Sunday, November 23, 2003
"Oh Shit!!! The police are here!!!"
So that was the quote of the night on friday night. My friends and I went out friday night. We went to the same place we always go to on friday night, Cafe 2000. There is a law in Antigua that the bars must stop serving alcohol and close at 1am. It's so stupid because it is only in Antigua. So at one everyone is standing around trying to find an "After Party". In the last few weeks a bar called La Sala has been serving after 1am. You have to get there by 12:45 otherwise they don't let you in. So Friday night we all decided to go there after Cafe 2000. So it's about two o'clock and we are all sitting on these couches talking. All of a sudden there was this pounding at the door. We just thought it was some kid wanting in. When the owner opened the door, the police came rushing in. There was about 5 of them and all of them had those big ass guns that will blow a bowling ball size whole through you. All you could here as they entered was "Oh shit, the police are here". I think about 20 different people said it at once. Anyway, long story short, the owner walked outside with them, paid them and they left. But while the owner and the police were talking all the "extranjeros" (tourists) got really scared and there was a made dash for the door. My friends (all of whom were Guatemalan) just kind of sat there and waited for everything to settle down and laughed as people rushed out. There is one thing that I have definately learned about Guatemala, there is no law that money can't change.
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So that was the quote of the night on friday night. My friends and I went out friday night. We went to the same place we always go to on friday night, Cafe 2000. There is a law in Antigua that the bars must stop serving alcohol and close at 1am. It's so stupid because it is only in Antigua. So at one everyone is standing around trying to find an "After Party". In the last few weeks a bar called La Sala has been serving after 1am. You have to get there by 12:45 otherwise they don't let you in. So Friday night we all decided to go there after Cafe 2000. So it's about two o'clock and we are all sitting on these couches talking. All of a sudden there was this pounding at the door. We just thought it was some kid wanting in. When the owner opened the door, the police came rushing in. There was about 5 of them and all of them had those big ass guns that will blow a bowling ball size whole through you. All you could here as they entered was "Oh shit, the police are here". I think about 20 different people said it at once. Anyway, long story short, the owner walked outside with them, paid them and they left. But while the owner and the police were talking all the "extranjeros" (tourists) got really scared and there was a made dash for the door. My friends (all of whom were Guatemalan) just kind of sat there and waited for everything to settle down and laughed as people rushed out. There is one thing that I have definately learned about Guatemala, there is no law that money can't change.
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Wednesday, November 19, 2003
The President's New House
The current president is a guy named Alfonso Portillo. In January the new president will come into office and so it is customary for the out-going president to build himself a new house. Most of the ex-presidents build in Antigua, however, Portillo has decided to build in a region called Zacapa. It's very rural and VERY poor.
He actually isn't building a house, he is building a huge ass mansion. There was a picture of it in the paper and it is one of the biggest houses I have ever seen. It is 25 meters by 10 meters (you guys can convert that cause I can't...I was a communications major). It is two stories with a porch running along the entire front on both floors. The walls are doubled, a wall built of cinderblocks then a space of 20 centimeters and then another cinderblock wall with poored concrete in the 20 centimeter space.
The property that he is building it on is a finca. I don't know how many acres, probably not more than 5. The property was first sold in 2000 for Q3,000, that's like $375 USD. It was sold to a guy name Juaez who was then accused of bank fraud. So in March of 2002, he "donated" the property to Portillo (the current president). The paper was noterized and it was official. Then in September of this year, the same notary made a note in the registry saying that the property wasn't free, but sold for an undisclosed about of money. Then in the Office of Property Registry there was a note found that the bank had gaurenteed a loan for this property that was certified in March 2002 for Q75,000 or $9,375. Hmmmm...Now I'm not property whiz, but that is quite a jump in market value. So who is he paying off and why...very interesting...the greatest part of all of this was a quote from the director of a labor union in Zacapa. He pretty much summed up my feelings about the whole thing. Speaking about the mansion and the land he said
"This place is an ofense to the population because Zacapa is one of the departments where famine is right around the corner"
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The current president is a guy named Alfonso Portillo. In January the new president will come into office and so it is customary for the out-going president to build himself a new house. Most of the ex-presidents build in Antigua, however, Portillo has decided to build in a region called Zacapa. It's very rural and VERY poor.
