Research Day

Monday, Apr. 4, 2011--Quetzaltenango

Breakfast was even better today than yesterday.  My juice was thicker with more fruit in it.  And cheese was added to the omelet today.  What a treat it is to have a nice breakfast in the morning that someone else makes!

I visited with the owner of the hotel for a while this morning.  She is a former professor at TCU in Ft. Worth.  Her interest is literature, so we talked a lot about books.

The rest of the morning, I explored some parts of town where I had not been.  Also, since this is the first full business day since I arrived, I got to see shops that had not been open until now.  When I stopped around noon to have another frozen banana, the shop owner and I talked a long time.  He is a young man who speaks English well having gotten to know a number of tourists over time.  His grandfather was in the ice cream business with a mobile cart.  His mother owns a small ice cream shop near a park on the north side of town.  Now he owns his own business.  He is interested in buying a large wooden-barrel ice cream maker to have inside his shop so that people can see that the ice cream is being made fresh.

Most of my afternoon was spent researching hotels.  Because of Easter and other special events, I've been worried about having rooms.  My biggest concern right now is Chichicastenango.  I am supposed to be there for the weekend.  But it is a place that is known for its Sunday market in which people come from the native villages to sell.  It's a small place with only a few places to stay.  So far, no one has replied to my e-mails requesting a reservation.  I'm afraid to go there without one.  While researching today, I decided to extend my stay in other places if I don't get a definite reservation there.  While doing the research, I made new reservations in Santiago Atitlan (a wonderful cottage with a fireplace at Posada Santiago), Antigua (Chez Daniel which was recommended by the owner of the hotel here), and San Salvador for Easter weekend (Hotel Grecia Real).

I returned to town for a final pupusa for dinner.  This time I chose the chicherone one filled with cruncy pieces of pork skin.  It probably wasn't as healthy as the cheese ones, and I'm not sure if it was as tasty, but it was nice to have a change.  In Mexico, I ate lots of tortas.  Here, I've eaten lots of pupusas.  I'll have to try other things in the days to come.

We had heavy rain in the evening.  It has passed.  Hope tomorrow will be fine, since it is a travel day.