Friday, October 31, 2003
The Military Has Arrived
This weekend I was walking through the central park and there were three military poilice officers standing near the fountain. I turned to my friend and was like, why are they here...the obvious answer came "The Elections" The streets are full of police and military personel. They all carry these huge sawwed off shot guns that could blow a bowling ball size whole through your stomach. The funny thing is, it's not really scary. It just is so strange to see all these people walking around with huge guns mixed in with the hundreds of tourists that are still here. Needless to say that I am very anxious for the elections to be over with. The first one is held November 9 and then the run off is two weeks later November 23 (the day before I leave). Today is the last day that the candidates can campaign. After that there are no more adds anywhere (sidewalks , billboards, trucks, television, radio-NOWHERE). The whole country has been littered with stuff and so it will be nice when you can walk down the street without seeing a poilitical add every five feet.
On a lighter note, everyone here calls eachother by nicknames. I have made friends with some local kids (my age, yet still kids) who hang out in central park all the time. When I walk down the street and one of them sees me they will call me by a nickname. I know who is calling me because each of them have a different nickname for me.
So here are my nicknames listed by the person who calls me them.
Pablo-Niña Olivia (Olivia is Olive Oyl from Popeye, not my favorite)
Guerrmo -Niña Libre (Liberated)
Lucas-Seca (does not mean dry, it means really skinny girl)
Christian-Bailerina
Diego-Flaquita (another word for skinny)
Mario-Niña Mimada (mimada is a word that is kind of like spoiled, but more like I get everything I want)
These are actually all supposed to be very endearing names, so it's kind of fun.
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This weekend I was walking through the central park and there were three military poilice officers standing near the fountain. I turned to my friend and was like, why are they here...the obvious answer came "The Elections" The streets are full of police and military personel. They all carry these huge sawwed off shot guns that could blow a bowling ball size whole through your stomach. The funny thing is, it's not really scary. It just is so strange to see all these people walking around with huge guns mixed in with the hundreds of tourists that are still here. Needless to say that I am very anxious for the elections to be over with. The first one is held November 9 and then the run off is two weeks later November 23 (the day before I leave). Today is the last day that the candidates can campaign. After that there are no more adds anywhere (sidewalks , billboards, trucks, television, radio-NOWHERE). The whole country has been littered with stuff and so it will be nice when you can walk down the street without seeing a poilitical add every five feet.
On a lighter note, everyone here calls eachother by nicknames. I have made friends with some local kids (my age, yet still kids) who hang out in central park all the time. When I walk down the street and one of them sees me they will call me by a nickname. I know who is calling me because each of them have a different nickname for me.
So here are my nicknames listed by the person who calls me them.
Pablo-Niña Olivia (Olivia is Olive Oyl from Popeye, not my favorite)
Guerrmo -Niña Libre (Liberated)
Lucas-Seca (does not mean dry, it means really skinny girl)
Christian-Bailerina
Diego-Flaquita (another word for skinny)
Mario-Niña Mimada (mimada is a word that is kind of like spoiled, but more like I get everything I want)
These are actually all supposed to be very endearing names, so it's kind of fun.
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Thursday, October 30, 2003
The Reoccuring Theme
So I thought I was going to die yesterday. There is a saying here ¨Don´t drink the water¨ Something else that you should not do is eat the food from the street venders. During my break at school I always buy a tostada with guacamole and repollo (cabbage stuff) from this women. I ate her food this summer when I was here and have been eating it again this time without any problems. Yesterday I bought a tostada from her with my teacher. Within an hour we were both turning green. So I decided to go home a little early. About two seconds after getting home I rant to the bathroom and threw up. You know how you usually feel better after you vomit, yeah, that didn´t happen. So I vomitted every 30 minutes to an hour after that until finally at 4 Iris took me to the doctor. We were riding on her scooter on these stupid cobble stones and I about completely lost it. We got to the doctor and because I am a preferred customer (paying customer) I got to bypass the long line of people. Dr. Sergio gave me an injection of something and a pill. I didn´t throw up after that, but I still felt sick as hell. We got back to the house at about 5:30. I layed down and then threw up again at about 7. The doctor came by the house at 8, gave me some other pill and after that I felt a lot better. Holy cow I have not been that sick since the typhoid vaccine episode. Good god I am never eating street food again.