He actually isn't building a house, he is building a huge ass mansion. There was a picture of it in the paper and it is one of the biggest houses I have ever seen. It is 25 meters by 10 meters (you guys can convert that cause I can't...I was a communications major). It is two stories with a porch running along the entire front on both floors. The walls are doubled, a wall built of cinderblocks then a space of 20 centimeters and then another cinderblock wall with poored concrete in the 20 centimeter space.
The property that he is building it on is a finca. I don't know how many acres, probably not more than 5. The property was first sold in 2000 for Q3,000, that's like $375 USD. It was sold to a guy name Juaez who was then accused of bank fraud. So in March of 2002, he "donated" the property to Portillo (the current president). The paper was noterized and it was official. Then in September of this year, the same notary made a note in the registry saying that the property wasn't free, but sold for an undisclosed about of money. Then in the Office of Property Registry there was a note found that the bank had gaurenteed a loan for this property that was certified in March 2002 for Q75,000 or $9,375. Hmmmm...Now I'm not property whiz, but that is quite a jump in market value. So who is he paying off and why...very interesting...the greatest part of all of this was a quote from the director of a labor union in Zacapa. He pretty much summed up my feelings about the whole thing. Speaking about the mansion and the land he said
"This place is an ofense to the population because Zacapa is one of the departments where famine is right around the corner"
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Monday, November 17, 2003
Christian's Dad
I have a friend here whose name is Christian (he went to the beach with me). Anyway, he saw me Friday and was like "Melissa, you look like hell". Of course I thanked him for his kind words and was like, I'm sick, leave me alone. Anyway. Come to find out, his father is a doctor here. So I told Christian all of my syptoms and then on Saturday when I saw him, he had a perscription for this really strong antibiotic that his father had wrote out for me. I started them on Sunday and by Monday morning I felt significantly better. My nose is still stuff and hack up stuff in the morning, but I can already see an improvement. I am so thankful to his father because I didn't want to spend the money to go see a doctor and he really didn't have to write me a script. That's one of the things I really like about Guatemala...
Teaching Position
I got an email Sunday, telling me that I had gotten the job as a teacher at a private school here. Yikes! I'm very excited and think it will be a lot of fun, but at the same time I am scared to death. I'm really afraid I'm going to be a bad teacher. Monique (the director) told me that they would train us and that everything would be fine, but I'm going, geeze this is going to be tough. Anyway. I would work from January 5 until some time in October, more or less 10 months. I think when I get back I will then start applying to graduate school and do a Masters in Latin American Studies. We'll see. My life is completely upside down at this point.
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I have a friend here whose name is Christian (he went to the beach with me). Anyway, he saw me Friday and was like "Melissa, you look like hell". Of course I thanked him for his kind words and was like, I'm sick, leave me alone. Anyway. Come to find out, his father is a doctor here. So I told Christian all of my syptoms and then on Saturday when I saw him, he had a perscription for this really strong antibiotic that his father had wrote out for me. I started them on Sunday and by Monday morning I felt significantly better. My nose is still stuff and hack up stuff in the morning, but I can already see an improvement. I am so thankful to his father because I didn't want to spend the money to go see a doctor and he really didn't have to write me a script. That's one of the things I really like about Guatemala...
Teaching Position
I got an email Sunday, telling me that I had gotten the job as a teacher at a private school here. Yikes! I'm very excited and think it will be a lot of fun, but at the same time I am scared to death. I'm really afraid I'm going to be a bad teacher. Monique (the director) told me that they would train us and that everything would be fine, but I'm going, geeze this is going to be tough. Anyway. I would work from January 5 until some time in October, more or less 10 months. I think when I get back I will then start applying to graduate school and do a Masters in Latin American Studies. We'll see. My life is completely upside down at this point.
