Currently Tory, Caitlin (a friend from San Francisco who also was part of the project at the hacienda), & Mary (another SFan who met us 5 days ago) are in Antigua, Guatemala, and thankful for the altitude, coolness (it’s probably only 80 outside right now, and last night I wore a jacket), & resultant scarcity of mosquitos & fleas, thank the god(s) of your choice(s). This is by far the most gringoed out place we’ve been, since there are dozens of homestay language schools here & it’s therefore one of the most popular places in the world to learn Español. I’d say 1/3 to 1/2 of the people I see here are extrañeros. But an interesting side effect is that the native Spanish speakers are very used to people who are just learning, so they speak very clearly, slowly, & simply, and even if their English is better than your Spanish, they’ll stick to Spanish so you can practice. As a result i suddenly feel like i can speak intelligibly;). & Even aside from my newfound brilliance I like it here, it’s bloody gorgeous, surrounded by mountains & volcanoes & lush lush land. & did i mention no fleas?
Yesterday we left San Salvador by bus, crossed the border (where I managed to get mildly scammed three times in about 10 minutes, losing a total probably of $6, but still frustrating to realize that I’m just not the most street smart person out there, for all my other formidable talents), hit Ciudad Guatemala, damn that place is intense—smog, hustlers, sprawl, apparently serious gangs as well—tried & failed to get Tory’s return ticket changed from last Friday from San Slavador (i like that misspelling so i’m keeping it;) to the 31st from Mexico City (after repeated emails telling her that she could do that, the office said no, we don’t fly out of Mexico City). While she was in the office getting dumped by Taca, I stood with our taxi driver outside, talking about marriage & divorce & sex before marriage, lemme tell you he has some strong opinions & wanted to know all about me— had i had many girlfriends, had i had relaciones sexuales with them, will i get married, if i have kids would i ever consider divorce… He wasn’t judgmental at all, just really interested. He was also really impressed when i said i made about $800/month, and similarly amazed that i pay $525 in rent.
Thus thwarted, we pressed on via campesino bus (no chickens on board, alas, but someone’s parcel did picturesquely fly off the roof onto the highway) to Antigua. Off the bus there was the old familiar feeling of being hustled from every side. Much as I hate that (and reflexively say no to everyone without hearing a word they say), it did at least make me feel for the first time that I’m really traveling. That & finally using foreign currency & having to multiply & divide by 7.50 all the time… There was something about Colima & even San Salvador that felt too familiar. Probably partially due to using dollars & partially due to my expectation that all foreign countries should be as different from SF as Cairo, Jerusalem, & Istanbul are. Even Greece & Bulgaria, though in some ways familiar in that European “everything’s almost familiar except the cars & boxes & streets are too skinny & tall”, use different alphabets & no one smiles in Bulgaria;) All this is to say that I guess all my time living in the Mission has made Latin American culture familiar enough that I can forget I’m somewhere else entirely, perhaps just in Modesto.
Umm. Tangent. Anyway so before that we were in San Salvador for three nights & did very little. Stayed two nights with our friend Mauricio in his little basement apartment off his parents’ really nice house in a pretty posh neighborhood. Parts of their house have no roof, by design, because you just don’t need it (there are drains in the tile floors in those areas though) & extra airflow is much more important than hermetical seals. The architecture of the houses actually reminded me a lot of St. Croix when i was a kid.
We went to the mall (Mauricio’s attempt to shut us up from our constant requests for good coffee was to take us the “The Coffee Cup”, which sucked). We saw “21 Grams” subtitled in Spanish (which was actually helpful when the characters mumbled (or am i losing my hearing?)) at the “Foto Cafe”, which actually DID have good coffee. Mary & Tory both came down with pretty bad digestive issues so we all went to the medical clinic & got them their antibiotics, & both are feeling much better now. It rained torrentially one night, Mauricio’s roof leaked straight in & soaked a mattress, & i got some kinda cool photos of lightning.
before that we were two nights in a little hotel on the beach in La Libertad. the first night most of the hacienda folks were there so it was a nice cushy send off. ryder & lena & i played some music & we ordered food off a menu & didn’t all have to eat at the same time & i think there weren’t even fleas. (i think i haven’t mentioned in email yet but my left ankle was one night at the hacienda devoured by spiders, fleas, and of course mosquitos & swelled up insanely for about a week, basically until yesterday. now it just itches.) Swam in the unpacified Pacific during a gorgeous lightning storm. Got locked out of the hotel grounds & had to jump the fence to get back in.
The last few days at the hacienda were eventful & hectic. We had a party which started with a procession from the mural, led by Ryder, Lena & me, enshrouded in a dingy mosquito net, cascading sweat & playing a funereal klezmer kolomeike. Ryder described it as cathartic, like breaking a fever. Several people asked what it meant, a question which we left mysteriously unanswered, because we hadn’t really thought about that.
There were piñatas. Bloodthirsty kids. Griselda got punched in the eye for a dulce. The evening was calmer, just our closer commadres remaining. Rose & Shamita & Crystal & Melanie & i exited the guarded gate, crossed the highway, & played pool with the guys under the loving gaze of many swimsuited women on posters (was it love or lust i saw in that one girl’s eyes?).
I don’t know. i think there was lots more but i feel like i’ve been typing for hours & that my stories are getting increasingly dull (not that they were fascinating to start with). so i’ll stop. we’ll be here another night, then probably somewhere on lake atitlan, then perhaps quetzaltenango, then san cristobal (chiapas mexico), then oaxaca, then d.f. to see where the virgin mary appeared, then home, in just ten days, strange. i’ve never traveled so quickly…
anyway i have no phone number for the moment, nor text message access. but internet in antigua is fairly cheap so i’ll check again tomorrow before we leave.
love p
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