Women's adventures

Coke's comment about the natives being curious about two unescorted women reminded me of an incident in my days as a tour leader. Guatemala is a conservative catholic country. We checked our railfan group into the Pan American hotel, very likely the place where Coke's mother stayed. A very conservative and traditional place dating back from at least 1948. Shortly thereafter I got a call from the front desk, asking me to come down. A representative of the local policia was behind the desk. With great concern the manager showed me the passports of a young Virginia couple in our group, sharing the same room. The names on the passports were different. They weren't married. Scandal. I'm not exactly certain what the manager or the policement thought I was going to do about it. So I simply told them it was a new American custom. He and policeman smiled, chuckled, and said okay.