A New Year's Eve to Remember in Guatemala
There were seven cars behind us, all waiting for the forms to come so we could cross from Mexico into Guatemala. The Guatemalan authorities had run out of the forms permitting foreign cars to enter the country. They had sent a runner to Guatemala City, approximately a 12-hour round-trip, to get new forms.
As I celebrate my 88th New Year's Eve, I can't help but think back to my most memorable one. It was 1987 and Betty and I were driving our motorhome to Guatemala. We had had an easy trip from Aspen through Mexico and were planning on being in Guatemala City to celebrate New Year's Eve. Then we came to the Mexico/Guatemala border. No foreigners could cross.
After all, it was New Year's Eve and everyone was disappointed, but a comradery developed among us stranded strangers and we started sharing a bottle of wine and someone even had a bottle of champagne. Everyone realized there was nothing we could do until the forms arrived and so we shared stories and made the best of it there on the roadside. About 11 p.m., the forms arrived, and we were cleared to enter Guatemala.
People, wearing some of the most colorful costumes we had ever seen, walked beside the mountainous highway. The scene was like a vibrant bouquet of blue, yellow, red, and bold pink flowers flung along the highway. We later learned that the fabulous costumes were actually everyday Guatemalan dress and Guatemalans walk from village to village. Exhausted and feeling the effects of our roadside party, we drove about an hour, when we spotted a motel that looked like the Guatemalan version of an outdated Holiday Inn. Not wanting to leave our camper unattended, we asked the proprietor if it was all right to park on the edge of the highway near his establishment. With approval, we spent our first night in Guatemala soundly asleep just off the highway.
Imagine our surprise to wake up on New Year's Day to hear whispering and giggles and to see a group of curious, brown-eyed Guatemalan children peering in our windows.
This was the beginning of an enchanting month exploring Guatemala.