Ultimate Frisbee

Staff members at the school get together on Wednesdays and Sundays for rousing games of Ultimate Frisbee. I had never played before and was under the impression it was a laid back, slow-paced game for hippies. I guess it can be played that way, but the people here sure don't play like that. It's very fast-paced, much like soccer, with lots of running and sprinting up and down the field. Beth and I played our first game the Sunday before last and thoroughly enjoyed it. I went to the school yesterday afternoon around 3 to play, but once I got there, it looked like the game was rained out. The rain let up a bit, so I decided to stay and run on the track to still get some exercise (Beth took the bus home). Thankfully, more intrepid players showed up, and by 4 we had two teams of six ready to play! The rain came back, and even picked up, so by 4:30 we were drenched and playing in soppy, muddy field. I felt like a kid all over again getting so dirty like that! We played non-stop for more than an hour, and it was a great, fun workout.

Afterwards, we hiked up the hill to a patio bar, conveniently located next to a university, for rounds of Brahva (a cheap, bland, but-refreshing-after-an-hour-of-hard-running beer). By now, the sun was going down and covered up by thick clouds, so it was pretty chilly. Add in that we're all wet and drinking cold beer, and you can guess everyone was fairly cold. By about 6:15 everyone took off except for me and three others who are still staying at the hotel. We waited for our cab, and it was only supposed to be a 15-minute wait, but for whatever reason, the cab didn't arrive for at least 40 minutes. We were all shivering, dying to go to the bathroom, jump in a hot shower, and eat some pizza that was waiting for us (thank you, Beth!). When I finally got back, I took the best shower I've had in YEARS. It felt soooo good to finally be warm and wash off my mud-caked body.

Despite being so uncomfortable at the end, it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to play again Sunday.

Tremors

Last night around 10:30 Beth and I felt our very first temblores, or tremors! Kinda scary but also exhilarating. We were both in bed reading and could feel the bed shaking ever so slightly. At first Beth thought it was just me kicking my legs around as usual (RLS...don't make fun!). Since there was no roaring plane overhead (which is frequent) or large truck barreling by, we both knew what it was. It happened just two or three times in a three-minute span. Hopefully that's the most we'll ever feel, but these occurrences are common.

(There will soon be a weekend recap of our trip to Panajachel and Lago Atitlán. Beth wrote it Sunday, but somehow the draft was deleted, so she's rewriting it.)

My First Haircut

Well, I just experienced my first Guatemalan haircut. I was tempted to go to a barber and have him shave me up all local-like--buzzed short on the sides and back, heavily gelled and slicked on top--but decided to go to a "unisex" place next door to the hotel. My personal stylist's name was Carla, and she did a pretty decent job. I'm normally uneasy any time I get a haircut, as I never seem to get a consistent cut (partly that's my fault as I was getting it cut at an academy for $5 and the girls rotated in and out often). I looked up how to say "quarter inch" before going, and I think that helped, as she didn't go crazy and lob off everything.

I attempted some small talk with some small success. Although when she asked me questions about my hair, I couldn't understand everything and simply replied 'I'm sorry, I don't understand' in Spanish. All in all, I can't complain and it only cost $6.53 with tip. Here I am post-corte de pelo, although you really can't see much detail...

Daily Drawing

Some of you may wonder how I stay busy during the day. One of the ways is by drawing. I've loved to draw my whole life, but I have more often been frustrated by it than enjoyed it. So, I've neglected my talent and done next to nothing art-wise since switching majors back in 2002. Now that I'm here, I'm trying to devote time each day to drawing (and soon painting, once Randy and I are set up). I'm going through this amazing book by Preston Blair which teaches you how to draw in the great looking cartoon style of the '40s (think Merry Melodies and Looney Tunes). I'm basically copying every drawing in the book a few times over. This is what I did earlier. Such an ashamed dog...


And here are some pretty roses I bought Beth yesterday in honor of her first official day of the school year. Flowers are plentiful and cheap here, so Beth's going to receive a lot more than what she was used to.

