So many bikes

After a some logistical mishaps, that included (literally) throwing money at swanky hotel receptionists, i finally made it out of Guatemala City with my awesome and amiable driver Jose Luis. Jose Luis was one of those guys that makes everything seem okay, if someone had to tell me that my left lung needed to be removed i would want it to be Jose Luis. He was incredibly patient with my poor spansih and slow/non comprehension. He also made lots of jokes that i didn´t understand but he laughed and so it was funny.

So after a 35 mile "detour" to pee, we finally got back on the right road and rolled into San Andreas Itzapa.

Maybe i was projecting my own estaticism (is that a word?), but the people seemed noticably happier past the "welcome to" sign. The previous town, Chimaltenango, was fascinating, but gross. Most of the people looked overworked and stoic. Cars dominated everything, though the donkey made a pretty courageous showing.

But not here with me in happy sunshine land, no, here everyone was smiling, children were playing and everyone looked in good health (except for the packs of starving ownerless dogs that sulk around everywhere) and there were much fewer cars. San Andreas is exactly the place i would want to be in a foreign country- everyone is incredibly helpful, friendly and polite. People just say hi, just because. How many places in the US does everyone say hi to strangers, especially foreigners? Hmmmm.

So maya pedal is, of course, amazing. And, holy crap, there are bikes everywhere.

A "liquidora" and, the other, i´m not sure, but i think it takes the kernels off corn