Jen was kind enough to drive me to the airport and join me for one last Silver Coin before leaving. Flying to LA was pretty uneventful, but getting on the plane from LAX to Guatemala City was an interesting one. There appeared to be an ocean of confused elderly Guatemalan folk milling around. There was so much mass confusion at checkin that I went off to browse the magazine shop and when I got back the gate was empty. I guess I got distracted. Anywho, when I get on the plane I was seated next to a very large woman. She was unable to fit between the arm rests and had already chosen my seat as extra room. When I sat down she clearly felt uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally, but she (we) had no other option. The plane was completely full.
When we got airborne I walked up to the front of the plane to ask if there were any extra seats. I even offered up the possibility of taking a First Class seat just to make my travel companion more comfortable. The charm of the Dutch Stallion was really on it´s game if I do say so myself and in no time I was sitting in First Class drinking a scotch on the rocks. The man sitting next to me. one of the members of the octogenarian never flown before crowd, was very sweet. He kept refusing all the offers of food and drink. Since the flight attendant didn´t speak any English I decided to tell him that it was all free. His eyes lit up and asked me to order a beer for him. He even got a whiskey after dinner. He was beaming with joy and confusion at his circumstance. I got the feeling that when he got home, nobody would believe what happened to him.
I was able to catch a good little nap on the plane and arrived in GUA at about 4:30am. My sister and nephew were there to greet me. We plopped into her car and made it to her house with no traffic. Guatemala City is one chaotic place to drive. From the potholes, to the non-integer based lane structure, I am glad to have a driver. We got to her house, made coffee and waited for people to wake up. From there, the family got ready and we headed out to the Mercado. The central market in GC sells all kinds of fresh foods and flowers. We started with a stop at a taco stand for chincharone and chile rellenos tacos. Then threw down some tostadas and washed it all away with Gallos. Gallos are the most popular beer in Guatemala. It is a Lager style. We then got the fixin´s for a Churrasco (BBQ).
I crashed for a nap when I returned back at Sue´s house and woke up disoriented. I helped out prepare for the BBQ and got a good lesson in Guate-ness. I think I asked multiple times when everyone was showing up to the Churrasco and was met with a pause, and then the response of ¨they will get here when they are ready¨. Not a rude thing mind you, but just a distinction from the fixed and regulated norms of gringo socialization habits. People that arrive early help prepare, or entertain the cooks. Those that come late get to eat partially cool food, but have no guilt at cleaning out the serving or their last morsels. Two nice options in my book. The BBQ was attended by the POR group of interesting human rights workers, musicians and family members. Everyone is very sweet and patient with my crappy Spanish skills.
After the heavy intake of meat, beer and tortillas, I was ready for a nap. As soon as Akil was excused to go watch cartoons, I joined him. I got another hour or so of sleep and woke to the sound of a backfiring car. You don´t get a chance to hear backfires from cars anymore in the US. I can´t say it is enjoyable, but it is part of the charm. From there we went to see Sue and Vico´s land that they are building a house on. It is on the edge of a beautiful valley. The view is very dramatic. They should have a really nice place there one day.
We then set off for Antigua, where my language school is. Arriving in 30 minutes or so, we checked in and then had some time to kill before my host family came to pick me up. We went out to a Mediterranean place that was just amazing. We sat in the room with all the Hooka´s and ordered Michelada´s and mint lemonades. We even mustered up more hunger for Hummus, Salad and Kabobs. The food was outstanding and the drinks were great. After returning to the school, I was picked up by Olga (my host Mom) and Sue\Vico were off to GC.Olga is about half as tall as I am and she hosts Spanish students all the time. It is about a 10 minute walk to her house that was made a little hard since my rolling bag and the cobble stone antient streets of Antigua didn´t get along with each other. I could have gone to ¨backpack mode¨with my fancy new Eagle Creek bag, but I never new
how much further it was and I was afraid to ask for appearing to complain. We got to her house and I was beat. I took a shower and tried to read my book, but fell asleep instantly.Today, I awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for my first day of Spanish School. Breakfast was pancakes and fruit. I get 5 days of lodging and 3 meals a day in this program. With 6 hours of 1:1 Spanish training, the cost is $160 for everything. The accomodations are not the Ritz, but it is clean and comfortable and with 3 squares a day, it is pretty sweet for the Dutchman.
Spanish School 1:1 is hard work, but rewarding. There is a framework of grammer, but I mostly go off on tangents in spanish and talk my teacher´s ears off. Being the ADHD random story telling addict works great. I don´t need to justify WHY I am moving from one topic to another unrelated topic, she is just glad I am talking. I guess they get people of few words in this school sometimes and it is a real cross to bear as an instructor. She says I know enough words to be fluent, it is just my grammar that is for crap, which I know. We are starting with grammar and skipping the noun stuff. That is a great thing about the 1:1 training. You can get tailered instruction. It is tiring though. I told her that I feel like a car with a tank of gas representing my ability to speak spanish. The tank gets pretty low from time to time and I just sit there agape, but she is patient and encouraging.
After my first half day I walked back to Olga´s for lunch, which was pretty darn good with chicken, rice, salad and soup. The cook Ireana, said she was glad to have a boy staying this week so she can cook some meat. All the ¨Spanish School Girls¨ are pretty vegetarian across the board. I came from lunch to the Funky Monkey and here I sit.
I am off to the bonus round this afternoon, so wish me luck in not completely running out of gas.
