“spirtually and passionately alive”
Continued from Managing the Unexpected…
“You’ve got to hand it to Fabio. He has expertly made a career in teaching sustain a high-end lifestyle that directly immerses him into all kinds of exotic cultures.”
“It is a proud moment when you wrestle with another, brand new language and manage to successfully communicate.”
Finally, it was time for me to head back to Copan and actually trek into Guatemala and on to La Antigua as I had originally planned. My friend, Jonathan, would be arriving in Guatemala City in the next couple of days and I needed to meet him. I had also made contact with the popular English-speaking magazine The Revue in La Antigua and I was anxious to explore work options with them.
A prior contact I had made through Couchsurfing and Facebook was also having a going away party in the City. That worked out quite well because Fabio invited me to crash at his place so I could attend his party then pick up Jonathan from the airport in the wee hours of the morning the next day. Fabio was just finishing up his third and last year serving as principal of The American School of Guatemala. The prestigious high school is part of The Universidad del Valle educational system. This system caters to the country’s wealthiest families and the children of many of the country’s leading politicians and businessmen attend the high school Fabio was directing. He has since left for Canada where he’ll spend the summer catching up with family before leaving for his five-year contract with a similarly prestigious high school in Beirut, Lebanon. You’ve got to hand it to Fabio. He has expertly made a career in teaching sustain a high-end lifestyle that directly immerses him into all kinds of exotic cultures. Before Guatemala, he was directing a high school in Malaysia. Before that, he taught in Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand. I was hoping to conduct an official interview of Fabio before he took off… but amidst his despedida (farewell) and my laptop saga, we didn’t get the chance to do it. I would like to add that Fabio has an excellent art collection with unique pieces from around the world. I thought I was in an art gallery and not a home when I visited him. He was also nice enough to buy two of my photos.
I had arrived in the City the evening before the despedida, which proved to be useful for Fabio. When I joined Fabio first at Cheers and later at Rattle & Hum for some live music, he explained that he needed a substitute teacher for the next day and he asked if I would do it. I have never substitute taught, but with a college degree I am qualified. I readily obliged because I thought it was cool that my first sub teaching experience would be in Guatemala… but I did get $50 for the gig to boot. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it was interesting, for the first time in my life, to be at the head of the classroom. My day wasn’t too hard. It was the last week of school so two of the classes I subbed for simply had review packets to work on. The other two classes I led had an exam to take. The kids did try to challenge my authority. First, I tried to reason with them, telling them I didn’t want to be their babysitter and that they knew what to do, how to behave. Half the class responded… but half didn’t. So, I made a deal. They could continue to talk as long as they wanted, but I would hold on to their tests until they were quiet. If they talked after the tests were passed out… well I would then assume they were finished with their exam and would collect it as is. That seemed to do the trick. The kids went silent, I passed out the test and everything went off without a hitch! I did learn though, that if I ever taught, it would have to be at the collegiate level. Truth is, I don’t want to baby sit. I never was big on babysitting as a teenager and I’m still not, even if it’s in a school setting. I don’t like to be told what to do, nor do I like to tell others what to do. I love to lead and encourage, but regulate… eh, I’ll leave that job to someone else. I will say again though, that I thoroughly enjoyed the unique experience, which taught me yet even more… about myself. I also met another good contact through the experience. Richard Clinton is the high school’s college advisor. He also teaches a few classes at the University. Because of Richard, I became clued into FotoKids. His cousin used to work as a photographer for the NGO, which teaching indigenous children at Lake Atitlan high-tech skills in photography, videography, graphic design and more. It’s an organization with which I would love to get involved.
That night we had the going away party. I had a great time as we chilled, chatted and danced the night away at Cheers in Zone 10. Remember, Guatemala City can be quite dangerous. But different zones have different reputations. While police won’t even dare to enter Zone I8, Zone 10 is known to be more upscale and relatively safe… relatively that is, ahem. At the party, I met more Couchsurfers from Guatemala. Two girls I knew from my past trip, whom I had met at San Pedro de la Laguna on Lago de Atitlan (Lake Atitlan), also came for the party. I wound up joining them and a few others to an underground techno club after things died down at Cheers. It was quite late/early by the time I made back to Fabio’s. Fortunately, I had emailed Jonathan earlier in the day with the directions to Fabio’s so he could grab a taxi. Jonathan arrived as Fabio was getting ready to take off for school. As for me… I was still sleeping and woke in a sleep-deprived fog when Jonathan arrived. I was grateful that he felt exhausted from his overnight flight and thought catching some more shut-eye wouldn’t be a bad idea.
