Now that we've been home from Guatemala for several weeks, we sat down over sushi and discussed what we missed (food, culture, environment) vs. what we weren't as sad to leave behind (some convenience and health factors).
Things We Miss
- Food!
We ate so much great food on our trip. The prices were low enough that we could eat out frequently, and there were so many options that we didn't even visit all the restaurants we hoped to. For such a small town, there was a wide variety of international cuisine, and we mixed those with plenty of traditional Guatemalan options. We enjoyed a lot of Guatemalan coffee too, and I know Ruth will miss the frequent stops for flavored iced coffee.
Our favorites were mostly simple things - super ripe fruit (mango!), being able to buy fresh cut fruit as a snack in the park, the handmade hot tortillas with "squeezy beans", and our near-daily avocado toast with always perfectly ripe avocado. The girls loved that cheap smoothies were offered as a drink option nearly everywhere. I loved that all the ice cream shops had dairy-free options.
Bill and I loved the US-style breweries too, where we could get the same styles of IPA that we might at home (hard to find on past Europe trips). My fave was the bitter Antigua Cerveza IPA "Sin Novia" (aka "without girlfriend", hee). - Environment
Guatemala was beautiful. In the city, the architecture, colorful decor, bright plants, and fountains were so pretty, and waking up to a view of the volcanos and surrounding mountains never got old. Antigua is small and super-walkable, and we loved being able to get anywhere in the city easily on foot. And the weather!!! When North Carolina had 90 degree temps, we were enjoying the 67-75 degree days. It still surprises me that the weather is so temperate there, and no mosquitos! - Culture/People
When we were in the customs line in Miami listening to a customs agent yell at everyone and complain loudly about specific people not following directions, the guy in front of us said, "You know, we just came from Guatemala and I don't think I heard anyone yell like that there." We didn't realize it until then, but he was right! We encountered exactly zero rude - or even vaguely impolite - people in Guatemala over the course of a month.
Everywhere we went was extremely kid-friendly and casual. People would smile and say hi on the streets and even pat Zadie on the head. Store clerks and waiters were incredibly patient and kind with my broken Spanish.
I'll also miss seeing all the women's traditional clothing, so beautiful and colorful! - Other
Other miscellaneous items: - Zadie misses the "random perros" (stray dogs) and chasing las palomas (pigeons) in the square.
- Having cheap transportation options was great so we didn't have to rent a car or spend a ton to get around.
- Swapping our SIM cards (the first time we've done that overseas) worked out great, and Ruth even got cell service for the first time since it was so cheap. I love that her first ever phone number was Guatemalan.
- Our condo complex was great - having a gated community felt very safe, and the girls loved the pools.
- We all like slow travel. We were in the same place long enough not to have to rush to see everything. For us, our schedule there was a great balance of tourist things and regular family time or chill time. We've done a lot of vacations where we returned tired, wishing we had a vacation after our vacation, but this wasn't one.
- Health & Safety Concerns
From a crime perspective, Guatemala felt extremely safe everywhere we went. We'd read about tourists being robbed on hikes in certain areas, but we weren't in any of those places. I'd guess the risk of crime on the streets of Raleigh is higher than Antigua.
But... there are other health concerns. Foremost, the water is unsafe to drink. I initially waved that risk off a bit (few days of "Montezuma's revenge," not the end of the world), but then saw a Unicef stat about how >10% of deaths ages 1-5 are from diarrheal diseases, and how bacteria, viruses, and parasites (ew) could all cause serious problems. Water pollution is also an issue. Our rental provided 5 gallon jugs of water, which was nice but stressful because they were unclear about how often it would be replaced. That covered most of our drinking and toothbrushing water. We also brought a squeeze water filter that Bill bought for backpacking, and used that to make coffee or wash produce with a veggie wash we bought at the store. In a few other cases for cooking, we boiled tap water.
It was easier than I expected to get used to avoiding the tap water at home, but I was concerned about meals out. Many of the traditional foods are prepared in a way that would kill germs, but uncooked veggies or fruits - even a simple tomato slice and lettuce on a sandwich - are a risk depending on how they're washed. Bill eats salads every day at home but avoided them in Guatemala, so was jonesing for salad pretty badly by the time we came home. The girls ate smoothies and lemonade frequently and never got sick, though we usually had them made with milk instead of water. They also ate fruit from street vendors. Bill was the only one of us to get sick during our visit and we're still not sure how, as he and I had eaten the same things that day.
Another health risk there, one I wasn't prepared for, was lack of seatbelts in many cars. The cars we took to/from the airport had seatbelts, but several of our Ubers had none in the backseat. Not great!
Finally, walking was a tougher in Antigua. Bill and I each walk most mornings at home, but it was more difficult being in a small city with cobblestones everywhere. Bill was walking back and forth through the streets to get his miles in. We definitely missed our leafy Raleigh greenways! - Lacking Conveniences
First-world problems here: We didn't have an oven, a dishwasher, or the full spice rack we're used to. Schlepping groceries home on foot every day or two isn't great. Google isn't always helpful or up to date because so many restaurants don't have websites or any info online.
Not having a car, we got around fine with Uber and shuttles, but it definitely wasn't as convenient as the public transportation systems in Europe (for ex.).
In much of Guatemala (like much of the world), you cannot flush toilet paper. While our newer rental did not have this limitation, thank goodness, our lake hotel and most restaurants did. Outside Antigua at volcanos and even restaurants by the lake, we encountered toilets that were not connected to a water supply, where instead there was a large bucket of water from which you could fill the tank in order to flush.
Finally, I hate using cash. We could use a card about half the time, but had to deal with ATMs and cash the rest of the time. I rely on cards to track and categorize our spending too, so cash required extra work. - Other
Other miscellaneous things we didn't love: - Fireworks are frequent, but not the pretty light kind, the noisy, popping, sounds like gunfire kind. Zadie hated this and even carried headphones around town frequently to help mute the noise. There was crying before we found the headphone hack.
- There was no recycling and many things we'd get in recyclable cans or jars at home instead were sold in plastic bags or pouches (like beans or jam).
- Antigua has basically no playgrounds. Thank goodness for the trampoline and pool at our rental. We even visited McDonald's once so that Zadie could play there. She did chase pigeons in the few public squares, but it was hard to chill in those since there are so many vendors.
- Our empty guest bedroom! We were looking for houses with 3 bedrooms but since this house happened to have four, we would have loved if any family members could have joined us for a week. Didn't work out this time, but maybe in the future!
It was both good and bad/hard to speak only in Spanish. I'm in the middle of Spanish 3, which was just enough Spanish to be able to communicate in most settings. I'm nowhere close to fluent though. The first days, I even got the occasional headache from concentrating for so long. After that, it got a lot easier because the majority of the conversations I was having were basically the same, interacting with waiters and store clerks or other vendors. We met a lot of English-speakers in our condo complex, and were happy whenever we had an English-speaking guide. It's such great practice to be forced to speak only in Spanish though, and I would have liked to take that even further and do a week of morning classes at one of the many Spanish language schools in Antigua. The people we met were all very kind and patient with my toddler-like Spanish vocabulary. :)
We also both loved and didn't love the architecture. Buildings tend to have open courtyards and many have cool rooftop spaces. It's a fun surprise to go past a boring exterior and find an amazing space inside with flowers and fountains. But it's difficult to find those places by walking down the street, since you can't see much from the outside! I'm sure we missed some amazing spots.
Overall, we loved our visit and I'd absolutely go back. Nothing we listed here would prevent us from returning. More of the world to see first though...