So I was supposed to have a job interview this morning for a teaching position at a bilingual school however, needless to say I did not make it. Maybe that is my sign I should not be a teacher. :)
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So I thought I was going to die yesterday. There is a saying here ¨Don´t drink the water¨ Something else that you should not do is eat the food from the street venders. During my break at school I always buy a tostada with guacamole and repollo (cabbage stuff) from this women. I ate her food this summer when I was here and have been eating it again this time without any problems. Yesterday I bought a tostada from her with my teacher. Within an hour we were both turning green. So I decided to go home a little early. About two seconds after getting home I rant to the bathroom and threw up. You know how you usually feel better after you vomit, yeah, that didn´t happen. So I vomitted every 30 minutes to an hour after that until finally at 4 Iris took me to the doctor. We were riding on her scooter on these stupid cobble stones and I about completely lost it. We got to the doctor and because I am a preferred customer (paying customer) I got to bypass the long line of people. Dr. Sergio gave me an injection of something and a pill. I didn´t throw up after that, but I still felt sick as hell. We got back to the house at about 5:30. I layed down and then threw up again at about 7. The doctor came by the house at 8, gave me some other pill and after that I felt a lot better. Holy cow I have not been that sick since the typhoid vaccine episode. Good god I am never eating street food again.
So I was supposed to have a job interview this morning for a teaching position at a bilingual school however, needless to say I did not make it. Maybe that is my sign I should not be a teacher. :)
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Sunday, October 19, 2003
The Cold That Won't Go Away
I have had a cold for about a week now. It started with a sore throat then went to runny nose, back to sore throat and now a wonderful cough where I get little bits of flem. Sounds fun right. I think this is the same thing Iris has had for about two weeks. I'm taking vitamins, but nothing seems to help. Part of the problem I think is the drastric changes in weather. During the day it is about 75 degrees. It's absolutely beautiful, however at night, the temp drops down into the 50's. This wouldn't be so bad except that it is freezing in the morning. Breathing the cold air all night does not help my throat. Then I get in the shower at about 7am so then I'm cold and wet. I don't want to run the heater fan too much because electricity is expensive. I've gone through about 4 packs of cough drops and am getting ready to go buy some more. The bright side of all of this is...well I really can`t think of one at this point.
Okay, enough complaining. Yesterday Gallo (the beer company) sponsered a race through antigua. They got waiters from several different restaraunts to run through the streets of Antigua holding trays with four bottles of water and a can of beer. If their tray tipped over, then they were out of the race. I was towards the finish line and was amazed at how many of these waiters were able to run on the coble stones. I trip on the street every single day (this is not an exageration). I can barely walk home without wipeing out, let alone run while carrying a tray of drinks. It was absolutely amazing.
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I have had a cold for about a week now. It started with a sore throat then went to runny nose, back to sore throat and now a wonderful cough where I get little bits of flem. Sounds fun right. I think this is the same thing Iris has had for about two weeks. I'm taking vitamins, but nothing seems to help. Part of the problem I think is the drastric changes in weather. During the day it is about 75 degrees. It's absolutely beautiful, however at night, the temp drops down into the 50's. This wouldn't be so bad except that it is freezing in the morning. Breathing the cold air all night does not help my throat. Then I get in the shower at about 7am so then I'm cold and wet. I don't want to run the heater fan too much because electricity is expensive. I've gone through about 4 packs of cough drops and am getting ready to go buy some more. The bright side of all of this is...well I really can`t think of one at this point.
Okay, enough complaining. Yesterday Gallo (the beer company) sponsered a race through antigua. They got waiters from several different restaraunts to run through the streets of Antigua holding trays with four bottles of water and a can of beer. If their tray tipped over, then they were out of the race. I was towards the finish line and was amazed at how many of these waiters were able to run on the coble stones. I trip on the street every single day (this is not an exageration). I can barely walk home without wipeing out, let alone run while carrying a tray of drinks. It was absolutely amazing.
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Saturday, October 18, 2003
Horse Ride from Hell
Yesterday, Kati and I decided it would be a great idea to go horseback riding through a finca (coffee plantation). I used to ride when I was younger and really enjoyed it a lot. The place we went to ride is in Jocotenango which is also where I work. This was one of the nicest stables I have ever been to. The women that owns it is German and her horses are absolutely beautiful.
We start off by going into the ring and trotting around a bit just to get comfortable with the horse. My first horse that I had decided it wanted to Canter (gallop) and so I traded horses. As much as I enjoy cantering...it was a little much for me. So then I get this horse that won't even trot. I'm just like give me a break, I go from one extreme to another.
