bonding time with ashlee

going to a foreign country with a person is undoubtedly going to bring out sides that you had no clue existed and that leave you wondering who this person is you're traveling with. luckily for me, that wasn't the case with ashlee. call it knowing her so well before we went, but there were no surprises.

now, lest you think all was roses, we definitely had our annoyed times with each other. yet, it added to the experience. working through annoyances actually left me feeling closer to her afterwards. funny how that happens. add on that truly all we had was each other and, well, you're naturally going to bond over that.

one bonding experience in particular comes to mind. the second day there we decided we wanted to go to a tourist town called panajachel. up until that point we had been with someone local while in guatemala. going to pana (as it's called by the locals) was our first adventure out on our own.

to get anywhere in guatemala you take buses. not systematic, government-owned buses. we're talking old American school buses that are privately owned and driven insanely and stuffed to the brim with people. to catch the bus you stand on the side of the road (anywhere, really) and flail your hand to signal you want the bus to stop.

as we waved the bus down for our first trip, i naively waited for it to stop to only be told by ashlee to run. and run we did as the bus came to a slow roll and we ran to catch up and jump in the back. the door slammed behind us and we were shoved in the back. let's just say it was standing room only. the bus chugged along with the mariachi band blarring from the speakers. i looked back at ashlee and realized that she was all i had.

i'm amazed at how used to the bus system i got. bless ashlee for taking care of me though and trying to distract me when i was scared by their crazy driving. i remember wondering on that first bus ride why ashlee was so intently talking to me about the political situation in guatemala. as the bus turned the corner, i looked to my right and saw nothing but mountain straight down about two feet away. i then understood all to well her technique to distract and was suddenly very interested in guatemalan politics.

ready for our trip...that shirt is what part of what i call my "travel ensemble." i wear it anytime i fly. really i should throw it away, but it's so blasted comfortable.


ashlee on our first night. the bathroom wasn't that nice but at least they had some nice two-tone paint going on to give some aesthetic value.


on the boat ride out to one of the villages on lake atitlan.


in the catacombs under an old catholic cathedral built in 1540's in antigua (an old colonial spanish town).