BAM!

So that peaceful existence I wrote about yesterday? It was rudely interrupted yesterday at around 9:30 p.m.

We (Karri, Alex and I) had just got back from a nice dinner with friends and were all getting ready for bed or falling asleep in our respective bedrooms. All of a sudden there was this giant explosive sound. I think the first thing that came to my head was that the fan had fallen from our ceiling - I had been tugging on the light switch pretty aggressively a bit earlier trying to turn the light off. Option number two was that somehow all the cupboards in the kitchen fell at once and every pot, pan and dish crashed to the ground.

I actually think either of those would have been better than the cascade of water we found flowing out of the wall when we walked into the kitchen. Apparently a pipe burst which left us pretty helpless to stop it, until I finally found and figured out how to turn off the well pump out back. Unfortunately by that point we were close to having a swimming pool in our kitchen.

I called the landlords who came over and messed around with the hot water heater (apparently the culprit) for a while until giving up and saying they'd have to bring in a plumber the next day. Karri and I were left with the task of sopping up the water with towels and wringing them out into pots.

Things were ok when we got home from work today, aside from the fact that our hot water heater is missing. At least life is back to normal as far as showers go... brrr. Knew that luxury wouldn't last.

tranquilo

I've been waiting and waiting for something noteworthy to happen that I'm allowed to blog about (you'll notice that you don't see work stories here - that's against the rules, but also where most of the excitement is) but nothing new is going on. No random people have run into my car, I haven't been sick or cooked anything incredibly delicious, no trips to ruins or rivers or anything. Life is pleasantly calm these days.

My new roommate and I are getting used to our summer house. As part of the rental, we have a maid who comes in on Wednesdays, so on Tuesday nights we usually make a pretty big dinner using as many pots and pans as possible since we don't have to do the dishes. This always sounds like a good idea on Tuesday nights but usually results in a wave of guilt Wednesday morning around 6 a.m., which means I end up running around the house rinsing and wiping and picking up before the maid comes to rinse and wipe and pick up.

I've learned the new route to work that avoids the traffic-congested main roads but involves about 35 turns down side streets (my directions include notes like "left at big yellow sign that you can't see until you turn" and "turn left at scary street where we almost died") and a plethora of speed bumps of which I often fail to see several. I get mild road rage when people drive in the maniac style that is normal here; however, I'm pretty close to Guatemala driving "excellence" myself.

I listen to a lot more music than I used to. I had forgotten how soothing it is to me to lay in my bed reading with Denison providing the soundtrack. I'm finally following Jo's recommendation on the reading list we made in the offive and diving into an Isabel Allende book. So far, I'm enthralled.

Since it's been rainy and cooler in the evenings, I've fallen hard back into my cardigan, scarf and jeans habit. I bought yellow loafers and a yellow headband to wear to Jo's wedding but now can't wear them without each other, which means yellow makes a frequent, vibrant appearance in my daily wardrobe.

I found my favorite food in one grocery store in the new part of town where I live: Coffee Haagen Daz ice cream. Seriously. It's my favorite food in the world, and it's here in Guatemala. To make life EVEN BETTER, it was on sale last week.

I look at my LSAT study books every day trying to get up the courage to start studying for real.

I listen to a lot of podcasts.

This is my life outside of work this week. Not very exciting, but nice.

Idea: convert the strays into seeing eye dogs

I get pretty excited when I have the chance to run errands for work, especially because I'm the only intern who knows how to drive a manual so I feel proud when I'm asked. Obviously, when someone asked me to drive them from the office to the bank this morning, I consented happily.

As we were getting ready to make a right turn out of the parking lot to head back to the office after our errand, we saw two men walking down the sidewalk towards my car. Walking might be a little generous; stumbling would probably be more accurate. One was leaning very heavily on the other guy's shoulder who was in turn doing his best to hold him up, but both were staggering around and obviously trashed.

To better understand the joy I recieved from encountering two drunk men on the road heading towards me, consider that the more upright guy was waving a white cane around - they were both completely blind. This was confirmed when they didn't stop walking or even slow down as they came closer, but instead slammed into my car and laid there, draped over the driver's side window for a while.

