from septa buses to roosters

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that´s the first sound the morning greeted me with...5am roosters...as opposed to the 5am septa bus zipping down brown street. here it is, the transition. bienvenido a guatemala. after a long flight and layover in miami, by the way, note to self, if you want to learn to speak spanish go to miami airport. the plane landed to fiona apple´s shadowboxer and i was picked up by my host family, barbara, jorge and their son, carlos. driving through guatemala city....burger king, mcdonalds, blockbuster video....and yes even a HOOTERS. the family is looking at my reaction to see if i am relieved or repulsed at the familiarity...i think it´s best to stay neutral.

i´m staying in antigua, an hour outside of guatemala city, and it seems just as many tourists as guatemalans here...both dissapointing and comforting. it´s easy to get around, the town is small, the climate is pleasant, there is an internet cafe about every 50 feet, things are cheap, the people are nice...although i´m warned not to go out after 8pm alone. and seeing the numerous police and security guards with large guns i´ll take their word for it...yet 60% of the police force is corrupt, so there´s a bit of dodginess in the air. i am taking spanish courses and am happy that a majority of the students are from around the world, not just the states. i am also back to remembering things like....conserve electricity, lack of hot water, short showers...bad plumbing-no throwing toilet paper in the toilet, living in a shared space, strange and unpleasant smells and giving up the comforts and control you have in the states.

i have befriended a few foreigners....rebecca (23) from australia, a med student working as a volunteer in a hospital for 3 months. she tells me stories about the conditions of the hospital. it is a good reminder that we are damn lucky. she said there are so many eye injuries, because no one uses or i think even heard of safety goggles....there are also many foot injuries because most of the workers have no shoes. yesterday a man came in you could see straight to his skull, his skin torn off half his body, and his scrotum ripped off from a motorcycle accident, that is not the sad part. the sad part is that there is not enough morphine.

i like rebecca because she mentioned in passing that she hasn´t worn or owned make-up in 10 years. but it was her comment on the opposite sex that i like...after a few rum and pepsis at cafe mono loco, rebecca explains that boys are like that foaming insulation you put around windows in the winter...and once one gets in your head it expands and fills your brain completely leaving bearly enough room to eat and breathe. of course it sounds even better with her australian accent.

i have met thomas...18 years old from holland and volunteers everyday with a program that takes care of children too young for school but whose mothers have to work and whose fathers left them. he speaks 5 other languages which is always impressive to me since i am struggling with a second.

there is also robert, from sweden taking intense spanish so he can travel around mexico for the next few months..being the tall swiss boy that he is, poor robert has to duck about 80% of the time. the people are so small here, you wouldn´t believe it, but i´m ABOVE average height. anyway, this little trio was together for some time in antigua before i arrived...they work hard and play hard, they often have tired faces but it´s a different tired than the kind of tired faces i see in office cubicles...it´s tired with a smile.

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