Picking up our daughter

The biggest highlight for us was to finally get to see and hold our new daughter. After only being able to see pictures of her for months this was a very special time.

Quick Tips:

Guatemala City is very different from a city in the United States so be prepared. Be prepared to see lots of guns, there is a large police presence in the city, plus there are quite a few armed guards caring everything from shotguns to assault rifles. There are also quite a few street venders selling everything from candy and gum to handmade blankets and jewelry. Also do not take an pictures of the airport or government builds, the local offices do not care for that much.

Best Way To Get Around:

Taxis or the hotel shuttle, people drive a little different in Guatemala, and I would never attempt to drive there myself. Our hotel had a very nice shuttle that made frequent trips to the airport each day. Taxis are very numerous, but make sure you use one that is licensed, just to be on the safe side. There is also a bus system in the city, but it looked a little intimidating to us so we shied away from it, maybe if we spoke Spanish allot better it would have been different. We stayed in zona 10 (the city is broken down in to different ‘zona’ or zones), which is close to commercial centers and businesses so we could walk to many different places very easily.

The Clarion suites was a very nice hotel, it’s located in the business district of the city. About a five-minute drive to the airport and about a 10-minute drive to the US embassy.

Our room was a two-room suite on the 16th floor, with great views of the city and mountains. The room was very clean and was equipped with air conditioning, (the common areas of the hotel are not air conditioned), a TV in each room, a phone in each room including the bathroom and a high speed internet connection, which was invaluable to us sense the phones keep going out, (the country wide phone system was being changed from 7 digits to 8 while we where there).

The hotel has a shuttle that goes back and forth from the airport about once an hour, a five-minute nerve raking ride, they drive like crazy people down there. The shuttle driver was very nice, an even offered to drop us off at the local mall on his way to the airport, then gave us his cell phone number to call him when we wanted to come back.

All of the staff at the Clarion where great, most of the staff knows English so language is not a problem. One of the staff members even translated for about an hour for us when our adoption agency contact was unable to make it due her flight being canceled. I cannot begin to tell you how much help this was at a very stressful time for us.

The hotel has 24-hour room service and a restaurant; the restaurant serves a really nice breakfast buffet in the morning that is free to guests staying at the hotel.

The hotel also had a happy hour each night for all the adopting families to get together, it was really nice to be able to meet other people that where also adopting, there where about five adopting families staying in the hotel when we where there.

Since our main purpose for being in Guatemala was to finish adopting our daughter, a trip to the US Embassy was in order. Unless you have official business at the embassy, you are not going to get in; security is very tight, with lots of armed guards and metal detectors.

It's a bit intimidating entering, because you go in front of this huge line of Guatemalans, flash your passport and are escorted into security. Just like airport security, but in much smaller space. Feels like a cattle run. The security people are quick, efficient, and very mellow about the whole thing. Make sure you do not bring any electronic devices, such as cell phones, PDAs, cameras, or laptops, as they will not allow you in with them. As with any government building, no knives or guns are allowed; also, no keys are allowed. If you do bring any of these items you will need to leave them in a cubby--they will give you a claim tag (when you leave the embassy, you have to leave the secure area and go back to the chained-off area near where you entered to turn in your tag and retrieve your things).

In other words, bring just what you need and nothing else. The downside to bringing very little is that the embassy is very boring. We had to wait for about three hours to get our daughter's visa, and the only reading material in the waiting room was the instruction book for the 1040 tax form (not very interesting reading). They did let us bring in some crayons and a coloring book for our daughter, after searching the box of crayons.

The weird part is that, after security, they tell you to keep going, but where? It doesn't look like the pathway leads to anything. What happens is that it leads to an outside door that is INSIDE the compound. So you go through security, then outside and up some stairs to the second floor. Then you really get the governmental feel of it all.

The main waiting area is rows of chairs. Depending on what day and how many people are processing visas, you may go into an interview room, but most of the interviews are held at the windows in the lobby. There may or may not be a line of Guatemalans inside the same area (but different waiting area). The restrooms are in the area for the Guatemalans. The other waiting area is behind the rows of chairs. There is a sign with an arrow that says something like "American Services Only". Something about "Americans only" on it, at any rate.

On the whole, the embassy is just like being in any other federal government building back in the States. The staff was nice, they know their job well, and they all spoke English.

One thing to keep in mind is that the embassy does not take personal checks, and they just started taking credit cards, but cash (either American or Guatemalan) is preferred, in small bills. We made the mistake of using $100 bills; about four people examined the bills with magnifying glasses.

The American Embassy is located at 7-01 Avenida de la Reforma, Zone 10, Guatemala City

Phone Number: 011-502-331-1541

The mall is located in the center of the Zona Viva, and is one of the largest and most modern shopping malls in the city. You can find anything from clothes and shoes for the whole family, to furniture and electric supplies. There is also a food court that has a McDonald’s and several other fast food type restaurants in it.

