First Anniversary

Today, at 6:30 a.m., we have been in Guatemala for one month. Of course, it's a February-sized month, so you could argue that we need to wait two to three days for the celebration, but February 16 to March 16 is good enough for me.

We celebrated by walking to McDonalds (about 12 blocks) for a McNifica, basically a Quarter Pounder with cheese, onions, tomato and lettuce. It's supposed to come with ketchup and mayonnaise. Fortunately, my Spanish has improved to the point that I was able to explain that I did not want the ketchup or mayonnaise on our sandwiches. We also replaced the sodas with bottles of agua pura.

Following dinner, we walked across the street to a hardware store and bought two large eye bolts, so we could lock our inside door in the casita. We've merely been tying it closed at night, since we didn't have any concerns for security. Chris, our house mate, is a nice young (almost 30) man, who can't lock his door either. Using a technique we observed in cheaper hotels in Guatemala, we put one eye bolt in the edge of the door and the other one in the door frame, positions so that they lined up. When we're here, we can stick something in them to keep the door shut, but when we're out, we can put a padlock on them. It won't keep out someone determined to get in, but it will keep out the honest and the merely curious. We'll have quite a few extra volunteers working here for the next year and we thought we should increase our security. By the way, I forgot to tell you how much the eye bolts set me back - Q1.40 ($0.18). I wonder what they would cost back in the states. About a week ago, we had an extra key made for the street-side door, so that Linda could get back in if she went out. That key set us back Q5 ($0.65), which is cheap enough. Better still, the key actually worked, which is more than we can say for the last few keys we had made in Missouri City.

Having shot our wad at the hardware store, we headed to the mercado. It was 6:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. CDST) and things were starting to slow down. We needed more limons and soon found some. I bought 12 for Q15 ($1.95).

Heading home, we made a side trip to Pollo Campero for two helados (soft serve ice cream cones) that came to Q9 ($1.17) and ate them as we walked the twelve blocks home.

We were tired. I was especially, as I had walked home at lunch, then back to Ochenta and then home at about 4:15 p.m., altogether about 40 blocks, before I added the 24 blocks after work. It might seem strange, but we don't have, nor do we need a car and everyone walks, except the crazy drivers.

All in all, it was a great anniversary. I can't wait until the next one.