2019: Guatemala

Jan 5, 2019: Quetzalroo Hotel, Guatemala City

• 8 am (4 1/2 hour) $10 Alamo bus to Guatemala City (My fourth time?), followed by $7 taxi to Quetzalroo Hotel (shared dual sex room, $12).  Only cheap place in Zona 13.  Kinda ritzy part of town, with “guards” everywhere (actually more like Secret Service men in suits, no guns visible - I miss the youngsters with shotguns in Xela). 

• All museums closed this afternoon & tomorrow, so hung out at an upscale coffee shop nearby, frequented by upper-middle-class Guatameltecan families - nothing like them in Xela.  Clearly there is money in the capital city.  

• Lunch at Japanese restaurant, dinner at Italian restaurant (really good lasagne) in the same (guarded) mini mall.

• Just learned from Bruce that Uncle Shelby died.  My last uncle...

• Sea turtle illusion: safeyoutube.net/w/7HJe

• Jeremy Rifkin:  The third industrial revolution

Jan 6, 2019: Quetzalroo Hotel, Guatemala City

• Walked Avenida Reforma, which is closed to cars on Sundays, along with an amazing number of families with dogs.  There was even a dog training class in progress. Perfect weather.  Watched Mary Poppins (dubbed) at Cineplex, then delicious “green burrito at one of the third floor food stalls in this very upscale mall.  This is an expensive part of town, but not much to look out walking around.   City of God on TV last night - what a rough film!