Being the elder statesman of the group, the final night was one last chance for everyone to play "Guess how old Eddie is", which has become a popular past time with Vala and Happy. Since most people come in about 10 years younger than 37, I must admit I like the game a little as well. I think we can toss up 3 years to context and another 3 to politeness, but that leaves me with a solid 4 year advantage over the Class of `88.
Even though the "Cloud of Gringo" looms deep in Antigua, you really meet some interesting people from all over the world (with the exception of Guatemalan`s that is). On the walk from La Sala to Reilleys, we adopted Adam into the group. He is a real live geniuine internationally practicing Beat Box musician. For all of my readers over the age of, well, 37, Beat Box is when you make precussive sounds in your mouth and combine them with singing-like sounds. Bobby McFarren would be the Beat Box that you may have caught on NPR or something. Well, Adam was amazing. Truely jaw dropping stuff. As we walked past the town center he showed me how he adds layers of sound up to 5 distinct tracks. That and he starts his performances with an imitiation of the General Lee`s (Dukes of Hazzard) horn that is spot on.
Well, it goes without saying that we closed Reilleys and then went to the after party until 3:30 or so. I decided to show some sense of control and switch to drinking mostly water, but the youngins pressed on. Ziggy (pictured above in school thje following day) didn`t make it past the first break. Vala required some additinal nursing from her teacher with some regional hang over remedies and Happy just showed up an hour late or so. I was the apple of Silvia`s eye for working so hard that day and not needing extra attention. I must say though that my comprehension of the Por/Para excercise was not at it`s best.
I broke for lunch, got my stuff packed up at Olga`s and returned to school for my final 2 hour session. We mostly chatted. She is now fully versed on such topics as; New Mexico Chile; Why Fab11 was shut down; Why anyone would like golf; Holland Mighigan and The Tulip Festival; All things Moses; Ex Wives & Girlfriend; NYC Bagels & Pizza Superiority and the "Water Hypothesis"; and many many more. I would highly recommend her and the school for learning Spanish.
Back in Guatemala City....
After school I took a 7:00 shuttle to Guate and hung out at La Casa de mi Hermana until sleep took over. The next day was another pleasant, but busy day. I got up a little late (remnants of the night before) and made a tortilla run down the street to get everyone`s breakfast going. The tortillas and fresh egg combo with a little black beans thrown in makes for a tasty little start of the day.
From there, we semi-rushed over to the travel agency to look into a flight to Havana. I am thinking of a spur of the moment run to hang with Elian and his buddies and ask if they can tell how old I am (jk). The flights are usually pretty cheap and I have always wanted to go. I am still trying to figure it all out, but the flights were more expensive than I thought, so I am thinking over how to spend these next few weeks. I have many wonderful options.
After the travel agency we went to a Piñata (birthday party). It was at a hostel with young traveller types from France and Spain, but the party was for Luis (hugging piñata below). We had a bunch of great food and then the kids preceeded to take down the piñata.After the party we had mostly a chill time back at Sue`s place because the next day was going to be a long one. As you may recall from a previous post, I got trained as an international observer for election day in Guatemala. Victor needed to leave for work at 5 and I was leaving with Sue`s housemate/coworker Bridget at 7, so we watched a movie and turned in early.
The DVD burner has been a noticeable change to Guatemala since my last trip. The Movie rental place burned all there movies from online copies (illegal of course, but so is genocide) and they are also able to burn you a copy of any of their movies to keep. Kids in teh street sell major US movies that have yet to be released along with the classics, such as Glitter and Dude Where`s my Car.
We met up with the other International Observers and set of for San Pedro Sacatepéquez (pronounced as a Jersey accent modification of "Sack of Potatoes" i.e. ^Me and Vinny Sacapatadis are goin down to the bowlin alley") at 7. Other than Bridget and me, there were 2 EEUU guys from Boston and Tucson and a third from France. We all piles onto/into Paco`s truck and drove up these steep windy roads to get to the city.Once in the city we were stationed at one of the voting centers and observed the process. We spent a bunch of time checking that all of the polling groups were working to the rules, but the whole operation was very impressive. There is little automation in the process, so it is highly manual. Each Mesa (polling table), has about 5 people working for 11 hours straight handing out the paper ballots and checking credentials. I wonder if some of the voter apathy in the US is based on how easy it is to vote, kind of a Freakenomics type deal where the harder it is to do, the higher it is valued. Anyway.
Election day was not only a test of the candidates, but also a test of my digestive system. I had a hamburger for breakfast, Street Taco`s and Campero Fried Chicken for lunch and More Tacos, Papusas and Hotdogs for dinner. Later in the evening I had Guatemala`s version of Doritos and some Marshmellow for a snack. I was in SPS until about 11pm waiting for the counting to be completed. On the ride home I had the pleasure of riding in the back of the pickup (which I deserved for riding in the cabin on the way up), but I was able to break out the Bose Headphones and listen to NPR podcasts on the way home. I was pretty comfortable with the exceptions of the speed bumps. Man, they sure have some EXTREME speed bumps here and they don`t waste any money on painting them. Luckily Paco was driving because there would have been major damage if I was.
Today is a bit of a rest day and tomorrow I head out for Livingston probably. If I can get on a sailboat wednesday and still get back here by Sunday night, I will probably spend 3 days in Cuba staying at a Casa Particular, which is basically a very nice host family. I am learning about travel to Cuba, but I will not waste anymore time on it since I would rather tell you extemporaneously in a future Blog.
Until Next Time.....
Update.... The decision has been made. I am going to Cuba!!!! Anyone that wants to meet me there, the first round of mojitos are ON ME!!!!!!!
