1. Doc's office
2. Michella y Lady
3. Michella y me
4. Me
5. Doc
It's COLD! I thought being this close to the equator would give me a tropical winter, but because Guatemala is the highland of a valley, no such luck. The coldest it gets is around 50, which makes me sound like a whiner, but every home and building is constructed in an open air style- where there should be a door there is instead the complete lack of a wall, so you've got got goosebumps from sun down to sun up.
The past couple of days have been tough at times. The whole thing is on the horizon, but for now we're waiting on endless formalities and money issues to get resolved before we start. The down time has occasionally provoked homesickness. I just crave social interaction with people my own age. Hanging out with only middle aged men for the past 18 days takes it's toll. I'm trying to remind myself that we're almost there and I'll soon be too busy to remember all of that.
I spent the ENTIRE day yesterday on the website outline. Ugh. The doc spent the entire night before working and never slept, so he was an unproductive zombie that day, and I ended up doing it all on my own. It didn't help my attitude any, he could tell so he promised we'd do something fun that night.
We went out to Cachasa last night once we finished the outline. It's a great acoustic music lounge converted from a barn. They have various instruments on the stage, so whoever knows a song can get up and play for the small crowd. The doc got up and played some guitar while a younger guy came up and sang these beautiful Spanish ballads. It was so much fun. I finally had a drink for the first time since I left (might've been the driest I've been since I was 14-not proud of that). The only local Guatemalan beer is Gallo (Rooster) it's a really good lager. After 3 I was toasty (I should take dry spells more often). I felt a little guilty drinking in front of the doc, but he insisted it didn't bother him.
I talked to this girl Kris for a long time. Her dad is Guatemalan and her mom is from Geneva, NY! Her mom came here as an exchange student and never left. I told her I was from Schenectady and she was like "Oh my God, I LOVED Schenectady! It was such a quaint city" Her 2 brothers live in Albany, because they have dual citizenship. I never for a million years thought I'd meet someone in Guat city that had any idea what Schenectady was. Kris introduced me to all the bar staff (who were also the performers) and we had a great time together.
She shed some light on why I've been kept under such air-tight security wraps. I told her how I feel like I haven't seen the city because the doc keeps telling me it's unsafe to do anything on my own. She explained that it really was for my own good, he isn't exaggerating, a friend of hers was shot in the head and robbed from his car in a bad part of town 3 days ago. She was saying that all too often Americans like me come to Guat and over look the fact that it's a 3rd world country. She said there still is a lot to see and it's a beautiful place but just not to do it alone. It did help me see better where the doc was coming from. It was so refreshing to hang with her and the staff though, I got her info so hopefully I'll see her again.
Speaking of security, I finally learned to shoot! We took a break from work a couple days ago and I got my shooting lesson in the garden. It's a 45mm with a buffer built in to soften the kick back-even so that thing kicked my ass. We put targets on the sand and he showed me how to stand, aim and safety precautions. When you shoot it seems like everything goes into slow motion from the power of the sound and the kick back, my ears were ringing for the whole day. It was awesome. I keep asking him to bring me to a range now.
It's funny how in the middle of the afternoon your neighbors can hear you shoot off rounds and think nothing of it, one of the perks of Guatemala. That and the disregard for picking up dog shit, I love it. I was walking Lady a couple days ago and I bent down to bag her business. Doc and Marta looked at me like I was crazy and started cracking up, "What are jyou going to do with that?" She asked me, and they laughed about it for the rest of the day.
The past couple of days have been tough at times. The whole thing is on the horizon, but for now we're waiting on endless formalities and money issues to get resolved before we start. The down time has occasionally provoked homesickness. I just crave social interaction with people my own age. Hanging out with only middle aged men for the past 18 days takes it's toll. I'm trying to remind myself that we're almost there and I'll soon be too busy to remember all of that.
I spent the ENTIRE day yesterday on the website outline. Ugh. The doc spent the entire night before working and never slept, so he was an unproductive zombie that day, and I ended up doing it all on my own. It didn't help my attitude any, he could tell so he promised we'd do something fun that night.
We went out to Cachasa last night once we finished the outline. It's a great acoustic music lounge converted from a barn. They have various instruments on the stage, so whoever knows a song can get up and play for the small crowd. The doc got up and played some guitar while a younger guy came up and sang these beautiful Spanish ballads. It was so much fun. I finally had a drink for the first time since I left (might've been the driest I've been since I was 14-not proud of that). The only local Guatemalan beer is Gallo (Rooster) it's a really good lager. After 3 I was toasty (I should take dry spells more often). I felt a little guilty drinking in front of the doc, but he insisted it didn't bother him.
I talked to this girl Kris for a long time. Her dad is Guatemalan and her mom is from Geneva, NY! Her mom came here as an exchange student and never left. I told her I was from Schenectady and she was like "Oh my God, I LOVED Schenectady! It was such a quaint city" Her 2 brothers live in Albany, because they have dual citizenship. I never for a million years thought I'd meet someone in Guat city that had any idea what Schenectady was. Kris introduced me to all the bar staff (who were also the performers) and we had a great time together.
She shed some light on why I've been kept under such air-tight security wraps. I told her how I feel like I haven't seen the city because the doc keeps telling me it's unsafe to do anything on my own. She explained that it really was for my own good, he isn't exaggerating, a friend of hers was shot in the head and robbed from his car in a bad part of town 3 days ago. She was saying that all too often Americans like me come to Guat and over look the fact that it's a 3rd world country. She said there still is a lot to see and it's a beautiful place but just not to do it alone. It did help me see better where the doc was coming from. It was so refreshing to hang with her and the staff though, I got her info so hopefully I'll see her again.
Speaking of security, I finally learned to shoot! We took a break from work a couple days ago and I got my shooting lesson in the garden. It's a 45mm with a buffer built in to soften the kick back-even so that thing kicked my ass. We put targets on the sand and he showed me how to stand, aim and safety precautions. When you shoot it seems like everything goes into slow motion from the power of the sound and the kick back, my ears were ringing for the whole day. It was awesome. I keep asking him to bring me to a range now.
It's funny how in the middle of the afternoon your neighbors can hear you shoot off rounds and think nothing of it, one of the perks of Guatemala. That and the disregard for picking up dog shit, I love it. I was walking Lady a couple days ago and I bent down to bag her business. Doc and Marta looked at me like I was crazy and started cracking up, "What are jyou going to do with that?" She asked me, and they laughed about it for the rest of the day.
1 comment:
So the spirit of Sarah has invaded your soul - shooting guns and disregarding the environment!!
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