Arbol De La Vida

Last night we went with a group a teachers to a vegetarian restaurant (a rare find in Guate) called Arbol de la Vida (Tree of Life) to celebrate everyone's first day of classes. As you enter the restaurant, you walk along a corridor that is flanked by up-lit lush vegetation, and before climbing up a few stairs to enter the main dining area, there is a mini pond complete with a live turtle swimming about. The place was spacious, but sadly empty besides our group. It was minimally decorated with Mayan sculptures and featured light fixtures that one would normally find in a pizza restaurant (angular, multi-colored panes of glass). The owner was a very pleasant man whose parents were from the U.S., but he grew up in Guatemala. He seemed to be running the whole show (although we saw a young man and woman emerge from the kitchen later on...and we even heard a dog bark from back there...which now sorta disturbs me since that was the cooking area...oh well.) and worked very hard to take our orders and bring out all our food in a timely manner.

For 55 quetzales ($7), you can get a choice of entrée, choice of soup, salad, and bread. Beth got a delicious spinach lasagna (can't remember the soup), and I got cannelloni with mushroom soup. Somehow an extra dish of mushroom quiche was made, so we all shared it. The salads featured ample portions of fresh avocado, lettuce, tomato, and a unique soy sauce-like dressing. Everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed their food (I think most of the group was either vegetarian or ate like one (in my case)) and thought it was the best they had eaten since coming to Guatemala. I'd say it was the first real "comfort" food we have had.

We will return to this place often, I'm sure.

Bowling, Running, Ultimate Frisbee...an Active Second Weekend!

Well the weekend is over, and we had a lot of fun in the city with a bunch of the staff members.

¡Boliche! (Bowling!)
Friday, Aug. 17
We got together with Randy, Iniyal, and Kelly and went grocery shopping as we wanted to cook a dinner together. We picked up what we needed and headed back to Kelly's place to prepare our dinner of rice, stir-fried veggies, and chicken. It was a late start to the evening, and I don't believe we ate until almost 9 p.m. We had planned to go bowling, but were all feeling pretty lethargic after our meal. Thankfully someone in the group had the energy to rouse us up and go check out the alley to see if they were still open at 10:30. Luckily, the place was, so we got a lane and an hour of bowling (with shoes) for $3 a person. We all played with sporadic moments of greatness, yet the highest score (by me) was a pitiful 99.

Iniyal lining up

Randy lettin' loose

Kelly bowling crazy bike messenger style

I'm about to pick up a 7/10 split ; )

Running, then Lounging
Saturday, Aug. 18
Beth and I stayed the night at Kelly's so we could go over to the school early and do some running on the track. It was a beautiful clear day and there was a nice breeze, so it felt just right for running. We were both anxious to see how how our bodies would fare distance running considering the altitude difference. At times, we've both felt winded easily (like climbing the five flights of stairs to Kelly's apt.) and blamed it on the altitude. We set out wanting to run four miles, and we accomplished that distance, we just didn't run it all. I ran the first three, but at a fairly easy pace, then caught up to Beth and walked the last mile with her (I was feeling tired). Beth's knee was hurting for some reason, so she didn't run the entire distance either.

Afterwards, we walked over to Kelly's classroom as she was there setting it up. Along the way, we met our new soon-to-be neighbors, Matt and Amy. They both were very friendly and we think they'll quickly become good friends.

That afternoon, Beth, Kelly, and I lounged around and watched the movie, Elizabeth Town and even got some laundry done. In the evening, we three explored a little of the city by driving over into a new section to visit the Hiper Paiz, which was basically a Guatemalan Super Center. Then we headed to the Metro Norte, a mall, to browse around and grab some dinner at the food court.

We've been to a few malls now, and one thing we've noticed is the abundance of shoe stores. I'm not kidding when I say at least half--it not more--of the mall's stores are shoe stores. I guess Guatemalans love their shoes. I have seen some size 12s, so maybe I'll actually be able to get some here if I want.

Another funny thing about the malls are the knock-offs. For example, we went in to a "GAP" and the clothes sorta looked GAP-like, yet they were also selling "Abercrombie and Fitch" branded clothes there, too. I think it's hilarious that these stores selling knock-offs are in an upscale mall.

Shalom the Baptist Church/Ultimate Frisbee & Happy Hour
Sunday, Aug. 19
Sunday morning Kelly picked us up and took us to her church. It's a baptist church, yet is called Shalom and has a star of David on the front of it. ??? Only in Guatemala, I guess. Sunday school was held in an adjacent building that also serves as a school, yet sorta looked like a prison. We sang some songs (although Beth and I didn't since we didn't know the words) and then a member of the class led a discussion of some text from Genesis (pronounced "henesis" by the Guatemalans). Kelly would fill us in from time to time about what was being discussed as we couldn't follow much of it. Beth wrote down new words to look up and I just read the text in English throughout the class.

