From Devils and Angels

It was my first day of traveling again after almost 2 months when bad luck hit me with what seemed to be all its might.
After only two and a half hours of sleep my alarm went of and I had to force myself to get out of bed even though my whole body was fighting that move. I showered and packed the last of my belongings into my bags before I woke up Dani and Michael who had agreed to take me to the airport. The drive there was horrible because my body was still protesting the fact that I had gotten up and I felt sick but my mind was exited and a bit anxious about the coming day and everything that was lying ahead of me.
Saying goodbye to Dani was very sad. During my month long stay we had built up a nice dynamic, almost like brother and sister, and we had really gotten used to each other being around.
I waited in line for a while and when it was my turn the lady at the front desk told me that I needed a ticket out of the country before they would let me board the plain and that I only had half an hour to get it before they closed the check in. Still tired, shocked and very annoyed I went to look for Internet but my search was unsuccessful and I returned to the ticketing counter where I bought an expensive (350$) but fully refundable ticket from Guatemala City to San Salvador.
A little bit more relaxed I boarded my flight and was surprised by pancakes and Yogurt for breakfast which lifted my spirits and made at least the hunger go away that I could try to sleep a bit.
After four hours I arrived in San Salvador where I waited for my connecting flight to Guatemala City. There was something wrong with the wheels of the plane and the stopover was more than an hour longer than it was supposed to but the flight itself was very short. We popped up through the clouds for only a very short time before the nose of the plane pointed downwards again and we touched down in Guatemala City.
I wanted to get the money for my ticket back as soon as possible and went looking for a TACA office (the airline I flew with). I only found the check in counters and the woman working there told me that I had to go to one of the TACA centers in the city to refund my ticket. She wrote down the locations and I had to take a completely overpriced taxi for the extremely short way to get there.
At TACA the next blow wasn't far. They didn't have any money and said that it would take at least two weeks to get everything processed and that I would have to come back then to pick up a cheque. There was nothing they could do about it and it was getting close to sunset so I had a look for a wifi hot spot to check the net for a cheap place to stay. I had hared and read a lot of warnings not to travel at night and especially not around the capital and to be honest with you I was getting a bit nervous and anxious with the night closing in and without a place to stay. The CS host who had already accepted me didn't get back to me about his address so I looked for hostels near the airport from where I could easily take a shuttle to Antigua the next day.
Checking my e-mail I then stumbled upon the invite of another CSer from Guatemala City who had contacted me while I was on the plane.
This is when things turned around and my usual luck kicked in that I had missed so badly...

I wrote down his number and went back to the TACA office where I asked to use their phone. After a brief chat with the CSer who still wanted to host me, I asked the woman who had brought me the phone and who's name was Ana Lucia, if she could talk to him to get the address because his directions were very confusing to me. She wrote it down and told me that a taxi would cost about 15$ and that if I wanted to save the money I could wait until the office closed (in two hours) and get a ride with her. I couldn't believe that she had just offered to take me, a complete stranger, in her car and drive me there and happy that things started to work out  I sat down and waited.
At about eight o'clock we left with another college in the back, whom Ana was giving a lift as well. The two of them gave me a little city tour through zone 1, the historic part of the city, with the cathedral and the huge presidents palace which now is a museum and that everyone calls "the avocado" due to its greenish color.
We dropped of her college and went through the drive in of a fast food restaurant (I hadn't eaten since 6 o'clock in the morning) where Ana insisted to buy me a burrito and a drink. I was baffled by the friendliness of this angel and offered her gas money and to invite her to the food but she said that she was just happy to help and that my destination was on her way back home. I left her with only her e-mail and the promise that she would always have a place to stay if she ever came to Germany which felt like a weak thank you for all she had done for me.
My host, Ancer, was a really cool guy with good English, a nice apartment and a beautiful Swedish girlfriend. After a refreshing shower we had a nice chat until 11 o'clock when I fell into bed and slept like a stone until Ancer woke me up in the morning. Unfortunately he was very busy and couldn't host me another night because I had a good time with him and he seemed to be a good guy.
Looking back that day was just one of those travel days that I already wrote about in an earlier post. It started off horribly and at times I thought that it couldn't come much worse but at the end of the day I was safe and snuggled up under a warm blanket with new friends. It really couldn't have been too bad...
I also realized once again that day, that a lot of problems come from the systems, the rules and the guidelines that our society has established but not from the people. Most people are really nice and even if they stand in your way sometimes it mostly is because they have to and not because they want.