Blinded

Aack! I am sitting in the kitchen right now while John is making coffee wearing only a t-shirt. What happened was he didn't know I was in the kitchen and so he went about his usual routine, I suppose.

I guess i'm glad he feels so comfortable around me (he's gay)....:)

I have been permanently traumatized. He did apologise for flashing me. He said he was older so he could get away with these things.What is it with naked male bodies that scars the eyes??

Volcan!

I suppose most Guatemalans find a sight like an erupting volcano to be nothing special, but last night, I caught the glowing lava flow of an erupting volcano from the rooftop of my homestay. I spent an hour just staring at the thing. Apparently, the activity of Volcan Fuego is causing quite a bit of disruption to the farming around the volcano, cutting off major roads from Antigua to the coast...

Still, quite a sight to behold.

The volcano is quite far away and there was a big street light right in front of the camera view. So pics are really grainy.

Rainy Sunday musings

Like a lot of Latin American countries, and countries in the third/developing world, family-planning is a big problem in Guatemala. Guys still have issues with using condoms but I've also been surprised to learn that there is considerable pressure from the women for their daughters, daughter-in-law etc to have more children. Gender roles are interesting here. In the family, it seems like the women totally crowd out the man/men e.g. a man can't possibly know how to feed or dress a baby. I admire how important family is here, how close boys are to their mothers, but the lack of personal space would drive me crazy.

One thing that I love about Guatemalans is how nice and polite they are. Given how tough life is here (you could get shot at a traffic light in Guatemala City, say), people never fail to say Buenos dias, Buenas tardes, Muchos Gracias after they are done with their meal. A beggar comes by the house every afternoon and is fed the same lunch we have, although he sits outside. I'm not sure what rural Guatemala is like. Antigua feels just like the 'burbs.

I was surprised to learn that all that is required to be a primary school teacher is a high school diploma. That's it. What 18 year old knows how to teach anything?? I see all these weekend activities that schools put on e.g. a party... I wish they would put that kind of effort into teaching the kids something.

The rain continues to fall. In the States I just hop in my car w/ my raincoat. Here, I hunker down inside (as do most people) and go a little loco. As I've  mentioned before, the rain presents a lot of challenges walking-wise (and I don't have my wellies with me here). It is worse when one is in a wheelchair. It's interesting how quickly I've forgotten that the people around me are disabled at all, even those with the most visible of disabilities (e.g. missing limbs).

Cyborg arms

Nosario and me with his new cyborg arms. They are surprisingly heavy, especially the elbows. You can tell I've been chowing down on too many tortillas since I've been here.