The church service followed at 11 a.m. and commenced with praise music singing (this time there was a projector with the lyrics, so we could sing along...in Spanish!) by a large crowd of a few hundred, I'd guess. Then the preacher jumped right in and spoke for probably an hour+. True to his Baptist-ness, he spoke with great theatrics--his voice loudening and quickening, then abruptly dropping to a hushed whisper. Unfortunately, we couldn't follow much with our limited knowledge of the language, so again, Kelly would catch us up periodically. Overall, it was a great experience and we got to meet a lot of nice, welcoming people.

We had lunch at Kelly's and then relaxed for an hour before walking over to the school for our 3 p.m. game of Ultimate Frisbee. About 25-30 people showed up, so we formed three teams and played to 3 points so we could rotate often. It was Beth's and my first time ever to play, and we each were a bit apprehensive as neither of us are especially coordinated or good at team sports. We did fine though and had a lot fun, thoroughly wearing ourselves out. The pace was much like soccer, with lots of sprinting and continual running. I can't wait to play again next week!

After the game, we all walked up about a block to a staff member's house for a post-game happy hour. Once again we were treated to an amazing place. Their house was great, but their backyard was the best as it offered plenty of room for everyone and a direct view of the big volcano, Agua. They provided an assortment of salsa type dips and chips, as well as wine, beer, booze, and water. It was a fun way to relax after the game and get some more time in to meet new people. There were a lot of new faces as most of the staff from last year just returned this last week.

So that was our second weekend in Guatemala! We're having a lot of fun and we really appreciate the emails and positive feedback from you all.

Ron Mueck

This post is completely unrelated to Guatemala, but I feel I must share it since it's so neat. My friend, Genevieve, sent me an email with the following text and pictures. Enjoy!

Ron Mueck is a London-based photo-realist artist. Born in Melbourne,Australia, to parents who were toy makers, he labored on children's television shows for 15 years before working in special effects for such films as Labyrinth, a 1986 fantasy epic starring David Bowie. Eventually Mueck concluded that photography pretty much destroys the physical presence of the original object, and so he turned to fine art and sculpture. In the early 1990's, still in his advertising days, Mueck was commissioned to make something highly realistic, and was wondering what material would do the trick. Latex was the usual, but he wanted something harder, more precise. Luckily, he saw a little architectural decor on the wall of a boutique and inquired as to the nice, pink stuff's nature. Fiberglass resin was the answer, and Mueck has made it his bronze and marble ever since.

Neat Apartments/City Holiday/More Stomach Bug

Aug. 14
Beth and I went to another new faculty member's apartment for happy hour socializing. There was another 10 members of staff in attendance as well, along with some new faces who are friends with host's roommate. Aside from the fun of snacking and socializing, this apartment was totally chic (and that word's not part of my vernacular, but it does best describe it)---ultra modern, with great art and furniture from around the world everywhere (both the roommates have done a lot of traveling and living abroad). The really neat thing is that the building is built into a hill, so when we came in to the lobby, we were actually on the 9th floor and had to go down to get to his place. It was really foggy out when we were there, so I couldn't get a great view, but his balcony apparently looked out onto this beautiful forested ravine, with no other buildings in site. It was definitely the nicest apartment we've ever been in.

Aug. 15
Today was some city holiday, so everyone at school had the day off. It was great sleeping in (though we were still up early enough for our free breakfast downstairs) and taking our time. In the afternoon, we cabbed it over to Kelly's place, along with our other awesome friend, Charlotte (she's Canadian, just finished teaching in Kuwait, has great stories, and is a lot of fun). We all lounged around and ate popcorn while watching Garden State and getting up periodically to check out the volcanoes when the clouds would open up to reveal them.

After that, we went over to Jennifer's apartment (Jennifer is Beth's direct cohort at school) to have dinner with her. This was another amazing place. Jennifer's been living abroad and traveling for many years, and she has amassed a lot of beautiful and interesting ceramics, weavings, paintings, furniture, etc. We had fun slowly going through her place and hearing about all the stories each of these mementos held. Her apartment also had a direct view of the volcanoes, and they never get old to look at.

For dinner, she made us a tasty salad, rice with stir-fried veggies, and salmon. For dessert, we had chocolate-dipped apples and plums. Yum! It was great hanging out and chatting with Jennifer and a fun way to top off the unexpected holiday (I still don't even know what the day's significance was!).

