second sunday ... yes, it's long

I’ve slept in (7 something), listened to the noises of Anna putting dishes away, sweeping, and eating. It’s very quiet outside on Sundays. At least in the morning. I’m happy for that. And now I need to start my day. It’s nearly 10 and I need to eat something. Yesterday I passed by an Italian place with a menu in English and Spanish. I think I will eat there today for dinner. But first, I need to investigate a new street


The thing you need to ask yourself before coming here is, “Do I want to walk?” If the answer is yes, no problem, come on down! But if the answer is no, and you don’t want to spend money on taxis or money and energy trying to figure out the bus system, or money and potential emotional breakdowns renting and driving a car, then you needn’t come here. I have walked and walked and walked a good 60 blocks today alone. 60 blocks, in my mathematical configurations, equals to at least 3 miles. That might not seem like a lot to the regular 10 or 20Ker, or the marathon runners of our world, but to the average Jane like me, it’s a LOT.

I walked down to La Merced, picking up a donut along the way in a store on the corner. It wasn’t the best donut, but it was one nonetheless and cost a little over Q3. I took pictures of doors along the way, then of La Merced, and then more doors as I made my way down a new street … 7 avenida norte/sur. It’s just a street, not much on it. I was looking for the English-speaking church Adolfo told me about. But I didn’t find it.

I went to McDonald’s, because it was right there, and I needed to think. So I went outside to sit near the fountain. I had to survey my map and plan my next route. It wasn’t even noon yet. I want to find a particular hotel that my mom and/or friend might stay at next month, but it’s in a part of town I’ve never been yet. So I get it figured out and leave.

I walk two more blocks south to 7 calle poniente. I need 9 calle poniente. There’s two ways to get to it and I don’t know where on the street the hotel will be, so I decide to walk west, then south, and then walk east on 9 calle until I find it. but when I got to 7 calle and 8 avenida, the road splits into a semi-highway and it doesn’t look like it would be safe to walk on … there was no sidewalk. So, I walk back to where I started and decide to walk the two blocks south to 9 calle, then walk east. Well, walking east was nice, but I didn’t find anything called Villa Antigua. I did find some other very nice hotel, but not that one. But since I hadn’t walked the other direction yet, I didn’t bother to ask anyone if they knew of it. I’m just stubborn that way.

So, I walk back the several blocks I just walked and start looking intently again. I walked all the way to 2 avenida sur and found no Villa Antigua. By this time my feet and legs were very tired and I didn’t have it in me to ask anyone or go back to see if the one hotel I saw maybe was it but had changed their name. So I saw Iglesia de San Francisco from another side and made my way north to Papazitos for lunch.

A little place, but booming with business. I sat down at a table, grabbed a little magazine, and waited. I ordered a soda and the meatball panini and pretended to read the little magazine while waiting for my food to arrive. The soda was in a can and cost Q12. Hello? You might want to read that again. A regular can of Pepsi cost Q12. that would be about $1.60. at the café across from school, I can buy a 20 oz. bottle of soda for Q5. in the States you can buy a can out of a vending machine for .50. and in a restaurant in the States you’d pay $1.50 or $2 for soda, but you get refills. So, maybe that puts it into perspective for you. Any restaurant you order a soda in, you pay at least Q10. that’s just the way it is. Sad though.

The panini came with some lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and sliced onions as a salad. I had a little bit of the lettuce. I guess I just figured it was safe. It had a little bit of dressing on it, which I didn’t like, so I didn’t eat but a couple of bites. The whole mean, with tip, cost Q55. overall, it was ok. The bread was a little crispy for my liking, but that’s what a panini is all about. Toasting the bread. But the bread was already crunchy on the outside, so now some of it tasted like crutons. But the meatballs, cheese, and sauce were really good. I would eat it again if I had to, definitely.

