Once again, we had to walk to the edge of Cuidad Vieja before a chicken bus appeared that wasn't already packed like a sardine can. We found a place to sit near the back of the bus, while our laundry was placed under the dashboard. We wondered if it would still be there when we arrived in La Antigua. Today our chicken bus had a most effective stereo system (read loud) playing a tune that should be the anthem for all Guatemalan chicken buses, the 70's disco hit “Stayin' Alive!” sung by the original Bee Gees. We disco danced all the way into town, while other passengers ignored it or napped.
When we arrived in La Antigua, we had to exit by the back door once again. I hurried to the front door and the ayudante handed me our two bags of laundry, which we soon had dropped off at the lavandaria. We then walked over to the Rainbow Cafe for lunch (chicken quesadillas, quite good). After lunch, we proceeded to the Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Española, which we've learned is the former Spanish Embassy. As we've mentioned in the past, it's a wonderful place to sit and read, surrounded by beautiful flowers in a quiet courtyard. They also have clean restrooms.
We had asked for our laundry to be ready at 3:00 p.m. Around 2:00 p.m. we headed over to Bodegona, Dispensa Familiar and the mercado for needed groceries. Once we had picked up our laundry, we headed over to where we pick up a bus back to the apartment. The first one to appear was a Dueñas bus and we boarded it knowing that we would need to walk the length of the cemetery when we got off.
We were surprised when the bus turned around in Ciudad Viejas, dropped all the passengers off and prepared to return to La Antigua. Grabbing our laundry and our groceries, we began the walk back to the apartment. The walk was only a little bit more than when we catch a bus at the parada (bus stop) on the south side of CV. Furthermore, exercise is good for your health. We say that a lot down here.
Supper was a scrambled egg quasi-omelet, basically scrambled eggs with vegetables. Afterwards, I tried to work on that laptop, but needed information that I could only get over the Internet. Unfortunately, our Internet had been (insert appropriate invective here) since last Wednesday night. We watched a movie instead.