Tengo delor en mi estómago (My stomach hurts)
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I was having stomach troubles. It seemed to get better, but has since come back to fight round 2. Beth left this morning saying she wasn't feeling well either. I've been taking daily pills to get better, so hopefully those will begin working soon... We'll keep you posted on this exciting development.

Last, sorry if you haven't been able to access our Flickr pictures. I'm trying to get that fixed this morning, so keep trying.

In God We Trust!

(Written by Beth "Teca" Mildren)


So far, our time in Guatemala has been stress-free and fun (minus James' Rumbly Tumbly). I feel compelled to enter one of the main reasons for our great experiences--God has put Kelly in our life, and there is no other way to explain it. Well, James and I have been praying that God will Provide for us. And He, of course (por supesto), has! Among many of the wonderful blessings we have already seen in the last week alone, Kelly Seagraves may be the greatest angel of them all. Seriously. She has been such a fantastic addition to the Mildren Familia! I already feel as if we have been friends for a very long time. She is extremely funny and sweet and caring and helpful, and we both feel lucky that she has befriended us! So, I will do a Top Ten list for the multiple reasons Kelly has been fantastico (in no particular order):

10. Kelly was a Spanish teacher in the U.S. in Georgia. She has a soft Southern accent (Tim, my twin, would appreciate it). Near and dear to our hearts are Spanish teachers-obviously-and Kelly definitely carries out her job with enthusiasm. BTW--she will be teaching 3rd grade here.

9. As eluded to in #10, Kelly is bilingual!! This has saved us many-a-time so far. Small examples, you ask? First, Kelly was able to check out how many minutes I had left on my cell phone, since the operator is en espanol. Second, she was able to tell James what kind of antibiotics he needed for his tum-tum tonight, and even get the pharmacist to bring down the price.

8. Kelly has lived in Guate City before, and she knows her way around this crazy, backward, chaotic-driving city. She knows where to go for groceries, medicine, apartments, and so on. She doesn't get lost. Also, she knows the traffic rules, which are insane. For example, if you are merging onto certain lanes, YOU have the right of way. If you are at a stop light at an awkward hour when no other cars are around, you can look both ways and just drive through it. If you see a stop sign, ignore it!

7. Hence #8, this also means that she has a car (her roommate's) and has been a dear and has driven us around, explaining the culture and the landscape, too. We have learned that sticking your hand out the window signals that you want to merge, or you want to turn. You turn on your emergency hazard lights if you want to do any or all of the following: emergency, stop, slow down suddenly, car breaks down, turn left, turn right, signal that the traffic slows down up ahead, touch your breaks in any way. Easy, right?

6. Kelly is caring and giving. We knew we were going to have to get a cellular tellular for James since we'll be at difference places often and will need to call each other, but we didn't know how to buy one or what the contract, etc. was. Well, Kelly just *happened* to have a roommate moving back to the States, and she just simply gave us her old roomy's telephone! How great! She also told us about "Double" and "Triple" days here in the city. Everyone's cell plan is pay-as-you-go, so you buy cards worth $ that you enter their PIN and get minutes on your phone. But randomly (often), there are days that you can get twice or thrice as many minutes as the card is worth. Kelly also gave us a bottle of contact solution when we were almost out, which is apparently expensive here. God provides, I tell you! Just earlier in the day we were lamenting how we needed solution. Incredible!

5. Kelly's penthouse suite is amazing, and she lets us hang out there! Not that this hotel isn't great, but her place has a view of all of the volcanoes, the city, the airport, and the greenery. It's breathtaking. We have politely invited ourselves over as many times as possible. We've seen the sun set, the rain, and the clear views. There are four separate giant balconies plus the roof at this place. Talk about beautiful!


4. Kelly has let us get to know her Guatemalan roommie, Rebecca (shortened and pronounced "Ray-vay" in Spanish). Rebe is also very smart and very bilingual, and we were lucky enough to be there for a get-together where Rebe's friends and cousins/brothers (most bilingual, too) came over. We got to ask them all sorts of silly Gringo questions, like which Spanish accents they thought were ugly and to do impersonations of different Spanish accents (things we could NEVER distinguish). They told us that the Spanish (in certain parts of Spain, anyway) and Ecuadorians have, in their opinion, the "ugliest" accents because they drop the s's off of the ends of their words and do "th" for "s" in Spain. They said that Mexican Spanish is sort of like singing. Their impersonations were hilarious to us!!

