Sunday, February 05, 2006

Checking out the Market & Super Bowl

This morning we work up to a windy and overcast day. In fact, it felt downright cool at times. We awoke and downed some Gatorade to keep hydrated. Savannah is beginning to really warm up to us and is taking her medicine better today. She is still coughing a bit, but hopefully it will end up getting better. She played peek-a-boo with the bed sheet with us by pulling it over her head and throwing it down on her belly. She is "humming" a little song and tends to make small squeaks and make the classic "pfffft" sound with her mouth.

We went down and finally partook in the complimentary breakfest at the hotel. Lori was interested in trying the fruit, but was skeptical because of her experience the day before. After watching many others eating the fruit, she decided to go for it. As it turns out, it was washed properly and OK.

We decided to go to the Handicrafts Market near the airport today. I thought it would be a good idea to get some cash, and decided to try to use the ATM instead of the changing at the hotel. It turns out this was a good move. I was able to take out 800 Quetzales + a 8.10 Q fee for what ended up being about $106 + a 2% fee from my bank. So for about $108 total. The hotel was providing 149 Quetzales for $20. So a mental note if you happen to be travelling to Guatemala for your adoption and are reading this. Check with your bank, look into the fees for internaltional ATM. Expect the ATM in Guatemala to charge about $1. You will likely end up better off getting your Q that way.

Anyway, we then headed off to find a taxi. We got the folks at the Mariott to get one and went to the market. We ended up speding 100 Q for the trip, but the guy waited for us. So for about $14 or so we had a ride back and forth and the guy waited an hour. Not bad for us, and likely good for him.

The market was nice, be sure to negotiate, and also be sure to price check the Marriott's store. Many of the items at the market can also be found there and it is worth your while to have an idea of the price at the Marrott's store before you go to the market. We picked up some nice items for Savannah and for our use. Lori picked up a nice table runner for around $25-30 after talking the guy down from around $40.

We ended up coming back and thought we'd sit out at the pool, but it ended up being too cold! Instead we went back to the room and watched about 3 episodes of American Idol back to back on the Sony TV station while we rested.

Around 4 pm the sun came out so we went outside and hung out at the pool. Around 5:15 or so we headed in and wanted to grab dinner, but it was closed until 6pm. Instead, we went to the sports bar where the Super Bowl was on. Talk about a surreal experience. ESPN Latin American was on showing the ABC feed with ESPN graphics and an enthusiastic Spanish announce crew. Much like the WWE's Spanish announce crew....only different. The feed also seemed like it had the crowd miked in much louder than we experience here.

We hung out and tried some drinks and watched the beginning of the game. We had to leave as it was much too loud for Savannah. I tried a Gallo beer which is a local Guatemalan beer. It was a tasty lager. Lori tried a margarita and enjoyed it. A table across from us was cheering for Pittsburgh. Many folks just cheered for big hits or runs. I motioned to the guys cheering for the Steelers that they were quite lucky on the interference call against Seattle. They didn't speak English, but sports sign language for "lucky" is universal.

We had some dinner and headed back upstairs. Savannah began to get worse with her cough. I was concerned so we called Dr. Cunningham again at Childrens. He said we should try to find another drug and we were able to find it at the local drugstore using the hotel concerige. Big props to Pablo at the desk for working so hard to find the drug and trying to translate the English name to Spanish. This drug will hopefully work better and help.

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