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08.09.2009

category: Fiestas
tags:

Bistro 5 (one of the places I´m working) threw a babyshower for one of the waitresses I work with. Mariza is about 5 months pregnant.

So I´ve never been to a babyshower. I have no idea if they are all like this or not. There were a bunch of ridiculous games followed by a lunch and then present opening.

The Bistro team. Look closely in the back and see David flipping me off... this is how they roll here.

Here are a few of the games that were played:

Blindfolded baby food race

Eat it up

Don´t spill

Mariza and Evelyn... ended up winning

Guess Mariza´s waistline

Jonathan and his sister Mariza. Jonathan is the one who is teaching me how to bartend... he´s 19.

Jonathan and his sister Mariza. Jonathan is the one who is teaching me how to bartend... he`s basically a pro... and he´s 19

Aurliano takes it

Dress the baby blindfolded. I didn´t get involved in this one. All of these guys have experience with this already.

Johnny

Marlon. Marlon was all gameface in this one. His son was "helping" him out... he´s dressing the wrong baby though.

Marlon. Marlon was all gameface in this one. Alejandro was "helping" dad out... unfortunately he´s dressing the wrong baby...

Mariza

Passing a lime with your necks

Aurliano and the new girl

Incriminating photo 01

Incriminating photo 02

Popping balloons

This one lasted about 30 seconds. Marlon´s son Alejandro ended up getting totally confused/overwhelmed with what was happening and started crying...

end

4 comments

16.08.2009

Meeting with the Fam

categories: Family Life, Fiestas
tags: Fiesta, Food

Otto’s mother and little brother are here. I met up with them for some wine and cheese (with promises of Pollo Campero despues – but it all fell through because it ended up being closed).

Rachid is going to be here until the beginning of September. We’ll hang out. He really wants to try the redbull at Bistro Cinq. I told him that we have the best in town.

However, due to my passport troubles, I will be gone the majority of the time that he is here. I will be in Costa Rica between the 20th and the 30th. However, the time that he is here we’re gonna paint the town red.

He’s also started a blog. You can visit it at http://chino44.blogspot.com/

And don’t forget to give him a hard time about it having absolutely no content right now.

3 comments

09.07.2009

Dance machine

category: Fiestas
tags:

I haven`t forgotten the priorities here. Given the amount of all of the fiestas and stuff here, I haven`t forgotten about the importance of learning how to dance. I know from many cases of personal experience here that it is really no fun to suck at dancing. And unfortunately, my dance shoes have not been put to use in some time except as doubling as my bartending shoes…

I met somebody the other day who showed me the place where she takes private salsa classes. It is conveniently right next to one of the places I am working. After thinking about it for a bit, I decided to take a few classes myself. I`m not really sure where else you can find private classes for about $6 an hour, so I figured I`d better take advantage… I`m taking an hour class twice a week. We`ll see what happens…

There will almost definitely be videos of this to come…

5 comments

11.04.2009

Semana Santa in Antigua

categories: Fiestas, Travel, Visitors
tags:

So I am going to update the “Semana Santa” page after Semana Santa is over. There is so much that needs to be uploaded. Things are so crazy here that we haven`t found the time to sit down and update the blog.

Check the “photo” page to see other recent photos..

Adding to the cloud of incense that has filled the streets of Antigua during the entire week.

It aint easy making an alfombra. Since there are so many activities/processions during this week, these people are running on zero sleep. Some people make 4 or 5 over 2 or so days.

Niño Alfombra

"So who made this?". "Me and my little cousin". This kid is a friggin`pro Alfombra maker...

"So who made this?" I ask. "Me and my little cousin"... This kid is a friggin`pro Alfombra maker...

Procession alfombra. Coke bottles and eggs. If you look closely they all have penciled in faces.

Cucuruchus. These are the carriers of the floats. This one had over 100... All volunteers. If they are not carrying they are walking with the procession. Try walking for 18 hours straight.

So if walking for 18 hours isn`t enough, try doing it in high heels (on cobblestone streets). The women see this as a form of penance.

