First few days in Guatemala

What a wonderful world we live in. A person can be in a totally different world in just a few hours.
My first couple of days here weren´t too exciting. I didn´t head out to the beach like I had originally planned but stayed in Guatemala City instead. On my first day here I participated in my favorite recreational pastime, sitting on my ass doing nothing. It was while I in the Central Plaza, engaged in this strenuous activity, that I met a gentleman named Hector. He´s a rural schoolteacher who was in the city to get some dental work done and file a dispute over his pay. Neither of us had much to do during the morning so he offered me a walking tour of the city. We ended up wandering around for hours practicing Spanish/English and admiring rows upon rows of dead animals in the market that tourists are warned not to go into. After a great lunch we parted ways and I ended up spending some time at the typical tourist sites. My second day was spent doing much of the same, with the added excitement of having my pocket picked on the city bus. They didn´t get much money but stole a sizeable chunk of my pride. In 20 years of traveling to somewhat sketchy places I´d never been robbed. Cest la vie. By the third morning my lungs were starting to feel like they´d been put through a meat grinder due to the pollution so I hopped the bus to Antigua.
I had forgotten just how beautiful this town was. There are a lot more tourists than I remember seeing 13 years ago but it´s still an incredible place to visit. Much of the city was destroyed by a large earthquake 200 years ago and several since, leaving some great ruins to visit. A luxury resort was built on one of those sites so people can enjoy crumbling walls for only $140 per night. Unfortunately my stomach started feeling a bit bad last night so I downed Immodium and Cipro and headed to the farmacia to stock up on gut goodies. An American woman stopped me at the counter and insisted that I try Xanax for my ills. She said she was a paramedic and gave it to her patients. Then she pulled out a blister pack of Xanax and offered it to me. She added that she also had a supply of morphine if I so desired and that it was all okay since she was a paramedic. Rule number 17 of international travel, the tourists are often far more interesting than the locals.
Well, it´s about time to head to the market, this time with my money in a safer pocket.