Twelve things I found surprising about Guatemala:

1) The thought that the thousands of "chicken buses" crisscrossing the country's roads had once ferried small (and not so small) American kids to school from Minnesota to Miami. These buses have now found a new lease on life in Guatemala, often with a more colourful exterior, but as frequently in the same old yellow colour seen in the movies (and on the streets of every American town) with the words - "School Bus - Take Care" still written in bold on the back. Which words of course have no bearing on the current approach (shall I call it 'driving with happy abandon'?) - on the contrary.

2) Some, even many roads have, as per the rest of the world, serrated or dotted lines indicating where one should overtake. In Guate, the futility of this is only matched by the extent of wishful thinking on behalf of the authorities. Guate drivers wait for a sharp turn on a blind rise with a vehicle in front of them with more or less equal velocity. This is the perfect moment to overtake (not really; if there is an oncoming bus, so much the better). The earplugs and eye-covers traditionally handed out by airlines come in very handy on the road here.

3) Churches are revered but not restored (see next surprise).

4) Everybody in Antigua lives in the clear and present knowledge that the 'next big one' will come - if it is indeed not already well overdue. So they wait for the earthquake; tremble when small tremors rumble; and leave their old churches to fend for themselves. In the mean time, they seem to drink a lot of rum.

5) Spanish prepositions. Damn - just like English - I cannot get them onto my head!

6) Beans for breakfast; beans for lunch; beans for a snack; beans for dinner.

7) Everybody is a shopkeeper (think England in the 1950's) with no differentiation in pricing, product or value proposition whatsoever (obviously they have not been to a fine MBA school like me). A few on every block - talk about keeping your neighbours happy in order to turn a profit.

8) Smiling so frequently, with such ease and lack of concern for the troubles of the world.

9) The total lack of disclaimer forms at all the activities that would not be allowed in the developed world - or at least not without a posse of lawyers strapped around your body in anticipation of the impact.

10) The fact that Guatemala is not better known (speaking for myself here) for its tourism potential - I have seen and done amazing things - and that's not just because I'm in the midst of a midlife crisis.

11) For a country that is apparently an important way-point for the drug trade (see stats on gang killings - not quite Mexico, but close) I was not once propositioned with drugs. Totally disappointing (ahem - I don't inhale).

12) Ok, only eleven surprising things.