I already know what you’re thinking, “Aw darn, this post has no bullet points.” Yep, that’s right, just boring plain text. Anyways if your still reading this after seeing how it has no bullet points and how I said it will be boring then your in luck because I can sort of assure you that it is interesting (ok I can’t but maybe you’ll live through it anyways). On a not very side note and with all that out of the way its time talk about how my father became Rambo (sort of) and many other fun things that make Guatemala who it is, Guatemala! The unique place has a wealth of hand made crafts and arts made by locals. Each region can even have its own specialties between villages. Like that village I made up called Cpuchingy which specializes in exploding pig head mounted on ATVs 3 for the price of one! These beautiful creations can range from carvings and paintings to weaving and beadwork, many locals can often be found all along streets, in parks, and in stalls trying to make a living. One amazing place to find these crafts is Nim Po’t, this market is run by locals and is a huge collection of hand made crafts. Could you really resist a pound bar of chocoalate? Some cool things we saw at Nim Po’t were a wall of colorful masks, beautiful beaded necklaces, and bins full of hackysacks. We decided to buy a hackysack, well my brother bought it but that’s ok because I can still throw it at him! As you enter this amazing market you can’t help it but be amazed by the many crafts adorning the warehouse-like building. This also leads me to how my dad became Rambo, in Nim po’t there is several of those posters where you stick your head in the hole and it makes you look like someone, when we saw the Rambo poster my dad started laughing so he went behind it and we took a picture (which will now be shared with the world muahahahaha!).
Doesn’t it look delicious?
Doesn’t all that shopping make you hungry? You simply can’t leave out the food, food shopping is shopping too! Don’t discriminate! The food in Guatemala is hands down amazing – even the street food is amazing. From Native Guatemalan dishes to Italian food, this country offers many types of classic and fusion styles. My personal favorite is Rincon Tipico, a delicious mouth watering restaurant that only has maybe 6 menu options. Deliciously cooked and seasoned meats are served with blue tortillas, guacamole, chips, potatoes, and salad. Not to be neglected, even the local tiendas which dot every street sell yummy munchies both old and new types. On to the next topic or I will never stop talking about food! Money in Guatemala can get tricky with exchange rates and stuff but it’s pretty simple if you really think about it, one dollar US is equal to 6 quetzals, the national currency.
How do you buy awesome things if you don’t speak the native language, Spanish? There is a simple answer… you can’t. So of course you need to know a little Spanish to buy yummy food! A useful Spanish question involving money is “¿Que hora es?” which means “how much” (very important for buying snacks!). Wait, I meant “¿Cuanto cuesta?”. Another useful sentence is “me das…” or “can I have…”. That’s the end of this guide made with care from a cafe in Guatemala. Sorry this may not live up to my other guides in hilariousity (if that’s a word) but maybe it will help you in your trip to Guatemala or to reminisce about your own visit to one of the craziest countries around!
¿Qué hora es? Means “what time is it?” How much is “cuántos?” No wonder you are paying too much for a snack at noon time!