I was away at Lake Atitlan for a few days. Didn’t bring my laptop, and didn’t go on the internet. So sorry, so sorry.
Back in Xela, which feels more and more like home.
On extranjera I know in Guatemala was telling me that she’s been feeling negative about the country lately. It must be a wave of culture shock, because they say that goes up and down no matter how long you’ve been in a country.
I realized that although I have not felt as bad, maybe I have been focusing a bit much on the negative recently. When living day-to-day anywhere, it’s easy to get nit-picky about all the things that are annoying.
Yesterday on the bus back from San Pedro la Laguna I found myself on the same bus as a bunch of new Quetzaltrekkers volunteers. They were on a training trip and most had been in the country just a few days. The two girls next to me had the wide eyed, green excitement of gringas fresh of the boat. You know, the “everything is woooooonderful here.
My instinct when confronted with such people is to be a huge snob and get annoyed.
But you know, I could stand to insert a bit of that enthusiastic wonder in the way I view the world down here in Guatemala.
And so, here are 9 random things I love about this
1. Fruit vendors. Around Central Park and markets you can often find people selling cut up fruit in little plastic bags. Pineapple bags, papaya bags, mango bags, watermelon bags and even mixes of all four! Some over-paranoid people tell me that I will get parasites from eating food from vendors. I tell those people that they will get scurvy from the lack of vitamin C in their lives. Other people tell me that instead of spending 5 quetzales on a bag of pre-sliced pineapple, I could buy a whole pineapple and slice it myself. To those people I say: I’m lazy.
In a sub-category of fruit vendors, of course, is choco-fruit vendors. Frozen bananas, coconut, strawberries, mango and more drenched in chocolate for 2 quetzales? Yes, please.
2. The music. Every day I have a catchy new salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, merengue or Latin pop song in my head. 99% are incredibly cheesy and about love. For some reason, when on the dance floor or listening to the blaring stereo on a chicken bus this doesn’t annoy me.
3. Schoolkids. No, I’m not talking about cute little kids. I’m talking about all the cool high-school aged kids hanging around town. Why? Guatemalan teenagers are baddass. They are all like that kid in high school who was just too cool for everyone. As XelaWho magazine reported a few months back, Guatemalan teenage boys wear baseball caps, t-shirts, jewellery and more decorated with “Jack the Pumpkin King” from the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” This trend makes little to no sense, but the kids still manage to pull it off and look totally hip. Even in their dorky school uniforms, these kids still look like they could definitely beat you up, in style.
4. The landscape. Remember that horrible N*SYNC song “God must have spent a little more time on you”? If I believed in God, and I was going to dedicate a cheesy ballad to Guatemala, it would be this one. Seriously, Guatemala must have every country in the world (or at least those I’ve visited) beat for the sheer drama, beauty and majesty of its scenery.
5. Drinks. I don’t actually party a ton here (sometimes, of course) but when I do I enjoy the beverages that I consume. Ok, so Guatemalan beers aren’t anything to write home about. (Locals will argue about whether “Cabro” or “Gallo” are better, but they both taste like water to me.) However, they are cheap and go down easy. Even better are all the other drinks on offer. Mojitos come cheap, and so do rum-based drinks. (Like the “Cuba Libre,” aka “Free Cuba,” which is just a rum and coke plus lime. Go figure.) Tequila shots are a fun way to bond over gagging, and there’s always Quetzalteca when the money’s running low. Quetzalteca, which tastes like paint thinner when consumed plain, mixes wonderfully with everything and fuels a fun night out.
6. Salsa. Despite my love-hate relationship with the local salsa scene (which has changed a bit now that I live with one of the owners of Salsa Rosa) I still love to salsa. And I love how many people know how.
7. Street dogs. Yes, I am scared of a few, such as the ones that bark at me in a menacing way. But 95% are just cute (in an ugly way), smelly and funny creatures. My current favourite is the big fluffy that spends his days scratching his back along the walls of 12th Avenida.
8. The weather. Sure, I might complain now and then when it’s raining or when it’s a chilly night. But really, Guatemala has ideal weather. In Quetzaltenango it’s like a fall day year round: sweater weather, but warm enough for t-shirts when the sun comes out. In Lake Atitlan and Antigua the weather is even better: a lovely but not-too-hot 27 degrees almost every way.
9. My house. I live in a house with three Guatemalans and three Americans, and we call it the “Casa Loca.” It lives up to its name.
Post a Comment