Guatemala - My New Home

So I guess this is blog you have been waiting for, I'm sorry for letting you wait so long, but it really took a while before I had absorbed and processed all the experiences from the last few days. Actually I'm still busy doing that, but I owe you an update, so here it is :)
Friday I woke up very early to catch my flight to Guatemala. The trip was not too great, no in flight entertainment this time and the flight attendants were not too nice either (Continental Airlines). On the plane from Houston (where I had to transfer) an American guy sat next to me and he was going to visit his wife in Guatemala. She had been attacked with a hand granate in her car and then shot through the head (she was still alive), so that was a very happy and encouraging story to hear just before I'd arrive. On the airport in Guate everything went really quickly and smoothly and I was picked up by Gaby (an AIESEC girl who is responsible for guiding the visiting trainees) and Guto (another trainee from Brazil). I don't remember anymore (now already) what we've done afterwards, but I suppose we went to Ariel's (an Argentine trainee) house where I stayed the following three nights. On Saturday I met two of the other trainees, Paula (from Brazil) and Fiorella (from Peru). Together we had a nice lunch with spaghetti, nachos and salad. Afterwards I drove a little around the city with Gaby. So this is a good time to tell about the city:
Guatemala City is very green and spread out over a valley surrounded by mountains and three volcanoes. The streets are very wide and they reminded me a bit of the American neighbourhoods you know from the movies. The cars are also the same and the houses usually have two floors only. For the rest it looks a lot like you'd probably imagine a city in this area, palm trees, coloured houses. The only thing I really don't like is that all gardens and houses are fenced off, so when you drive around, you only see fences all the time. That is for security of course, but that doesn't make the view of it any better. For the same reason you hardly see people walking around, almost everybody has a car here (with blinded windows). But the view on the volcanoes that surround the city makes up for it a lot, if the sky is clear at least, which doesn't happen too much in this season, the rain season.
So after driving around I rested at home for a bit and then we went to a party at the home of a French guy who also works here. We partied until 1.30 or so, which is really late for Guatemalan standards, and also for me after those tiring days. And that was the second day here.
The third day we went to Antigua with the people whose name I've mentioned before and Beto. With the 7 of us in 1 car we took off and after driving for a bit more than an hour we arrived in Antigua, next to one of those markets you'd see on the pictures (Mayan women sitting down in coloured traditional clothes selling equally coloured bags, puppets etc.). Then we spent quite some time in an old monastery, then we walked a bit around the market, had a good lunch with some amazing portions of nachos. Then we walked around the town, visited an extremely luxurious hotel and took a tour through a jade museum. That was all we did actually. Antigua is a really beautiful city, but it's quite small. It seems that we're gonna return there many more times, especially for going out and partying.
Yesterday (Monday) I "moved" to my own apartment, which is a great place. I don't know if I'll ever such a big place for myself (although in a few weeks an Italian guy will join me). I have my own room (sth like 3x7m), my own bathroom and the living room is cool too. I live very close to the other AIESEC guys, so that's also really good. And the house owners are really nice (although they speak Spanish
I think I'm gonna leave it with this for now. I could also tell you about my work, but I'll save that for the next blog in some days, especially because right now I don't know exactly what's gonna happen and what I'll be doing. For now I guess it suffices to say that I'm very happy with the place, my colleagues are really nice and funny. The company itself also seems nice, the atmosphere is very relaxed. The only thing they are not relaxed about is safety, everything that could potentially lead to even the smallest injury is guided by rules, even walking the stairs (not using your hands to handle the bar next to the stairs is considered a violation of the rules and can lead to a warning by the security). Ok, now I'm telling about my work anyway, but that's really it for now, I'll update you next Monday or so.
Some pictures: New York: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9365&id=226700492&l=f1580e09bd and the first days here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9377&id=226700492&l=5864901669