Finally after about 45 minutes walking around the ring, the guide tells us that we can go through the finca. My horse is number two in line which is just fine. Well Kati's horse starts trotting so I pull my leg back so my horse will go also. We start trotting along and then turn to a canter. I was actually happy at this point because the horse had a great stride and it was really cool. But then I was ready to slow down. The horse had a different idea. When I pulled back on the reins the horse started to drop it's head and started to try to buck. At which point I go into what I will call "oh shit" mode. This was a permanent state of being for the next 3 minutes. Finally the horse stopped and we are just standing there. Kati's horse is in front of us.
All of a sudden Kati's horse takes off at a dead run. My horse being an independent thinker also takes off at a dead run. I am scared as hell because we are going through this finca and I have no idea where the horse is running to. Now if you know anything about coffee plants, they don't like the sun so there are trees everywhere with low hanging branches. My horse is running down the path and I am hanging on for dear life. Then I think well maybe I should jump off, but my foot is caught. As we are bolting along we pass finca workers and I am screaming "Ayudame, Ayudame!!!!" Which means help me. Well of course they only have 2.2 seconds to react and I am gone.
The horse is darting through these trees. I am looking towards the ground to figure out how I can get the hell off. All of a sudden a tree branch whops the hell out of my head knocking my helmet back off my head. So I decide that I am probably going to die on this thing.
So we are running along and make a sharp turn at which point I see the stables. I am still screaming for help as the horse runs for the stables. All of a sudden we come to a screeching halt. I jump off and hand the reins to some 10 yr old stable kid. My heart rate was up to about 180 bpm and I am completely freaked out.
Had I known all along that we were running for home I would have definitely been less scared. However...since I didn't I was a little weary about blasting full speed ahead into the great unknown.
Needless to say I will not be going horseback riding again here.
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Yesterday, Kati and I decided it would be a great idea to go horseback riding through a finca (coffee plantation). I used to ride when I was younger and really enjoyed it a lot. The place we went to ride is in Jocotenango which is also where I work. This was one of the nicest stables I have ever been to. The women that owns it is German and her horses are absolutely beautiful.
We start off by going into the ring and trotting around a bit just to get comfortable with the horse. My first horse that I had decided it wanted to Canter (gallop) and so I traded horses. As much as I enjoy cantering...it was a little much for me. So then I get this horse that won't even trot. I'm just like give me a break, I go from one extreme to another.
Finally after about 45 minutes walking around the ring, the guide tells us that we can go through the finca. My horse is number two in line which is just fine. Well Kati's horse starts trotting so I pull my leg back so my horse will go also. We start trotting along and then turn to a canter. I was actually happy at this point because the horse had a great stride and it was really cool. But then I was ready to slow down. The horse had a different idea. When I pulled back on the reins the horse started to drop it's head and started to try to buck. At which point I go into what I will call "oh shit" mode. This was a permanent state of being for the next 3 minutes. Finally the horse stopped and we are just standing there. Kati's horse is in front of us.
All of a sudden Kati's horse takes off at a dead run. My horse being an independent thinker also takes off at a dead run. I am scared as hell because we are going through this finca and I have no idea where the horse is running to. Now if you know anything about coffee plants, they don't like the sun so there are trees everywhere with low hanging branches. My horse is running down the path and I am hanging on for dear life. Then I think well maybe I should jump off, but my foot is caught. As we are bolting along we pass finca workers and I am screaming "Ayudame, Ayudame!!!!" Which means help me. Well of course they only have 2.2 seconds to react and I am gone.
The horse is darting through these trees. I am looking towards the ground to figure out how I can get the hell off. All of a sudden a tree branch whops the hell out of my head knocking my helmet back off my head. So I decide that I am probably going to die on this thing.
So we are running along and make a sharp turn at which point I see the stables. I am still screaming for help as the horse runs for the stables. All of a sudden we come to a screeching halt. I jump off and hand the reins to some 10 yr old stable kid. My heart rate was up to about 180 bpm and I am completely freaked out.
Had I known all along that we were running for home I would have definitely been less scared. However...since I didn't I was a little weary about blasting full speed ahead into the great unknown.
Needless to say I will not be going horseback riding again here.
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Thursday, October 16, 2003
Tikal
On Monday, Kati I went up to the ruins in Tikal. These are an ancient Myan city with huge temples. Very Cool.
