Greetings from Guatemala City,

Note: This is the trip where I fell off a bus and broke both my forearms. An on-call orthopedist came into the small clinic recommended by the American Consulate to set the bones and put a "high tech" fiberglass cast on the right arm the most badly broken. The left arm had a miner fracture and the doctor had me wear a Velcro strapped brace for a few weeks. The total cost for all the medical attention including X-rays? $200 including the $100 doctor's fee.

Actually, there is much more to tell. I visited Antigua for a day and learned guerillas occasionally attacked tourist buses and robbed the foreign passengers to finance their military activities.

The first night after the accident I couldn't do anything with my hands or arms. I remember fiddling with the keys and door knob to get in and out of the room and walking over to a Mac Donald's restaurant to get a milk shake, the only thing I could manage for nourishment...

As this stop only occurred because of flight peculiarities and my final destination was to be San Jose Costa Rica, I considered options including going right on beck home. Then I realized I'd not be able to do much at home and could laze around just as well in an exotic Central American hotel with lots of color and people to wait on me, I decided to go on down. The arms hurt, of course, but all the exotic distractions made the challenge tolerable. ... still more to say...

Peace

Fred L Bellomy