Yogi

Mi mejor amigo en Antigua. El es un perro bilingüe. He is much cuter in real life.

Camino Seguro

Another group I think is worth supporting. I'm considering starting to volunteer with them later this month, because I feel like Transitions is doing fine right now and things are kind of slow anyway with patient intake. A bit hesitant about working in Guatemala City, especially after the incident in Panajachel, but it also sounds like it could be incredibly rewarding.

www.safepassage.org

Someone shoot me now

My homestay has been invaded by a group of US students who only speak English at home. They are annoying, immature and inconsiderate. Thinking about moving but I like the neighbourhood and Maria :-/ This definitely makes me lean towards leaving earlier. I’d learn more Spanish in the Mission District than I do here.

Asaltar

Most people know I do not scare easily. On Sunday morning I was scared. I wanted to catch the sunrise over Lago Atitan so I set my alarm for 4.30a. In my mind, I had evaluated how safe it would be to walk alone in the dark at that time of day. The street leading to the lake is a main thoroughfare with streetlights. I thought this part of the walk would be safe, with party-goers stumbling home. The access road to the pier/beach was what I was worried about – dark, quiet, secluded. No shops or houses to hear cries for help. I thought I would walk down the main road and wait at the last intersection, under bright lights, until there was some daylight before making my way to the lakeshore. I made sure not to carry my wallet and any valuables, just some loose change. 

4.30am in the morning

On the way, a man with a dog approached me, clearly asking for sex. I made it VERY clear that my answer was NO! and the man, with his dog, seemed to go away. As I got closer to the intersection where I planned on waiting, the same man followed me. He had a friend with him. Despite walking fast, he caught up to me with a jog and became more persistent, trying to touch me. I was not worried about the dog for some reason, even though it was a Rottweiler. It was the man I was very afraid of. I pushed him away, yelled out “No, no, no, Help! Socorro! Socorro!” I kept yelling until the man’s partner called him off. I rushed to the nearest lit spot with people that was open – not easy before 5am in a country where everything is locked up. Fortunately, I saw a small private bus waiting outside a hotel that had its lights on. Some guests were taking an early shuttle ride somewhere. I rushed in, sat on a small sofa and told the night attendant my story and asked if I could wait there until it was fully light outside. I didn’t know how to say “assaulted” in Spanish but he understood what I meant. He was very kind. It turns out the verb “to assault” is “asaltar” – one word I am not going to forget. At around 5.45am it was bright enough and there were enough people (specifically women) out that I felt it was safe to leave the hotel. A stray dog decided to take a liking to me and followed me, wanting to play and be petted. Normally I don’t mind this at all (dogs like me) but at this point I was bloody sick of being followed by anything, animal or man.

The hotel where I sought refuge

I have never been assaulted before. I’ve never been touched in a harmful way by a dangerous stranger. I found the whole episode quite distressing and shed a tear or two. I didn’t want to let the asshole ruin my day, but the whole incident definitely dampened my Sunday. I decided I really didn’t fell like taking a boat ride across the lake and spent the day in Panajachel instead, eating and drinking coffee. A warm piece of bread does wonders for the soul. I visited the lake again, but standing by the lake and getting accosted by guys was no fun. It sounds arrogant/sexist, but I am fucking sick of men right now. I’m tired of traveling and dealing with harmless annoying American students and worrying about being assaulted again. Lago Atitlan was a decent sight, a very large lake ringed by volcanoes but it really didn’t blow me away or even impress me. Hopefully Tikal next weekend will change my mind.

Took my chance with ice from outside because the alternative was room temperature Coke, which I really did not want. Fingers crossed, no accidents, especially since my uterus is weeping right now. Can you tell?

Panajachel & Lago Atitlan

I had the good fortune to be stuck on a bus full of US students. Something about a group of loud, obnoxious American students is so off-putting. I pretended not to speak English to avoid talking to them. One of them came up with the brilliant idea of identifying any dog on the sidewalk (DOTS) and winning 10 points each time. So I had to spend the whole bus ride hearing them do this.