We had to get up at 3:30 monday morning and were on the shuttle to the airport at 4:30. Just a little early for me, but that's okay. We took an airline called TAG which is a small Guatemalan owned airline that does trips up to Tikal. We got to the hanger (the airline was not with the main airport building) and when we checked in they said we couldn't have "sprays" on the plane. So I get out my can of OFF and I'm like...do you mean something like this. At which point she confiscates it and tells me I can have it back when I return in the afternoon. Kati looks at me and says..."You just gave away our bug spray...Are you crazy" (note:we are going to Tikal without having taken malaria pills...so the bug spray was kinda important) But no fear because My friend Jorge had given us his spray that was recommended by the Swiss army...aparently switzerland has a lot of bugs...I don't know. We also ended up having to pay a Q20 tax which we weren't aware of so they had our bug spray and our money...
So we get on the plan and it has a propeller engine on each wing. I'm thinking this is going to be cool. So we sit right up front and the captain leaves the door open so we can see all the instruments and everything...way cool. Well, it was cool up until my friend points out that the left engine is going faster than the right engine and that the captain is overstearing to the left to compensate. That was fine until he kept looking at the wing and then shaking his head. I thought, holy cow were are going to crash in the jungle with only one bottle of water, 4 frijoles sandwhiches and a tiny bottle of bug spray...I'm going to die...
So we landed fine and found our shuttle to Tikal. The country side was absolutely beautiful. It is about an hour ride from Flores (airport) to Tikal. We get up there and at 10am we start our 3 hour walking tour of the park. The guide was in English (very helpful) and did a fabulous job. The jungle was absolutely beautiful. The ruins were amazing...there are just no words to describe any of it.
At one we got back to the lodge where they fed us lunch. We were absolutely exhausted. It had been so hot and humid. Very much like an August day in North Carolina. At 2 we get back on the shuttle for the airport. Needless to say we slept on the car ride from Tikal to Flores but is was so hot because there was no air conditioning. When we got the airport we bought some icecream and decided to people watch. We weren't there five minutes when a huge family walked in...like 6 kids...we decided they were mormons. This is only because our guide had told us there are a lot of morman missionaries that come to that area of Guatemala and that during the war they were told that the Mormans actually worked for the CIA...I was like OOOKKKKAAAYYY. Anyway. So at 4:15 we got back on the plane...the same plane as before. We didn't sit up front this time because I didn't want to see the captains head. Well, the left engine wouldn't start. I was like you have got to be kidding. Finally it started.
A few bumps later we landed safely in Guatemala City.
Now the drivers in the city are absolutely crazy. L.A. can't hold a candle to the way these people drive. My friend was petrified. She was like "Melissa!". I'm used to it now and really didn't think much about it. Then he pointed out the chicken bus ahead that was on three wheels going around a curve. I was like cool and she looked at me like I had lot my mind. We got back to Antigua at 6:30 that night and were absolutely exhausted. But what an awesome day!
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On Monday, Kati I went up to the ruins in Tikal. These are an ancient Myan city with huge temples. Very Cool.
We had to get up at 3:30 monday morning and were on the shuttle to the airport at 4:30. Just a little early for me, but that's okay. We took an airline called TAG which is a small Guatemalan owned airline that does trips up to Tikal. We got to the hanger (the airline was not with the main airport building) and when we checked in they said we couldn't have "sprays" on the plane. So I get out my can of OFF and I'm like...do you mean something like this. At which point she confiscates it and tells me I can have it back when I return in the afternoon. Kati looks at me and says..."You just gave away our bug spray...Are you crazy" (note:we are going to Tikal without having taken malaria pills...so the bug spray was kinda important) But no fear because My friend Jorge had given us his spray that was recommended by the Swiss army...aparently switzerland has a lot of bugs...I don't know. We also ended up having to pay a Q20 tax which we weren't aware of so they had our bug spray and our money...
So we get on the plan and it has a propeller engine on each wing. I'm thinking this is going to be cool. So we sit right up front and the captain leaves the door open so we can see all the instruments and everything...way cool. Well, it was cool up until my friend points out that the left engine is going faster than the right engine and that the captain is overstearing to the left to compensate. That was fine until he kept looking at the wing and then shaking his head. I thought, holy cow were are going to crash in the jungle with only one bottle of water, 4 frijoles sandwhiches and a tiny bottle of bug spray...I'm going to die...
