However, they do let us drive manually powered vehicles, so of course, I went and got myself a bike. This has been my favorite purchase that I have ever made because I can use it to go absolutely anywhere. I can bike my entire community in three hours, so if I ever need to get anywhere quickly, I can just hop on my bike and get there. That is much better than walking or paying for a 50q taxi.
The most interesting place I visited this week was a Korean supermarket in the big city close to my town, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. This market was cool because it had a lot of authentic Korean products shipped all the way here to Guatemala. They had chips, candies, drinks, spices and even a restaurant where you can eat well-made Korean food. Fun fact, there is actually a huge Korean immigrant population in Guatemala, with a significant amount living in Zone 7 of Guatemala City. As a result, Korean markets have become pretty popular in Guatemala and can usually be found in just about every major city.
In other news, gas prices are way up in Guatemala as they are everywhere else in the world. What this means for me, as someone who does not pay for gas, is that now my bus fares are higher so that my bus driver can pay for gas. Gas prices in most places have gone up 10q, which translates to a 10q increase in my bus fares. This has also hurt my teacher coworkers, who have now begun walking to class on half of the days of the week because it hurts their wallets if they decide to keep coming in on a motorcycle. I just hope the Peace Corps increases my monthly stipend to help me pay for increasingly expensive trips.
