First day in Guatemala

 I entered Guatemala through a very obsolete port at Playa Grande. The border crossing was dilapidated, with just two military guards stationed there. When they asked what I was doing, I handed them my card and probably came off a little too excited, exclaiming, "¡Por fin! A Guatemala!" I was partially delirious, throwing my hands around in excitement. I asked them if they needed anything, said I was there to help, and even asked if they needed help—in Spanish, of course. They just waved me through and said "Bien viaje," which basically means, "Get out of my face."

The drive from there to Guatemala City was one of the most brutal and beautiful drives of my life. The mountains in this country are unforgiving. There are amazing people living on the sides of these mountains, climbing relentless miles while carrying five times their weight in sticks, corn for tortillas, clothes, water—you name it. They are incredible workers.

Driving here requires constant vigilance. People haven't learned the basics like "look before you leap." Someone on the left will leap without looking, while someone on the right does the same, all while a dog, a motorcycle, and a bus are doing the same from both sides simultaneously. The crazy part is that they all look at you in amazement as if you almost running them over is somehow surprising.

Every 10 kilometers, there's a new town. By town, I mean a couple of houses and a small store that sells soda and chips. Every town has at least three speed bumps. These aren't your ordinary speed bumps—they're massive, with very little marking. If you don't slam on your brakes and come to almost a complete stop, they’ll rip out your front drive shaft and leave you crippled. This part of the country also does a lot of logging, and there are huge trucks full of logs crawling up the mountains. It's a mix of small cars, three-wheeled rickshaws, and motorcycles carrying young mothers with their newborns sitting sideways on the back.

After seven long hours of that, I made it to Guatemala City—during rush hour. "Me encontré con mi gente en la Ciudad de Guatemala"—I found my people. It's so congested, with so many people driving on these streets, and half of them are on motorcycles zooming in and out around you. It’s chaotic. But the beautiful part is that nobody’s honking at each other, nobody’s angry. Everyone is forgiving and seemingly understanding, even of a big white Gringo in a very annoying van. If you need to get over, put on a blinker, and someone will let you in. Give a wave, and all is forgiven. It's controlled chaos, just like my brain. I fit in here, as strange as that sounds.

I couldn’t take it anymore and found a super cheap hotel at the edge of town and crashed. Day 2 is even better. More to come.