So we landed fine and found our shuttle to Tikal. The country side was absolutely beautiful. It is about an hour ride from Flores (airport) to Tikal. We get up there and at 10am we start our 3 hour walking tour of the park. The guide was in English (very helpful) and did a fabulous job. The jungle was absolutely beautiful. The ruins were amazing...there are just no words to describe any of it.
At one we got back to the lodge where they fed us lunch. We were absolutely exhausted. It had been so hot and humid. Very much like an August day in North Carolina. At 2 we get back on the shuttle for the airport. Needless to say we slept on the car ride from Tikal to Flores but is was so hot because there was no air conditioning. When we got the airport we bought some icecream and decided to people watch. We weren't there five minutes when a huge family walked in...like 6 kids...we decided they were mormons. This is only because our guide had told us there are a lot of morman missionaries that come to that area of Guatemala and that during the war they were told that the Mormans actually worked for the CIA...I was like OOOKKKKAAAYYY. Anyway. So at 4:15 we got back on the plane...the same plane as before. We didn't sit up front this time because I didn't want to see the captains head. Well, the left engine wouldn't start. I was like you have got to be kidding. Finally it started.
A few bumps later we landed safely in Guatemala City.
Now the drivers in the city are absolutely crazy. L.A. can't hold a candle to the way these people drive. My friend was petrified. She was like "Melissa!". I'm used to it now and really didn't think much about it. Then he pointed out the chicken bus ahead that was on three wheels going around a curve. I was like cool and she looked at me like I had lot my mind. We got back to Antigua at 6:30 that night and were absolutely exhausted. But what an awesome day!
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Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Living In A Small Town
Antigua is like a small town. It´s really cool because after being here so long I´m really making friends and getting to know the neigborhoods. Here are two examples of why I really enjoy living here.
1. Almost everyday, my friends and I go and study at a place called Sky Cafe. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is a great place to meet at night before we all go out. In guatemala on sunday, restaraunts are not allowed to serve alcohol after 8 pm. So sunday night we all went to Sky. It´s great because they only let in their regulars and continue to serve beer well into the night. This is actually really dangerous for them because they could lose their license as a restaraunt. But it´s cool becuase it is like cheers. Everyone stands up when you walk in and is like Hey... or will ask where you were if you´ve missed a day.
2. My throat started hurting last night from post nasal drip. Everyone in my house has been sick for weeks and I finally have the crud. I went to the pharmacy today to buy cough drops. I´ve been to this pharmacy a million times this summer to buy pedialyte (good for dehydration) and I´ve been a couple times the last few weeks for medicine for my family. So the pharmicist says "Hi Melissa, how are you today" I tell him I´ve got the crud but I´m not ready to buy antibiots, that I just want some cough drops. The cough drops are Q12 which is about $1.50, but he gives them to me for Q8 ($1) because I´m a regular customer. How cool is that.
3. I have a regular doctor here that does house visits. Again, how cool is that. As you all know I was sick when I was here before and the doctor came to the house several times before sending me to the hospital. Just before I came back in September I got sick again. When I got to Guatemala the doctor came over again just to make sure I was doing okay and to see if I needed anything. No charge....
Antigua is such a great town. I wish that I had this in Raleigh. It just seems like people aren´t in such a rush here. They want to enjoy life and genuinely care how you are doing.
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Antigua is like a small town. It´s really cool because after being here so long I´m really making friends and getting to know the neigborhoods. Here are two examples of why I really enjoy living here.
1. Almost everyday, my friends and I go and study at a place called Sky Cafe. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is a great place to meet at night before we all go out. In guatemala on sunday, restaraunts are not allowed to serve alcohol after 8 pm. So sunday night we all went to Sky. It´s great because they only let in their regulars and continue to serve beer well into the night. This is actually really dangerous for them because they could lose their license as a restaraunt. But it´s cool becuase it is like cheers. Everyone stands up when you walk in and is like Hey... or will ask where you were if you´ve missed a day.
2. My throat started hurting last night from post nasal drip. Everyone in my house has been sick for weeks and I finally have the crud. I went to the pharmacy today to buy cough drops. I´ve been to this pharmacy a million times this summer to buy pedialyte (good for dehydration) and I´ve been a couple times the last few weeks for medicine for my family. So the pharmicist says "Hi Melissa, how are you today" I tell him I´ve got the crud but I´m not ready to buy antibiots, that I just want some cough drops. The cough drops are Q12 which is about $1.50, but he gives them to me for Q8 ($1) because I´m a regular customer. How cool is that.
