¡Que cuervas y yo sin frenos!

I may be frightfully behind on current events and international news, but I am learning something new: lots of slang, bad words, and pick up lines in Spanish. The line above is basically: "What curves, and me with no brakes!" Hee! I am also quite fond of "¡Si así como lo mueve lo bate! ¡Que rico chocolate!" I think it translates to something like "Move it and shake it...what rich chocolate!" OK, so it doesn't translate terribly well, but it basically combines metaphors of slightly raunchy activities with the innocent activity of making a chocolate cake! ¡Que chilero! (How cool!)

The new phrases and words are courtesy of my new teacher, Marvin. At school, we switch teachers every two weeks. My last teacher was also a chico, by name of Julio. They are a couple of cool dudes, but they make me feel terribly old (both are 22 years old and engineering students). In my demented mind that has been warped by Asian culture and tradition, it is weird to have a teacher who is younger than you. Still, they're a couple of really cool vatos (dudes) and igualemente buens maestros, so it has been really fun so far.

Speaking of changes in personnel, I also had to change my family recently. This is because I discovered, much to my surprise, that I was allergic to the two dogs in my family. Yikes! I was aware of my "My-eyes-are-going-to-pop-out-of-my-head-and-my-nose-is-going-to-fall-off" reaction to some cats, but not about my reaction to certain dogs. In any case, the switch was a good move. My new family is even nicer (especially my new mom, Josefina), and the food is tasty. Less bland! Yummy.

In the meantime, a few pictoral representations of what has been happening so far:


One of the doggies from my first homestay says goodbye as I leave. Awwww...



At a park on top of a hill (called Baul), there are incredibly high concrete slides which are really fun to slide down! However, you need to sit on a flattened plastic bottle or a piece of paper to avoid some nasty ass burns from the concrete. Apparently, you also need to have some sense of how to stop when you reach the bottom of the slide. I mistakenly used my knuckle as a brake. Bad move, but much fun. I think the warning sign should have hinted at something...but at least it was not raining. Hee!


Preferred choice of transportation around these parts (outside of walking distance) are the ubiquitous "chicken buses". They can take the form of minivans, too, but they are mostly old public school buses decorated brightly, as demonstrated above. They are really cheap (Q$1-3 for a local trip) and convenient, but I feel a bit like I am in 6th grade when I ride them. I wonder if it is still cool to sit in the back...?


I took a daytrip with school to Zunil, a local village in the mountains that was pretty hard hit by Hurricane Stan last fall, like much of the Western Highlands (sidenote: It is pretty scary the devastation caused by the hurricane...entire roads collapsed and/or were cut off by humongous landslides that occured after the rains). In any case, Zunil is still cleaning up now. It is also home of one of the oldest churches in Guatemala...Catholic, por supuesto. Zunil is also one of the places in Guatemala that is home to San Simon, a "saint" that many Mayan Catholics worship but is condemned by the actual church because they think he is actually a tool of the devil. ANYHOO, San Simon is a wooden statue dressed up like a cowboy that moves from house to house in Zunil (every 6 months or so). People come to him to light candles and give offerings, usually booze (which they can pour right down the statue's mouth) and cigarettes/cigars. The whole San Simon thing is a mix of indigenous Mayan beliefs and Catholicism, though, so it is quite fascinating, actually...when it isn't freaking me out. When I went to see San Simon (Q$5 cover charge!), two women kissed him full on the lips for what seemed like a good few minutes before pouring booze into his mouth. Okkaaaay.


Gallo is the most popular Guatemalan beer. This is obviously a sign for a bar. I took this in Zunil. For such a religious town, the name seems slightly inappropriate...


Every Friday at school, we have the option of an "interactive" class where we can go on a trip. This past Friday, I went to Copavic, a famous glass factory in Guatemala. It was really dope! You can get really up close with the glass workers. They were very nice. Who knew glass could be so interesting?!? OK, so I am lame...


Every Friday night, there is a dinner that serves as a graduation for exiting students. It is usually pretty fun. This past Friday was potluck, so we had to work with our teachers to make something. Julio (my teacher from the last 2 weeks), Susanne (his current student and mi amiga from Germany), me, and my current teacher Marvin made chocolate cake decorated with irregular verbs and choice phrases like "¡Que chilero!", "¡Que onda vos!" ("What's up, dude?"), and "¡Vamos a chupar!" ("Let's go drink!", or, more literally, "Let's go suck [on some beers, that is...get your head out of the gutter!])."


Yet another football match with pals! ¡Vamos, Superchivos! They tied with Guatemala City, but a good time was had by all, as evidenced above.


I get quite a few calls of "¡Chinita!" in the streets here. It may seem racist, but I have come to realize that people use it merely as a descriptive term here, if not a term of endearment - por ejemplo, when cute little old ladies come up to me, stroke my arm, smile, and say "¡Buenos tardes, Chinita!" As it is terribly difficult to curse off little old ladies, I am trying to rise above the racial implications. This little wall advert was for a seemingly unrelated product (I think it was outside of a car repair shop or something...) and, thus, completely random. But cute. I walk by it everyday and giggle to myself.