So I went back to Guatemala city (via comioneta/”chicken bus”) for the weekend. To my dismay, upon arriving, Marti informed me that I would be getting a haircut with her son Giovanni on Saturday. Rather than turning down the offer, I felt that it was maybe necessary to tame the twirlygigs that had begun to form at the base of my future mane. Although this has seriously set me back with my hopes of attaining the super beard of a beatnik vagabond, I feel it is sometimes necessary to take one step backward to go two steps forward…
Saturday came as a very busy day. It began with helping Giovanni and Tono assemble a complicated desk (without directions). This proved to be a good test for newly learned vocabulary (above, on top of, below, etc). After desk assembly, I drove around town with Marti and Carlos running some errands. While driving back, Marti and Carlos asked me if I would like to go to a fiesta. To this I replied, “Si… cuando?”. “Ahora” they said. Giovanni and his wife were basically ready to leave back at the house. They then asked me if I had nice clothes… Of course I did not. I ended up wearing Carlos´s. The shoes were a bigger problem since nobody in the entire country of Guatemala has a size 10 or 11. I ended up using Giovanni´s father in law´s. They were a ·tight· fit, but did the trick. Everything besides the shoes and sportcoat fit well (if I stretched my arms out in front of me, the cuffs of the shirt would pass the sleeve of the sportcoat by about 3 inches).
The fiesta turned out to be a wedding at one of the nicest Hotels in Guatemala. The driveway for the hotel alone snaked up a mountain next to Antigua for (literally) 2 kilometers. The road alone was beautiful and the view was accentuated by a guard with a shotgun.
The hotel was nice and the view of Antigua wasn´t too bad either
There ended up being alot of people at the party
There also ended up being alot of people Dancing and Dancing (click)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb1dYwisA9M[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBoUk2Re3Ps[/youtube]
Needless to say, my dance “skills” are pretty weak, even when aided by the powers of alcohol. The moment the music started, it became very apparent to me that I will need to work on the dance moves. Learning to dance has now become a priority that is 2nd only to learning spanish (and probably getting a job). I was also told that a pair of new (dance) shoes is a must since there are so many fiestas in Guatemala.
You need to attend the Architecture Conference that Carolina emailed you about. Her architecture friend said it would be beneficial for you to go. All the architects know Pratt. It has a really good reputation. She thinks you could land a job! Muchos Dineros.
Post a picture of yourself!!!
Love
Dance Monkey Dance!
hahahaha… chicken bus? we had similar thing that my parents said never take any of those, but we called “wild chicken bus” hahahahhaa…..
hey, comon. i think i told you a thousand times that your dance is not as bad as you think!! you should have more confidence!! really!!
haha… god to know that you’re having fun over there!! hahahahaha!!
is that the “big year” for otto’s aunt so the party?
i mean, in Taiwan, only party for birthday for “big age” which is something like 60 years old or something like that, but taiwanese is even more complix, like women does not celebrate as 60, 70, or 80 when their husband is still alive, they celebrate 59, 69, or 79 instead….. something like that.. but they celebrate 60, 70, or 80 if their husband die….
just curious!
yeah, i need to see a picture of this getup.
“mr.jones put a wiggle in your stride!!!”
you might have to put a special request for that some night at salsa time…. that is of course after your spanish is good enough to explain why the song is so precious to you.
- in guatemala, we celebrate for EVERYTHING we can, seriously… there is ALWAYS something going down.