3. Kelly is outgoing and fun-loving. Both highly important characteristics for James and I. She laughs at our jokes (we're still warming her up obviously! ;) and is quick-witted with her retorts! She doesn't seem to mind us hanging out doing nothing at her place, and has lots of great stories of her own that she's willing to share.

2. Kelly seems to sincerely like us to! So it's great that we aren't having to drool all over Kelly without some Love being thrown our way, also :) We're so glad that she wants to be our friend, and is undoubtedly special to us.


1. Kelly is so GREAT! We have loved getting to know her, and we are almost sure we have found a co-founder for a CAG Bible Study. Hopefully on her rooftop. Everything else on this list is just gravy. :)

So that's my I Heart Kelly rant.

First Weekend in Guatemala

We Found an Apartment!
Aug. 10
Friday I met with three realtors and saw five different places. The first place I saw was what we ended up getting, and one we had seen online and liked months ago. It's very nicely done with contemporary materials; has a great, open layout with big windows and views; is just the right size with 2.5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms; is close to Beth's school; and is next door to another couple that works at CAG! I pretty much knew right away it was the one, but still looked at others to be sure.

Beth and I saw one other place that had us really considering it strongly. It was a penthouse suite on the 15th floor of a building in the heart of Zona Viva, which is the nightlife section of Guate. It's in the process of being remodeled and looks very promising. It had AMAZING views of the city, a killer balcony, recessed lighting, upscale materials used, etc. -- and all for only $700 a month. It was really a deal and an amazing find. But, ultimately we decided that the first place made more sense financially and socially (cheaper per month and closer to school and friends). So, it was hard to turn it down, but I'm sure we'll be happier in the long run. We passed along the opportunity to some other teachers, so maybe they'll snatch it up.

Friday Evening
We walked over to the night-lifey section with Randy and Iniyl and ate at the trendy little restaurant, Taco Tento, which had tasty food for about $3.50 a plate. We picked up some Moza beer on the way back and hung out in Randy and Iniyl's hotel patio for a couple hours chatting before all retiring early.

My First Time to Antigua!
Aug. 11



After knowing of Antigua since Beth's first trip there in the summer of '03, I've been dying to visit this little, Spanish colonial town. We liken it very much to Lawrence in that it offers a lot for its size. It has tons of great artisan shops and restaurants, and is a big tourist destination. It was formerly the country's capital, but after numerous earthquakes and one especially bad one in 1773, they moved it to Guatemala City. Many of the prominent buildings have visible signs of damage, and the overall town has a charming look of old and worn Spanish colonial architecture. The town also offers great views of three volcanoes, and I could actually see the smoke billowing out of Pacaya! Awesome!



All the new faculty went to Antigua together Saturday morning for a scavenger hunt. We were broken up into five teams and we each had a section of the town to navigate on foot. I believe it's only seven blocks by seven blocks, so it's easy to get around. Plus, there's little traffic on the cobblestone roads. We had a few hours to find specific shops and sights to photograph as a group. It was a lot of fun and a good way to begin orienting ourselves, as we'll be returning often.


Casa de Santo Domingo
A high point was exploring Casa de Santo Domingo, an expansive old monastery that is now a hotel. It was lush in plants and flowers and had beautiful grounds. We got there early enough to see a worker bring out the parrots that hang out in perches during the day. Check out more pictures on Flickr.

The group met back up around 3 at a cafe for gellato and drinks (many enjoyed mojitos) and then went back to Guate. around 4. Randy, Iniyal, Beth, Jennifer (early childhood principal), and I decided earlier that we would stay the night, so we hung back and continued to explore. We continued to check out the shops and stopped off in the late afternoon at the Irish pub, Reilly's, for a happy hour beer. We broke off from Jennifer afterwards (she was staying with some friends), and the four of us checked into our hotel/hostel.




Our Cell
Our hotel room cost $12 a night and consisted of a room with a bed and nightstand. The bathrooms were communal, though with individual stalls and at the end of a hall and not part of a large bathroom. It was pretty meager and our bed was not the most comfortable ("worst pillows ever"). Our room was really stuffy as there was no airflow, and the whole place honestly looked like an old jail, with one long hall and "cells" on each side, featuring bars over the one window we got, stacked multi-storied. But I'm not complaining, as we really just needed a place to store our stuff and crash for the night.

