More Randomness

A beautiful view of Antigua and one of its volcanos.

Other interesting adventures and quotes:
So we went to visit my aunt (my madre’s sister) down the street. In Guatemala everyone is very hospitable and generous and before too long, someone is offering you banana’s and honey or orange juice or cookies. Now, their homemade lemonade/orange/papaya/pick any fruit juice is AMAZING and completely made from scratch. However….we have to drink things made of “agua pura"= pure water...and not everyone has boiled water on-hand or uses the bottled water service. The kitchen sink is filled with water that comes from I’m not sure where and flows into a large waist high concrete square container called a pila. So auntie’s children emerge from the kitchen with purple drink and I’m like, “DANG, how am I supposed to ask if this is pure water?” I’ve only been here six days and I have no idea if I will be socially shunned or stoned to death for being the jerk that asks if the water is purified. So I said nothing but imagine the kids scooping pila water into my cup and throwin in some grape flavor, giving it a stir and putting it in my hand. Having just gotten over five days of vigorous gastrointestinal….cleansing, I was not too keen on drinking my juice. I politely took a sip and held the rest in my lap until I proceed to spill half of it on my skirt. Now everyone’s giving me the stank eye and my madre says, “That’s why you should just drink it.” I managed to escape having a parasite in my small intestine by insisting that we share. Phew….that was a close call!

A view of the old capital in Antigua.

So I think this story is hilarious. A little too much info, but necessary to explain one of my “favorite” experiences. So one night I was really sick. I swear I spent no less than three hours on the toilet poopping out everything in both intestines. But it wasn’t enough. Something wasn’t right and I wasn’t feeling any better. The whole night as I trudged up and down the stairs over and over and over and over and over again, all I could keep thinking was, “UGGGGHHH I wish I could just throw up. I know I’d feel better if I just threw up.” So finally somewhere near 5 am after another trip to the bathroom, I ‘m standing there washing my hands, standing like the hunchback of notre dame, looking and feeling pathetic and thinking for the millionth time about blowing chunks. “I wish I could just…. BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH….BLAAAAAAAAAAAAH……BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.” I promise you in the middle of saying that it really happened! It was strange because I started laughing. I wish I could have seen myself, throwing up my guts and laughing at 5 am.

So the moral of the story? When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are...your dreams really can come true : ) I know you probably don’t care and wish I hadn’t told you, but this is also my diary, so you’ll have to deal. lol

Another funny story from a fellow PC trainee:
So one lady’s madre is always falling asleep at the table during dinner. That night, as everyone was making fun of the madre for not finishing her dinner before passing out, my friend taught her family how to say “wake up” in English. So everyone gets really quiet and she shouts “WAKE UP!” However… wake up sounds a lot like hueco. Hueco means queer in Spanish. My friend explained to us that not only did she feel like a jerk for shouting at her mom and waking her up, but she also called her queer. LOL

Some of my host family: Chico (22), Don Tereso, Me, Dona Mira.

Random side note: I was on the bus that dropped me off in the campo/country and I had to walk to the plaza where my house it and I wasn’t sure which way to go. But as luck would have it, the young drunk was passed out on his corner (there’s on old drunk on another corner) and I knew I was close to home! Que suerte no? How lucky!

Lastly, Guatemala is SO LOUD! Seriously one morning I woke up early to have my Bible study and do some homework. I kid you not, at 5:45 am host brother is BLARING Christian salsa music. I mean it’s so loud my floor and walls are shaking. The funniest part, when I went for my bathroom break at 6:30, madre says, “What are you doing up so early?” I’m like, SERIOUSLY! If I hadn’t set my alarm the gallos/roosters off-pitched squalling would have roused my by 5:30 and then of course there’s the vibrating of my walls and floor. I died laughing inside! Oh and sometimes those gallos are confused because they start singing at 10:30…..pm. And I can’t forget the dogs, who, from all across the pueblo, spontaneously raise their voices in a midnight anthem. It’s so much more interesting than in the states, where everything is calm and mostly predictable.

Guatemala is full of bright colors!

Last random thought: I’m pretty sure my uterus has been permanently dislodged from its God-given location. In Guatemala, old school American school buses are the local transportation….. CRAZY drivers + cobblestone + pedestrians and motos/motorcycles all over the place + constant horn honking = jarred uterus, arm sandwiches with the people on either side and bruises on my knees because I’m technically a giant in Guatemala and don’t fit in the seats. What an adventure every day!!
Ok that’s it….until next week : )