Forgotten Stuff...

OK, so I realized I seem to have completely forgotten to write about all the obvious stuff about my trip.

You know: weather, food, amenities at my house, "the people" and all that...

Let's start with the weather...
Guatemala is actually similar to LA (maybe slightly cooler than when I left). That means that I wear a light feece to school at 8 am on most day. But, by the time school is done at 1, I don't need it. The nights get down into the high 50s (I'm guessing). And the days get into the mid-to-high 70s. I went for a lengthy romp through some ruins today and by the end of an hour+ of walking I had a light, but noticeable sweat going and I was ready for a break. Nothing exhausting like 100+ degrees of Egypt, but nothing so chilling as the mountains of New York or the winters of Utah.

My house...
I stay with a woman who has 4 grown children. One of them (her daughter) lives nearby with 4 kids of her own (all in college). Juanita, my house-"mom," has lived in this house for 30-ish years. There's no central heating, but luckily the blankets on my bed are enough to get me through the coldest Guatemala has to offer (though sometimes a pair of socks helps me beat the cold). The entire house has tile flooring which can be chilling in the mornings, but (thanks to Kathryn's last minute suggestion) I have a light pair of flipflops for such moments (thanks to Kriste for getting me these in Brazil - I love them!).

The Bathroom...
I've heard about these for years, but I've finally encountered one: an electric shower. It seems like a bad combination (or at LEAST a lethal combination). But, no - one can live through an electric shower and I do so almost every day. As long as I keep the water pressure low enough the temperature stays high enough to be more-than-comfortable. None of the toilets accept toilet paper (or rather, there are signs that say not to put it in them). This isn't completely new to me, but still it's something I have to try to remember. I'm guilty. A few times, I've forgotten. It happens!

The People...
I've met/gotten to know a limited number of Guatemalans (people at the schook, my teacher, my "mom"). I suppose they're much like people everywhere (diverse and hard to accurately describe as a group). It has been interesting learning about life, opinions, culture, and such from my various "friends." I get the feeling that a lot of people "believe what they hear" and they aren't overly analytical. That's a horribly over-simplistic stereotype. But, it comes from hearing a lot of "I heard that..." stories for various people - more than I'm used to. I think those types of stories carry more weight (and last a lot longer) in the social consciousness of the culture here. Plus, different social groups believe different (and thereafter propogate) different stories. One result seems to be an overly divided political structure with limited stability. Unfortunately, there's no snopes for Central America!

Internet...
I've done a little probing into things and it seems the entire "Internet Cafe" system of Antigua is running of one IP address! I have a feeling it's not a well-known/publicized fact. I'm not computer genius (but I play one on TV), and yet I think that means we're all sharing the same bandwidth. The computers are mostly Celerons (I'm currently on a 700 Mhz Celeron with 376 MB of RAM - for those who care). So, coupling slow computers with slow internet can be a downer. A lot of poeople here use Skype or YahooMessenger to talk to people in other countries. it's pretty common actually.