As I mentioned yesterday, I have no idea what the heck the pharmacist gave me to cure my illness, but whatever it was, it was like a miracle drug because I feel pretty much cured. Not only was today a victory for my nasal passages, but it also marks the day that I finally learned to use the shower!
Gracias a Dios de la Ducha!
Most showers in Guatemala do not have hot water. Instead, they have an electrical device on the shower head that supposedly heats the water. Well, I just assumed they were shoddy and didn't work as I could never get the water in my shower to go above lukewarm. Well, today, I experimented with the amount of water I let pass through the faucet by only turning it on a little bit.
Hot damn (literally) if warm water didn't come out! I completely reveled in the glorious heat, and I must have taken at least a fifteen minute shower. It only took me three weeks to figure out how to use it, but gone are the days of soaping up outside of the shower, bracing myself and then rinsing off in the cold, numbing trickle.
After my amazing shower, I went up to the roof to listen to some music and meditate. While I was up there, Linda stopped by and nearly scared the crap out of me as I had my headphones on and didn't hear her approach. Once I got over my initial shock, we chatted for a bit before deciding to head to the market.
Other than the time I went to the t-shirt store, I haven't been to the market. So, since it's my last weekend here, we decided to go. Holy crap - I had no idea how big it was! Beyond the t-shirt and souvenir shops is the food area. Beyond that is what seems like an endless warehouse of used clothes (most of them are from the US, which explains why a lot of people here wear shirts with English writing on them).
I snapped a few shots of all of the seemingly delicious produce before we headed to the clothing area.
After the roof, we headed to our regular spot, Monoloco. There, we attempted to have a conversation about Twilight in Spanish. I'm not particularly proud of having a conversation about Twilight, but I am quite pleased that I can now say "vampire" and "wolf" in a different language. I still need to look up how to say "Twilight is unrealistic bullshiz," but I suppose I'll save that for a different day.
When I got home, I saw our roommate, Calvin, and his new "friend" sitting at the kitchen table. They were listening to electronic music and making small talk. Calvin called me out of my room and told me he wanted me to meet his friend. I did, but his name escapes me now. After some brief conversation, they asked me to go on the roof with them.
I just thought they wanted to look at the stars (how naive am I?), but I'm pretty sure getting stoned was their main objective. And I'm also pretty sure the "friend" was a drug dealer.
Here's an excerpt from the conversation that happened on the roof:
Sketchtacular "friend": So, do you speak Spanish better than your buddy here?
Me: Well, he's just learning, so I hope so. Yes.
Sketchtacular "friend": Haha. Cool.
Me: How'd you two meet anyway?
Sketchtacular "friend": Um, outside of a bar.
Me: You met outside of a bar?
Sketchtacular "friend": Yeah...
Me: How did that happen? You just started talking, even though he speaks virtually no Spanish and you don't speak much English?
Sketchtacular "friend": Something like that, yeah.
Me: Hmm. That's interesting.
Pause, followed by Calvin repeatedly proclaiming that he can't believe he's getting high in Guatemala.
Me: So...where do you live?
Sketchtacular "friend": About three hours away.
Me: What brings you to Antigua?
Sketchtacular "friend": (Grinning) The tourists.
Me: (Not understanding that he means he likes to sell drugs to the tourists) Yeah?
Sketchtacular "friend": Uh-huh.
Me: So what do you do where you live?
Sketchtacular "friend": (Pauses) I'm a farmer.
Me: A farmer?
Sketchtacular "friend": Yep.
Me: What do you grow?
Sketchtacular "friend": Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that. Apples. (Long pause) Marijuana.
Me: (Finally cluing in): Oh!
He must have thought I was either some sort of narc with all of my questioning, or just the biggest idiot on the face of the planet when it comes to drugs. The latter is probably true.
Sketchtacular "friend" then offered me some pot, but I declined. Instead, I just sat on the roof, gazed at the stars, and giggled to myself at my own naïveté.
To view more pictures of my trip, go check out my album on facebook.
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