Cervesa and tortillas after some serious walking.

Here it is Otto, do you remember this lady? Pupuseria... magical hole in the wall restaurant. Pupusas are fat tortillas filled with cheese and whatever else (mushrooms, frijoles, whatever kind of meat, etc). 4 small pupusas, 1 large (14"), 2 bowls of chiles (which we finished), and 2 cervesas... all for about $6 each.

Here it is Otto, do you remember this lady? Pupuseria... magical hole in the wall restaurant. Pupusas are basically fat tortillas filled with cheese and whatever else (mushrooms, frijoles, whatever kind of meat, etc). 4 small pupusas, 1 large pupusa (14"), 2 bowls of chiles (which we finished), and 2 cervesas... all for about $6 each.

Random old couple photo.

T-shirt

check back for updates to this post…

7 comments

05.04.2009

Lago Atitlan, Xela, una Misa, Bailando, y una Procesión

categories: Fiestas, Travel, Visitors
tags: Dancing, Español, Food, Landscapes, Marti and Carlos

So you´ll have to bear with me here, didn´t have time to explain. Check back for updates…

Arriving to Lago Atitlan

God

We chartered a boat ($12 a head) to see some of the pueblos that surround Lago Atitlan. There are 12 pueblos, and each one of them is named after one of the 12 apostles.

It was actually not the best day to go to the lake, it was cloudy and the water was choppy. However, Pedro was not at all phased by the conditions and we flew across the lake (faster than Marty would have liked).

Picture with Captain Pedro

Suiting up to head to Santiago Atitlan

Marty, Mom, and Carlos in Front of Iglesia Parroquial Santiago Apostal (built in 1547)

We got a tuc tuc (tiny toy-like taxi) and went to the center of Santiago. After some persuasion by the tuc tuc driver we then decided to do one of the tours that he was offering. We chose to go around town and to visit Maximon, a god/saint that some of the indigineous people of the area worship.

Visit to Maximón, indiginous god. Liquor and cigars...

Fitting in

After the lake we headed to Xela, Guatemala´s second largest city. It is about a two hour drive from the lake on roads that are undergoing serious construction. We were told that it is generally considered “The Athens of Central America”.

Pueblo on the outskirts of Xela

Muchos pollos

Mercado - look at the niña

Radishes

Rock n´ Roll electric altar

Centro de Xela

Xela´s Cathedral´s Double Facade. Original church in front, new church in back.

Local Mariachi´s

Flute

Our tour bus waiting in front of the cathedral

Xela

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFOD-1ojol8[/youtube]

Ridiculous end to our tour. Couldn´t have been more perfect.

After the tour we went into the Cathedral. Just so happened to be a wedding in progress...

Red light district. In Xela, red lights on Saturdays means Paches.

Paches

Leaving Xela

Sunday morning we went to a mass for Tita (Marty´s sister) and Paco. They have been married for 50 years. Otto´s family took up about the back quarter of a decent sized church. Not everybody made it into this photo.

Family photo after the Mass.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnr6jN7q2Tg[/youtube]

Tita and Paco´s 50th Anniversary party

Tub of salad and barrel of rice...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lPEsItL-MQ[/youtube]

Dancing it up

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVOcECA2ILw[/youtube]

7 comments

28.03.2009

Adios

category: Fiestas
tags: beard, Español, Gallo, Mujeres

So Friday was Charlie`s last day at Familias de Esperanza. We met up for drinks later that night.

Drinks

And I guess even without the full blown beard I`ve managed to maintain my scrubby bum-like appearance. While we were walking around, we saw a group of volunteers that had helped at the organization for a week or so. “Brian, you shaved!”. And these people had not seen my beard, they were talking about my 5 o`clock shadow that I had let go for a bit too long…

1 comment

19.03.2009

Marty Party

category: Fiestas
tags: Confusion, Español, Food, Marti and Carlos

So Marty had a birthday party on Sunday.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH2BYwdfKZM[/youtube]

The party was a good time. Otto`s aunts and uncles took this as a perfect opportunity to sit down with the gringo and teach him a bunch of palabras malas. They didn`t forget to throw in a few hand signs too…

3 comments

08.03.2009

Dualing Birthdays

categories: Family Life, Fiestas
tags: Huesito, Stella

This past Wednesday was both Jaime`s birthday and Fabiola`s birthday. We had a small party for both of them.

