Greenery everywhere, palm trees, an avocado tree hanging over my patio wall, blue skies that turn to grey, rolling thunder, occasional lightning, daily raining and smiling faces. These are my daily pictures of my first few weeks of living in Guatemala.
If anyone had told me three weeks ago when I arrived in Guatemala that I would still not have an Internet connection, television reception or a landline I would have thought you were insane. Turns out you would not have that diagnosis and that a person will not have her head blow off without this connection regardless of what my non geek sister predicted. This is another side of living in Guatemala and the definition of Guatemalan time.
Now I order to be totally honest I have a great connection at work and by going into work at 6:00 I'm am able to get my personal email and also download movies and tv shows to watch at home. I also went on a trip to the Apple store the other day and got the correct connections to hook my computer and iPad up to my brand new TV. I was getting very tired of watching my 15 inch computer.
After two weeks of being on the campus with just teachers for company I had gotten use to the nice quiet park like setting. All of that changed today when1,500 students rolled on to the campus many with parents in tow. Bus after bus pulled up and unloaded most of the high school students while the front of the school was jammed with parents and elementary students excitedly finding the right rooms. Each student or parent was lugging a big box of supplies. Some were pulling carts with Rubbermaid tubs on board and others were staggering under the load of bags. It was quite enjoyable to watch.
It was strange to not be welcoming the students to my classroom and yet it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. That reaction only seemed to under score my realization that I was ready to leave the classroom but to stay in a school setting.
Today we all loaded into three vans and the 43 of us plus all of the Admin took a trip to the incredible city of Antigua. What a beautiful and unusual city. It is 180 degrees from Guatemala City in look and feel. Antigua used to be the capital city of Guatemala but after the massive and destructive earthquake in July 1773 the capital was moved to Guatemala City. The amazing cathedral in the middle of the center square was completely destroyed though another one was built on the site though it is much smaller than the original one. The ruins at the back are incredible when you realize how massive the earthquake was.
We did a walking tour on the cobblestone streets. It was a great time. We were divided into teams of six with a couple of admin and we went on a treasure hunt to find locations and take pictures of our group in front of the assigned locations. It was a lot of fun. Each group had their own list so other than seeing each other in markets we took different pictures. All of the assigned pictures are going to be put into a photo story that will be used to introduce all of the old teachers to the new cohort. It is a wonderful idea and one of the side benefits of this project is that the new teachers will be shown and taught how to use the school's photo site.
We then went off to the beautiful Casa Santa Domingo Hotel which has been created brilliantly from the old Santa Domingo monastery to eat our meal. A delicious four course meal was served and we all enjoyed immensely. It was an opportunity to get to know each better. While we were eating the inevitable rain poured down and added a melodious sound to the conversation.
The ride home was very quiet as everyone was exhausted but happy for a great day of adventure.
I am sitting in my sister's living room waiting for the Opening Ceremonies for the London Games to begin. There is about 15 minutes before they start. I always love the Games and it is hard to believe that it has been 4 years since the incredible Beijing Games.
I have such wonderful memories of those Games. I watched incredible diving in the Water Cube and cheered with the Chinese people on the breath taking diving that won the gold medal for China. I cheered on Michael Phelps and the American relay team as he swam for his 8th gold medal. The roar that filled the Water Cube that day will always stay in my head. In that moment for the spectators it didn't matter what country we were from, it came down to wanting to see a historical moment and we saw it. I was also able to see the Canadian flag raised in the silver medal position. I watched the opening ceremonies in a Pub in Beijing with people from all over the world and was in awe of what we saw. I even ended up on Australian TV. I saw incredible Athletics in the Bird's Nest and was in the audience for the Opening Ceremonies of the Para Olympic Games. What an experience.
I watched two summer games and two winter games from my Beijing living room on Chinese TV so it is understandable how excited to watch these games from Canada and in English… I only have one thing to say…..”Let the Games begin…”
Well, yes it is hard to say goodbye to the few friends that are still here but I mean it is not physically easy to leave China.
Yesterday thought I had all my ducks in a row when the shippers finally came and picked put my luggage to be shipped by Air Canada Cargo. Shortly after that I received the email saying everything was at customs and I could pick up my passport on Thursday morning. Sounded great and I made my plans based on that.
Today, which is Thursday, I was going to go to YaShow and get a massage, finish my shopping, buy yet another suitcase, eat at my favourite restaurant one more time and pick up my clothes from the tailor. Good plan, right? Well, not if you live in China.
Just as I was getting ready to leave on my adventure after a wonderful and long night's sleep my phone rang and it was the shipper telling me there was a problem as the government had changed the rules about paperwork. It happens here a lot. Customs now needed my work permit to prove that I had been employed for the past eight years. Apparently, my passport showing my employment visa for the past eight years is not enough proof. So very quickly my plans changed.
Here is the itinerary for today.
1) went to compound office and got certificate signed that gives me permission to move my own belongings out of the compound. Had to call my landlady and woke her up for her to give the office permission for them to write the certificate for me.
2) Mr. Wong, my driver, comes back from an airport run and picks me up and takes me to school where I get my work permit. This has to be returned this afternoon so that I will be paid in July. While I am doing that he calls the shipper and finds out what we are actually supposed to do.
3). Drive for over an hour out to the shipper to pick up my passport and then turn around and drive back into the city to the government building that will look at my passport and my work permit and give me the paper I need for customs clearance. This is the part I am concerned about because you never know.
4) drive back out to the shippers office and give them back my passport and the form.
5) Now we will drive back to the school drop off my work permit, pick up Melanie's passport and go to my house at which point Mr. Wong can leave and go pick up people at the airport. He has to go bak out to the shippers tomorrow to pay them for the shipping and pik up my passport.
6) At 4:00 the mover is coming to pick up everything I haven't sold and take it away. She is also bringing me bubble wrap so that I can finish my packing for the stuff going with me on the plane.
7) then finally I will go to Yashow and do all the things I was going to do this morning.
8) pack some more things and just realized it is going to cost me a fortune to get on my Air Canada flight to go home with all my luggage. Thank goodness the flight is paid for.
Once thai tis all done crawl into a very hard Chinese bed as my comfy mattress will be gone and sleep so we can begin again tomorrow.
Gotta love China.
Today is my last Sunday in Beijing. The only reason I mention it is that I am now officially in countdown mode – last Sunday, last Monday…..and so it goes. I am doing a lot of
running around today and am on my way back from Hong Qiao Market where I picked up a pair of glasses I had ordered. A quick In and out. I don’t have any desire to stay though it used to be one of my favourite markets and I have spent a lot of money there over the years but it has now gone to a real tourist trap that features a McDonald’s and a Starbucks no less. That is not what shopping in Beijing is all about.
So now I am off to Yashow which is and always has been a tourist market. There is a sense of home there. I will go and get my last pedicure and massage from my favourite place there and say goodbyes.
Ya Show or YaXiu
Smog hangs over the city obscuring the tops of buildings and everything is grey. It is typical July weather – hot, smoggy and uninviting. Foreigners run around in as little coverage as we can and hopefully catch some rays while Chinese cover up every bit of skin so they can stay white – each culture has their own version of beauty.
July Smog in Beijing
Posted with Blogsy