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Friday, November 14, 2003
Elections Are Over-Killer Cold
Well the elections ended with little action. There have been a few protests here and there but it has been relatively quiet. The run-off is now scheduled for December 28th. The two candidates are Berger and Colom. It is rumored that the FRG (party of Rios Montt) is going to support Colom and that Montt is going to use Colom as a puppet if he wins the presidency. Anyway, we will find out. Other than that it has been very quiet here outside of the daily chicken bus accidents and occasional shooting in Guatemala City.
So Monday night I started getting this cold. Well of course I wait until yesterday to finally go buy some medicine and start taking it. I have completely lost my voice and my throat hurts like hell. I bought some Tylonal Cold but that runs out after about 5 hours, so last night I took some Bayer Aspirin just to see if that would help a bit. Holy cow that is the best stuff in the world. My throat had never felt better. Up until that point I had seriously wanted to die. I now love Bayer Aspirin and think that it must be the best stuff in the entire world. I am going to recommend it for EVERYTHING. Anyway...my mom here (Iris) thinks that I need to go to the doctor, but I figure I only have 8 more days and whatever I have is not going to kill me before I get back home. I'm just going to sound that crap for a little while. No big deal.
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Well the elections ended with little action. There have been a few protests here and there but it has been relatively quiet. The run-off is now scheduled for December 28th. The two candidates are Berger and Colom. It is rumored that the FRG (party of Rios Montt) is going to support Colom and that Montt is going to use Colom as a puppet if he wins the presidency. Anyway, we will find out. Other than that it has been very quiet here outside of the daily chicken bus accidents and occasional shooting in Guatemala City.
So Monday night I started getting this cold. Well of course I wait until yesterday to finally go buy some medicine and start taking it. I have completely lost my voice and my throat hurts like hell. I bought some Tylonal Cold but that runs out after about 5 hours, so last night I took some Bayer Aspirin just to see if that would help a bit. Holy cow that is the best stuff in the world. My throat had never felt better. Up until that point I had seriously wanted to die. I now love Bayer Aspirin and think that it must be the best stuff in the entire world. I am going to recommend it for EVERYTHING. Anyway...my mom here (Iris) thinks that I need to go to the doctor, but I figure I only have 8 more days and whatever I have is not going to kill me before I get back home. I'm just going to sound that crap for a little while. No big deal.
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Sunday, November 09, 2003
In the Eye of the Hurricane
Today is the day of the elections. For the last few months it has been like a hurricane of advertisements, protestes, riots...you name it, we've had it. But now the silence here is almost deafening. Yesterday I went through central park and there were almost no foreigners. It's like everyone disappeared. There has been a no drinking law put into effect for 48 hours and so you can't even drink in your house. Iris, my mom, went to vote today. It was the first time she has voted since she was 18. There was a big push here for people to go vote to help ensure that Rios Montt would not be one of the candidates in the runoff. So right now everything is quiet and we are all waiting to see what is going to happen. The results will not be announced until tomorrow morning and so I am sure we will be back in a hurricane of press, propaganda and protests again...
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Today is the day of the elections. For the last few months it has been like a hurricane of advertisements, protestes, riots...you name it, we've had it. But now the silence here is almost deafening. Yesterday I went through central park and there were almost no foreigners. It's like everyone disappeared. There has been a no drinking law put into effect for 48 hours and so you can't even drink in your house. Iris, my mom, went to vote today. It was the first time she has voted since she was 18. There was a big push here for people to go vote to help ensure that Rios Montt would not be one of the candidates in the runoff. So right now everything is quiet and we are all waiting to see what is going to happen. The results will not be announced until tomorrow morning and so I am sure we will be back in a hurricane of press, propaganda and protests again...
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Friday, November 07, 2003
Hitch Hiking to the Beach
My friend Niki asked me last week if I wanted to go with her to the beach. She knew that I have been under a lot of stress lately and thought I could use the break. Of course I jumped at the idea because I love the Pacific Ocean. She left for the beach on Sunday, but I had to wait until Monday to go because I had a job interview. There are no shuttles that go down during the week so I was going to have to go by chicken bus. I was not real keen on the idea of going down by myself so we invited Christian and Mario to come down with us.
