Guatemala Day 0

So a couple other people and I arrived in Guatemala a day early (just to get settled and everything) so we got an extra day to explore Guatemala City!

The street outside of our hostel, Dos Lunas.

We went and visited an artisan market... I was a little busy looking at the merchandise so I don't have very many pictures... There were some hilarious tourist-shirts that said "Guat's Up?" (I am probably the only person that thinks it's funny but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Preeyam and Ana

A handmade carving. I liked how they even etched in the reflection!

After our short stop at the artisan market, we walked over to the zoo:

Some of the animals were in mixed(...?) cages. Whatever works, I guess!

And some of the animals weren't in cages at all!

Obligatory elephant picture. It was quite happy after releasing its bowels and bladder in front of a large crowd.

And after the zoo, we visited the National Museum of Modern Art:

The front of the museum (from the steps of the Natural History Museum right across the courtyard) + some goofy friends

As some of you may know, this isn't my favorite type of art, but it was interesting to say the least. There were some weird stuff. I didn't notice the sign at the entrance that said "No fotografía" so I got in trouble like halfway through the museum... Not pictured is the special collection of clichéd quotes on glass bottles containing what I can only assume was mercury. Yep. Guess that's not hazardous or dangerous or anything... Also not pictured is the really intense painting of Judas and Jesus and the rest of the Holy Trinity and Hell and a satellite and angel/demon girls and the entire universe... Needless to say, it was pretty weird; even after one of the workers gave us a very in-depth explanation (after hours, mind you. We foreigners get a special kind of privilege, I guess), I was still not entirely sure what the painting meant. Like I said, Modern Art... not really for me.

Madre y niño (unnamed artist)

This piece of art was important to me because the focus of my paper in Oxford was maternal health in Nigeria. I chose to study Nigeria because it's such a diverse country and I thought by studying what works and what doesn't work in different regions might help figure out an adaptable, sustainable solution for all parts of the world. It was only logical, then, that I choose maternal health as my topic of research for Guatemala. My specific focus is on ethnic/linguistic disparities (the two are very interconnected) when it comes to maternal and infant health (because, again, the two are so interconnected) in Guatemala. I've already read a lot about the topic, but I am excited to learn and see more in depth the underlying issues about health in this country!a