Finally here!

Fantastic, the internet here works. Alright. So yeah, I'm finally in Guatemala (Antigua, to be exact). We got stuck in Texas yesterday thanks to the weather (hurricanes and level five thunderstorms and all that jazz) so no one has their checked in luggage, which sucks. We got here around four or something Guatemalan time yesterday and drove from the airport in Guatemala City to Antigua, so I was pretty much glued to the windows of the bus just trying to take in all the sights of the country. It's kind of crazy how different everything is from what I'm used to in Toronto (the fact that I hear birds instead of cars in the city is a great example). Everyone was completely exhausted by the time we had finished dinner (around nine Guatemalan time), so we walked back to the hotel and pretty much fell asleep instantly. Today's been a lot better as far as exhaustion is concerned, and the fact that I had two cups of coffee this morning probably helped. We walked around and explored the church a few blocks away from the hotel, and it was mind-boggling just to see how detailed and extravagent it was. Religion plays so much more of a role in this country; the fact that I can buy giant statues of Jesus half my height gives you an idea of what it's like. After that, we walked through the marketplace, and I was just overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds and smells of everything. During lunch, it started to pour (and I really mean it, we had to go inside it was so bad), but somewhat cleared up. Apparently that's super common Guatemalan weather this time of year, sunny and hot in the morning, and then cooler and VERY rainy in the afternoon. Right now it's about 4:15 and it's pretty much completely overcast and rather cool. It gets dark around seven at night here, which is going to take a lot of getting used to. I haven't done that much school work, other than trying (and failing) to identify the different plants in the courtyard of the hotel, but that might have to do with the fact that no one really has any of their stuff (hopefully we'll get it tonight). Tomorrow we're going to Tikal (however you spell it), so that's around five or six hours in the bus, but the upside of that is that we get to stop along the way to see ruins and stuff like that. So yeahm Guatemala so far is pretty amazing. Now if only my clothes would get here...