So the three of us set out on Monday at 11:30. First we took the bus from Antigua to Esquintla (about 1 hour) I almost immediately passed out. For some reason when I get into a vehicle I can't stay awake (just ask Zac). In Esquintla we had to change buses, but first we went to buy me a bathing suit. I don't know why I didn't bring one. We bought my bathing suite and I went to the bathroom at a barber shop and then we were on the bus for Puerto Viejos. We were on the bus not 10 minutes when I realized that my money and house key had fallen out of my pocket. I lost Q400 ($50), luckily I had another Q200 in my other pocket so it wasn't a complete loss. I just hope the person that found it needed it more that I did, which is extraordinarily likely. So I gave the rest of my money to Mario to hold since obviously I am completely irresponsible.
About half way to Puerto Viejos the boys tell me we have to get off the bus. We get off the bus at this cross roads with gas stations (very american looking). We go into the gas station, buy some beer and frijoles and then head back out to the rode. I'm thinking we're going to get on the next bus, but we keep walking. I look at Mario and ask "Are we hitch hiking?" He tells me yes and I am like no way dude. So I sit down because I want no part in this. I have never hitch hiked in my life and I am definately not starting in Guatemala. After 5 cars pass us he tells me to stand up and help. So I get up, stick my thumb out and this transfer truck stops. The boys are jumping for joy (we had been out there 5 minutes it was about 92 degrees and the sun was getting unbearable). The three of us pile into the cab of the truck and we are off to the beach. The truck driver drove us almost all the way to the beach and let us out about 10 kilometers from the beach. We hopped out of the cab said thanks and we started walking again. We heard another truck coming and so the boys told me to stand there and stick my thumb out while they sit in the grass. So I did it, the pickup truck stopped and we all piled in. It was so much fun. This truck took us all the way to the beach, arriving at about 4pm.
We met up with Niki who was staying at El Delfin. It cost about $3 per night so we have four people in a room with 2 single beds. The beds are stuffed with sea grass and straw so it is not the most comfortable, but what do you expect for 3 bucks. Luckily it had a mosquito net and fan which really is all you need.
Tuesday I got up at about 7am. I watched the sun rise and sat on the beach for about an hour. I love the pacific ocean. For some reason I can put my life in perspective when I'm at the beach. Niki came out to the beach around 8 and so we decided to get the day started sun bathing. If any of you can recall this summer, I went to the beach in NC one time and came back red as a lobster. I didn't even want the sheets in my bed to touch me. I am still mentally recovering from that burn experience and so when we went out to lay by the pool Niki was floored by how much sun block I was using. She was like "You're never going to get a tan" We layed out until about 10 when I started getting hungry. Out of nowhere the boys brought this huge pan of rice and 4 spoons. They had brought down bags of rice to eat and we payed this woman Q5 to cook it for us. Oh my gosh is was so good. We ate on the rice all day. That night we ate tomato and mayo sandwiches for dinner (we were going cheap since none of us had any money). About an hour after dinner I was still hungry so I went in search of chocolate. I found these little packs of Oreos. So I brought back Oreos and milk for everyone, it was a big hit.
Wednesday we didn't get up until almost 10. It had been so hot when we went to sleep, but then in the middle of the night is was freezing cold. Mario was kind enough to give me the only sheet during this freezing period, but then by 8 is was roasting again and so we were all sweating to death. It's terrible sleeping under these conditions because you do not want to touch the person next to you, but if you hug the edge of the bed then the mosquito net is touching you and you are all sticky and it's just really gross. Anyway. So I was the sun block queen for another day on Wednesday although I had a tan line from the day before that I proudly showed Niki. We layed out by the pool almost the entire day. At about 4pm we went to swim in the ocean. It's a bit dangerous there because the current is really strong and the waves are between 10 and 15 feet. We swam around for about an hour and then the boys decided to play soccer. It's so entertaining to watch a soccer game in the sand. We ate rice again all day and the women also cooked us some pasta. I was still hungry as usual and so I went a bought a chocobanana. Oh my gosh these are the best things are earth. It is a huge banana on a stick dipped in chocolate and it's only Q1 which is like 20 cents. They are sooooo good.