Cheescake birthday cake post transit. Fabiola rode on the back of a motorcycle and a camioneta to bring it home. It was suprisingly somehow still intact (just needed a bit of work to rebuild it)

Huesito rocking his v-neck shirt for the party. I`m not sure if it has a collar or a cape...

Jaime holding a giant balloon catipillar. You can really feel his excitement.

Jaime, Fabiola, and Huesito birthday shot

5 comments

08.03.2009

Cuchubal

category: Fiestas
tags: Español, Food, Marti and Carlos

So welcome to the Cuchubal, a monthly event held to bring the family together… and take their money.

The Cuchubal is a very common game played in Guatemala. It`s a sort of round-robin event held with a group of usually around 10+ people (Otto`s family plays with about 30). Everybody throws down Q200 (about $26) and hopes that they win the pot.

So here are the most important rules of Cuchubal (and people make sure that they`re followed to the T):

Come to the Cuchubal
Put down your Q200 (If you don`t come this rule still applies)
If you don`t pay the Q200 during the day of Cuchubal you need to pay a penalty to the last person who won Cuchubal
If you win, you need to wait for everybody else to win before you are able to win again
If you win, you need to hold the next Cuchubal

Reading the rules (lets make sure everybody`s clear here)

Reviewing the rules (lets make sure everybody`s clear here... if you wanna start something, the rulebook`s right here...)

Olga passing out the numbers for the cash money

Passing out the numbers for the bottle of gin

Suspense while everybody waits for the niña to hold up the sign with the magic winning number

12!

So what`s the point of Cuchubal? Good question, I wasn´t completely sure myself. You aren`t actually “winning” or “losing” the money. From what I could tell, there is really no difference between playing Cuchubal and opening a bank account and putting in Q200 a month (because no matter what you have to pay by the month and at some point you`re garunteed to win the Cuchubal). So what`s it about, winning a bunch of money at once so you can then impulsively spend it?

I asked my Spanish teacher Aura about this game. She used to play with all of the other maestras at school. She explained that this is actually a good way to save money. Since you have a responsibility to put down money (cuz if you don`t you`re gonna have to pay), you actually end up putting aside Q200 a month no matter what. It is also a way to watch out for your friends and family. For example, in select cases, if somebody`s child is sick and they need money for an operation or expensive medicine, the Cuchubal is shifted to them and they automatically win for that month.

Otto`s cousin (Olga`s son) ended up winning this one. The pot was Q6,800 ($858).

9 comments

23.02.2009

Suprise party

category: Fiestas
tags: cramped spaces, Dancing, Español, Food

So this Sunday Ana Lucia (the real one) invited me to her house because her family was having a suprise birthday party for her great aunt. Her aunt was turning 87.

Great aunt - bottom left

It was really cool, there were about 30+ people waiting, and when her aunt came through the front door we blasted music and started clapping and cheering. Her aunt started crying (in a good way).

After having tons of food and cake (de tres leches – incredible), I went for a ride with Ana Lucia to “get the mariachis”. I figured that we were going to pick them up and give them a ride.

¿Que?

These guys are the real deal - read the sign

So turns out we were headed to “La Plazuela de Mariachis” (Plaza of Mariachis). The entire side of the street was full of mariachis just hanging around waiting for a job… wow, only in Guatemala (and maybe Mexico).

After some heavy negotiating on Ana Lucia´s part, we returned to the house (followed by a van full of mariachis) to suprise Ana Lucia´s great aunt for a second time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f3-1zV5pMQ[/youtube]

Her great aunt being lead into the party room. She was happy, she cried again…