Helped some guys with their English homework, acted as an
interview subject. Glad that I could be of help to them. Aside from going to
school, then Transiciones, life is pretty damn boring, especially because I do
not venture outdoors after dark. I know I should probably just park myself in a
café somewhere and strike up conversation with whomever, but my Spanish is so
limited that it would be a very short conversation. I’ve already run out of
things to say to Maria and Senora Rodriguez.
John and I were discussing how depression is viewed in
Guatemala, and not surprisingly, the attitude is one of “get over it”, life is
hard and everyone has their problems. That is a totally valid perspective to
have, especially if you live in this kind of environment, but it does make it
hard for people to empathize with any depressed person. I have to be
uber-careful about taking my meds, making sure that I do not implode while I am
here, because that would be quite disastrous. I suppose I can’t completely self-destruct
while I’m here because I am living with other people, having to go to the
Fondacion etc.
Looking forward to having a day off school tomorrow. Will be
going to the wheelchair workshop in the AM, have lunch with the guys, then in
the afternoon go to Francisco’s house. I am already looking forward to the
motorcycle ride. I’ve never ridden on one before. Tomorrow will be a very rough
introduction, I’m sure. It is
funny that I would never dream of riding a motorbike/scooter without a helmet
in the US, or drive without my seat belt. But for some strange reason, when I’m
in developing/third-world countries, such worries are trivial and I will go
ahead and not wear my seat belt or ride a bike without a helmet. Foolish? Yes,
exceedingly.
I am so tempted to vent about my Mum’s needling and
bombardment of emails and questions. I won’t, but it is exceedingly tiresome
and even corrosive. I am not sure if they are going out of their way to make my
experience here as awful as possible There are enough stressors in my life
right now (new country, new language, new culture, new work etc) and my parents
excessive worrying just adds to things. There is the usual, oh, they’re just
being parents, and then there is over-stepping boundaries by a mile. My case is
the latter.
Senora and her friends are in the living room cackling. I
feel quite uncomfortable joining them. My Spanish comprehension is improving, I
think, bits here and there. I got a list of (regular) verbs to memorize today.
Woohoo. Hopefully my topics of discussion will increase exponentially.
Tortillas here rock. A fresh, hot tortilla is so good,
surprising for someone who hated them when she first arrived in the US. I have
gotten use to consuming them with my meals. I am digging the cuisine for the
most part. There isn’t anything particularly strange or offensive, flavours are
pretty mild. Tamales are popular. The Guatemalan diet seems very healthy and
portion sizes are much more reasonable here. It doesn’t seem like there is much
snacking here. I’ve also become accustomed to ultra-refined bread products
(pan). I’ve developed a taste for this completely nutrition-less food,
unfortunately L
But panaderias proliferate every street so it is hard to avoid consuming the
stuff. Oh well, I will probably come back looking like a plump tortilla :) It seems that butter
is something that is scarce/expensive because instead of buttery, flakey
pastries, there seem to be a myriad of stale-bread products. The “crispiness”
is supposed to be akin to a pastry. It does not work.
I find it amusing that the napkin holder on the dining room
table is a metal moose :)
The house has a potpourri of items, cups from N. Dakota, some Japanese candy, a
picture of Niagara Falls, Chinese-style plates…
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| In the early morning |
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| Famous bakery where I get my breakfast most days |
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