Sometimes old guys get confused when they get off the bus, so lucky, I have this sign to always get me going in the right direction home.

If Guatemala had suburbs, Santa Ana would be an inner ring suburb of Antigua.  Where I am living on this trip, as the crow flies, is not very far from where I’ve been staying the last couple of years.  But it is quite a different world from staying in the heart of Antigua.  Picture small town America versus, say, St. Cloud or Mankato.

Central Squares are common in Guatemala just like small towns in the United States.  This is the central square in Santa Ana looking towards the church.  I was hoping for a church that had Daily Mass but no such luck.  Only Sundays here.

The squares in most towns are pretty lively at night.  The people who sell food come out at about six o’clock and start their grills and fires.  This is where I’ll be finding dinner most nights.  Lots of traditional food choices.  A nice plate of rice and beans, some veggies, and a piece of chicken with tortillas will cost about Q25.  In your pocket that’s about $3.50.  Take that same plate of food and move into Antigua proper, and the price will more than double.  Eight Bucks!  Call the cops.

This is the street I live on in Santa Ana.  Number 99 Calle Real Santa Ana.  You really don’t get a sense from this photo, but it’s a fairly steep walk up from the bus.

And this is the house I live in, the one on the left.  My room is upstairs in the back so those aren’t my windows.  By anyone but the most wealthy in Guatemala, these would be considered very nice houses.  Inside parking for vehicles is an upscale design and the garage space is almost always open to the rest of the house.  When you park your car in this house you are looking right into a small family room with the kitchen off to your right front.  The owner, who does not live here, runs this as two bedrooms with private baths,  on Air BnB.  My room is very nice, the bed is comfy, the wifi is good, and the neighborhood is noisy.  Conspicuously absent from this house are a TV and a coffee maker.  NO COFFEE MAKER?!  Call the cops.  Again. Really.

No TV?  Well, the bad news is I will likely miss a lot of the Olympics.  The good news is I will hear almost nothing from those dipsticks in DC.  Yeah, I’m talkin’ about all y’all.  Both sides.  Embarrassing!  Don’t get me started.

The coffee maker?  That’s a situation gonna need a remedy.