The shopping mall was located a couple blocks away from our hotel easily with in walking distance; we walked over to it a couple times. The mall is a 3-story open-air mall, basically it is open on the north and south sides, but totally covered. Some of the stores are air conditioned, but most are not, so if heat and humidity affect you, this is not the place for you. A few of the stores that we went to are:

Almacenes Siman

This department store was by far the largest in the mall, it reminded me of a Sears. Its three levels contain every department from men's, women's, and children's clothes, to furniture and electric equipment for your home. They stock a variety of articles for your home, books, sporting goods, baby goods, shoes, jewelry, perfumes, and personal accessories. Most of the brands where the same as you would find back in the United States. The staff was very friendly and helpful, but they do not speak English, whish was not too much of a problem. Also if you purchase some thing use the local currency or a credit card, they take American dollars, but it will take awhile to check out, because they have to convert the price to dollars, they convert the change back to quetzals.

Virtual Dimension

Here you will find a great variety of computer games for children and adults. They had a pretty big selection with games for entertainment as well as educational ones. They did not have any game system games, but one of the staff said they are soon going to start selling Playstation and Nintendo 64 games soon. They also have accessories such as joysticks, cables and every accessory for Playstation and Nintendo 64, just no games yet.

There where also a bunch of clothing and shoes stores. Along with bookstores, kids’ clothing stores, jewelry stores and a bunch of other specialty stores. There is also a movie theater that was showing pretty current movies, it did not seem like they had movies that just opened in the United States.

One place that we found nice was American Donut, it sells just what you think, donuts. But it has a great kid play area, something like what McDonald’s has up here, but a little bigger. Since we where adopting a 4 year old, this was a great place to let her play.

Address: 16th Street 2-00, Zone 10 'Los Próceres' Boulevard

Phone: +50 2 332 8742

Hours: 10am-8pm Mon-Sun; 11am-7pm public holidays

Not being worldly travelers, this was the first time we had flown into a foreign country, so the Guatemala International Airport (Airport code GUA) was a different experience for us. The airport is small compared to the airports we came thought to get there (Atlanta and Cincinnati are both major Delta hubs). It would seem that the airport is also a military base; we passed several military aircraft taxing to the terminal.

If you want to exchange your American money for Guatemalan money, you can do that right at the airport, on the left side as you exit. Right next to the exchange place you can also get a taxi ticket for a reasonable price without dickering with a cabbie, but the hotel we where staying at sent a shuttle so we did not have to bother with a cab.

Expect to find a horde of people (many waiting for travelers, many looking to earn some cash-legally, illegally, and semi-legally) at some point between customs and the street outside the terminal. Just knowing that you will encounter this crowd and that it appears intimidating, but is really just a busy, chaotic scene, may help.

If you are not being escorted from the airport, here are a few tips. After getting through customs, take a few minutes to compose yourselves and plan your next few steps. You are likely in a protected area of the airport, so use the restrooms, splash some water on your face to get refreshed, etc.

There is likely a tourist info booth nearby. Stop by, collect some maps, ask some questions about ground transportation--like how much it should cost for a cab to your hotel and how to choose a reliable one.

Then, gather your resolve with a tight grip on your belongings and stride confidently through the crowd. Plan on saying, "NO, gracias," firmly to offers in the crowd. Be polite, but firm, or you'll continue to be asked. Don't get flustered if you get followed or pestered. Persistence often pays off!

Everyone knows you are a tourist and that you'd gladly get a kid off your back for a quarter (but you'll have 10 more after you if you do!). If you can pick a cab driver quickly, he (and his helpers) will ferry your belongings to his car. So, try and spot a cab or driver quickly, and head determinedly in his direction. If you can signal him, or make eye contact, he can help clear the crowd around you. You can hail the cab, merely by saying the name of your hotel, but make sure you agree on the fare before leaving the airport.

Departing from Guatemala is a little less stressful. Once you arrive at the airport, you will be greeted by a bunch of guys with carts that want to ferry your belongings in to the airport for you. Since we only had carry-on bags, we polity said, "No, gracias," and kept on going. We arrived at the airport very early, over 3 hours before our flight, but unfortunately the Delta counter was not open yet, and we had to wait almost an hour for it to open. Delta only has one flight in and out of Guatemala each day, so the Delta counter has very limited hours. Once the counter opened we checked in; checking in is the same as in the United States, except they do a hand inspection of your bags also.

After we checked in and got our boarding passes we went down stairs to what I would call the main part of the airport. This section of the airport is open to the public and has many different shops and food/snack stands. But since it is open to the public, it is not the cleanest place and the bathrooms where very dirty. This area is also not air-conditioned, so all the windows are open and the smell of jet fuel can be very strong when planes are being refueled. I would recommend heading to the internal flight concourse right away.

This area is only accessible to people with boarding passes, so it is a lot less crowded. You will go though a security station with the usual metal detectors and x-ray machines, but once you pass the security station, you will notice a world of difference from where you just came from. This area is air-conditioned and very nicely kept up. Along the concourse are duty-free shops and restaurants; some of the shops are very upscale. Between the shops are waiting rooms for the outbound flights. Each waiting room is also a secure area, which means more metal detectors and x-ray machines. Our bags where also hand-inspected again when we entered the Delta waiting area, but the waiting areas are very nice with plenty of seating, bathrooms, and flat-panel TV’s.

Address:

Guatemala City Airport, Guatemala

Direccion General de Aeronautica Civil

Aeropuerto La Aurora, Zona 13

Guatemala CA 01013