A Day in the City

It is very hard to explain what it is like to drive in Guatemala City. Even as the passenger, I have a very active role in the process. If Don wants to get over into a right lane and there isn't much room, my job is to open the window and wave a little so the driver right next to us knows to make some room. There are also many one way streets and things are not marked well, or maybe not marked at all would be a better way to say it. All of this said, we left the hotel to go to the zoo.

It often takes us a while to get our bearings once we get started. We know the general vicinity and route to the zoo but we often have to circle around a couple times to find the right entrance etc. We did our usual couple times around and then arrived at the gate to park. The attendant came out and told us that the zoo was closed on Mondays. What a bummer! We were disappointed but were trying to remain positive (at least those of us who are generally a little more optimistic!).

We had another errand to run and we needed gas so we decided to get these things out of the way while we thought of plan B. We knew that there were museums somewhere in the City and we had been to a mall that has indoor rollerblading so we had a few options. We ended up calling Rachel Ficker to get suggestions from her. They had heard of a place called "Irtra" which sounded like fun. They were going to get us directions so while we waited we went to the mall (we knew there was a pet store there as well).

As we entered the mall, we immediately noticed that the rollerblade rink had been removed. That's ok (optimistic response), we can see a little dog at the entrance to the pet store. Turns out there is this one dog and another in a cage and a dozen or so acquariums with fish. That's ok, let's ask the salesclerk who works here about "Irtra". She has heard of it, gives us directions (all in Spanish in a City where things are not marked but the optimist thinks we can do it!!) and then she decides that we should call the place. Turns out, they are also closed on Mondays. Hmmmm, that's okay, let's go see if the museums are open! (They are probably closed on Mondays too - comments one pessimist).

Turns out, the museums are also closed on Mondays. But in our journey to find the zoo, the mall and now the museums, we passed Chuck E. Cheese's several times. The optimistic (who generally avoids this place in the States) suggests that we head there. The other optimist says "hopefully they aren't closed on Mondays". The one pessimist is getting crabby as he drives in circles searching for the entrance while the other pessimist insists that he told us to turn yet we missed the entrance because we were not listening plus they are probably closed on Mondays anyway!

We eventually made it to Chuck E. Cheese's and they were open! We actually had some fun (even the pessimists!) and the pizza wasn't too bad!





Unfortunately, we found out later that the Fickers had gone to Chuck E. Cheese's several years ago and had all gotten sick. That's ok, it was a long time ago and I'm sure that won't happen to us! : )