Love from Guatemala

14 February 2010

Love from Guatemala

It was glorious to sleep in without waiting for the impending sound of an alarm. It was even more glorious to wake up to sunshine, warmth, and blue skies. I left William sleeping in the king size bed we were sharing and Gordon and I decided to take a little jog around town. We were a bit curious about how easy it would be to do a run considering the roads were full of obstacles in the form of cobblestones, potholes, steep curbs and lots of traffic. We set out on a run around the perimeter of the city. Let’s just say it was not one of the best runs for either of us. Between dodging all of the motorbikes and pedestrians as well as the uneven streets, it was nearly impossible to get into a running groove. Perhaps worse, was the terrible pollution. Clearly Guatemala has no air pollution and smog laws. As the cars and buses pass by, they let out plumes of black smoke from their exhausts. I felt like I was sucking on a car tailpipe while I was running. It was probably the equivalent of smoking half a pack of cigarettes but without a fun buzz. Twenty-five minutes later we had finished the loop and we were beyond starving. We reconvened with the rest of the family to rustle up some breakfast.

Out of hunger and laziness that morning, we decided to eat at the hotel breakfast buffet, very out of character for our family as my parents have always insisted we must “go out and eat authentic food.” The buffet had a good variety of American and Latin breakfast foods. I had heuvos rancheros with refried black beans, plantains, and sour cream along with a waffle, banana bread, and a tropical fruit assortment. We stuffed ourselves quite well on that buffet while sitting outside under the warm sun.

After getting cleaned up, we walked a few blocks to explore a market. On the way, my dad and I stopped for a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice sold by a girl no more than 11 years old. She seemed to take her little business quite seriously, and on top of juice, always had two choices of newspapers for sale. Not far from her stand was the entrance to the market. It was surprisingly not very touristy, most of the shoppers were Guatemalans. In this market one could find anything from bootleg CDs to fresh watermelon slices, jelly shoes, laundry detergent, bras, and video cables. The tropical fruit stands were the most interesting to me. Most sold bananas, pineapples, watermelon, mangos and papaya but a few had some mysterious fruits. One stand even offered two selections of what I think was jackfruit…you could get them fresh or literally rotten. I could actually smell the vinegar-like aroma of rotten fruit. I can’t even imagine what a person would do with that fruit.

It was also interesting to see the people in the market. There was the odd white tourist, but mostly there were Guatemalans. There were some that were clearly city folk, and others that were clearly from the country. Those of Mayan heritage wear the colorful woven prints. There was one women, definitely under 5 feet tall, who had what was probably a two year old strapped to her back, and three more little kids scurrying around her feet. It was hard to even imagine that this tiny little woman had manage to squeeze out four kids, but then again, if I have learned nothing from my short career in obstetrics so far, it is that size means nothing! I was fascinated, and happy, to see women walking around the market in public with a baby on their hips opening breastfeeding with no shame. In the US, most women hide their nursing baby under a blanket or shirt when in public. Our puritanical culture is so fearful of breasts! And furthermore, I have been shocked to see so many new mothers in the US who refuse to even try breastfeeding. Sadly, it most commonly is the poor inner city patients who tell me they are “grossed out” by the idea of breastfeeding, and well, what incentive do they have to do it when the government subsidizes formula for them via WIC. I digress here…but I was happy to see these women doing exactly what nature intended for their infants. We “sophisticated” Americans should take a lesson from them.

We decided it was time for some coffee, and so we returned to Café Barista for a few lattes. It was awesome to find out that the coffee served in Antigua is all local. Most of it is produced right outside of the city itself, if not elsewhere in Guatemala. I have tried to embrace the local food movement as much as I can at home, but coffee and tea are not things that grow in New England. I must say, I am not a coffee connoisseur most of the time, but the coffee here really is delicious. After refueling on caffeine, we explored the town of Antigua. On one sunny corner, we ran into Dilbert, the round Canadian man from the night before. He happily stopped his conversation with a young traffic guard to say hello to us. He said, “I was just hustling this nice girl.” As we went on our way, I heard him say to her, “Esta mi amigos!” Later, we happened upon a small square outside of a church painted the happiest and brightest shade of yellow you can imagine. The church must have been affiliated with some kind of home for the disabled as there was a line of people in wheelchairs sitting outside of it. There was a mix of elderly as well as younger people too who looked to be afflicted with cerebral palsy. Not a happy bunch to look at, but at least they were out in the sunlight, something has to be said for that.

Lining the square were half a dozen food vendors. There was a man making shaved-ice drinks with fruit topping, a women making pupusas, and a few vendors grilling up a variety of meats. My parents each ordered something from a different vendor and then sat down to try the variety of food. These stands seemed to be where the locals came to eat and it was seriously cheap too. Five dollars fed all three of us. After our delicious lunch, we met up with my brothers and walked some further. A few blocks from that square, we found a large church ruins behind a wall. Besides the church, there was also a market located within the walled area. We perused through some typical tourist items that cute Guatemalans implored us to by, “What you like, lady?” There was also a good variety of local food being sold there. We sampled what we thought was meat with a mole sauce, but turned out to be bananas in a mole sauce with sesame seeds on top. It was actually a tasty dessert.

Later that afternoon, we took a short siesta by the poolside. As the sun started to dip down behind the mountains, it became cool and the wind picked up. We did not linger long there after that. At any rate, it was almost time to find some where for beer and dinner. Antigua is filled with beautiful hotels located in these colonial buildings, and tucked inside each hotel is a beautiful green courtyard. We had a round of beer at one of these beautiful hotels in town. Instead of Gallo beer, I decided to try Moza, another Guatemalan brew. It was a dark bock beer that was quite delicious. We might have stayed for another round if it were not for my narcoleptic mother falling asleep in her chair. We figured it was time we kept the party moving along. We found another Guatemalan restaurant that was decorated up for Valentines Day. It seemed that they celebrated the holiday just as much as the Americans. It is still a silly Hallmark holiday if you ask me though. After stuffing ourselves on more beans, meat, plantains and beer, I was ready to call it a night again. Love to all!