When we officially roused ourselves for the day, the first thing I wanted to do was fire up my computer with my new adapter! Oh and the laptop saga continues… now the touch pad was locking up. Its response went from bad to worse in minutes. Now it is to the point that if you merely graze it, it will freeze the entire computer even if you have an external mouse plugged wired to it. The laptop will work with an external mouse, but the moment you accidentally touch the touchpad… you’ve got to reboot. So that was it. I didn’t have an external mouse. Nor could I honestly work productively with a computer that had so many things going wrong. I simply had to invest in a new one. I had no other choice. That day Jonathan and I found a same as cash credit card deal with the first purchase made from the Apple Store. Thus, I signed up and purchased my computer. I had already gone more than a week without being able to work or cultivate work. I needed a computer ASAP. Thanks to Jonathan’s parents, the computer would be shipped to Guatemala overnight as soon as it reached their house. And that’s when Fabio raised his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t expect to receive that computer to arrive on time,” he warned. I didn’t want to believe him though. I needed to be back to work if I was going to make living here Central America work. And I needed my computer to work. “We’re sending it overnight through Fedex, I explained. “Everything should be fine!” Fabio was generous enough for me to use his school’s address in order to have a more secure shipping address. But, he warned again, that I shouldn’t expect to receive the computer on-time. Either way, we had a few days because it first had to be shipped from Apple to Jonathan’s parents’ house. And from the parents’ house to Guatemala. Plus, it was a Thursday evening when I ordered it. Thus, the next day we took off for La Antigua Guatemala.
Sofia, my friend with whom I had stayed often during my last trip had moved. I would be getting to see her new house! Plus, her birthday party was Saturday. Perfect timing! Yet Sofia wasn’t home when we arrived. Ironically, she was in the city getting supplies for her party from her mom’s house. Sofia’s new roommates Alicia and Maria unquestionably welcomed Jonathan and I though and made us feel quite comfortable. There was also a German couple renting out the 4th room for the month, so it was quite the full house. And a beautiful house I might add. Most of walls are painted in a warm rusty red while a few others are painted in a relaxing sky blue. Dark blue accenting trim is scattered throughout the house, coating a ledge or rimming an arched-shaped shelf that tunnels into the thick walls. There is an enclosed outdoor opening with an arched entry and a beautiful stone fountain attached to the one of its walls. These walls are formed with large stones and decorative brick. Maria’s parents have brought pots of palms and other leafy plants as well as a statue depicting an indigenous woman carrying water on her head in order to further decorate the fountain area. It’s quite the relaxing little oasis that is both inside and outside. These enclosed outdoor spaces are common to the Spanish-style colonial architecture of La Antigua. I absolutely love having the outdoors inside. When it rains I can sit in the kitchen and watch as raindrops splatter upon the fountain and surrounding plants.
On Saturday, before the party, I took Jonathan out to explore Antigua Guatemala… Parque Central and its three fountains, el Mercado, the old cobbled streets lined with colorful colonial facades and crumbling ruins. We stumbled upon a smaller market where indigenous women dressed in the rainbow patterned blouses and skirts of traditional Guatemalan costume hawked their handmade goods in front of ancient church ruins.
Sofia’s party was a riot. Tons of people showed up and I got to see both familiar faces and new. Eventually we set up a piñata that not only instigated laughs but also a bit of unintentional violence as a dizzy batter missed the piñata and went after the laughing onlookers.
To celebrate Sofia’s official birthday, which fell on Monday, we went out for dinner at Pescada Italiana. I chose the special: sweet potato gnocchi. The dish was muy muy rico… like seriously, ridiculously savory. The others all shared a pizza. I had a sampling of that as well and it was just as delectable. I’ve got to go back for more. In fact… mmmm… now I’ve got a craving for the gnocchi! When you do find your way to La Antigua Guatemala, I definitely recommend this little gem of a restaurant. The rest of the week Jonathan and I lazily explored Antigua as he stayed connected to his online work and I explored my options for work in the quintessential colonial town. I introduced him the popular Wifi spots The Bagel Barn and Rainbow Café. The Bagel Barn sits on the corner of Parque Central and they offer quite savory bagel sandwiches along with the traditional flavored bagels with flavored cream cheese. Each evening the café also hosts a movie for travelers to chill out and watch while they’re passing through La Antigua. You can find live music most nights at Rainbow Café. On Monday nights, the candlelit restaurant/lounge, which boasts a nook of mural-painted walls, dark sweeping drapes and gem-colored pillows, hosts its social awareness lectures. Representatives from NGOs and other social groups will come in and spread the word about current issues and needs in Guatemala, about their organization and about what can be done to improve the country as well as the lives of the country’s less fortunate. At both cafes, you can invariably find an interesting traveler to chat up. Jonathan wound up using his minimal Spanish to communicate with a Japanese traveler who also spoke minimal Spanish. The exchange was fun to watch. Now, my Spanish certainly isn’t fluent, but I can rattle away in grammatically poor conversations and I can understand most nearly everything when locals rattle away in their perfect, street Spanish. Seeing Jonathan use his limited vocabulary to communicate though, reminded me of the joy I had when I first used my few words to successfully communicate with and understand locals and other travelers. It is a proud moment when you wrestle with another, brand new language and manage to successfully communicate. Jonathan’s face reflected that same joy that I have come to know well on my travels. He reveled in the experience and I was happy to see he did. It’s one of the many treasures of traveling. One afternoon Jonathan and I made the short hike up to Cerro de la Cruz. I need to find out more about the history of the spot, but a large cross marks a small cemetery on one of the sloping hills that surround La Antigua. Our efforts to reach the spot were rewarded with a beautiful view of the cityscape and the mountains and volcanoes beyond. We could have picked a clearer day to go though. Next time!
