When I arrived last Tuesday night, I wound my way through the airport to the baggage claim and grabbed my guitar and giant pack, but no giant plastic tote ever came down the conveyer belt. I was thrown into a world of Spanish as I had to ask how to get my missing tote, and was surprised by how quickly the language came back to me. A good sign. I had actually been quite apprehensive in the plane, remembering how hard it had been in Costa Rica and feeling the absence of each of you. It was nice to feel some immediate linguistic confidence, and even better to finally emerge from the airport and spot three of my comrades waiting for me. There was Joanna, the aussie Aftercare Fellow, her Guatemalan husband Victor (they got married a few months ago, and I´m now living with Victor´s parents, Candy and Victor Sr.), and Alex Fine, the Church Relations intern. Somehow we immediately recognized each other and they took me home to Candy and Victor´s in a suburb of Guatemala City called Boca del Monte.
Candy and Victor are very nice and immediately made me feel at home with some soup and rice and beans (pretty standard fare around here). They put me up in Victor Jr.´s old room with a view that looks up at Volcán (that´s Spanish for Volcano) Pacaya and down on the city. The next day I settled in in the morning and then ran some errands with Victor Jr. (including getting my tote from the airport). We met Jo and Alex for lunch at Tacontento where our friend Christian works. I started work the next day (Thursday). Everyone at the office was very welcoming. I spent the day reading an orientation packet, which I have been reviewing along with the penal code ever since, except for attending the final arguements of a trial on Friday which was very intense and which I could only tell you more about if you asked (legally).
The Communications Intern, Lerae, had been nannying on IJM business in the old colonial capital Antigua, about forty-five minutes from Guatemala City, so Jo, Victor Jr., Alex, Christian, and I all went out to visit. We were welcomed by the family for whom Lerae was nannying into one of the most beautiful bungalows I´ve ever seen. This place, like the rest of Antigua, was all colonial-style architecture with corner fireplaces, tile floors, mosaics, a courtyard with a fountain, a rooftop patio (with a view of yet another volcano), and heaps (I also happen to be working on my Australian) of Latin American art. We dined in and then went out to a discoteca (para bailar... y tomar un poco).
The next day we walked the cobblestone streets of Antigua, winding our way through Mayan weavers (and vendors), food stalls, and families out for the weekend. We ate at a pretty famous (for which I have no name or pictures, of course). I sat in Bill Clinton´s chair. We hung around the town center for a while. Antigua is, in many ways, the antithesis of Guatemala City. It is quieter (they just passed an ordinance against honking - which goes a very long way in Latin America), cleaner, and much more walkable. It was a nice respite.
Later in the afternoon we headed back to the city and ate dinner together that night. Sunday was spent much like my Sundays in the states: church, lunch, a nap and some reading, dinner, bed. So as I finish this up I sit here at my desk drinking mate, listening to some good ol´ American bluegrass on my ipod, and preparing to read the Codigo Procesal Penal some more. That´s my life right now. A very confusing and exciting mix of cultures and people. I know this will get hard, but for now it´s almost completely new and exciting. I´ve felt so welcomed by my coworkers and hosts. I think it helps that we are all united by a very common purpose and calling in a way that I never experienced while I was in Costa Rica. I have felt the provision of God in these new friends, coworkers, and host family. In some ways this city feels familiarly like San Jose. I´m not so shocked by some of the harder things that are just part of Latin American city life (trash, traffic, bus fumes, the parade of people, stalls, and well, Spanish). I´m still excited by some of the better things (committment to family life, food, music everywhere, etc.).
Missing all the folks back home but comfortably and happily diving into life here.
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