So patchesweaver.com has gone public (thanks Marc). You can view the recently published Architectural Record article here:
http://archrecord.construction.com/archrecord2/work/0903/LaidOff.asp
And for those of you that may be new to the site, don`t forget to check the blogroll…
So last weekend was a very good reminder that I still have a long way to go with Spanish.
There are a few things that one must know before I tell the story. There are 2 families involved in this story: (1) Ana Lucia`s family and (2) Otto`s family. Ana Lucia is the daughter of a friend of Marti`s. She`s offered to show me around a bit. The other important thing to know here is that my Spanish is exponentially worse when I`m on the phone (especially because there`s always a car or a motorcycle driving right next to your ear)…
So that being said… Last weekend I was taking some site construction photos in Tono`s house. I recieved a call from an unrecognized number, answered the call, and was told “Hola, soy Lucia”. I said hi and said I was sorry for not calling her back during the week, I had been very busy with work in Guatemala City. “I`m here with my family (followed by a few unrecognizable sentences in Spanish) Do you want to meet for lunch? (more cryptic Spanish) ok, see you in 20 minutes, Adios”. I was basically done with what I had to do so I figured it`d be good to meet for lunch. After a little walking, I realized that I didn`t know exactly where the restaurant was so I called back Lucia. Her mother answered. I began talking to her and then randomly saw Daniel, a kid from the office. I told Lucia`s mother that I`d just met my friend and that I`d call her back in a minute. I talked to Daniel for a minute, said goodbye, and then called back Lucia`s mother. After alot of repeating and talking really slowly, her mother was able to communicate what the name of the restaurant was, what it looked like, and what street it was on. She said that they would meet me at the front door.
I went to the restaurant and waited outside. While I was waiting, I saw some of Otto`s family walking down the street. It was Robert, his parents, his wife Chinita, and their daughter Silvia Lucia. I waved and they came over to talk. I was really suprised to see them and asked them what they were doing in Antigua. They said that they had just seen a show and asked if I was hungry. I said thank you but I had just spoken to a friend of mine and was waiting for her, we were going to eat lunch. They said “ok, next weekend then”. I said ok and that it was good to see them. I then got back to waiting. After waiting for a good 20 – 30 minutes, I called back Lucia`s mother. I wanted to make sure that I was waiting in the right place. “We`re on our way back to Guatemala (followed by lots of Spanish) your friend (Spanish) lunch (Spanish) party at Marti`s next weekend (Spanish). Completely confused, I said “ok, well sorry we couldn´t meet up this time, next time”. “Ok” Lucia`s mother said “Adios”.
So at this point I was totally confused and a bit annoyed that Lucia`s family had taken off without giving me a call. After wandering around and thinking really hard for about 20 minutes I came to the conclusion that maybe there weren`t two families involved, maybe there was only one…
So I´m not going to Spanish school anymore. This is not by choice but by necessity. Since I am working for Tono in Guatemala city, I do not get back until 5:30 or so and am usually more or less exhausted from the camioneta experience. I usually just get home, eat dinner, and chat it up with Stella and family…
So I am speaking Spanish in the office, but I still need to speak in English from time to time when things are important (more often than not they usually are).
Hopefully, if I can work more in Antigua, I wil be able to get a tutor (usually cheaper than school and most also work in the schools anyways)
So I´m at a bit of a crossroads. I have been working for Tono for a little over a week now. Its been great, he has me designing the flooring in his house, geometrically analyzing ancient mayan artifacts in CAD, and checking for grammatical errors in the book he´s writing. Everything at work is good… except the commute. In order to get to zone 10 of Guatemala City for 8:00 I need to leave Antigua at 5:15am. This is not an uncommon time, Fabiola (1 of my Guatemalan sisters) leaves a little before 5:00 in order to get a seat on the bus and to beat the morning traffic. I also need to be sure to make it back to the bus before dark because things tend to get a bit dicey once the sun goes down.
I´ve found a bus stop that allows me to get off the bus and walk about 30 min to work (which I don´t mind, its through a nice neighborhood), but on the way home, the bus doesn´t leave from the same place and I need to take a cab. A bit of a pain in the ass… I´m still trying to work out a system to make this a bit more do-able.
Empty Camioneta. This was a bit of a risky shot to take, better to not flash cameras, valubles, etc...
And these things get ·Full·
This picture in no way does the camoneta experience justice. Just to paint the picture here, one must understand what camionetas are. Camionetas are old US schoolbuses that have been converted into coal burning (based on the jet-black smoke they emmit), music blasting, clown car acting, race machines. They are painted up in racey colors and have names like “Santa Maria” across their windshields. A hairpin turn is no reason to slow down or even touch the brakes in one of these things. And they play everything from Raggaeton to Spanish Pop to Britney Spears.
Camioneta
The middle corridor is only wide enough to walk down it sideways. During peak time there are three people in each seat, and the entire corridor is filled with people standing. By the way, when 3 people are in a seat, that means that the third person is sitting halfway in the aisle, do this on both sides and there´s no isle… But people still manage to fit in. And the best part is when the guy comes to collect the money. If you are riding standing up, he´s coming toward you, and you know he has to take your money and then somehow get by you. The first time this happened, I was thinking “Not really sure how this is going to work here but lets see what happens”, but after alot of cramming and completely disregarding others´personal space, he somehow manages to get by…
Jaime told me a joke about the camionetas here, “How many Guatemalan´s can you fit on a camioneta? Two more, there´s always room for 2 more… and this really isn´t a joke, you see it every day.
This weekend I should be borrowing a macbook from Tono so I can use it in Antigua. I´m hoping that this will really lessen the number of times I need to go to the office… The house is here in Antigua, so the ideal situation would be to work here and just walk over to the house whenever I need to meet with Tono (he comes 2-3 times a week) or if I need to check up on anything.
So I´ve begun to meet architects and other creative professionals. This is a good thing.
Otto´s aunt introduced me to her friend Antonio Prado Cobos (Tono) who is an architect in Guatemala City (thanks Carolina). He has been more than helpful and is constantly introducing me to people. He is a great person to talk to and has alot of very good advice .
At the beginning of the week, Tono took me to the School of Architecture of Universidad Francisco Marroquin. I came at the right time because this was the school´s first “Architecture Week”. He introduced me to his friend Roberto who is the dean of the school. Roberto is very nice and invited me to come back any time during the week. Francisco Marroquin seems like an excellent school and I look forward to visiting again…
I met with Tono again today. He wanted to show me one of the restorations that is currently in progress in Antigua. He took me to the Palace of the Captains General, a very large palace right off of Parque Central. The palace was built in 1549 and has suffered from many earthquakes since. It was a great opportunity to visit the palace since it is not open to the public. Tono explained how he has lived in Guatemala for over 60 years and has not been able to enter into the building until 1 month ago. So yes, it was a great opportunity…
After going the palace, Tono took me to an amazing restaurant for lunch. He told me that changing scenery will be a good thing for me and that I should be excited about living differently and thinking differently.
After lunch, Tono took me to his house in Antigua that he is restoring. He explained that he would like me to come every day to take photos and to supervise what is being done. Not sure if this will be a paying job yet, but either way, it seems like the perfect job while I´m taking spanish classes.
Tono´s house is beautiful. I am really looking forward to spending time there. I will meet him on Monday to talk about what needs to be done.
