out of the fish bowl...

Dad: Well, if this is THE ticket and I win the lottery, I will give you ¼
Me: If you win the lottery you’re ONLY going to give me a quarter??
Dad: What? ¼ isn’t enough for you?
Me: You’re only going to give me 25cents?!?!

I remember that conversation clearly from when I was 12. Dad and I were driving home from the gas station and he had just bought a lottery ticket for a $10mil jackpot. I had CLEARLY misunderstood what my dad had meant when he said “1/4” and we still joke about the 25cents he owes me the day he wins the Lotto 649.

Here, often times I complain that people don't believe me when I tell them that I am from Canada. Usually they poke and prod with however many questions necessary until they receive an answer they find acceptable (YES I am a descendent from the grand ancestors of CHINA!). This can often be tiresome, but it has stopped bothering me so much when I remember I have something that most Guatemalans can only wish for: a Canadian passport. I am not suggesting all Guatemalans want a Canadian passport per se, but rather the freedoms and opportunities it holds for those who possess one.

As a Canadian, I can go pretty much anywhere and at anytime I would like. I hardly ever need to apply for a visa when traveling. When crossing borders, I am not a suspected drug trafficker or terrorism, and I am not suspected as an illegal immigrant. I am general well-respected and well-liked simply for my nationality and I can be proud that my country is recognized for its peace and solidarity. Living in Canada, I am guaranteed access to education and access to universal leading-edge healthcare. Work opportunities are abundant and I can count on fair wages. If I happen to be unemployed, there is unemployment insurance, and even welfare, if needed. My government isn’t perfect, but for the most part it isn’t corrupt and I know my voice can be heard and my opinion represented fairly. Measures have been put in place to protect the environment and prevent foreign companies from deteriorating the land.

I don’t see 6 year olds shining shoes to make money to support their families. I would be paid more than $2 an hour for teaching a language and applying for a visitor’s visa to Canada will not cost me a week’s salary. I don’t have to be disenchanted by the fight for my rights. I do not have to carry the burden of my country’s history of war and corruption. I don’t have to be afraid of what my future holds for me.

I am grateful for everything I have and I work hard to take advantage of all the opportunities available to me. But all of it came to me by the chance of where I was born. I didn’t work for it. I didn’t earn it. There was nothing that said I deserved those opportunities and privileges more than anyone else.

For me, I’ve already won the lottery.

My most recent endeavour...

6:15am If I am up for a run… this is the time to go! Otherwise…
6:45am Alarm clock goes off
6:55am Actually get out of bed
7:00am In the shower and hoping that I got up early enough that there will be sufficient water pressure to create enough flow through the electric shower head. (Not enough water = cold shower... that is if there IS any water)
7:30am Read, listen to music, or dilly dally until breakfast
7:45am Breakfast is on the table. Typically a small bowl of warm mosh (kind of like oatmeal), 2 pieces of bread, some fruit and water.
7:55am Out the door for work
8:05am At work. Make the morning round of greetings – “Buenas dias” + kiss on the cheek (still trying to get use to this!)
8:07am Turn the computer on, wrestle with the stiff keys of the keyboard, try to use the scroll button that doesn’t exist on my mouse and have a field day with WindowsME. Internet only exists for very particular and special persons in the office – I am not one of them.
9:30am Thought: I’ve been working for nearly 1.5 hours and most people in Vancouver aren’t even at work yet!
10:45am Stomach is growling. Make a trip to the nearby XelaPan for some sweet bread or the nearby corner store for a chocolate covered frozen banana.
1:20pm Walk home for lunch
1:55pm Sit down at the table for lunch with mum, the kids, and student from the language school. Mum and Joli are excellent cooks – Best meal of the day!
2:20pm Back at work
5:30pm Finish work. Head to the nearby internet café for a little bit.
6:15pm Walk home or wander around a little bit and see if I can’t encounter something new
7:00pm Home. Watch some TV with the kids or read either as much of the local paper as I can (with my best-friend the Spanish-English dictionary of course) or work my way through a Spanish children’s novel.
8:00pm Dinner – usually one fried egg, beans and tortilla. (Don’t work up too much of an appetite during the day because dinner is small!)
8:45pm Either go out or stay home to watch TV or read or play with the kids
10:30pm In bed and ready for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (if I’m not out that is)

Over crowded, loud, and dirt cheap... and if you're lucky, a free thrill ride!... the infamous Guatemalan chicken buses are the preferred mode of transport by locals. They are old US school buses that have been repainted, fitted with roof racks for transporting goods and added handle bars along the inside ceiling for those brave enough to stand. Speakers are usually placed at various locations inside blaring some kind of music (some good, some bad, but usually bad) at volumes too loud and at ranges too great for the speakers to reproduce with quality. In seats designed for 2 children, you typically sit at least 3 adults to a bench (no avoiding coodies on these buses!), and if you're the third person, it's advisable to get as much of your bum on the seat before your bench buddies get too comfortable. In that bit of space between you and the other 3 people jammed sitting on the bench across from you, there may be another 1 or 2 people standing. And just when you think they couldn't possibly fit another soul on the bus, it will stop another 10 people will somehow make themselves fit.

Just to add to the confusion a little bit more, when the bus stops to drop off and pick up more people, kids and teens jump onto the bus and walk (or push) their way down the aisle selling drinks, bread, hot food wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks, fresh fruit, nuts or little toy trucks. They’ll usually walk back and forth 2 or 3 times tempting you to buy their goods… that is if you haven’t already bought something from the person shoving food and drink through your window. If these kids are lucky, they’ll be able to make their round and get off the bus where they started, if not, get off a little later along the side of the road – or the alternative that is sometimes taken is to run out the back door of the bus while the bus is speeding away (a neat trick that I’m sure would give any mother a heart attack). And every once in awhile, to add a bit more to the chaos, someone will start evangelizing at the front of the bus or try to convince you to buy “magic” bright green health pills.

But the thrill really comes when your driver puts the pedal to the floor - pulling G's you wouldn't think possible in a school bus, beaning around blind corners along a cliff-side highway (that has no guide rails) passing all other cars and trucks. On the wrong side of the road of course.

Ahhh... good times ;)

I bought a set of computer speakers here for 50Q so that I might have some music in my room. When I turned them on for the first time I was sorely disappointed with the quality of the sound and wistfully thought of the speakers I have in Canada - a set of Harman/Kardon Soundsticks.

The comparison isn´t even close to being fair - what was I thinking??? Siiiiiigh

Halloween isn´t a very popular holiday here... it´s the day after that gets all the attention. But despite that, we did see some kids last night dressed up in various costumes, mostly as witches. That´s mainly a result of American influcence and depending on who you talk to they´ll either embrace it or hate it.

But anyway... today, Nov. 1st, is a national holiday where people have the chance to spend the day with family and pay their respects to the dead. The 2 blocks surrounding the cemetary are packed people and vendors buying and selling flowers and decorative wreaths (For once this place actually smells good!). These are taken to decorate the graves of loved ones who have passed away and they fly kites as a means of communicating with God and the deceased.

They also eat a special dish called Fiambre. It´s a host of different vegetables topped off with various cold meats and cheese. Sooooooo good!! Traditionally you make tons and tons of it and then you share and trade your food with family and neighbours. Everyone makes it a little differently so it never tastes the same one to the other.