Me, the twins, and the buses in Guate

Today was a day of public transportation in Guatemala City, and all that goes along with it.

I left my house in the zona 9 to take the bus downtown with Tatiana and Soraya. From the Sexta Avenida, we took the 83 bus straight to the National Congress on Novena Avenida and Novena Calle. That was fairly straightforward, except for Soraya complaining that she was hungry the whole time.

Once we got off the bus, we made our way to a Mexican sandwich place called Tortas la Tortuga. The girls had their sandwiches. And, the kind owner even gave each of my eight year old twins (Tatiana and Soraya) a plastic turtle as a souvenir. From there, we went to the Parque Central, where there were tons of pigeons. The girls found the goats more interesting.

There are a few goatherders who walk around the center of the city with their herd of goats. Unlike in San Francisco, there is no grass in downtown Guatemala, so their main purpose is not to cut grass. Instead, they are a walking lunch stand for some Guatemalans. The goatherders sell cups of frothy, warm goat milk to anyone who wants it. It does look nice and frothy, so Tatiana and Soraya wanted some. I thought that unpasteurized goat milk might not be the best idea, so I dissuaded them.

Of course, they were hungry again. So, we went to Pollo Campero before I dropped the girls off with their teacher, Victor.

From there, I took the bus number three to Mega 6 to get the 96 bus to Chinautla, where I had my next interview. As usual, my research assistant showed up a little late, so I had to stand on the corner and pretend like I was doing something. I had an interview in Chinautla, which went quite well. After that, I had to take the 96 bus back to Parque Colon to pick up Tatiana and Soraya.

From Parque Colon, we took the 101 bus to the Muni to get the Transmetro. The Transmetro is the new bus that traverses the city. Tatiana, Soraya and I were on that bus for nearly an hour, standing up the whole time. When we got off, we had to take another bus to our new home in Villa Nueva. Luckily, we found it and I was finally able to relax.

Lots to tell about our new home in Villanueva, but that will be for a later post.