Saturday Night
After the four of us retired to our separate rooms and rested for an hour, we met back up and headed out to find dinner. We ate at a small restaurant that could hold maybe 20 people. We chose the place based on the sign outside advertising chicken curry. Inside, it was very dark and only lit by candles, but had cool music playing and a friendly Dane running the show. There were a lot of young travelers inside smoking/drinking/eating. We sat in the back corner next to this amazing iron candle stand. It's been in use for years, as there had to have been 100 lbs. of candle wax melted on it, giving it the appearance of a spooky flower. We were all excited for our food, and what we got was generous portions of rice and veggies, and a small amount of chicken, but definitely no curry. It had more of a gravy sauce. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't curry.

After dinner we walked a couple blocks over to the Rainbow Cafe. We ate there earlier for lunch, and we really liked the food and atmosphere. The middle of the restaurant is open-air (nearly all the shops and restaurants have an open-air section since the weather is so nice), and that's where we sat for lunch, in deck chairs around a table and under the sun. We came back because they had advertised a free vodka tasting and live music at night. When we got there, the tasting was over (but apparently we didn't miss anything, as the vodka was bad, according to the waitress) and the live music was a band of high school Guatemala City boys trying their best to rock out. We had fun hanging out in the back being flies on the wall and watching the band and their friends sing along and be rowdy. The bar started closing down around 11:30, so we headed back and called it a night.

We Befriended a Dutch & Went to the Market
Aug. 12
Saturday we were up early as the hotel was uncomfortable and loud (again, not complaining) and set out to find good coffee and breakfast. That morning the views of the volcanoes were especially good as the cloud cover was minimal. We took lots more pictures. Going by our guidebook, we searched for a few places and trekked around quite a bit before finally settling at a bakery and restaurant Beth knew from her previous trip. Before we got there, we witnessed a parade, which was really neat. We think now that it was actually a funeral, but at first we thought it was just some sort of religious holiday. There was a large marching band, many people holding religious icons (lots of mini alters with Mother Mary), and even a group carrying a casket. (Side note: at the head of the casket procession appeared to be a religious leader. He was helping guide the casket, but was also on his cell phone at the same time, which I found to be hilarious in an irreverent sort of way.) Along the way, people had made "alfombras" (which means "rugs"), which were decorative arrangements of flowers in the middle of the street. They were really pretty and the procession marched right over them.



At breakfast, Beth noticed a girl sitting by herself who was working on the computer the night before at the Rainbow Cafe. Being the outgoing and thoughtful person she is, Beth invited her to join us, which she happily did. Eileen was her name and she was on a three-month trip by herself. She is in between jobs and taking a break to travel parts of California, Mexico, and Central America. Eileen is from Amsterdam and was very interesting to talk to (she spoke great English). We really admired her courage to travel all by herself. We recommended a few things to do while in Antigua and then wished her well after breakfast.

After breakfast, we gathered our belongings and checked out of the hotel. We headed over to the market and met up with Jennifer again. She led us around the maze of stalls, explaining the unique foods and wares along the way. There were lots of delicious looking fruits and veggies, loads of fresh flowers, beautiful jewelery and crafts, and a meat market. The meat market was a sight to see. I've never seen whole back-ends of cattle skinned and up on hooks before or meat sitting out in such an unsanitary way. To me, it was more interesting than disgusting, as clearly people get by with their food handled in this manner. Beth, however, was nauseated by the sights and smells, and didn't really recover the rest of the day. I think it triggered a brooding upset stomach. We actually headed back to Guate. a little early as Beth wasn't feeling great. Unfortunately, the ride back was hilly and curvy, so that didn't make it any easier on poor Beth.

Once back at the hotel, Beth was able to relax and feel better. We met up in the afternoon with our friend, Kelly (who has the amazing penthouse apartment I mentioned previously), to have dinner and watch a movie at her place. Her roommate, a native Guatemalan, and her cousin joined us, as well as another five or six of their friends. So it was fun for Beth and me to chat with them in our broken Spanish (most of them spoke fluent English) and just hang out with some locals. We also got some laundry done there, which was helpful. We headed back around 9 and were asleep before 10:30. It was a full and fun first weekend in Guatemala!