Ok, now what? It’s not even 3 p.m. I decide to walk to parque central and people watch. And along the way I look for the pupusa place I’d passed one day. I didn’t find it. instead I found a bunch of other stores and I browsed a bit, asking how much stuff was, trying to get an idea how much I should be paying for stuff. I bought a stack of postcards of Antigua for Q75. there are 27 of them, so I figured I paid $10. in the States, you can sometimes get 3 for a dollar, but other times you pay $1.50. so I guess it was fair. (later I went to the big market I’d forgotten about on the arch street and found the same thing for Q63 or Q68. oh well.)

In the park I was asked by many people to buy necklaces. I watched a kid with his new puppy. I took a few pictures. And saw another boy shining shoes, though this kid was only about 5. :-(

I wanted some dessert and wanted to try a new restaurant … oh, look, there’s Café Condessa. It’s supposed to be really good, so I head there. When you walk in, you walk into a book store. So I browse looking for a Guatemala guide book, map, and/or the exercise book Adolfo wrote down for me. I’ve been doing this periodically throughout the day, but hadn’t bought anything yet. They took Visa, so I bought a map and a workbook of Spanish verbs. After the bookstore is a little string of shops. And then the café. When you walk in, a girl hands you a menu. There’s an inside section of tables, then a patio, and then two other inside sections. In the patio there’s a fountain and there happened to be a table with one chair at it available, so I promptly sat down. A lady came by with a napkin, fork, and spoon. I ordered hot chocolate and asked for a minute to decide on food. She returned with my beverage and I ordered apple pie.

The hot chocolate was way too strong for my liking. There was a flavor about it that my tongue didn’t particularly like, so I only had about 5 sips. The pie was good, but could have been better. It was about 2 inches thick and would have been great heated up with ice cream on top. :-) I ate it all though. They served it with a dollop of cream on the side.

Then I opened my verb book and began to learn. It made sense, so I did a few exercises. I started getting chilly, so decided to leave.

While walking home, I went in a couple of markets to browse. I’m kind of window shopping for Christmas gifts and things for myself. The one market is a “rent your own space and sell your stuff” kind of place. So every space I passed by I had someone trying to get my attention and sell me stuff. I looked and inquired, but didn’t buy anything. By this time I only had about Q6 left, so I told people I’d be back later. The other market is like a Guatemalan Wal-Mart or something. Everything is cheaper there. Everything looks like the stuff you buy on the street. But it’s in this store where no one bothers you.

I finally decide I’ve had enough, I need to get home, it’s dark and chilly and time to end my day. It’s only about 6:15 p.m. I hear music and see a crowd gathered at this one intersection. All of a sudden, there’s something moving in the air in front of all these people. Looks like a float or something. I take a picture. I get closer and realize men are underneath it, holding it up. They’re wearing suits. There’s music in front of them and firecrackers going off behind them. As they move, other people follow or walk alongside. On the back of this float thing read “rest in peace” in Spanish (I think). I’m thinking it was a funeral, but I don’t know for sure.

I pass through the crowd, moving quickly toward home. Finally I reach the park around the corner from the school and find tons of firecrackers going off and people sitting in the park like they’re waiting for something. Here comes the float thing! what the heck? And up the street is a man with a waterhose, hosing a section of the street in front of his store. A little ways up are two women laying down grass in the middle of the street. And at the top of this street sits people, waiting, and another person watering the middle of the street. Tons of firecrackers are going off, non stop, and some of them go into the sky and make very loud boom noises, kind of like a canon going off. Hm. I’m thinking the canons of last week were never canons at all. They were firecrackers for some kind of celebration. Very interesting.

At breakfast in the morning, I will be inquiring of Adolfo about this funeral/celebration thing. I want to know the scoop. I want to know whether I should be finding a spot to sit and wait for these things to pass me by. And how did all these people know about it??? these are things I just need answers to. Moreso than, “why are there 38 different words for the same verb?”

Week’s total costs: good question. Pacaya trip = $15 (Q115). food for pacaya trip = Q14. Sunday (food, book, postcards, map) = Q398. Paseo de Santo Domingo = Q30-ish. TOTAL = Q562 = $75.

Spending so far = $55 first week, $75 second week = $130.