Food!

A hotdog in Guatemala

I haven't written anything about food in this blog. Most people that know me would say I'm fairly obsessed. On this trip we've had a chance to try some amazing things, but mostly it's been hard scheduling everything and just making sure we are eating regular enough meals. Also, A doesn't care that much about food. Generally, he humors me, but on this trip it's not always possible. We have gotten into the habit of stopping by any Walmart we see to stock up on granola bars to keep in the car for breakfast/any random time we are hungry and cannot stop.

I can say that neither of us got sick in Mexico, though! Which for me is probably a miracle, considering the copious amounts of sketchy salsas and agua frescas I consumed along the way. We generally got by in Mexico by just stopping at random taco stands/ restaurants on the way and almost all of them were delicious. Our most disappointing meals were actually at sit down places. 

In Guatemala, it's been a bit more difficult. Tonight we are in Chiquimula, a quite busy little city ~50km from the Honduras boarder. We spent two days in Lake Atitlan, which was breathtakingly beautiful, but very very touristy. This made it more expensive and just more annoying to find good food and get around. On our last morning there I made A come with me to get some coffee at a place we had driven by a few days before (he doesn't drink coffee). The guy turned out to be a crazy ex-pat who was heading to Japan shortly (we were just there in May). We chatted with him for a while about his plans, our trip, what to do in Antigua (our next stop, and his shop (which A called a "coffee cult," where expats with crazy stories kept stopping in). When we tried to pay, he brought us into the back of the shop and showed us his roasting machine, different beans (all local that he roasts on site) and sent us home with a few pounds of coffee and an awesome bag made out of a coffee bean bag. If you're ever in Panajachel (on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala) I would definitely recommend stopping in (Crossroads Cafe). It was also the first long conversation A and I have had with another person since leaving LA.

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala from our bike tour

We spent a night in Antigua, probably the second most touristy place we've been. We did get to have some okay coffee at a place recommended by our friend from Panajachel. The coffee shop although looking like it could have been pulled from San Francisco, turned out to be creepily Christian, which we discovered via some magazines on the table called "Relevant." We also had some great French food at a place called "Hector's" that had no sign on the door, but did have Brooklyn IPA? I have no idea how it got there. Probably the strangest part of the night was accidentally walking into a giant Guatemalan carnival, where people were packed so tight you could barely move. People were waiting on line for rides while other rides buzzed within inches of their faces, it was quite a spectacle.

Tomorrow we head to Honduras to see the Copan ruins. Honduras is supposed to be the most painful border crossing since they require multiple copies of everything (I read one person said the office floor at immigration is covered in stacks of paper). We plan to get there early. My father has a theory that Honduras has the worst food in the world, we will test that and report back!