It was 9:20 AM and I was still asleep when Carmen knocked the door and awoke me. She was getting ready to get her hair cut, I need to buy deodorant, aftershave and shave cream because as a result of a groundless worry I decided to take those specific items out of my suitcases. If you have heard people saying that EVERYTHING is cheaper in this country (USA) you can tell them to go swim in el Rio Guacalate! seriously! unless your income is exclusively in dollars, you will notice that many everyday items are a bit more expensive than in Guatemala.
In less than 30 minutes we were on our way to Carmen's appointment. She dropped me of at a Target (like La Bodegona). That place was, of course, way more organized than many supermarkets in the land of the eternal spring. In fact everything seems to be neater than even the most selected neighborhoods in Guatemala.
After a just a few minutes I was standing in line to pay. The cashier wasn't very nice to me, no that I think about it does't really matters but it's a great remainder of how Latino appeal is not well seen by many people who tend to generalize and conflate the terms Latinoamericano and illegal alien. I spent 22 dollars and left Target with the feeling of having done a great job... then I converted that amount of money in to Quetzales... f... In buying 3 items (deodorant, shampoo, shave cream and aftershave) I spend like 180 Q.
Then a mini adventure began for me. I had to walk a few blocks to go from Target to the where Carmen was. The problem: to remember where was she. Gathering the best of my short-term-memory-skills I began my journey, and there it was, the wide and straight road with cars going as fast as a fart. I pushed the button once, twice... three times, several times, then finally the little-dude-walkig image showed up and crossed the street. Right in the middle of the street the figure shifted to the same red hand from the beginning, this time it was flashing though. I felt the fear in every inch of my body and walked as fast as I could. Latter on I learned that the flashing light was for the people who might be wanting to cross the street.
The mall we where gonna meet at is just like Peri, but, you know... way better. I went to a coffee shop and immediately looked for a mocha. The pictures of their products where enough to convince me that I wanted a Raspberry mocha, better yet, that I needed it and that it was cheap. $4.45! then I did the math and realized that I had just paid over Q30 for a cup of coffee. But at the moment it didn't matter. There was a girl making coffee, needless is to say that she was really pretty, otherwise it might not be relevant to make the point I want to make now. The cashier was the exact opposite of the Target's. We talked about soccer for a while. Then, though a guy gave me my coffee, the girl next to him gave me this fire-glance. The point here is that being latino is good when it comes to soccer and some women!
In the afternoon we had a Welcome/Good Bye lunch with Carmen's family and friends. Everyone was really nice and It made me forget about the incident at Target. It was overwhelming to meet so many people in a short period of time and even though I din't have big troubles understanding what they were saying, I was a little worry about stuff like remembering all their names which I think I have done 24 hours later.
When this gathering was about to end, Carmen and I teamed up in an attempt to beat two of her friends at a weird but cool game called... ask Carmen. We had to throw two balls that were united with a string and try to make it grasp a bar. My strategy was strength and worked for a few lucky shuts with my Yankee hat. Carmen's strategy was fines and worked a few times as well but at the end of the game we lost. Fun game.
Prep talk in the shed put an end to the second day of this journey.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario