Sat, Feb 28 Antigua, Guatemala

Some crappy news today - my digital camera was stolen.

I used it at the cybercafe 1 block away - plugged it into the USB port near the floor, and didn't realize I left it until back at the hostel. 2 blocks of walking and it was gone - the guy there said someone else used the computer right after me. It was a crappy camera - it was all scratched up, the zoom was broken, and it took less than sensational shots. The 2 gig SD card was worth more than the camera, and all the pictures from it are here on the blog.

What this means, though, is that I can't post pictures on the blog anymore, and what use is a travel log without pictures? Being that the price of a cheap camera is about a week's budget for me, the rest of the pictures will have to be on film, and eventually scanned in.

I finally did laundry today! Well, I had it done at a lavanderia up the street while I fought the crowds and salespeople at the large market. I was getting really stinky, and it was a necessity if I was going to be walking around a crowded city.

Antigua is a really neat, hip town, but it loses a bit of its natural charm with all the Americans, Canadians, and Europeans. The upside to this is that most of the visitors are young budget travelers and backpackers and hippies like myself. It is about as bilingual as Quebec City - conversations always start in the local language, but if you answer in english, chances are you'll be understood. This also creates a gap between the visitors and the locals - it seems very difficult to live in Antigua.

The food here is a decent step up from the rest of the country so far. Ceviche is very popular and delicious, and almost always made with shrimp. And the coffee is all one would expect and more - one of my favorite coffees at Fairway back home is called Guatemala Antigua, and it's got nothing on this stuff.

Speaking of stuff, my nose has been runny and I've been feeling a bit fatigued - this could be from the long days, the past few without a hot shower and with very dirty clothes, or maybe that there's a resident cat here in the hostel. Whatever the reason, I'm drinking lots of Emergen C and taking it easy today, and tomorrow it's only a couple hours ride (I hope) to Xela (that's the more informal name of Quetzaltenango), where I'll be staying for a while.