Adventures in Guatemalan Banking

When we finally arrived in Guatemala City, our driver Chema (arranged through Pierre, who owns the cabins at Pasaj-Cap where we are staying for the month) was right outside the airport with a sign. He took us to a mall on the outskirts of the city that was pretty similar to what you would find in the US, except the awesome choo-choo train and the very fancy Walmart.

We started at the bank on the second floor. After standing in line about 10 minutes, we get to the front and the woman informs us that they don't provide cash from debit or credit cards and we should try the bank downstairs.

We go to BAC (Bank of Central America) downstairs, and wait in that line for about 15 minutes. We get to the front of the line and the woman informs us that she can only exchange money, we would need to speak to one of the bankers (seated at desks on the side.) We sat down in the chairs across from the two bankers and waited for the three people ahead of us.

About 30 minutes later, one banker was still working with the same young lady. The other called us up. He didn't speak much English, so Ken took the lead as his Spanish is MUCH stronger than mine. As Ken showed him one of our bank cards and asked about cash, I heard the banker saying "es possible." It was going to work!

Using Ken's passport and bankcard, the banker spent about 15 minutes entering information into his computer, than walked over to a card slider and slid the card through. "Lo Siento, not working." Uh oh. Well, try this one.....15 minutes later, same result. Then it hit us, we had forgotten to tell Wells Fargo that we were leaving the country. Doh!

Discover Card? Another 15 minutes and....no. Southwest Visa......yes! With a catch - the bank had a daily limit on how much cash a customer/account could take out, about $500. Not enough for the month, but good enough - it had to be, right?

At some point during this experience, I went out to let Chema know the situation as he was waiting for us. The guard at the door armed with an automatic weapon let me out and back in again. A little disconcerting, but there must be a good reason.

On to Walmart to stock up since our place on Lake Atitlan was going to be remote. Walmart? I know, I thought the same thing but Walmart here is different. There was a BUFFET as we entered the store - carnitas,

chicken, refried black beans, rice, homemade tortillas...yum!

We grabbed some toiletry basics, then headed for the produce in the back of the store. The selection and quantity was amazing. The smell of the fruit was so much stronger than the US. At one point I was standing on one side of a display and the peaches on the other side were so fragrant I was confused, looking around to figure out why I smelled peaches - they were about 6 feet away.

We also grabbed some localish wine - from Argentina and Chile, four bottles ranging from about $4 to $10, nothing I had ever heard of.

For the most part we were able to find everything on our list and loaded our bags into the van for the 3+ hour trek to Lake Atitlan!

Two big lessons learned:
-take US dollars with you, it is easier to exchange than to get money (we took money out and then forgot 2/3 of it back at home)
-tell your bank you will be out of the country so they don't block your account