24 Day Update. It's gonna be okay

Today, I just wanted to come home. I'm not going to, but watching the Iron Bowl on tv made me miss my friends, miss Alabama and miss 14 big screens showing college football.

Then there's the neighbor/Steve issue. I left for 45 minutes. I sat outside the door for 5-10 minutes and listened to him bark until he quit. I returned to a note that he'd been barking all afternoon and to "do something about my dog." So apparently the neighbor is a bit of a drama queen.

But that 45 minute trip was completely worth it. I think I"ve mentioned Caoba Farms in a previous post. It's a restaurant, a farm, vendors set up shop and a little tienda (store), where I picked up some great stuff today...homemade pastas, cheeses and yogurts. Even picked up a chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. It's not the cheapest, but it's by my house and I don't have to navigate Antigua traffic.

It gave me the idea of selling gumbo or red beans and rice, stuff folks don't ordinarily have here, but it turns out okra is hard to find. And I probably couldn't make a profit, but it's something to think about.

Speaking of traffic, I bought a scooter. It's an Italika, which sounds Italian but nope it's Chinese. 125 hp of Chinese engineering between my legs. Completely absurd, but it was cheap and given my luck with vehicles will surely not last long. Anyway,, the walk to town from my apartment was getting tedious so something had to be done. It was no easy task. Well, buying it was. But this week, I have to go get a NIT (kinda like a SSN or tax id) and some other thing from the police station before they can issue me a tag. Then they'll send the tag in a month or so. Guatemala, man. Luckily, my shuttle driver Raul navigated me through the process, so I should be okay.

Residency is applied for. Not as difficult as I imagined. A girl in my Spanish class tried to do it herself. She got there at 10 am, waited all day and was then told they were closing before they got to her. The $700 or so I'm paying Bety Lopez, a tramitador (sort of a lawyer but not really) is worth every penny. Went to migracion, waited 30 minutes, gave the clerk my docs and we were out the door. Now this is supposed to keep me from having to do the 90 day visa run until it is approved, but we'll see about that.

Spanish school. After only 3 days, 3 hours per,  I'm able to understand alot more. My teacher, Lesvia, said in 6 weeks I should be getting around just fine. One thing they don't tell you when you get out of school full-time is that you forget how to learn. You just don't use your brain in that way anymore, and it's definitely a "use it or lose it" thing. After the first day, I was overwhelmed and frustrated because I wasn't retaining anything. But I'm back into a rhythm, re-writing everything down (it's how I learn), and it seems to be coming back to me.

I'd be lying if I said I was totally happy here. There are parts of home that I miss. But I still talk to my good friends almost as often, and that makes all the difference. The holidays aren't my best times either, so I'm sure that has something to do with it as well. But, it's only been 24 days, and I'm already happier here than I was in Orange Beach. The people are nicer, the weather is better and I really think this could be the place for me for awhile.

Hasta luego, I have to conjugate verbs.

TRANSITIONS, DIFFICULTIES AND PLEASANTRIES.

This transition has been, in many ways, harder than I expected, but in others, easier than I expected.

I chose Antigua because, of the Central American towns and cities, it is both cosmopolitan and navigable. By that I mean, it is not a huge town so I figured it would be relatively easy to meet people here...and it has been, thankfully. But also it is very multicultural, so I figured not knowing Spanish at first would not be that big of a deal. I could not have been more wrong. As far as going out at night and such, it is not that big of a deal, but in day-to-day functioning, it is a huge vacuum.

Case in point: I needed to pay my tramitador (a sort of lawyer, who is processing my residency forms), and she gave me her bank account number to deposit the money. So, my plan was to go to the bank with my credit card and have them pay it from the card into the account. I got there and not one person in the bank even spoke pidgin English, so that was a no go. I ended up finding a work around through my online bank, so it all worked out, but that is not the point. Situations will arise that I am not going to be able to navigate due to the language barrier, and that is overwhelming and frustrating. For example: I need to buy a car, I think. My apartment is just far enough from town that walking every day is a little much. But I can't because I don't speak the language not only to buy it, but also to navigate the avalanche of forms that the Guatemalan government requires to buy a car. So I walk, and I walk, and I walk. My feet hurt all the time.

Monday (tomorrow) I am going to check out a recommended Spanish school to remedy that problem, but it won't be an overnight fix, so really I've just got my fingers crossed that nothing goes horribly wrong between now and the six weeks or so that it will take for me to become somewhat functional in the native language.

I don't know what to do about Steve. He is barking when I leave him in the kennel, which is something that he did occasionally in Orange Beach, but not often. The walls here are thin (despite their being made of concrete, which I don't really understand), and my neighbor has complained. So, I went and bought some valium, which I have given him at night when I am not taking him with me. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but I am hoping he will begin to associate his kennel with going to sleep, and the barking will stop. If it doesn't, I don't know what I'm going to do. I take him everywhere with me during the day, and that's fine for now, but I will need to shop for groceries eventually, and I'd rather not have to medicate the pup just so I can go buy food.

This post was not intended to be a bitch session, so let me tell you that the good does outweigh the bad and I would recommend doing this to anyone. Last night, I was at a bar called "The Snug."

