Some Observations From Our New Home

Hola from Antigua!  In this edition of blogamos I thought I would jot down a few common, kinda comical, occurrences we’ve experienced in our short time here so far.  Keep in mind, Guatemala can be kind of crazy, but it all adds to the experience.  The experience is best described by each of the 5 Senses:

Smell

      1) Our breath – apparently there’s something in the water, or not in the water, but we both noticed pretty quickly that each other’s breath is truly “kickin’” since we started living here (could it be a lack of fluoride in the water?)

      2) The Smog – where we live is much better, but arriving to Guatemala City (aka “Guatemala” to the locals), this is the first thing you notice when you get out of the aeropuerto.

Sight – so many to list, but here are some highlights

      1) Volcanoes – Antigua is surrounded by volcanoes and it’s truly a beautiful site.  Vulcan Fuego is the most active and you can see it spouting off smoke in the distance almost every day.

      2) Explicit Feminina Fountains – I don’t know why, but the biggest fountains in the most public parks and many others feature women emitting water from their bare breasts; it’s umm, interesting.

      3) Perros in packs – the dogs stick together here, it’s common to see 10 dogs taking a siesta on the sidewalk in the middle of the day.  We have yet to see a canine West Side Story develop in the alley, but for some reason I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened.

      4) American Products in Weird Places – We’ve witnessed several of these, from a Guatemalan man wearing a sweater proclaiming “I love Belgian Chocolate” , to a semi truck with a sign indicating “baby on board” which isn’t too unbelievable actually.

Notable mention: 1) My water bottles disappearing  2) me being extremely quiet at all meals/me looking like a dork in front of the 4 and 5 year-old girls at our house (no hablo mucho Espanol yet, but I’m getting better), 3) sunrise at 6 am & sunset at 6 pm – like clockwork, 4) Up to 5 people on one motorbike (including small children cuidado!), or the dangerous undertaking pictured below...(why can't he just ride the bike?? Quien sabe!)

Sound

      1) Boisterous Birds – Alfred Hitchcock may have received his inspiration from the birds hanging out in the trees on Santa Clara Avenida where hundreds of birds squawk all day, sounding as if they’re engaging in some sort of warfare (they could be warning the dogs to stay off their territory)

      2) English is Funny – Brave locals (usually young boys) murmur English phrases as we pass which are then followed by giggles (“howdy partner…hahahahaha”).  It’s funny because they know more English than I know Spanish J

Taste

      1) Mama’s Cooking – I love the food we have in our casa.  Our Guatemalan mama’ always keeps us full with the typical Guatemalan fare (black beans, rice, veggies, tortillas, and mucho mucho pan dulce – sweet bread)

Touch

          

      1) Do I still have my toes – the dog at our house (Camillo, some kind of terrier) is friendly by day and extremely vicious by night.  I feel lucky that we still have our 20 toes in tact 

As you can see we are definitely immersing ourselves in the Guatemalan culture; nevertheless, we’ve still found quite a few opportunities to be Americanos down here:

1) Mc D’s stop – I might get in trouble for sharing this one, but we did indulge in McFlurry’s at one of the nicest McDonald’s in the entire world – no kidding, McDonald’s has a gorgeous patio area and is probably the nicest dining establishment in the entire city

2) As for sports, there’s some great sports bars where I’ve been keeping up with NFL/College football and theBaseball Playoffs (just saw the Giants take the lead with 2 outs in the 9^th after the Braves hit a go-ahead HR in the bottom of the 8^th!).

In conclusion, we are truly loving our time down here.  We decided to switch Spanish schools and we started at the Christian Spanish Academy today, we love it there.  Thanks again for all your prayers and for keeping up with us.   Adios!