and then he asked me what Eric´s name was. I answered, and he was quiet for a bit. After a minute he looked at me and said, ¨I thought his name was Gringo because his hair is like this,¨ and he made a gesture with his hand indicating Eric´s long locks.

We stayed at a hotel last night for the first time in 10 days, and there was in it the most amazing fan we have had the honor of using on this trip. We slept like logs. And we only paid $5.

When we got to the hotel, we chatted with the owner a bit. While we were there her son got out a package of cookies and gave us each one. Cute!

We continue to completely confuse people. Guys? Girls? Today we got a ¨Hey Honeys,¨ and Eric, according to our plan, replied with a bass ´Hello!´

Picture this: Eric and I by the side of the road, stuff strewn everywhere, traffic whizzing by. What are we doing? Truing Eric´s wheel. With the ukulele. F# people.

Anyway, that´s life as we know it for now. We´ll be crossing into El Salvador tomorrow, so we´re excited to see what that brings. For now we are off to cook and buy soda - we are thoroughly addicted!

Photos! Well, what little of Guatemala we saw; A butterfly hitching a ride with Merilee, A parrot hitching a ride on my bike, pregnant women sign, burning trash, and a church. That is all there is to Guatemala!