A Weekend In Guatemala - Pt8. The Android's Trip Home

A Weekend In Guatemala - Pt7. The Flight Home

Thanks for checkin' out the blog! Have you ever have one of those weekends that take a week to recover from? ...My weekend in Guatemala was exactly that! I was exhausted when I woke up on Monday morning! There were still people to see and gifts to buy, though. So, despite might lack of energy, I got up early to pack all my things and clean up the room I was staying in.

After a few last minute visits with family, my dad took me to the "Mercado Central" (The Capital's central market place) to buy some gifts for the family back home. Unfortunately, the Mercado Central is not a good place to try and take pictures. When I told my dad that I wanted to shoot in the central market, he said I'd probably get mugged if I did. He then reminded me that we didn't have a lot of time either. I think we spent a total of about 15-20 minutes racing around the Mercado Central looking for gifts and treats to bring home. That was all the time we could afford to spend shopping, since the city's insane traffic was going to make getting to the airport on time a challenge.



When we arrived, my dad and I exchanged our awkward goodbyes and a hug, before I rushed off to check in for my flight. There was no line at the airline counter, Customs' line went quick, and by the time I got to the terminal the flight just started bording. On the way home, I had another long layover in Mexico. 4 hours after landing in D.F., my flight was up in the air and headed back to L.A. A few hours later we were flying over the sea of lights that is Los Angeles. I have no idea what time it was when I landed. I just know it was a little after 11 pm when I finally got in the car.



I think my brain just shifted into auto pilot, for the remainder of the night. I don't remember much after leaving the airport. I do remember being happy to be home, though. ...And the awesome welcome that I got from the family when we got back from the airport! It was the perfect way to end an amazing weekend and journey! A journey that inspired me to explore the great city I call home even more, after seeing it from the sky at night! As we flew into L.A. and past down town, it felt more like the start of another adventure than the end of one. Little did I know how right I was...

Thanks for checking out the blog and allowing me to share my journey with you! Check back soon for more stories, pictures from my adventures, and more Bsombin'!

A Weekend In Guatemala - Pt6. The Poem After The Pictures

"ANTIGUA"


First,
I found
Her's to be a timeless air
That robs you of your breath as it
Moves you back centuries

Then,
I found myself captivated,
While capturing her timeless antiquities and
Enjoying her sensual energy,
Hypnotic orchestration of vibrations, and
Majestic bouquet of hues and tones

Delighted by her"imperfections",
    In awe of all her "flaws",
        Highlighted by the vast selection
            Of moments given to me to pause...

...Her lines all instersected,
In the perfect places
                ...Her horizon flowed endlessly,
                Between the heaves and the earth

There was sunlight beaming
From her native's faces,
                Shining into my soul and proving
                Her's a priceless worth

Perfection was embraced by
Her arches and crowns,
    With blue heaves and green fire mountains
    Screaming as backgrounds

In the bat of an eye,
    Without any delays,
        Submerged in her beauty and
            Drowning in her display!

Consumed by her vision,
    held firm by her charms,
        I drank up all her beauty,
            & embraced her without arms,

In her windows
I saw sunshine shining on me
While I played as a child

On her streets
I saw pieces of me that I lost &
A future I might one day find again

I found myself
Lost in what she showed me
And realized that the captor had been captured by the captivating

...And this is why the pieces of me that I lost are still there




- Bsomb4

A Weekend In Guatemala - Pt5.2. Shooting Antigua

Hello and thank you for checkin' out the Bsombin' blog. I always say, mind over matter... If you don't mind, it doesn't matter! ...Such was the case, with the 6am alcohol poisoning I woke up to on Sunday morning, after all the drinking I had done since Friday. ...Never a good thing, when you get woken up by your legs trembling violently and uncontrollably. Not my first rodeo, however, so I knew what I had to do. After some projectile vomiting, I drank a lot of water and went back to sleep for a bit before waking up to start my day...

When I woke up 2 hours later I still felt a lot shitty. But I was too excited about going into to sleep. My Abuelita's house is in a small community on the outskirts of Antigua. So, while I waited for everyone else to wake up and get ready, I walked around the neighborhood and shoot a little. After a lot of comedy watching everyone wake up, we all cleaned up our messes, loaded up the cars, and drove out together. On his way back to Guatemala City, my brother dropped my cousins and I off in the center of town so we could meet up with my Auntie.

We wandered the streets for a bit, while trying to get a hold of Auntie, after getting dropped off. Cousin Mark and I took the opportunity to shoot, as we tried to get a call through on the cheap burner phones they bought for the trip. We finally got through to Auntie who told us to meet her at a restaurant a few block from where we were. We found her in a little "Mexican" spot eating nachos and drinking a beer. I couldn't even look at the beer, but the nachos were a welcome site! We sat down for a bit and told her the stories from our Saturday night adventures, as we finished off the nachos and had a few drinks. I stuck with the H2O, but cousins went for some "hair off the old dog's back" (I don't know how). Once the cups were empty, the plate was clean, and the bill was paid, we headed out to see some more of the city. We walked around shopping and shooting, for a couple of hours, before getting hungry again and deciding to enjoy a Guatemalan tradition... Pollo Campero! For those who don't know, Pollo Campero is one of the biggest fast food chain in Guatemala specializing in fried chicken. The place was a mad house, when we got there! You would think they were paying people to eat their food, the way people were cramming into the place. Since we couldn't even squeeze in the front door, we went through the drive-thru. And that took for ever too! But after a long drive around the Pollo Campero drive-thru, we finally got our pollo! What Auntie did next blew me away!

From the time we had driven into Antigua, Mark became fixated on shooting an old church that was in the middle of the jungle just outside of the city. The church had been abandoned for decades, if not more. It is fenced off and there is no were to park for a mile or more. So it isn't the first place I would have thought to go and have a picnic with our pollo. But Auntie thought otherwise. She pulled up right in front of the church, parked in the middle of the street, and said, "I hope you're good at climbing!" We all got out, climbed the fence, and took a seat on the large steps to eat our chicken. There was a grounds keeper who lived behind the church and his dogs quickly came out to see who was on the property. But, after I tossed them some chicken skin, we became friends. The grounds keeper came out and didn't know how to react to us (or the fact that his killers were too busy beggin' for chicken to chase us off the property) so he just went back to his hut after a long confused stare.

After about a half an hour, we finished our picnic, took pictures, said good-bye to the doggies, climbed back over the fence, and made tracks back to Guatemala City. When we got back, we were all exhausted and just rested the rest of the night....