This morning I pried myself out of bed after a 12-hour sleep and responsibly ate spinach salad before chocolate cake at Cafe Condezza with Maria. I’d never ridden a tuc-tuc before. It’s like a martini shaker as it throttles across the stones and potholes.
Maria helped me get a Guatemala card for my cellphone (let me know if you want the number). After she headed home I meandered around the city for a couple hours. It was bliss to have nowhere to be and nothing to do but walk.
Boy, did I get lost. It was fun for while, until I couldn’t manage to get unlost. A couple miles of zigzagging brought me back at last to recognizable landmarks and other tourists.
Does anyone know why Guatemalan statues like to shoot water out of their breasts?
Getting home is tricky. Once on the edge of town it’s a labyrinth of streets that look pretty much the same. A wrong turn at any of half a dozen junctures will deposit me in places I don’t want to be, like the cementerio general. Once again, I speak from experience.
Here are some sights along my walk home this afternoon.
At last, my portón…
I’d love to do a photo essay about portóns. From the outside they’re stark at best, but open them up and you discover a private, magical world, like stepping into The Secret Garden. Behind my portón…
Here’s one of five resident cats.
If I leave my door open for five seconds, they run in and make themselves comfortable. This is Molly under my bed.
Lulu: Can you believe I was in this country for a whole 30 hours before I encountered my first Guatemalan spider. Don’t you wish you’d been here to see my reaction?
_
Did the spider jump? That’s what I really want to know…Was it venomous? Was it primed to kill? No? Well meh then…BORING!
Otherwise, thanks for the update; it’s vicariously exciting.
Maybe it’s not water
Reply to Oleg: I can’t reply to Oleg because the spider was very venomous and it bit me so bad my brain don’t work no mo. “Oh, sure: blame it on the spider,” Oleg might say. Well, sure; I can’t think of a better scapegoat. Goat. Ha ha. Wait till Monday’s post and I’ll tell you about goats.
Reply to Pale: I’ll go taste it and see. I’ve heard the water’s good here.
Do you often ride in martini shakers, as basis for comparison?
Yes, I wish I had been there. I would have laughed maniacally. But he’s not so bad. See, he’s extending one spindly leg in a gesture of amity… all he wants is to be loved and cuddled!
Glad you’re having fun and haven’t been devoured by the pixotes yet. I still don’t know why you didn’t bring MEEEE.
Also, I finally got around to asking to have you an LJ feed made. Look: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/wormlipsfeed/profile