My trip to Guatemala - Day 3

September 14, 2010

I discovered today why there is only one knob on the shower: according to Yaneth, the majority of people in Guatemala don’t have hot water. I find it interesting that they get pay-per-view cable for free, but hot showers are an impossibility. For now, getting the shivers occasionally is okay, but I wonder how cold it will get as September draws to a close.

Class went well today; it was mostly talking and laughing with some new vocab thrown in. I realized that my brain learns my repetition and word association, and I’m having a hard time learning all the new words at once. For instance, the word for “shit” is “mierda” and the word for afraid is “miedo.” So, since they sound quite similar, I think to myself, “I’m afraid of shit” (Tengo miedo de mierda) to remember. If you’ve heard my sexy-devil-Halloween-costume story, then you most likely know this to be true. P.S. If you buy me a shot (or seven), I’ll tell you the story, complete with gruesome details.

In the afternoon, I decided to take a stroll to Central Park. I was told there would be a lot happening for Independence Day (which is tomorrow), but all I could see were people setting up a speaker system. So I decided to park myself on a bench and work on my homework. That didn’t last long as the sun was really hot, and people kept approaching me and trying to sell me earrings, bracelets and necklaces. I did get approached by a two-year-old boy who stared at me with a fascination that resembled (clichéd joke alert) the Amish in Best Buy. When his mom finally pulled him away, he blew me a kiss, and it was the cutest thing ever! So cute it made my ovaries hurt.

I find that the past two days have passed by slowly. It’s amazing how much time you have when you’re not running life’s daily errands. Not cooking, cleaning or grocery shopping frees up an incredibly amount of time. I don’t know how that makes me feel. On one hand, it makes me think there’s a reason food preparation take time, that it’s work to feed and nurture our bodies. However, sometimes, I think that I should cut my food prep time down so I can devote more time to other things in my life. But, that would probably mean eating Ramen and/or tv dinners every meal, and I don’t think I’m so down with that.