Whenever I am leaving Palestina, for example, to go visit Katie, I take a camioneta. a big bus that looks like a school bus and is sometimes a recycled school bus from the United States. I always have to pass through the bus terminal in Xela where you can get a bus to pretty much anywhere in Guatemala. It costs me 15 quetzales to get to Xela. Can you figure out how many dollars to which that would be equivalent?
This week, with the prospective volunteers, I went to Ben’s host family’s casita (small get away house) for the first time. It’s only about a seven to ten minute walk from the house they live in in the center of Palestina, but it’s up a hill and has the most beautiful, green view of the forest. They have apple trees and grow corn at their casita. In July we even made an apple pie from scratch with their apples. It was delicious!
One of my best friends, who is also another Peace Corps volunteer, is traveling all the way from her site in Joyabaj, Quiché, to visit me this weekend! She is going to have to take either three camionetas (big buses) or two camionetas and a microbus (small bus) to get to me. Her first bus from Joyabaj, Quiché to Santa Cruz del Quiché will take about an hour and a half or an hour 45. The second bus from Santa Cruz del Quiché to Xela will take at least two hours. To get from Xela to Palestina she'll take a camioneta or microbus for an hour. She's going to travel nearly five hours! I'm so lucky to have such a good friend who will come so far to see me!