I had no idea what to do because they didn't look like they had any intention of getting up. Finally I started slowly backing up, which apparently signalled to them that they had run into a car, not a bed, causing them to back off my car. I hastily drove off.

I love running errands.

Weekend in Guate, take 1

Meet three important characters in my weekend:

1. Roscoe the new car.

I've been relying on taxis, buses, Jo and hitchhiking (just kidding on the last one) a lot since I arrived in Guatemala. It's been all fine and dandy, but as an independent woman (ha) it's been a little rough not to be able to go where I want to, when I want to, as fast as I want to.

Enter the nasty blue junker Jenny christened "Roscoe," after her grandfather. (In case any of Jenny's relatives ever stumble across this blog, let me say that the levels of cleanliness and beauty of Car Roscoe have nothing to do with the levels of cleanliness and beauty of Man Roscoe.) He's old, a little shaky, but a great companion as I wander around Guate.

Currently two people from work are teaching us the new route in to the office. Tomorrow we're trying on our own for the first time, so if there aren't any updates on this blog for over a week, you can assume we're still wandering around the back streets of Guatemala in our business casual. Hey, at least that would mean Jenny was still here instead of heading back to Georgia and leaving me all alone.

Well, not all alone. Which brings me to:

2. Karri the new intern.

She arrived this week, she doesn't eat much meat, she laughs a lot and she's a tinge sarcastic. She likes people with a "streak of trouble in their eyes" and I don't think there's much more I can sk for. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better.

We're setting up shop in our new house for the summer. It's beautiful, high-ceilinged, and already christened by its first earthquake with us as occupants. The chandelier above my bed rattled a bit Sunday morning at 8 o'clock and as my bed rocked back and forth, I thought, "Is there a better way to start the day?"

Actually it was a great day, mostly because we spent most of it in:

3. Antigua (the old city)

More a setting than a character, Antigua's charm hasn't faded yet for me. I doubt I'll ever get tired of its ruins, colorful storefronts, volcanoes and comforting American food. Yes, Antigua is a place to escape. But we need that sometimes.

After eating with some friends and walking around a bit, we dropped off a few things at the house where:

4. Jo and her Australian family

are staying this month. I've got to say that although they make me miss my family dearly, it's been fun to be around people of that dynamic. I love my 20-something friends but there's a dynamic when you're hanging around with a family that can't be replicated. This weekend we attended the last shower for Jo, and then on Saturday we went to her civil ceremony.

I can't remember if I've mentioned this on the blog before, but in Guatemala there are essentially two weddings: one smaller simple ceremony performed by a lawyer where only the families of the bride and groom gather to witness them sign the marriage contract. It's actually quite lovely, and feels very much like a real wedding.

That makes it weird, because although the bride and groom are legally married, they're not married "in the eyes of God" until the religious ceremony, usually the following week. That's the real party, with the wedding dress and bridesmaids and many guests. But somehow, even with all that to look forward to, this week feels anticlimactic. I bet you I'll feel differently on Sunday. Wow I cry a lot at weddings these days.

El Salvador

I didn't take this photo, but would have been close enough to take a good one I hadn't forgotten my camera. It wasn't this clear on the day Jenny, Alex and I went to visit Volcan Izalco in El Salvador, but as the clouds surrounding the peak broke for several minutes at a time you could see the volcano it all of its glory.

We went last weekend to visit the parents of one of my dear friends from college. We arrived at the bus station (I was a little sick) to find Diane's mom and her little sister (who reminded me so much of Diane) waiting for us. They were so sweet. Seriously. They took us home, and spent the weekend making sure that we got to see a lot of the country.

Unfortunately Jenny and I were ridiculously sick and couldn't be away from the bathroom for more than 30 minutes, so we didn't really live up to their adventurous expectations. Instead of climbing the volcano, as planned, we climbed up to this abandoned (almost) hotel on a neighboring hill for the view. It was built while the volcano was active to provide a view of the lava and excitment; unfortunately one year before it was finished, the volcano went dormant. Now it looks a bit overrun - more than anything else it looks like it is straight out of Jurassic Park.

