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Days 17-19 Spring Hotel
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Day 20 Antigua

Into Guatemala 1989 [Part 10 of 11 Parts]

Jo
2004-03-05 23:11:14

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Days 17-19 June 8-10

Spring Hotel

[Photos 1 and 2]

Upon our return to Guatemala City, Alvaro left for school in Madison, Wisconsin. Roberto would soon take off for Urbana-Champaign. During our rest period before Tikal, we stayed at Roberto's house; now, only Madjid and I remained. We decided to find lodging in Zona Uno, the commercial and busiest part of town.

For the remainder of our visit, we stayed in the "Spring Hotel", an odd mixture of colonial and modern architectural styles. Our room was as high and spacious as a cathedral. But there was certainly nothing holy about the bathroom, whose "western saloon" style door did nothing to keep out the humidity. Since we showered each day, our room felt as damp as a rainforest, and the cool weather only made it feel worse.

But we were young, bachelors, and not willing to ascetically suffer indoors, even during our first night. Searching a local newspaper (I think it was the Prensa Libre), we fished out the address of a fancy-looking club nocturno called the Casablanca.

We arrived by taxicab at a large residential-style building near the Zona Rosa, the most reputable part of the city. The interior was luxuriously furnished with several sofas and a grand piano. Romantic latin music-- interrupted by the occasional gringo hits --filled the rooms. Sporting neatly-pressed suits or elegant evening gowns, the nightclub's clients could have easily felt at home even in the fashionable districts of Madjid's beloved Paris. They had predominantly European features, which were a mild shock to me after our extensive tour of the countryside. (Guatemala in 1989 was still at least sixty percent Maya.) Drinks were six quetzales or about three US dollars apiece, and all major credit cards were accepted. For a moment, I wondered if I was still in the same country.

The ...