At the bar with me were two Dutch guys, some Australians (Aussies are really annoying btw, like even louder Americans), a Norwegian fella who went to high school in Cleveland and Bama Bob from Dothan. The value of travel is not in the places you see or in the pictures that you take. It lies in the people that you meet and the perspectives that you learn. This will sound preachy, and I don't care: dammit Americans, get out of your own country and see the world, and not the places the guide books send you.  I'll never understand the value of going to Seaside, when you can literally go to Latin America or Europe for the same price. Get out of your protective bubble, guys.

If the last week has taught us anything, it's that we are entirely too afraid of people who aren't just like us. Travel is the cure. People are good; they are helpful; and they are kind. Everywhere.


I mentioned that it has been easier than expected in some ways, and it has. Primarily, it has been really easy to meet people. Though it may come as a surprise to those of you who know me, and think I'm an extrovert because I am if I know you, I am painfully shy with strangers. I have no idea what to say, what to talk about, and I can't imagine why anyone would want to talk to me in the first place. I lived in Orange Beach, Alabama for three years and left knowing about four people whom I didn't know before, if that's any indication of how crippling the shyness is. Here, though, people are incredibly welcoming and outgoing. They actually introduce themselves and talk to me, and it keeps happening over and over so I'm assuming it's not a fluke or some elaborate joke. I mean, it's just been introductions and casual talk, nobody's asked me to hang out or anything, but maybe that will come one day.

So, despite the frustrations and the occasional urge to say "fuck this," pack my stuff and move back to my comfort zone, I know that's not in my long-term best interest. It won't happen immediately, but I think maybe I can get my smile back here in Antigua, Guatemala, and that's been missing for a very long time. Cheers!

THE FIRST WEEKEND IN ANTIGUA....I LIKE IT, I REALLY LIKE IT

It's Sunday, and the first weekend in Antigua, Guatemala is drawing to a close. Gotta say, this town is cool. I brought a friend from home, Michelle, to help with the settling in process. I also don't deal with stress well alone,  so I figured a comforting presence would be helpful.

Michelle...a tad overserved

First, traveling with a dog to Guatemala is super easy. The process before hand is exhausting but actually doing it? Piece of cake. The folks a United PetSafe made it super easy from Houston, which is good because the Cubs had won the World Series in 10 innings the night before, so I was somewhat the worse for wear. In Guatemala, you basically get a pet concierge. She led us through the entire process, and we were through customs in 15 minutes and on the road.

Thursday was mostly spent unpacking and getting settled in. Friday found us at Cafe No Se, which is my favorite bar down here, chatting and shooting mescal with the ever hilariously lovely Jacki behind the bar.

Saturday came and we decided to go to breakfast and check out Caoba Farms, which is just a short walk down the street from my house. This place is great, and I'm pretty sure I'll be spending alot of time there. They are open every day, but on Saturdays there is live music all day, food and drink, whatnot. Bluegrass band was playing when we got there, and we decided to grab some breakfast. Actually, I've met the banjo guy before when his band played at NoSe when I was down here last. He'd been to Mobile, and was saying that he never imagined he could make a living playing the banjo in Guatemala, but here he is. So that's cool. Anyway, breakfast was amazing, the "Typical Farm" was black beans, chicken sausage,

sourdough toast, fruits, potatoes, homemade jellies. The cool thing is that your breakfast is literally made right in front of you. In addition to breakfast, there are folks selling their wares like at any farmer's market. There's also a permanent indoor market where you can get organic olive oils, balsamics, fruits and veggies and whatnot. They also make their own yogurt and hummus there. The yogurt is the USD equaivalent of $1.20 for a regular sized cup. and the hummus tub is about $3.00. Suck it, America.

Finally, and most delightfully, lest you think things are different here in Guatemala, right there at Caoba Farms, I enjoyed Breakfast With The Barn, a tradition like no other (Auburn football stuck in the morning game again, for those of you who aren't on Twitter). There is supposedly a shuttle that runs from Caoba to Parque Central every hour on the hour, but someone arrived by tuk tuk, so we grabbed that back to town to do a little shopping.

Up on the main avenue in town, Alameda de la Santa Lucia (it looks alot like Canal St., if you've been to New Orleans, is the Central Market. (which is alot like the
French Market in NOLA, before Katrina and huger, much huger...cheap knockoff stuff, amazing produce, and a good bit of handmade stuff). I picked up some produce, Michelle found some souvenirs for some folks back home and I found the most amazing thing for one of my besties. He and his wife are having a baby, and man I hope it's a boy or a lesbian because just look at this thing. Hand made Infant.Sized. Pancho. GTFO.

So anyway, after some needed rest...*aside* I have flat feet, so walking really isn't a thing that I can physically do as much as I want. Like, I was in corrective shoes as a child. Yes, I was that kid. Those shoes didn't correct shit, by the way. The dogs still bark all the time... we ventured back out to watch the main event: The Crimson Tide and a team that like to talk about beating the Tide, but also a team that Bama has now beaten six times in a row. #RTOTA We posted up at Monoloco, the gringoest of the local bars, but they have about 10 flat screens showing all the games, so it was an easy choice. We'll likely head back there this afternoon to watch the Saints. I met the owner, Billy, a UVA guy...(poor thing), and it turns out he's my neighbor.

So I guess that's it. I'll wait for Michelle to wake up and we're heading to Cafe Condesa for brunch before the game because it's Sunday and that's what white people do on Sunday. WhoDat.

Oh, please remember and never forget that The Chicago Cubs won the World Series in 2016 and the St. Louis Cardinals did not. More later, skaters.