3. I have a regular doctor here that does house visits. Again, how cool is that. As you all know I was sick when I was here before and the doctor came to the house several times before sending me to the hospital. Just before I came back in September I got sick again. When I got to Guatemala the doctor came over again just to make sure I was doing okay and to see if I needed anything. No charge....
Antigua is such a great town. I wish that I had this in Raleigh. It just seems like people aren´t in such a rush here. They want to enjoy life and genuinely care how you are doing.
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Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Random Facts of Guatemala
*Independence Day is celebrated on September 15th, however, complete independence was not gained until June 24th 1823, one year later.
*1 vehicle is robbed every hour in Guatemala City
*Crime is up 163% from last year...yes that is one hundred and sixty three percent. This is attributed to the number of police that are occupied taking care of the presidential candidates.
*There is currently an epidemic of Pink Eye. There have been over 4,000 cases of conjunctivitas hemorrhaging. (sorry for the bad spelling). It´s really funny though because when you go out into the country it looks like everyone is high.
*In the last 7 days there have been twoprotestst in Guatemala City, deadlocking traffic for hours. The first protest was about the right to sell vegetables and things on the side of the streets. The one Tuesday I have no idea, but it blocked all entrances and exits of the city´s main roads. There is one planned now for Friday by an indiginious rights group. Luckily Zac get´s here tomorrow so we won´t run into that.
*Guatemala ranks somewhere between 93 and 100 of 130 countries with corrupt governments...130 being the worse.
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*Independence Day is celebrated on September 15th, however, complete independence was not gained until June 24th 1823, one year later.
*1 vehicle is robbed every hour in Guatemala City
*Crime is up 163% from last year...yes that is one hundred and sixty three percent. This is attributed to the number of police that are occupied taking care of the presidential candidates.
*There is currently an epidemic of Pink Eye. There have been over 4,000 cases of conjunctivitas hemorrhaging. (sorry for the bad spelling). It´s really funny though because when you go out into the country it looks like everyone is high.
*In the last 7 days there have been twoprotestst in Guatemala City, deadlocking traffic for hours. The first protest was about the right to sell vegetables and things on the side of the streets. The one Tuesday I have no idea, but it blocked all entrances and exits of the city´s main roads. There is one planned now for Friday by an indiginious rights group. Luckily Zac get´s here tomorrow so we won´t run into that.
*Guatemala ranks somewhere between 93 and 100 of 130 countries with corrupt governments...130 being the worse.
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Saturday, October 04, 2003
From the Pages of Prensa Libre
Prensa Libre is the most reliable and unbiased paper that you can buy in Guatemala. It is very interesting and I have found their articles on the elections informative and very entertaining. Right now there is a "war" between the Prensa and FRG (the political party that Rios Mont aka "El General" is running with). At Mont's last politically rally, the attendants started attacking the reports of the Prensa with machetes and clubs...little scary. Anyway, needless to say they have not had shining articles about Mont. Since the little riot incident they actually haven't printed too much on him until today.
Headline "FRG Censures Work of Theatre"
Basically this theatre had a satyre going called "El General" It was a parody of Mont's presidency and drew attention to his severe violation of human rights during his "de facto" government. The political party wants the play stopped and is trying to bully the owners into ending the program. However this has backfired a bit and now everyone wants to go see this play...
I find all of this ironic and a very similar to the Fox News (Ultra Conservative) Network and their wanting to have Al Franken's book pulled from the shelves because he pointed out some blatent lies of theirs and other indiscretions for telling the truth. I don't believe that Fox News would support an idiot who would set aside peoples right to privacy, free press, and the truth...or would they? I have found it very interesting that the core political problems Guatemala has are the same that America has. It really is scary. But what is even scarier is that Guatemala has had free elections for only the last 10 years...America has been running the same dog and pony show for over 200...
On the lighter side, October 18 is Oktober Fest here sponsered by Gallo. (Gallo is the only beer manufacturer in Guatemala and has a monopoly on the market in the truestest sense of the word) I can't figure out how they are going to have an Oktober Fest. Besides the complete lack of Euro/Caucasin/German culture here, it's not like you would get to have that many different beers other than the ones that Gallo produces...I think the people just want to have another holiday and a reason to drink...Bottoms Up!