Nights are always lively in Antigua with Ladies Night on Tuesdays at Mono Loco and Ladies Night on Thursdays with salsa at La Sala. We also enjoyed fun salsa nights at Sin Ventura and shared a bit o luck of the Irish at Reilly’s Pub. Plus, we managed to fit rock climbing in at a nearby gym as well.
Finally, on Thursday I had Jonathan convinced to make the trek up Volcan Pacaya, to walk on hardened lava and watch as new, flaming red lava flowed down the volcano’s slopes. While Jonathan was gone for the afternoon his volcano hike I managed to finally meet up with the editors of the Revue. The meeting went quite well and my working relationship with the Revue began. We came up with a nice list of story ideas that they agreed they would be interested in printing. Thus, as soon as I received my new laptop, I could begin working on a freelance basis with Revue, selling them articles and photos. The magazine is a monthly publication, however, so it’s quite evident I will need to find some alternate income. I also discussed more frequent blogging work with the editors, John and Terry. They are quite enthused about further developing their content online. But, they need to find a way to finance it. Businesses and advertisers here in Central America seem to be two steps behind in realizing the complete value of online media and promotion. It’s all in the works though and I’m excited to see if I can be a part of truly developing the industry here.
Jonathan reported that his trip to Volcan Pacaya was an experience yet unmatched… I knew he would love it! I wish I could have gone with him. But, my priorities now are to find a way to make a living down here. On Friday, Jonathan had set off for his flight back home to California. It was a quick visit, but I hope it’s one he learned from and enjoyed!
Through the nightly social buzz of La Antigua, I was quickly making new friends fast. Aside from Sofia’s new roommates, I’ve met Bonnie, an Australian girl who works with Sofia’s boyfriend at Mono Loco. Alejandro is originally from El Salvador and we all fondly refer to him as El Guanaco (the El Salvadorian). He’s the one that’s really involved in the rock climbing and who clued us in to the rock climbing community here in La Antigua. I was first introduced to Carlitos at Reilly’s and ran into him again at Mono Loco. He’s becoming a regular in my social circle as well.
That weekend we had another birthday to celebrate. This time the party was for Sofia’s friend Jose. The house was packed. All the familiar faces were there as well as more new ones. The last stragglers at the party didn’t wrap up until 6 in the am, but I couldn’t hold out past 4 am and went to bed “early.”
Throughout the weekend there was no news from the city that my computer had arrived. It was supposed to arrive Friday, so I was sure that Monday it would come. Thus, I joined Carlitos on the chicken bus ride back to the city late Sunday evening. Carlitos works in the city and usually comes to La Antigua often for a fun night out.
Come Monday… and still no laptop. I was staying with Fabio again, basically twiddling my thumbs as I waited for the computer. The news was that it was in country, in Guatemala City in fact, but it wasn’t being released by customs. We knew nothing more, but Fabio was calling frequently to push customs to get moving with processing my shipment. Carlos had the day off Tuesday because with his work his “weekends” fall on Tuesday and Wednesday. So, after kicking it at Rattle & Hum with Fabio, I met Carlitos and his friends at Cheers Monday night. I was also able to hang out with Carlitos and his friends during the day Tuesday while Fabio was at work and while I was waiting for my laptop.
Come Wednesday… the laptop still hadn’t been released. I was getting frustrated. But, at midday Fabio informed me that we had a meeting with a customs agent with SAP. The value of the computer had to be re-evaluated but after a long night of hunting for the SAP office within the huge airport complex and proving to them I had bought a refurbished computer and not a brand new one… they finally released it. I had to pay Fedex another fee of $33, which I didn’t understand because I paid $200 for the computer to be over-nighted and I received it nearly a week later. I was also supposed to pay 12% duty on the 1,000 figure they had come up with for the laptop’s value (its actually worth quite a bit more than that). Whoever did the calculation though must have mistyped when figuring the percentage because the duty I wound up paying was about one percent. Finally, a bit of luck in the whole fiasco! By 6 p.m. that night, I finally had my new, working computer in my hands!!
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