Day 22: Beating them at Their Own Game!

Sunday, February 10th, 2013

It’s hard to believe that today marks exactly 3 weeks ago that I arrived in Guatemala.  I’ve already made such good friends and in many ways, it already feels like home and like I’ve been here for quite awhile.  I had considered going out of town this weekend but had a pretty hectic week and was feeling a bit disheveled so I opted for a lazy weekend at home instead---I’m quite happy with that decision!

I’ve got some pretty good routines down.  Since I tend to go to bed quite early, I also wake up at a nice ungodly hour.  I quite like it, actually, since I have nice leisurely morning before work to workout, drink tea, shower, and/or clean my house.  I usually get to work around 7:45 and I don’t have to worry about leaving ahead of time since it’s a 1-minute walk and no chance of traffic along the way.  We start each morning at the morning circle to sing a song and recite a poem amongst all the staff.  It’s a nice way to start the day and to regroup as a team since otherwise we might go days without seeing each other.

I’m mostly in my office but have the flexibility to set my own schedule a bit.  Usually, once a week I work away from the office, and almost once a week I have to travel to another down to run errands for the school.  I enjoy both of these days as it allows me to also get done some of my own errands and means riding on and enjoying the fresh air and views of the lake.  I’ve also perfected my techniques of not getting ripped off on the boat fare when they try to charge me the tourist price.  Every driver is different so you have to study him during the ride and them cross your fingers when you get off to pay, but the 2 best techniques I’ve found are to have exact change for the correct fare, hand it to him, and walk away quickly.  When he starts yelling at you, either a) ignore him and keep walking, or b) politely state that you know the correct fare since you are a resident and will not pay more. They don’t always work, but most of the time they do.**UPDATE: After a particularly lengthy incident in which I was surrounded by 3 boat guys, the “encargado”, and a policeman with them arguing with me for more money and telling me that I had to arrive at a meeting in another town on a Friday night to register myself as a local in order to pay a lower fare (complete BS, btw), I held my ground for 20 minutes, won, and paid the lower fare.  It was quite annoying at the time, but thanks to that lovely incident and, I now have a 3^rd technique which is to state that I registered with the “encargado” for the lower fare. So far it’s worked--dare I say that I've figured out a way to beat them at their own game?!

We have 2 full-time cooks on staff at the school, Teresa and Amarilis and they are super sweet and good cooks.  We eat a mid-morning snack around 10:30 and then lunch around 1pm.  The meals are vegetarian, mostly gluten-free (and they watch out for me), and really well-balanced with vegetables, fruits, etc.  I could not be happier with the meals and it’s such a big help financially and to not have to worry about packing a lunch ever day.  Plus, I’m usually full enough to get away with just snacks for dinner.

I usually get home around 4:30 and enjoy relaxing on my patio and talking to my neighbors and the homeowners and his son and dogs.  It’s the perfect combination of people around if I want to be social, but I don’t have to be if not in the mood.  Most nights I venture to the plaza to buy some snacks and always run into people I know.  I enjoy it because every night turns into something I hadn’t planned when I run into someone and then end up doing something together.

*****SORRY, I tried to upload photos into this entry but it was taking too long so I gave up.  Hope you can get over it.