The secretary from my Spanish school happened to be on the bus as well, with a student from the school. They were clearly dating and I felt like I had stumbled upon something clandestine.

After arriving in Panajachel and getting a hotel room at the Hotel Primavera I walked up and down Calle Satander. Boring, long street with the usual vendors selling handicrafts, fabrics etc. The only interesting thing was watching the Mayan women set up their stores in the morning from my hotel window. Those indigenous women are burly. Unfortunately my room had a leaky roof. Fortunately, it was over the shower so I didn’t bother trying to change rooms. 

Lago Atitlan is very big but not breathtakingly beautiful as I had hoped/expected. The problem with having witnessed such beautiful sights around the world is the lack of wonderment I have when I see things like this. I’m just not impressed. 

The highlight of the day was hearing the loudest thunderstorm ever. Spent the afternoon indoors due to heavy rain watching Bridget Jones’ Diary with Spanish subtitled. I forgot how much of a crush I have on Colin Firth sigh

Oh, I do appreciate the sense of humour the tuk-tuk drivers of Panajachel have. Lots of them had big stickers like “Fast and Furious” and “Ferrari” stuck on their front window.

Muffin-top :(

Not sure how I feel about it being June already. On the one hand, I suppose it isn’t a bad thing that the time has gone by, I have some Spanish under my belt and I’ve gotten into my groove here in Antigua. On the other hand, I feel like I don’t speak Spanish as well as I should by now (reading and writing are going okay, my speaking is shite - I don't even know how to swear in Spanish!); I don’t have a meaty project to work on, I’m just helping out here and there where I can, and I don’t know how many more weeks of Spanish, and (somewhat unpleasant) home-stay I can take. I will assess in the next few weeks whether I return at the end of June or the end of July, as originally planned.

One reason why I’m feeling so crappy is my diet here. I resemble a big puffy loaf of ultra-processed white bread, because that is what I have been putting inside me. No protein, no healthy fats….just carbs carbs carbs because I can’t look at frijoles for a long long time after this trip. Will have to reign in my gluttony because it has caught up with me and it makes me feel awful. 

I would like to profile Eferin, who has kindly given me his permission to write about how he came to have an SCI. Eferin is an extremely intelligent, well-spoken, well-built young man. When I first saw him I thought he was Asian, for sure. He claims not to be but it is such a mescla here that there is a large chance he has Asian blood in his mix. I love how there are so many different shades of brown here and all those different shades of people interact and mingle harmoniously. I feel very comfortable in this kind of racial environment. Anyway, back to the subject at hand…

Eferin was living in Washington DC back in 2002, working in construction. It was December and he and his friend were driving along. Eferin was drinking from a coke bottle, which he did not properly close. As a result it spilled in the car. Eferin unbuckled his seat-belt so he could clean up the mess. As he bent down, his friend drove over some black-ice. Eferin was flung out of the car and was paralyzed from T6 down. His friend was not injured. Eferin’s paralysis was complete for a long time, until one day, he found that he could move his right foot a little. The doctors initially did not believe him, but he proved them wrong and eventually regained some function in his right leg. He always uses a wheelchair though because it allows him to move around much more quickly than he could without it. Like so many SCI stories, his story struck me because of the split-second decision that was made, that coincided with a confluence of circumstances. Like my accident.

Last night was a bit difficult. I was feeling like shit, physically and mentally and started to think about how different my experience would be if I had a fully functioning human body. I thought of the volcanoes I would have hiked to the top of, the marimba music I would dance to, the morning jogs I would have gone on to enjoy the cool, crisp Antigua morning air. And then I quietly cried. On the other hand, it is highly unlikely that I would be in Guatemala right now if events had not unfolded as they did. I'm not one to find silver-linings in things though.