Rides on the chicken buses

One of the best things about traveling in Latin America is the buses. Life is at its most frantic as people rush on and off little mini buses or the bigger chicken buses. The fare collector routinely leaves the bus from the back door and climbs around to the front of the bus - all while the bus travels at full speed. Not sure why they do this but it looks pretty cool.

Our buses brought us to a small town just outside of Xela. We were there to visit one of the oldest Spanish churches in Guatemala. Since this is an immersion experience, the story of the church was told to us in Spanish. I am getting better, but I still can't catch everything.

Unfortunately for us, the women who has the key to the oldest church was not to be found. Instead we stared at it and took pictures.

This is OK. This church, like many I have visited in the past is built on the ruins of a Mayan temple. While the church is beautiful and it would be interesting to see inside, maybe it is better to keep away from places like this.

Tomorrow, five more hours of Spanish. I survived the first day, but the more Spanish I take the more I realize I need to learn. This never gets easy, but I am enjoying the struggle!

Posted with Blogsy