Friday, March 20, 2009

A Guatemala Story, Part 3

So there I was, at my hostel in Guat City, finally finally. We enter through a gate into a small couryard in the front. I'm so loving everything right now, the fountain in the courtyard, the carved wooden chairs and tables in the living area, the worn, rustic look of the stairs as I lug my huge suitcase up them. I'm shown into a dorm room with three bunk beds and an extra bed. A door leads out onto the roof. Left on my own, I drop onto the bed, my insides still tingling with expectation and nerves. Exhale.



I walk outside, on the roof patio, to smoke a cigarette and get my bearings. Breathe deep. Look over the rooftops of Guatemala City, mountain tops in the distance remind me that I'm in the tropical world with their shining green glory. The sky is glriously gray and overcast, the day is cool. Breathe deep.

I head downstairs to check the hostel out. A group of giggly American teenagers is sitting at the dining table chowing down on pizza. I gather, from their shirts, that they're with a volunteer group. From their chatter, I choose to not talk to them, inane talk will not sit well with me right now. So instead, I sit on the wicker chair in front of the television (I know, I know....). There are two guys, both American, talking about Nepal. My interest is piqued, so I join in the talk. One of the guys is a doctor, he and his girlfriend have been traveling the past year, volunteering with different medical organizations. He said they worked for two years, saved money, and then traveled for one year. Oh, the joy! I end up having a great conversation with these two guys about Guatemala, conservation, globalization, and soccer.

I later meet Loti, a blonde Swede who is going to fly out the next day to see some friends in L.A. Her and her boyfriend have been backpacking up from South America for the past 5 months. She tells me some fanstastic stories. I admit that I just arrived and have no wonderful travel stories. We head out to go to the Artisan Market some blocks away. We catch a city bus, which turned out to be a fairly awkward situation. We hop on and head to the back, there are a few seats here and there with one spot open, but no one will scoot so we can sit. Loti crams into a seat and I keep looking. Finally I plop down by some guy, he is then forced to scoot over and exchange comments with some other people. I am completely in the dark as to the nature of those comments, but before I can get irritated or haughty, we reach the market. It's fairly touristy, but full of fantastic goodies. I make a mental note to stop back by here on my way back to the states in 4 weeks.

Loti and I decide to walk back to the hostel, as it's only about 10 or 12 blocks away. As we're walking, we come upon kids leaving school, walking down the road in their little uniforms. (I find out that pretty much all children who go to school, anywhere, wear uniforms here.) Loti causes quite a sensation with her pale skin and blonde hair. We get sly glances, grins, giggles, and twitters from the younger kids. As we're walking, I also notice men in army-type uniforms with machine guns standing in front of various stores or buildings, the majority of them banks. They seem fairly ominous to me, though I wasn't sure if it was based on intuition or the horror stories that have come out of Guatemala and their dirty civil war, or perhaps a combination of both. Though I'm wary, I don't feel threatened walking on these streets. It feels exactly as it should. It feels like Guatemala. The only words I understand on this walk are "Eyyyy, guapas!" from a couple of men we pass. I grin to myself, Loti looks the other way, and we both roll our eyes. A word about machismo and comments from men: I think machismo is wack. However, getting catcalls from men in Guatemala never upset me; in fact, it was nice. (More on this feeling later in another story!)

After we get back to the hostel, Loti and I splurge and call in an order for some yummy food and lots of it. It was almost 280 quetzales, roughly $40 US, for the both of us and was by far the most I ever spent on one meal in Guatemala. But it was delicious and made me very happy.

I went to bed that night filled with expectation and a sense of accomplishment, for some reason. The air was muggy, night was dark. I was a bit homesick for my two boys, missed them like crazy, actually, but I knew I would feel better in the morning. I drifted to sleep enveloped in a strange kind of melancholy.

When I woke up, Loti had already left for the airport. I stretched. The dr. was packing up some stuff. "I had a weird dream," I said. " My eyelids fell off, but it didn't bother me."

He said it meant something; I only remember the gist of it, that I was going to transcend something, have a spiritual experience, something of that nature. Then I said something totally goofy and retarded and ruined the moment.
"I better find some coffee," I said.

Next up: Off To The Bus Station, The Bus Ride, and Finally Flores!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Running, Day 10 and Having of the Spring Fever

Run, girl, run!

Well, I'm up to a mile and a half. Lame! I want to run, run, run like a crazy gal. I love how I feel after I run, and I've decided that I love the actual act of running. I almost started letting my really out of shape body get to me, then I read a running blog, and I feel much better :) One girl had the same quesiton that's been going through my head the past 10 days : Why does every time feel like the first time? aka: Why aren't I getting better at running? And she's been running for 2 months, so I feel better.....or wait, does that mean I'll still feel like it's the first time after 2 bloody months?? Say it isn't so! However, I'm trying to mentall prepare myself against all things anti-run: like, say, myself in a few weeks....



I do feel proud of myself, though. It's only been two months since I've stopped smoking, and I'm pretty sure I haven't actually ran since high school track. I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick to this; however, we'll see.

Spring Fever

I have the worst case of cabin/spring fever EVER! Ugh, I'm so ready to go out and about, go swim in a lake, lay on a beach, hike in the mountains, something! Get me out of this flat-landed, school-filled, lame-o place already! I'm not bitching, I'm just really....really....ok, I'm bitching, but still. It's that time of year, and I need adventure right now. I'm pretty sure that if something doesn't present itself soon, I'll be making up something to entertain myself, and that hardly ever turns out alright....

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

I Keep On Running But No One Is Chasing Me

So, I started running. As of yesterday. That would make today Day #2 and man on man! Am I ever glad I quit smoking when I did, because my lungs feel like purity shit! Blech! I actually am getting satisfaction out of this, which is great, considering that I kind of hate running....Wait! NO! I love running, actually. This is my new mantra, I LOVE RUNNING. Yesterday, my lungs felt like they were cobwebbed together with tiny wires criss-crossing everywhere, trying to function while underneath a suffocting wet feather pillow. A bit better today. My legs felt like cement today. I felt like I was literally dragging them around with my hips, my thighs and calves nothing but dead weight. Makes me wonder what tomorrow will be bring, that's for sure...

So, I travel 2 miles a day. I don't run the entire way (yet!), but I'm working up to it. I run half a mile, walk a mile, then run the last half mile. I thought I could up the running part a bit today, but no luck. My cement legs made me want to cry, so I stuck to the mile.

Aside from running, I'm doing yoga twice a week, though I'd like to up that to at least 4 or 5 times a week.

I will get in shape and healthy and I will enjoy doing it. Period.