I'm the First Casualty

Aug. 9
I figured it would happen sooner or later, so I guess right away is best so I can build up my defenses early... But I've already got some kind of stomach bug. Without going into details, let's just say I logged some time in the bathroom. I have no idea how or what I got, but no one else is having any troubles. For those of you who know me, you know I recently figured out I was lactose intolerant ("not that there's anything wrong with that...my mother's lactose intolerant" (Seinfeld...anybody?). Basically, I felt OK, but was weak as a kitten by mid-afternoon (dehydration) and slept for an hour and a half, stayed in for the evening (while everyone else was out mingling and having pizza at a faculty member's place) and read my book/watched TV, and conked out for good by 10:30. Feeling better today, but still fighting it...

So, my Thursday was pretty uneventful and I stayed in most of the day. I did head out around 11 a.m. with Randy to find a pharmacy for some pedialite-like liquid and also to head over to Radio Shack so Randy could buy a headset for Skyping. That was our biggest adventure and life skill developed for the day: crossing four lanes of traffic to get to Radio Shack. It was nice to know we could get across busy Avenida Reforma ala Frogger and not be "Game Over"ed.

I took a cab ride again in the afternoon to meet Beth and two realtors at 3 p.m. The realtors showed us two places. We weren't crazy about either place, unfortunately. Both were a bit pricier than we wanted, had lack-luster views, and some other elements we weren't crazy about. So, Beth being the go-getter she is, contacted other realtors in the area and set up appointments for today (Friday) to see some places we found online. I'm hopeful we'll find a place today. I will keep you all posted.

Our First Days in Guate.

Hi All,

Well, our travel blog, "teco/teca," is now up so we can keep you all informed about our experiences while living abroad in Guatemala. Before I get started recounting our first few days, I'll explain the name of our blog now to avoid confusion. To English speakers, someone from Guatemala is a 'Guatemalan,' and to Spanish speakers, they are a 'Guatemalteco.' So, our title basically means Guatemalan boy/girl. Clever, huh?

Aug. 7
Beth and I, along with Beth's parents, Steve and Jackie, got up from our Days Inn hotel in K.C. at 3:20ish a.m. to get to the airport in time for our 6 a.m. flight. Unbeknown to us, we got up too early as the airport didn't technically 'open' until 5 a.m., so we killed some time before our final goodbyes. We had five big suitcases--about 300 lbs. of luggage--as well as three carry-ons to haul, and our main concern was getting my new 20" iMac through without any troubles from security. Thankfully, I didn't even have to unpack it (which would have been a PAIN) as the lady in charge was confused by what exactly it was ("It's a computer and monitor all in one," we explained. "....so it's a monitor?," she said hesitantly. "Yeah...it's a monitor," we agreed.), so that worked out and off we went!

Our flight to Atlanta was uneventful and we each slept most of the way. It was delayed by about 40 minutes (and we only had an hour layover), but somehow we still got there in time to make our connecting flight with roughly 20 minutes to spare. On the way there, Beth and I played each other in a couple rounds of trivia on the screens in front of us, chatted with the man beside us who had adopted a Guatemalan child years ago (adoption is big in Guate.), and did some reading (I'm reading Chaim Potok's "The Chosen").

Flying in to Guatemala
The flight took about three hours and once we were near landing, we could really see the lay of the land. The city was amazingly broken up by large plateaus and ravines, with dwellings strewn everywhere--the majority being ramshackle, with rusting tin roofs--all surrounded by mountains and volcanoes (though we couldn't see the volcanoes from our p.o.v.). For a second, it freaked me out as it looked like we were going to land right into all those dwellings, but of course we didn't and everything was fine.

The airport was surprisingly modern, which makes sense, as it's basically all been redone and is up to some international standard now. So, we breezed through, found our bags right away, carted them up, and headed for customs. Again, here we were concerned about them questioning my large computer. But, we got our first taste of Guatemalan "law-sez-faire" and were just directed on through with absolutely no questioning or searching our bags! We found our contact right away outside, met some other new faculty, and boarded a bus with them and headed for our hotel. We were immediately struck by the pleasant weather and we still can't get over we'll be living in 60-78 degree weather YEAR-ROUND!

