moving south

Of all of the Central American countries, I always felt that Guatemala was unique. It was the first one that I had landed in when we were going to work in Central America and I still remember the soldiers with their guns standing guard at the airport. It is a colorful country and the people seemed to be a mixture of Indian and Spanish heritage. Mike and I still had to go through there to get to Salvador.
I was going to put a map here but I didn't do a very good job making one.

The roads were not bad but we never knew what to expect. We got stopped a few times and once by some "firemen" who were collecting money. Since we weren't fluent in the language most people gave up on us pretty fast and we headed to Guatemala City. We stayed in a hotel whose n name I didn't think I would ever forget, but obviously I have. It was something like the American Hotel. The Wait staff was very attentive and their clothing was very distinctive. The Hotel was very close to the Mercado which was a fun place to roam.. like a big Flea Market at the fairgrounds in Albuquerque. At that time we hadn't learned the fine art of bargaining and I'm not sure we ever did.

I stayed at that hotel a number of times. Once when I was making an official visit to see a school with special education children, I went to the Odecca Office to present my credentials.
They asked if I wanted a back up. I was naive but understood what this meant. Someone riding shotgun as we said in the West. I deferred. I didn't want anyone to think I was important.

There are many protocols that one has to attend to if one doesn't want to be perceived as an
"Ugly America". Lot to learn.
and we headed out to Salvadore