La Ciudad de Guatemala

Today we woke up and had an amazing buffet breakfast at our hotel! (I’m excited for tomorrow’s breakfast already!) At 9:30a.m. we loaded into our mini tour bus and headed to the Guatemala City Cemetery. It was really interesting to see their cemetery. Here, they bury their dead above the ground (as you can see in the pictures that will follow).
[In the cemetery, graves above the ground]

While visiting the cemetery, we were able to get out and see the city dump from above. It was a breath taking sight. The stench was horrible, but nothing compared to seeing all of the people below searching through the dump trucks full of ‘fresh’ garbage to sort through. The people there receive a permit of sorts to take our cardboard or other materials they find among the trash and try to sell what they find in order to survive. About 60,000 people live near the dump which is as big as 24 football fields. Vultures are everywhere. It is really quite a horrifying sight. Tourists are not allowed down there anymore because of the conditions and people are no longer able to live in the dump.
[The dump…]
[The vultures]After we got back from the cemetery, we got to watch Reparando before listening to a speaker. For dinner, I went to Applebee’s with four other girls. It was a fun time AND the part that made my night was that they had Apple Chimicheesecake!! Of course, I had to get it for dessert before coming back to the hotel and watching a movie con mis amigas!

Tomorrow, we’re going to Casa de Dios before heading back to Antigua. Looking forward to the visit there, crepes for lunch, and Domino’s pizza for dinner at Paul and Bev Nemecek’s house! Ready for another great week of Spanish lessons to begin on Monday.

¡Hasta luego, amigos!