Thursday morning I got up and went out to the beach at about 7am. I sat there and watched the ocean. The only place in the world that I really feel at peace is at the Pacific. I don't know what it is. I sat there and thought about my life and the decisions I am making and where my life is going. For so long I have been living my life as a destination and not a journey. I'm always anxious to "get to the part". But this is the part, this is life and I need to live it. I'm at peace with what I'm doing and the decisions I am making and I know everything is going to work out the way that it is supposed to i just have to have patience.
Originally we had all planned to leave on Thursday, but Mario met a girl and wanted to stay longer. Christian and I knicknamed him Mariposa (butterfly) because he flits from girl to girl like butterflys do from flower to flower. Mario left with some girl thursday morning for a town nearby where is friend lived. But one problem, he took my money with him and I didn't have any money to get back. So Christian and I started hitch hiking at 11 so try to get to this town about 45 minutes away. We hitchhiked and walked for 2 hours and only got 10 kilometers. Finally a bus passed us at 1 and we got to Puerto Viejos at about 2. From there we caught a ride to Lanquin where Mario was. Oh my god the houses in the neighborhood were so phat. This was where the money was. Mario was like come on and stay a night here at my friends house, but I couldn't because I had a job interview this morning at 9. Well of course Christian decides to stay with Mario and I have to get back to Antigua by myself. Mario helped me catch the bus and talked to the driver to have the driver take care of me. I left Lanquin at about 3 something. The bus took me to Esquintla and the driver told me exactly where to go and what I needed to do. From the bus in Esquintla I got on the bus to Antigua.
Now if you will recall I was asleep last time for the entire ride, this time I was not sleep since I was by myself. Needless to say I got a little scared when we got off the main road and started going down this dirt road. This was not like a regular dirt road, this thing had pot holes and all kinds of crap along side it, very sketchy. We were like driving through a river bed for a bit and there where all these no trespassing signs, I was like where the hell am I going. But I didn't freak out, nor did I think I was going to die although it almost passed through my head. We got off the main road and onto dirt roads three times. By the third time I was ready to get off and walk except that it was dark by now. Anyway, long story short the bus arrived in Antigua at 7pm. I had been traveling since 11am that morning. I was absolutely exhausted.
It was one of the most fun beach experiences I have every had, to the say the least it definately was the most interesting full of new experiences. But I think more than anything I needed to get to the ocean to think and to figure what the hell I am doing and I have that figured out now.
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My friend Niki asked me last week if I wanted to go with her to the beach. She knew that I have been under a lot of stress lately and thought I could use the break. Of course I jumped at the idea because I love the Pacific Ocean. She left for the beach on Sunday, but I had to wait until Monday to go because I had a job interview. There are no shuttles that go down during the week so I was going to have to go by chicken bus. I was not real keen on the idea of going down by myself so we invited Christian and Mario to come down with us.
So the three of us set out on Monday at 11:30. First we took the bus from Antigua to Esquintla (about 1 hour) I almost immediately passed out. For some reason when I get into a vehicle I can't stay awake (just ask Zac). In Esquintla we had to change buses, but first we went to buy me a bathing suit. I don't know why I didn't bring one. We bought my bathing suite and I went to the bathroom at a barber shop and then we were on the bus for Puerto Viejos. We were on the bus not 10 minutes when I realized that my money and house key had fallen out of my pocket. I lost Q400 ($50), luckily I had another Q200 in my other pocket so it wasn't a complete loss. I just hope the person that found it needed it more that I did, which is extraordinarily likely. So I gave the rest of my money to Mario to hold since obviously I am completely irresponsible.
