the colors of GuatemalaSunday, September 13, 2009
Here is, alas, the final post for Holly Goes South. Holly is now north and adjusting to changes in climate, home and work. Big sigh. I am happy to see my family; I am happy to know that I still remember how to drive a car; I am even happy to be thinking about school (well, at least about
teaching. SSCC is not my happy place right now. But I won't go into all of that. Let me just say that my boxes of books & stuff are somewhere on campus and I am sure that I will see them before 2010). If all goes correctly, this last entry will be chock full of pictures for you to peruse at your leisure. Thanks for sharing this journey with me. See you all soon, I hope!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tomorrow I leave for Guatemala City so that I can catch my 7 AM, Saturday morning flight. I have turned away for only a moment, but a moment is all that it takes for something to pass; I am spending my last full day in Antigua. I miss my husband and my kid (to say nothing of the cats--will they even remember me?!?) so much that I can't hardly think about them without wanting to rush to the door so as to hurry my departure. I long for the sensation of being cold--really, really cold. I am thirsty for a drink of water straight from the tap and a toothbrush that doesn't look like it needs to be boiled clean. I yearn to put toilet paper in the toilet instead of the little trash basket that sits discreetly (never discreet enough, though, for a North American) between toilet and wall. I want to sleep with the windows wide open without fear of my mortal enemy, the mosquito. And I am looking forward to throwing the last of my 6th bottle of bug repellent into the trash--the one right next to the toilet. And yet...
I walk around one last time sucking in all that I can absorb of the colors and busyness that are Antigua Guatemala (factoid: in Spanish, city name and country name are not separated by a comma). I stand at the place where the chicken buses depart and listen for the conductors' calls to their various destinations. As one calls out "Ciudad Vieja," I swallow so that my heart falls back into my chest where it belongs. I think of the nineteen faces that I never thought I would be able to distinguish one from the other and I wonder how they could possibly be learning without me. A vain thought, I know, and I am crying just a bit even as I write this because, really, I am probably wrestling with the reality of departure the more than they are.
I will be home in close ot 48 hours. I will begin to do all of the things that come with September: basil needs to be turned into pesto (I hope so, anyway); if I am lucky there will still be a fig or two waiting to be dehydrated. And syllabi need to be written ( I am NOT looking forward to the mess that awaits me at SSCC--my office got moved while I was here in Antigua. Does anyone know where my books are?!?). In addition, my house needs to be put back into order because Richard undertook a home project that turned into un gran lio (closest equivilent to "cluster fuck" in Spanish). These are all things that I want to do, love to do, and right now struggle to imagine doing, as I sit here one last time in Antigua Guatemala telling you of my journey.
Thanks for reading and thanks also to those of you who wrote messages--they were sustenance at times. I am so looking forward to seeing you guys!!!!! When I get home I will post a LOT of pictures as a final entry.
Paz,
Jali
I walk around one last time sucking in all that I can absorb of the colors and busyness that are Antigua Guatemala (factoid: in Spanish, city name and country name are not separated by a comma). I stand at the place where the chicken buses depart and listen for the conductors' calls to their various destinations. As one calls out "Ciudad Vieja," I swallow so that my heart falls back into my chest where it belongs. I think of the nineteen faces that I never thought I would be able to distinguish one from the other and I wonder how they could possibly be learning without me. A vain thought, I know, and I am crying just a bit even as I write this because, really, I am probably wrestling with the reality of departure the more than they are.
I will be home in close ot 48 hours. I will begin to do all of the things that come with September: basil needs to be turned into pesto (I hope so, anyway); if I am lucky there will still be a fig or two waiting to be dehydrated. And syllabi need to be written ( I am NOT looking forward to the mess that awaits me at SSCC--my office got moved while I was here in Antigua. Does anyone know where my books are?!?). In addition, my house needs to be put back into order because Richard undertook a home project that turned into un gran lio (closest equivilent to "cluster fuck" in Spanish). These are all things that I want to do, love to do, and right now struggle to imagine doing, as I sit here one last time in Antigua Guatemala telling you of my journey.
Thanks for reading and thanks also to those of you who wrote messages--they were sustenance at times. I am so looking forward to seeing you guys!!!!! When I get home I will post a LOT of pictures as a final entry.
Paz,
Jali
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