My So-Called (Guatemalan) Life Pt. 1

So, I’m yet to really say much about things here. In between bouts of New-York related lexical diahorrea (and some bouts of the more real kind) I’ve been too busy to write much about what I’m actually doing here. Over the next thousand words or so I’ll try to put that right.

I’ve now been here for about two and a half weeks, though it feels quite a lot longer than that. My weeks have taken shape now and its clear that I’m going to be very, very busy over the next year. I did point out to people before I left that I wasn’t going on holiday, but to have to be up before 7am six mornings a week was rather unexpected. I’m up to teaching about 21 hours per week, to a mixture of young and old, Korean and Guatemalteco at the school and at two local companies. Once you factor in lesson planning as well as six hours of Spanish per week, then you can see I have a pretty packed schedule. The good news is that I do really enjoy it. Most of my classes are a joy to teach and we have a great deal of fun. It also means that I’m going to have more disposable income than I’ve ever had, and absolutely no time to spend it. I’m beginning to think that some traveling after this may well be in order.

The school itself is great. A large, cool building set in a tropical looking garden. We get hummingbirds feeding on the flowers just outside the windows I’m looking out of, which was tremendously exciting when I first noticed it. The people here are lovely and we are well looked after. The Spanish speaking receptionists also make sympathetic conversation partners for learners like me.

Similarly, our house is a joy. I live with three other teachers in a terracotta brick house with marble floors. It’s so huge that we don’t use half of downstairs, though this is also partly due to the current lack of furniture. We have a lovely back patio with built in barbeque, ideal for parties for the half of the year when it’s not raining (see photo in previous post). The house is set in a ‘residencia’, a gated community which is staffed by shotgun wielding guards. They are terribly efficient at stopping anyone unless they are ogling a pretty ‘chapina’ walking past, in which case all and sundry are allowed to enter. While I feel slightly guilty about locking myself away from the city, it is a relief when I pass through the gates. Everyone here lives behind some form of security – I’m afraid that it is a necessary evil. Anyway, we do walk to school through the local neighbourhood, which is more than most of our neighbours do.

In terms of going out and doing stuff, I’ve done fairly little here so far. The truth is it’s not very safe to go out after dark, and most of us are too tired after school anyway. We have had one epic night out around ‘Las cien puertas’ (The hundred doors) in Zona 1 but we were chauffered there and back. Our plans to escape the city at weekends have been scuppered by the fact that either myself or one of my housemate’s has been ill almost continuously. I think it’s due to adjusting to the food, and the recent cold snap that saw temperatures fall as low as 13C! I am plotting escapes at the weekends, though having just given most of my cash to Banco America Central only to be told I can’t access it for 8 working days, I may have to put those plans on hold. The good/bad news is there’s no such thing as ‘going to the pub’ here really – the closest we get is strolling to our local taco stand and buying a couple of litres of ‘Gallo’ from the shop next door to drink with our meal. Last time the owner sent his infant son to get our beer for us - I don’t think there’s much in the way of licensing laws here. The food is great here. We buy fresh vegetables on our way home and eat an awful lot of salad (I know, how the carnivorous have fallen) and it’s heartening to know that anything you eat has been picked within a few miles, rather than flown across several oceans and then polished to within an inch of its life. Local comedors (eateries) provide most of our meals out, often eating there is cheaper than cooking yourself - a meal and a drink will set you back no more than 20Q (about $3).

So that’s really it, in a nutshell. I get up at about 5:50am, usually get back about 8pm and go to bed soon after that. I’ve not been shot or stabbed as of yet. As I’ve said before, I think I’m more likely to get run over. Expect news on any adventures soon, hasta pronto!

Some Photos...

I thought you all might like to see one or two photos of Guatemala. I haven't taken too many as it's a bit of a risk to take the camera anywhere (the basic rule here is never leave the house with anything you can't afford to lose), so these are all from within the confines of our little gated community...


This is part of the inside of the house - putting phtographs up of the whole thing would take a while because it's absolutely huge. The effect is heightened by the fact we're somewhat lacking in furniture, but I'm assured that this is being worked on.



This is the back garden, and very nice it is too. Note the walls which mercifully provide a bit of shade for pasty folk such as I. Also note the built in barbeque, tasty.



Our residencia backs on to the 'barranco' (ravine), one of several which run through the city. This goes all the way to the airport, which you'd think would might provide a handy shortcut for travelling folk, but apparently to go down into it 'would be suicide'.


Looming over the barranco is the volcano, Fuego, which sits just outside the city. It's still active, but not really in the erupting sense (I hope). It is pretty impressive though, we plan to climb a different volcano (Pacaya) in the forthcoming weeks.

This is 21-80 (our house number) crew (well, three of us at least). From left to right are Andrea, me and Alice who all live together, plus Mike, who teaches in our sister school up in Coban. Here, we are pretending to be gangsters, a useful skill in a city like this. Come on, really, would you mess with us?

In terms of what I'm doing with myself, I'm actually working pretty hard. I teach 13.5 hours a week at the school but there's a lot of planning involved with that and I also have 6 hours of Spanish classes a week. I had my first experience of bad reaction to food or water on Saturday and was violently ill, but seem to be fully recovered as I write this on Monday morning. Very strange. That's about it for now, I'll write more soon.