What's a Hermanope?

Week Three has, in my opinion and the opinion of at least one other person, proven to be the best week so far. Even though it was the best week ever, it probably won’t take too long to talk about it because it is the kind of awesome that cannot be expressed in words.

Being Philosophical

I am taking Survey of Worldviews this semester. Since I am in Guatemala, I am taking it in tutorial form. This means that Paul (SAU’s boss-man here in Antigua) and I sit down for an hour each week and talk about my questions and comments about the books I am reading. So far I have read some about Judaism and Christianity. Not only have these readings been super enlightening, but I really enjoy my chat with Paul each week. This week I was especially glad because before my class I had had 3.5 hours of Spanish lessons with my teacher, one hour of Spanish lessons with a teacher who needed practice, and a fifteen minutes conversation in Spanish before being late to class. Paul always asks how I am doing before class and that day I was just super excited to have a deep conversation in English.

Spanish

Speaking of me trying to have conversations in Spanish, it is super hard for me to have conversations in Spanish. It was only today at the gym that I realized that I cannot talk in Spanish and do anything else. Usually when I talk in Spanish I am sitting at a table and can focus completely on making a sentence. This works out really well, but usually after forming a sentence that has more than seven words, I have to wipe the sweat from my brow.

This past Friday, I finished my three weeks of Spanish lessons. Even though I was sad to be ending lessons so soon, Week Three was the best week at school. This week a big group of Canadians showed up at school and more students meant more teachers and more teachers meant Manolo.  I did not know a lot about what I would be doing in Guatemala, but I knew I would at least meet Manolo because my friend Tim gave me something to give to Manolo.  The quest to find The Real Manolo was an interesting one, but not one I will reproduce because even I think it is a little creepy. Brenda, my teacher, and Manolo are good friends so I think that is why Brenda and I changed tables to one that was closer to Manolo.

I was kind of excited about the end of lessons because learning Spanish everyday has made my head spin, but when my lessons actually ended I was kind of sad. Mostly I was sad because I would not be seeing my new friends at La Unión every day. Of course, I realized that this was ridiculous because I will see them every day when I visit.

Tuk-tuk Bingo: Almost a Lost Cause

There are 176 tuk-tuks in Anitgua, Guatemala. Here is Dana and I riding in a tuk-tuk.

Tuk-tuks are a pretty popular form of transportation around here, but I don’t think riding in one is better than walking. I guess it was an important cultural experience, though.

I arrived at Paul's one day and Dana told me she figured out what a tuk-tuk was. She says it is a mix of a motorcycle, a tricycle, and a Jeep Wrangler. It is part tricycle because it has three wheels, a motorcycle because it is driven with handlebars just like a motorcycle, and it is a jeep wrangler because above your head it just bars with a tarp-like covering.

Tuk-tuk Bingo was invented by students who came last semester. A couple of them wrote down and kept track of all the tuk-tuks they spotted and eventually spotted 1-176. Crystal decided to make it into a game for us, so she gave us each a little peice of paper with 176 numbered boxes and said the first person to find all the tuk-tuks get a prize. I like games, so I have been playing quite competitively (but let’s just say, good thing Tuk-tuk Bingo is not a contact sport).

There have been a few close calls that have got me thinking that my tuk-tuk paper isn’t happy with me. Dana and I were walking to her house and I noticed my paper was missing from my back pocket. I exclaimed loudly and proceeded to run back down the street. After about ten seconds of frantically flailing, I met up with a guy who was walking his dog. He had my paper and gave me the best advice I had received all day.

“Stop dropping important [stuff].”

I tried to tell him that the worst part of my scene was that the paper wasn’t even important, but I saw in his eyes that he thought I was a little crazy so I ran back to Dana.

Another day this week, Dana and I were walking to Paul’s house and my tuk-tuk paper was safely in my back pocket. I knew that the way I wear my backpack causes my tuk-tuk paper to sneak out, so every block or so I would stuff it back into the safe depths of my pocket. One time I went to mark a tuk-tuk and it was gone. I figured this was for the best because Tuk-tuk Bingo was consuming my life. Dana said we could go back for it, but I decided being out of the game was for the best. Three hours later as Jamie, Dana, Austin, and I were walking back from Paul’s a small, white square was spotted across the street. Since Dana is the least likely to get hit by traffic (not), she retreived it. Of course, it was my tuk-tuk paper.

Field Trip #4 ¾

This trip doesn’t get its own number because it was just a walking tour around Antigua and I had already been lost to all the places Paul took us to. I still figured it was worth mentioning because we went in the authentic Mayan disco-tech and enjoyed a really nice piece of grass.

So that’s my past couple days. Tomorrow we go to Tikal which should be super cool.

Everything is beautiful.

Peace, pessoas.

P.S. Don't worry about what a Hermanope is, Manda.