Guatemala - 2010

Days 3 + 4 - Thurs., July 22 and Fri., July 23

Stevie - phone home!

And much to my surprise there are several wi-fi places in town. Supposedly there is Wi-Fi in the central part, supposedly. I tried to get a signal and didn't. Someone else said they never found it either.

OK - now we get to the reason for the title of the day: Stevie Phone Home. It has been much harder to communicate this time. Now, in reality this is only partly true. There are payphones and Internet cafes everywhere, but I expected to use the international phone card I bought at Costco (which is cheaper), but that requires the now hard to find pay phone. AND, I expected to use the school's wi-fi, which is now moot.

So I typed in the park for a while, tried to get wi-fi, and finally, in frustration, ended up at a Starbucks-like cafe, drinking a lemon tea. The tea was good and a bit high for Antigua, but the internet was reasonably fast. I was at easily able to check my email.

Unfortunately I had to leave too soon to meet the girls back at the house. As I was leaving the cafe I saw a girl talking to her computer and I remembered about Skype.... Hmmmm.

 

In the central plaza - false advertising at its worst.

Jess, Anick, and Arian got to the house before I did, but I didn't know it. I started to wait for them in the hallway (which is exterior like in all houses here). Then I heard voices, recognized Jess's distinct and loud voice, and realized that they were on the roof. Sun is sometimes rare here, so they were laying out a bit.

Notice the house behind them, it doesn't seem finished. This is very common south of the US. It is as if the builders want to leave the possibility of another floor....sometime...maybe.

Here is another view from the roof.

There is a bit of a clothes line up here, which I used briefly to dry my bath towel. I tried to leave it laying out in my room, but things take forever to dry here because there is no air conditioning and the air is so moist. A few minutes in the fleeting sun finished the job nicely.

Here is the McDonalds in Antigua: very nice!

It too has free wi-fi. It worked for me for email for a bit, but when I tried to connect to Skype it froze up for 45 minutes and I couldn't do anything after that.

But two things were good. I had a nice chat with a person from Dallas that had quit her job to come to Antigua for 10 months to learn Spanish to become a missionary. Good for her! Secondly, I learned a new Spanish word: frustrado (easy enough to understand).

After dinner I went back to the Rainbow Cafe because they have wi-fi. It's a place to hangout and type and hopefully get decent internet. I was very happy. The internet is reasonably fast, but the band is loud. It took about an hour to get Skype set up, including adding credit to my Skype account so I can call telephone lines from my computer.

By the time all this was done the band was done with their break, so Denece and I talked over the music for 40 minutes for free (I have earphones). She even got to see Arian. The video was a bit slow, so we eventually went to just audio, which was better.

Afterwards I was till trying to get photos to the website and tried to connect and had more downloading to do. Unfortunately, the cafe closed 30 minutes earlier than on Wednesday. Arian was friends with the workers here, so while she checked Facebook, I uploaded pictures in the background (finally).

SO - to be straight I bought 3 drinks this day just for Internet access, which isn't a lot money-wise, but certainly reduces the diet benefit of this trip.

OK - next day. Friday. In the morning we went back to Yori to try to find something for me to do on Saturday. Sunday is a special day here and there is a big festival in the square. Both Maria and Yori have the day off, so I am going to hangout with them and treat them to lunch. So, I only have Saturday to travel.

I learned about the other towns around Antigua and which ones would be interesting to visit. I also showed Yori some Internet pictures of Washington State's Olympic National Park and Mount Rainier. Yori was very kind: we must have spent 2 hours talking to her.

Elsa had found me a friend to be my afternoon teacher, but she couldn't do it. So the friend found me Hugo, an older gentleman that has taught Spanish for 30 years. He has a car and we might go to the other towns around Antigua as we learn.

SO, in the afternoon I went BACK to Yori. Arian had told me about a place she had gone that was only 2 hours away on the coast: Montericco. Yori agreeed that this was an good choice. And it was inexpensive: $24 for transportation there and back.

Pollo Campero is at the left (yellow sign). This is known as the street of the arch to the gringo.

I'll get better pictures of both.

OK - after talking to Yori I went a fast food resturant called Pollo Campero (Country Chicken). It was recommended by a couple of Americans the night before and really good internet and Wi-fi.

FINALLY! Good, fast Internet. After buying a small drink and a muffin, I tried to find an out of the way table and was quickly able to check email and get connected to Skype.

Skype is free if both callers are online, but you don't want your friends to have to wait for you all day. What is great is that Skype allows you to call landlines, too, for almost nothing. It costs me 2 cents/minute to call someone in the states on their cell or landline.

So, here's the procedure, now: I called Denece's phone and she gets on the Internet. Costs me less than 5 cents. We talked for almost 40 minutes for nothing. Also, the quality of the video and audio is far superior at Pollo Campero AND there is no loud band in the background. It does seem silly to be sitting there talking to the computer, but (hey), it is WAY COOL to be talking to here from here and seeing her and the dogs. The future is here.

Afterewards I called my parents on their phone, since they don't have Skype set up and may not have microphone, yet. Again, the quality is amazing and we talked for 20 minutes for less than a dollar! I remember calling grandparents only a few times a year because AT&T (Ma Bell) was too expensive.

Told Elsa that I would make cook breakfast Saturday morning. The supermarket (bodega) is right next to Yori's agency, but I didn't want to buy groceries before I went to use the Internet. I left Pollo Campero at about 6:45 p.m. (dinner is a 7:15) and one of the workers said the bodega closes at 7. Now I was worried that I wouldn't have anything to cook for breakfast and Elsa might not have anything, either.

I as I walked very fast home, at one point a camionetta or chicken bus passed in the street in front of me, which surprised me. I didn't think I was that at that street, yet.

You see, I don't have a map of Antigua (never have) and I only know certain routes. A couple of times I passed this street and been surprised that I'm here.

A camionetta or chicken bus, so named because sometimes locals will take animals on board. Many are old school buses that are decked out with fancy colors and chrome. They are cheap, crowded, and cultural. The sign says what two cities they travel between and a helper hangs from the open door calling the destination.

In this area the camionettas are safe, but in other areas (especially the capital) they are very risky. One was bombed in the capital last week.

At the house Elsa said that the bodega closes at 8, so I had time. She gave me two things to buy for the house (napkins and paper towels) and I rushed off for the store, leaving dinner behind.

You know what it is like at a new store. Imagine in a different country and language. I struggled to find almost everything. Onions and potatos were easy, but the garlic is hanging next to the vegetables. I had to guess about the sausages, since most of the types are either Chorizo (red, spicy sausages with chilis - not for breakfast, in my opinion) or are just hot dogs. Orange juice was tricky, too, and surprisingly expensive (about $4 US).

Also, the entire time I wasn't sure if they would accept my credit card. I hadn't been to the ATM, yet and am very short of cash. Fortunately, credit was easy and OK.

Back to the house and a late dinner.

I ended the day studying spanish and writing my first little spanish song to help me remember how to conjugate the verb "Ir" (to go).

Yo me voy ahora. (I am going now.)
Manana yo ire tambien. (Tomorrow I will go, again.)
Antes yo iba con gusto. (Before I went with eagerness [style?]).
Porque yo fui ayer. (Because I went yesterday.)

The daughter checked the correctness of the spanish. I was actually very hard to make sense with four verb tenses. And there is a simple tune.