Our suite in the hotel is very comfortable and nice looking, with open windows and nice breezes (no need for a.c. or heat), located in Zone 10, also called "Zona Viva" since it's the nightlife section of the city, catering to tourists and the middle-and-upper classes. Once in, I hit the bed and napped for a couple hours, despite the noisy traffic just outside. Beth napped too, but not as long, so I'm not really sure what all she did while I was unconscious. I'm pretty sure I still had all my money and vital organs when I woke up... We got up mid-afternoon and headed out down the busy street the hotel is located on, Avenida Reforma, to get a look at what's nearby. I was a little nervous walking around, as we've read many times the city can be dangerous, but overall, people either didn't even look at us or they smiled, so it was fine. We walked five or six blocks and found a multi-story, open-air mini mall. I got an espresso, which was pretty good, and we meandered about looking at the shops and just taking it all in.

That evening, we met up with Beth's direct associate, Jennifer, who is the principal of the elementary at the CAG. She took us to a restaurant called Hacienda Real, which serves up very tasty Guatemala food, with their specialty in meats. I had a wonderful beef tenderloin with a dijon sauce; Beth had a kind of ceviche, which was basically a tasty shrimp soup; and Jennifer had a light dish with some sort of fish with cheese, crackers, and capers. We split a bottle of a red Chilean wine--yum! It was all really good and filling. After dinner, we headed back and crashed, getting a great night's sleep.

Aug. 8
Beth was up bright and early in order to have the continental breakfast downstairs and make the 7:15 bus. I slept 'til 9...and it was great. (Although, I'm not planning to make a habit of that at all. I plan to walk Beth to school each day, so I'm on an early schedule, and be especially productive in the mornings.) She attended orientation all day until 3, taking lots of pictures along the way of the beautiful campus. (We'll upload more soon to Flickr.) She's really excited about it all, and I'll let her chime in to tell you all more.

I haven't yet mentioned my new friend, Randy, whom we met on the bus ride from the airport, but this is basically where he comes in. Randy is also a trailing spouse like me, hailing from Toronto, and is here to spend his free time painting and a little web design work--basically the same situation I'm in! His wife, Iniyal, originally from Sri Lanka, teaches 6th and 7th grade math at CAG. So, he and I hit it off and have gotten along great and have many similar interests. Anyways, we met up around 11 a.m. to head out for some coffee and find some cheaper bottled water (the hotel's was a bit pricey) and tried not to look like vulnerable tourists as we tried to find this mysterious building next door that had a market (we never found it). But we had a good time walking around and chatting over some Cafe Americanos. We also had lunch back at my room (PBJs, graham crackers, and Japanese peanuts) and watched an episode of Flight of the Conchords. Later, we met back up to taxi over to the school together to meet our spouses and search for apartments.

The apartment hunt wasn't well organized, so Beth and I bowed out and decided to go see another faculty member's place and try our luck the next day with realtors. Beth's friend, Kelly, lives in suite with two other girls and this place is amazing. It is really big, with numerous balconies surrounding it, and best of all, the roof of the whole building is theirs, too! It has an awesome panoramic view and you can easily see the three volcanoes: Fuego, Agua, and Pacaya. I've already told Kelly she has to throw a rooftop party soon. Check it out:


After seeing her place, Kelly and her roommates, took us on a driving tour. Kelly is very brave. Guatemalan driving is crazy, with few laws regarded--stop signs being optional. So it was both exhilerating and fun to see the area. But by the end, I was ready to get out as I had inhaled so many fumes from all the traffic that I was feeling queasy.

We had a few hours to relax before dinner, so I did some reading and Beth searched online for more apartments. Around 6, we met up with Randy and Iniyal to go out to dinner with a friend I had made online a few weeks back. Her name is Amy and she is a teacher at another school in the city. I saw her profile on couchsurfing.com and struck up and email correspondence. Amy knows lots of CAGers, and we had dinner with her and another couple already working at CAG. We ended up having some appetizers and beer (had my first Gallo--Guatemala's Budweiser).


Later, Amy took us to another restaurant/bar, tucked away in this interesting building, which was U-shaped and had an open area in the middle with just three bars. It had a Middle Eastern flair, though the owner was Guatemalan. We ordered some hummus, tabouli, and kabobs--all were really tasty! I had another local beer, Moza, which is a dark, Bock style and was really good (probably going to be my Guate standby). We hung out for a couple hours and enjoyed the music., conversation, and food before retiring for the night.

Well, that's a lot to read, and I'm sure there's more, but that's it for now. We're having a great time so far and are looking forward to finding a place soon, making more friends, speaking and learning more Spanish, and traveling! We'll be heading to Antigua, the former capital and popular tourist destination, this weekend with the new faculty for some fun. Thanks to everyone for your prayers of safe travel and keeping!