About half way to Puerto Viejos the boys tell me we have to get off the bus. We get off the bus at this cross roads with gas stations (very american looking). We go into the gas station, buy some beer and frijoles and then head back out to the rode. I'm thinking we're going to get on the next bus, but we keep walking. I look at Mario and ask "Are we hitch hiking?" He tells me yes and I am like no way dude. So I sit down because I want no part in this. I have never hitch hiked in my life and I am definately not starting in Guatemala. After 5 cars pass us he tells me to stand up and help. So I get up, stick my thumb out and this transfer truck stops. The boys are jumping for joy (we had been out there 5 minutes it was about 92 degrees and the sun was getting unbearable). The three of us pile into the cab of the truck and we are off to the beach. The truck driver drove us almost all the way to the beach and let us out about 10 kilometers from the beach. We hopped out of the cab said thanks and we started walking again. We heard another truck coming and so the boys told me to stand there and stick my thumb out while they sit in the grass. So I did it, the pickup truck stopped and we all piled in. It was so much fun. This truck took us all the way to the beach, arriving at about 4pm.
We met up with Niki who was staying at El Delfin. It cost about $3 per night so we have four people in a room with 2 single beds. The beds are stuffed with sea grass and straw so it is not the most comfortable, but what do you expect for 3 bucks. Luckily it had a mosquito net and fan which really is all you need.
Tuesday I got up at about 7am. I watched the sun rise and sat on the beach for about an hour. I love the pacific ocean. For some reason I can put my life in perspective when I'm at the beach. Niki came out to the beach around 8 and so we decided to get the day started sun bathing. If any of you can recall this summer, I went to the beach in NC one time and came back red as a lobster. I didn't even want the sheets in my bed to touch me. I am still mentally recovering from that burn experience and so when we went out to lay by the pool Niki was floored by how much sun block I was using. She was like "You're never going to get a tan" We layed out until about 10 when I started getting hungry. Out of nowhere the boys brought this huge pan of rice and 4 spoons. They had brought down bags of rice to eat and we payed this woman Q5 to cook it for us. Oh my gosh is was so good. We ate on the rice all day. That night we ate tomato and mayo sandwiches for dinner (we were going cheap since none of us had any money). About an hour after dinner I was still hungry so I went in search of chocolate. I found these little packs of Oreos. So I brought back Oreos and milk for everyone, it was a big hit.
Wednesday we didn't get up until almost 10. It had been so hot when we went to sleep, but then in the middle of the night is was freezing cold. Mario was kind enough to give me the only sheet during this freezing period, but then by 8 is was roasting again and so we were all sweating to death. It's terrible sleeping under these conditions because you do not want to touch the person next to you, but if you hug the edge of the bed then the mosquito net is touching you and you are all sticky and it's just really gross. Anyway. So I was the sun block queen for another day on Wednesday although I had a tan line from the day before that I proudly showed Niki. We layed out by the pool almost the entire day. At about 4pm we went to swim in the ocean. It's a bit dangerous there because the current is really strong and the waves are between 10 and 15 feet. We swam around for about an hour and then the boys decided to play soccer. It's so entertaining to watch a soccer game in the sand. We ate rice again all day and the women also cooked us some pasta. I was still hungry as usual and so I went a bought a chocobanana. Oh my gosh these are the best things are earth. It is a huge banana on a stick dipped in chocolate and it's only Q1 which is like 20 cents. They are sooooo good.
Thursday morning I got up and went out to the beach at about 7am. I sat there and watched the ocean. The only place in the world that I really feel at peace is at the Pacific. I don't know what it is. I sat there and thought about my life and the decisions I am making and where my life is going. For so long I have been living my life as a destination and not a journey. I'm always anxious to "get to the part". But this is the part, this is life and I need to live it. I'm at peace with what I'm doing and the decisions I am making and I know everything is going to work out the way that it is supposed to i just have to have patience.
