Buenas
That's how people greet you in Guatemala. I prefer it, as you don't have to make the difficult choice of saying "Good afternoon" or "Good evening," which for us English-speakers is nigh impossible to distinguish. Just cheat and say "buenas." Covers all contingencies.
Anyways, back from my trip south. Guatemala is gorgeous, lush, cheap, and extremely dodgy in parts. I think some of that is due to the not-too-distant civil war. But there is a real bunker mentality there - sixteen-year-old "security" guards carrying machine guns at your local supermarket, concertina wire encircling most homes, attack dogs as pets. And I was so worried about it.
But you know where I actually got assaulted? Here, in San Antonio. Yesterday the Texan and I were baby-sitting for some friends. I was rough-housing with the kids (because we were entering our third straight hour of SpongeBob and I was going to snap if I had to listen to one more second of that) and, well, the four-year-old totally decked me. It was an accident, but I have a lovely black eye now. I need to go into my new place of employment in a few hours to turn in some paperwork, and I'm sure they'll be rethinking their recent hire. Ah well.
Back to Guatemala: Very cool place to explore. I actually did some museum visits this time - it's just a coincidence that one of them happened to be hosting a Christmas bazaar - and got to see a good chunk of the country. Besides running all over Guate City, I went to Antigua, a UNESCO world heritage site, and the black sand beaches at Monterrico. Both were stunning, but for different reasons.
And, at the risk of TMI, I kept my record intact of puking on every international trip this year. This time it was due to my insistence on having a heavy steak meal on Thanksgiving, when it was super-hot and a completely bad idea.
RollerDiscoMonkey was the perfect host and completely patient with my dueling cleanliness and water obsessions, gamely asking the server every time I expressed trepidation if the ice cubes were made with tap or bottled water.
I came back to Texas to find that the gun shop on the corner has opened up a shooting gallery. Good to be home.
Anyways, back from my trip south. Guatemala is gorgeous, lush, cheap, and extremely dodgy in parts. I think some of that is due to the not-too-distant civil war. But there is a real bunker mentality there - sixteen-year-old "security" guards carrying machine guns at your local supermarket, concertina wire encircling most homes, attack dogs as pets. And I was so worried about it.
But you know where I actually got assaulted? Here, in San Antonio. Yesterday the Texan and I were baby-sitting for some friends. I was rough-housing with the kids (because we were entering our third straight hour of SpongeBob and I was going to snap if I had to listen to one more second of that) and, well, the four-year-old totally decked me. It was an accident, but I have a lovely black eye now. I need to go into my new place of employment in a few hours to turn in some paperwork, and I'm sure they'll be rethinking their recent hire. Ah well.
Back to Guatemala: Very cool place to explore. I actually did some museum visits this time - it's just a coincidence that one of them happened to be hosting a Christmas bazaar - and got to see a good chunk of the country. Besides running all over Guate City, I went to Antigua, a UNESCO world heritage site, and the black sand beaches at Monterrico. Both were stunning, but for different reasons.
And, at the risk of TMI, I kept my record intact of puking on every international trip this year. This time it was due to my insistence on having a heavy steak meal on Thanksgiving, when it was super-hot and a completely bad idea.
RollerDiscoMonkey was the perfect host and completely patient with my dueling cleanliness and water obsessions, gamely asking the server every time I expressed trepidation if the ice cubes were made with tap or bottled water.
I came back to Texas to find that the gun shop on the corner has opened up a shooting gallery. Good to be home.
posted by Her Ladyship @ 12:14 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home