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Prensa Libre is the most reliable and unbiased paper that you can buy in Guatemala. It is very interesting and I have found their articles on the elections informative and very entertaining. Right now there is a "war" between the Prensa and FRG (the political party that Rios Mont aka "El General" is running with). At Mont's last politically rally, the attendants started attacking the reports of the Prensa with machetes and clubs...little scary. Anyway, needless to say they have not had shining articles about Mont. Since the little riot incident they actually haven't printed too much on him until today.
Headline "FRG Censures Work of Theatre"
Basically this theatre had a satyre going called "El General" It was a parody of Mont's presidency and drew attention to his severe violation of human rights during his "de facto" government. The political party wants the play stopped and is trying to bully the owners into ending the program. However this has backfired a bit and now everyone wants to go see this play...
I find all of this ironic and a very similar to the Fox News (Ultra Conservative) Network and their wanting to have Al Franken's book pulled from the shelves because he pointed out some blatent lies of theirs and other indiscretions for telling the truth. I don't believe that Fox News would support an idiot who would set aside peoples right to privacy, free press, and the truth...or would they? I have found it very interesting that the core political problems Guatemala has are the same that America has. It really is scary. But what is even scarier is that Guatemala has had free elections for only the last 10 years...America has been running the same dog and pony show for over 200...
On the lighter side, October 18 is Oktober Fest here sponsered by Gallo. (Gallo is the only beer manufacturer in Guatemala and has a monopoly on the market in the truestest sense of the word) I can't figure out how they are going to have an Oktober Fest. Besides the complete lack of Euro/Caucasin/German culture here, it's not like you would get to have that many different beers other than the ones that Gallo produces...I think the people just want to have another holiday and a reason to drink...Bottoms Up!
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Friday, October 03, 2003
I´m Still Dangerous
So the last time I wrote I talked about how I hit my salsa teacher in the jaw with my elbow. Well, I don´t know what the problem is, but I did it again at my lesson on Tuesday and then again last night. Except last night when I whopped him, it was in the mouth and his lip started bleeding. Oh my gosh. This guy is going to start chargeing me extra for the medical bills. Today is my last lesson and I´m sure he is very happy to see me go. I think the lesson here is that I am not meant to dance salsa.
Headline: Gringa Hit by Chicken Bus
When I ride the bus home from work I have to get off the bus in the market. There are hundreds of busses there and it is like a mad house. So Wednesday, I get off my bus and cross in front of it to walk across the lane and into the market. Meanwhile I am talking to this girl who is the first American that I have met. I crossed infront of the bus and stopped to talk to her. I´m facing her with the oncoming trafic to my back. We´re talking and I hear this bus blairing it´s horn. I don´t pay it much attention because they always honk their horns at everything. All of a sudden she yanks be back about 3 feet. I turn my head just in time to see a chicken bus whiz by about 3 inches infront of my face at about 30 mph. The thing is that even if they have lots of time to slow down or stop...they don´t. They will run you over without hesitation. I was just like...stupid...stupid...stupid. When I was here this summer, Neal, one of the boys who traveled with me saved me from getting hit by a bus at least once a week. I don´t know what my deal is. I really need to start looking both ways before I cross.
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So the last time I wrote I talked about how I hit my salsa teacher in the jaw with my elbow. Well, I don´t know what the problem is, but I did it again at my lesson on Tuesday and then again last night. Except last night when I whopped him, it was in the mouth and his lip started bleeding. Oh my gosh. This guy is going to start chargeing me extra for the medical bills. Today is my last lesson and I´m sure he is very happy to see me go. I think the lesson here is that I am not meant to dance salsa.
Headline: Gringa Hit by Chicken Bus
When I ride the bus home from work I have to get off the bus in the market. There are hundreds of busses there and it is like a mad house. So Wednesday, I get off my bus and cross in front of it to walk across the lane and into the market. Meanwhile I am talking to this girl who is the first American that I have met. I crossed infront of the bus and stopped to talk to her. I´m facing her with the oncoming trafic to my back. We´re talking and I hear this bus blairing it´s horn. I don´t pay it much attention because they always honk their horns at everything. All of a sudden she yanks be back about 3 feet. I turn my head just in time to see a chicken bus whiz by about 3 inches infront of my face at about 30 mph. The thing is that even if they have lots of time to slow down or stop...they don´t. They will run you over without hesitation. I was just like...stupid...stupid...stupid. When I was here this summer, Neal, one of the boys who traveled with me saved me from getting hit by a bus at least once a week. I don´t know what my deal is. I really need to start looking both ways before I cross.
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