From there we went to swim in the Pacific (my stomach allowed me to do that) and back to their house, where we ate pupusas and watched El Salvador beat Mexico in a World Cup qualifying game (so fun). Before the game, there were a lot of people around the city in royal blue El Salvador shirts and medical masks to make fun of Mexico, home of swine flu (by the way, the epidemic is getting a little scary here in Guatemala). There were also cars circling the hotel where the Mexico team was staying all night, blasting music to try to keep the players awake.

The best part of the weekend, though, was meeting Diane's family and getting to know the place she's from. All the pictures around the house, going past her old school, meeting her precious Grandma... it made me miss her dreadfully. I can't wait to see her again.

Front Porch Cafe

The following NPR story about home has me all excited. I know every voice in the story, and I'm thrilled to think that these familiar voices have been broadcast around the nation today on Morning Edition.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104794481 (click on "Listen Now" and a media player will launch)

Really. I couldn't be happier. A story about home (and one my parents are quite involved in on top of it) and NPR in one place? Heavenly.

Sticky hair and melted chocolate

As you know from my frequent posts about transportation, getting around Guatemala is a big preoccupation in my life.

The other day I took a bus into work for the first time in a long time and was reminded why I dislike it so much. After being jammed into a bus holding more than twice its capacity, I was feelingreally sick and claustrophobic. I was wedged between three guatemaltecos, all sporting slick gelled hair. As their heads repeatedly hit my arms that were holding on for dear life as we wove in and out of traffic, I became increasingly sticky, sick and disgusted. I’m ashamed to admit this, but as soon as the bus stopped I squeezed my way past the workers, students and grandmas on the bus, got off, and hailed a taxi. How non-hardcore is that.

Thank goodness for don Roberto. This sweet taxi driver met one of my coworkers when she was sick early this year and couldn’t drive, and since that day he has been the unofficial chauffer / friend of all in the office. I love chatting with taxi drivers in general, but don Roberto takes the cake. He always asks about my wedding (he brought Colin and I to the airport when he visited last month and knew about our engagement before Colin did), tells me about his family and teaches me about Guate.

For example, one day last week we left work early because the office was being fumigated (ha, there’s a story – originally scheduled to happen while we were all in the office) and he picked me up to take me back to Boca del Monte, where I live. We were driving down the road I always use to go home when we came upon a line of about twenty taxis parked along the road next to a gate. Don Roberto informed me that they’re there almost every day waiting for a flight containing all the deported Guatemalans from the US. Apparently it’s the back of the airport – who knew.

Well, the families and taxis waiting there knew, I guess.

Anyway, don Roberto and his friends who he sends when he can’t come pick us up make Guatemala so much friendlier. I love him. I think he likes us too – the other day he brought Jenny and me chocolates when he picked us up. I melted. They were a little melted too, but still delicious.

In other news, I had the privilege of meeting one of my faithful blog readers this weekend. My roommate’s mom is here to help with the wedding plans – I can hardly believe it’s already time! I’m pretty excited to meet the people that I’ve heard stories about over the past few months. So far everyone has lived up to my mental pictures of them – I like Jo’s mom just as much as I thought I would, if not more.

We spent the day yesterday in the lovely house in Antigua where Jo’s guests are staying for the wedding. It has high ceilings, a garden, the comfiest beds and a library – pretty much everything a house needs to qualify as perfect in my book. It also had a big table for us to work on the amazing wedding favors at. If you’re coming to this wedding, get excited about the colorful, awesome pieces of Australia you’ll find on your table.

Finally, I found my favorite Calvin College chapel song, finally - “Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go,” but the one that Sandra McCracken sings with the new tune on some album called “Indelible Grace.” I bought it on iTunes about an hour ago and have listened to it on repeat since then. The lyrics follow:

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

If you read this far into this post, congratulations. You qualify as a faithful blog reader and I hope to meet you someday, and, you just read some really awesome hymn lyrics.