Originally we had all planned to leave on Thursday, but Mario met a girl and wanted to stay longer. Christian and I knicknamed him Mariposa (butterfly) because he flits from girl to girl like butterflys do from flower to flower. Mario left with some girl thursday morning for a town nearby where is friend lived. But one problem, he took my money with him and I didn't have any money to get back. So Christian and I started hitch hiking at 11 so try to get to this town about 45 minutes away. We hitchhiked and walked for 2 hours and only got 10 kilometers. Finally a bus passed us at 1 and we got to Puerto Viejos at about 2. From there we caught a ride to Lanquin where Mario was. Oh my god the houses in the neighborhood were so phat. This was where the money was. Mario was like come on and stay a night here at my friends house, but I couldn't because I had a job interview this morning at 9. Well of course Christian decides to stay with Mario and I have to get back to Antigua by myself. Mario helped me catch the bus and talked to the driver to have the driver take care of me. I left Lanquin at about 3 something. The bus took me to Esquintla and the driver told me exactly where to go and what I needed to do. From the bus in Esquintla I got on the bus to Antigua.
Now if you will recall I was asleep last time for the entire ride, this time I was not sleep since I was by myself. Needless to say I got a little scared when we got off the main road and started going down this dirt road. This was not like a regular dirt road, this thing had pot holes and all kinds of crap along side it, very sketchy. We were like driving through a river bed for a bit and there where all these no trespassing signs, I was like where the hell am I going. But I didn't freak out, nor did I think I was going to die although it almost passed through my head. We got off the main road and onto dirt roads three times. By the third time I was ready to get off and walk except that it was dark by now. Anyway, long story short the bus arrived in Antigua at 7pm. I had been traveling since 11am that morning. I was absolutely exhausted.
It was one of the most fun beach experiences I have every had, to the say the least it definately was the most interesting full of new experiences. But I think more than anything I needed to get to the ocean to think and to figure what the hell I am doing and I have that figured out now.
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Saturday, November 01, 2003
Mozart´s Requiem and Broken Glass
Last night was the first Halloween in five years where I have gone out and it has not rained. We started the evening by going to a free concert offered by the Jesús Castillo Symphonic Orchestra and the Guatemalan National Chorus. It was held in La Merced, a beautiful church. The acoustics were terrible, but the music was so moving that it didn´t matter. Of course I cried and was completely emmotional through the entire thing. After that we went to a Halloween party at Casbah. Casbah is a local night club here. We walked in and it was absolutely jam packed. Marisol (my friend) and I decided that we wanted to go dance. We get out on the dance floor and there is broken glass everywhere. I now understand why in the clubs in Raleigh that they have the rules, 1. No drinks allowed on the dance floor and 2. Drinks are served in those stupid tiny plastic cups. Here they were serving these people bottles of beer and pint glasses for the liqour drinks. Every five minutes you could hear a glass breaking. It was absolutely ridiculous. I kept thinking that surely to God this must be a safety hazard. Besides the fact that when a fight broke out the one guy broke a bottle over the other guys head which makes for a great bloody mess. So as tranquill as the night started it ended up being pretty crazy.
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Last night was the first Halloween in five years where I have gone out and it has not rained. We started the evening by going to a free concert offered by the Jesús Castillo Symphonic Orchestra and the Guatemalan National Chorus. It was held in La Merced, a beautiful church. The acoustics were terrible, but the music was so moving that it didn´t matter. Of course I cried and was completely emmotional through the entire thing. After that we went to a Halloween party at Casbah. Casbah is a local night club here. We walked in and it was absolutely jam packed. Marisol (my friend) and I decided that we wanted to go dance. We get out on the dance floor and there is broken glass everywhere. I now understand why in the clubs in Raleigh that they have the rules, 1. No drinks allowed on the dance floor and 2. Drinks are served in those stupid tiny plastic cups. Here they were serving these people bottles of beer and pint glasses for the liqour drinks. Every five minutes you could hear a glass breaking. It was absolutely ridiculous. I kept thinking that surely to God this must be a safety hazard. Besides the fact that when a fight broke out the one guy broke a bottle over the other guys head which makes for a great bloody mess. So as tranquill as the night started it ended up being pretty crazy.
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