Arrival to Antigua

We've made it to Antigua! It was a little hairy riding the chicken buses, but we came out of it alive. For those of you who may not have ridden a chicken bus before...let me elaborate so you don't just think, "What's the big deal?"

First off, contrary to the name, chicken buses don't really carry chickens. All over Guatemala and most of Central America the main and cheapest form of transit are the chicken buses. They are old school buses from the States that growl and puff out huge amounts of black smoke as they drive along. If the owner has enough money then they are usually painted with bright patterns and colors like the one seen here. They usually are modified quite a bit to fit the needs of the locals. For example a large rack extends along the roof with one or two ladders on the back for the attendant to climb as he lugs up and down backpacks, bags, and crates of produce of the passengers. Inside the bus usually a side of seats are modified to fit longer benches, thus creating a very narrow aisle of only about 8 inches...and pretty much impossible to walk down. Above the seats are shelves to store bags, on the tops of seats are handlebars, and on the ceiling are bars so that standers have something to hold onto. Usually on the front of the bus is painted some name or phrase like "Veloz Quichelense" or "Dios nos acompane" (God is with us).

And thanks to God that he is because chicken bus rides can be somewhat terrifying. The bus driver usually speeds through towns as the attendant yells out the destination of the bus to attract passengers. And it doesn't matter if the bus is already full because they'll just add more. Chicken buses have the right of way by cars and often pass on blind corners, sometimes narrowly missing driving a car into the canyons below. Driving from Quiche to Antigua we travel through some very windy and steep hills with hairpin turns...and I just pray that the brakes don't go out as we huff and puff up and down the hills.

This last journey Toby and I were super cramped on the buses (note to self: Sundays are very full days on the buses). We were squeezed at least 3 to a seat, sometimes half a butt on the edge and the rest of our body in the tiny aisle. Usually there aren't many foreigners on the bus so Toby and I tend to get many stares from little Guatemalan children who look at us like a creature in the zoo. Did I mention that we go over many speed bumps through towns and as we wind around turns you get the most amazing ab workout trying to stay straight and not knock into the stranger next to you? After 3+ hours on 2 chicken buses you're pretty exhausted. This last journey Toby and I needed to change buses in Chimaltenango and tried to make our way to the front of the bus to get ready to depart. We stopped at one place along the town and Toby got off but I didn't have a chance to get up there so I was stuck on the bus. I asked the driver to stop, but he just told me to wait. I was worried that Toby and I would be distanced quite a bit, but then I saw him hanging onto the ladder on the back as we moved through town. I guess the driver took off while the attendant was trying to hand the bags to Toby so they had to jump on and hang to the ladders until the next stop. The next bus turned out to be even worse because the bus was incredibly full and we had to squeeze down the skinny aisles and stand for a lot of the journey. The attendant had to even climb from the back on top of the seats and holding the ceiling rails so that he could get up to the front! It was ridiculous!

We are now quite happy to be in sunny Antigua where the weather has been in the 80s. Toby is doing great at the school, and we are enjoying the home stay we are with. Stay tuned for more on Antigua as we discover more of the city. One very cool thing is that one of the nearby volcanoes was smoking quite a bit yesterday!