1 Landing

Looking out the window at the lovely greens and grays of the tropical mountains and then observing the jarring contrast of beautiful housing developments right smack next to horrifying shantytowns, I tried to tune out the loud profanity emanating from the woman in the seat directly behind me.  I thought to myself, this is a lot worse than the sometimes crude language spoken in parts of Colombia where as a teenager I had once had to tell my sweet Christian mother not to use a certain word she had learned from the cowboys on her visit to a ranch in Colombia's Llanos (eastern plains).

Soon we were on the tarmac and I watched the luggage being unloaded hoping to see something familiar and thus be reassured that our suitcases had not been misplaced.  I noticed among the luggage there were a lot of plastic containers held closed with tape which were being used instead of suitcases.  This struck me as odd.  I was to find out later that any cheap plastic container which could be bought in the States for pennies, was extremely expensive in Guatemala.  Even the plastics that are made in Guatemala are pricey because since imported products are taxed heavily domestic products have no price competition.

Another thing I was not aware of at the time is the fact that the runways at the Guatemala City airport are shorter than usual, their length being restricted by the mountainous terrain.  For trans-Atlantic flights the planes must take-off from Guatemala City with only a little gas in their tanks and then refuel somewhere before heading out across the ocean.

I felt sure we were in for some kind of a big adventure.