The first order of the day was to call up the Continental Airlines baggage claim office. Bad news - turns out my bag would not be arriving till the following day in Guatemala City - a bit of a problem since by then I will be on the road to Copan, Honduras. Uh oh. Eventually I instructed the agent to forward the bag to Roatan, where I would pick it up in a couple of days. Trying to shake off the sinking feeling in my stomach, I made my way to Parque Central to meet up with M. for brunch. I suggested we walk a few blocks to Rainbow Cafe, one of coolest hangouts in Antigua with a different style of live music played every night, and where they served arguably the best brownies in town (as my Spanish classmate N. can attest to, having wolfed down tons of them). 
Afterwards, I decided to play tour guide and show M. around town. We headed for the handicrafts market where M. was almost (but not quite) tempted to purchase some lovely colorful scarves. The adjacent public market is a combination really of a dry goods and wet market, plus a thriving second hand clothing bazaar. Yes, this is where those old clothing donated to charity actually wind up in. Imagine my astonishment at the sight of one of my professors proudly wearing a T-shirt with a huge logo of Delilah's Den - a popular strip club in Philadelphia! Anyway, we also made a stop at the newly-restored Spanish cultural center (pictured), as well as the local McDonald's outlet. This branch is undoubtedly the most beautiful one I've ever set foot on, without the obstrusive golden arches, and being a converted colonial house it came with a huge garden complete with water fountain. Interestingly, a Happy Meal purchased here entitled the customer to 30 minutes of free Internet access ("McInternet"), a concept yet to be adopted in the US. After we parted, I walked over to Parque Central and sat there watching the locals spending a lazy Sunday afternoon sitting around and relaxing, and listening to the live bands performing onstage across the street. Later that night, I checked into the hotel and met C., the tour leader, and some of the other members of our tour group. I wasn't too surprised to see that there were a lot of young Aussies among them who were on holiday for several months while I was content enough to be away from work for two and a half weeks. C. had organized a basic salsa lesson which I happily joined - turned out to be loads of fun with laughter all around as we gringos got tangled up practicing the moves, much to the amusement of the native hotel staff.
Stay tuned for more posts from my Central America trip.
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