No Se Permite!

We made it back from Monterrico to Antigua last evening, after a hair-raising drive. I thought we should give the poor man enough money for a haircut at least because he spent so much time adjusting his longish hair - with both hands, as he drove hell-bent for leather on the highway. Geordie says he was also falling asleep, and kept himself awake by leaning on the steering wheel while he drove with his elbows. He drifted over the yellow line quite often and his gear shifting skills were the worst. I fear for the engine and the drive shaft and the poor vehicle may be in trouble soon because the oil light was on the whole time we drove - for two hours plus.

But we are here. And we have made arrangements to travel on. When we arrived last night we drove past the travel agency where we had arranged our ticket to Guatemala for today. But we had decided to cancel that trip, so after we got back to our hotel (15 minutes later because our driver stopped one block from our hotel and did some business first) we walked over to cancel our trip. And now it was closed!

We went off to our favorite restaurant instead and sat there, then decided that we should call to cancel since there was a 24 hours number. We used the restaurant phone, but I got a recorded message which I could not understand a word of, so I hung up. Five minutes later the phone rang and it was for me - or at least that guy who had called and hung up - guess they have call display. I still couldn´t make myself understood, so I got the waitress to do my cancelling for me, except that I said I was cancelling our trip to Rio Dulce instead of the one to Guatemala City.

We then relaxed and enjoyed our steak meals with a lovely bottle of Tempranillo. Then Hector the owner arrived and was glad-handing everyone, and then decided to open a bottle of the local wine made in a vineyard nearby. It was a Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and quite dry and tasty so we celebrated that too.

When we got back to our hotel we decided we should attempt cancelling again, correctly this time, so we had the desk clerk call for us and do all the talking. No one came by this morning at 7 30 am to tell us our shuttle was outside so it seems to have worked. After breakfast this morning we went back to our travel agent, told him our story, booked a trip to Panajachel for tomorrow morning at 7 am and only had to pay the difference of four dollars. Success.

Now the explanation of the No Se Permite. It´s a sign at the Palapa restaurant in our hotel at Monterrico. It reads: "Por Favor. No Se Permite Emborracharse!" Or as it might read in English - "Please. It is forbidden to endrunken yourself." We did our best to follow the rule.

The other thing we noticed in Monterrico, which is true all over the country I´m sure, is that the delivery trucks, those guys who deliver the frozen chickens and the sliced meats (we saw both) have a guy riding shotgun. Literally. When the truck stops the guy with the shotgun gets out first, and then the driver, and then both go to the shop where they are delivering - the shot gun at the ready. Makes us feel so confident. Of course all the banks have armed guards and the jade shops, but then so does our favorite breakfast place where a uniformed guard with a revolver on his hip stands sentinel at the door. Bacon and eggs never felt so safe.

We are off to see a museum or two now. There is a Printing press museum really close, and we visited it last time. We are going to see if they´ve added anything.