Teeth

I wouldn't have thought that going to Guatemala would mean big things for my dental habits, but man, all I want to do is brush and floss. My "mom" here has approximately 7 teeth. Today I was watching her talk and saw this pink think in the side of her mouth and was about to break the news to her about the weird tumor growing in her mouth, when I realized it was actually her tongue poking out between her 7 dientes as she spoke.

Also, the clinic where I work in has a group of Canadian dentists who have been doing teeth extractions all week and there are some really gross teeth out here. Lots of brown rotting things that I guess manage to break food down.

And to give a more idealistic image of guatemala:

this is a beach i went to once in Guate.

american pie

guatemala's supposed to be hot, right? hot like temperature, not like sexy. xela is apparently the antarctica of this lovely country.

so i have 5 hours of one on one spanish class every day with Julio Roberto, and besides being super intense and besides the fact that Roberto (as he prefers to be called) is the biggest nerd EVER, i have been learning some colloquial expressions. in English. wtf. so the one i learned yesterday is: whenever you experience something for the first time, here in guat, people say, "ooh, an american pie." apparently there is some scene in that movie that these people really took to heart. so apparently every new thing i experience is an american pie. it's a lot of sweets.

Roberto also repeats this exression every 5 seconds. "Esta claro como agua sucia?" (It's clear like dirty water). Roberto finds this very clever. Melissa feels angry.

other things worth mentioning:

1. i live with an old widow and her daughter who is bedridden with a dangerous pregnancy. also there are 2 other language students who are not in my "Somos Hermanos" program living with me. 1 is from singapore and the widow calls him Chinito which at first i found questionable but now i'm starting to embrace the non-pc-ness of this country. anyone who is slightly overweight is instantly dubbed Gordo. i'm awaiting my own nickname with eager anticipation.

2. the leaders of my program are dating, graduated from usc this past year, and are younger than me. bullshit.

3. i was robbed on my plane from panama to guatemala.

4. the food here is much tastier than that of argentina. although i do miss meat.

A long time coming

Requested by some, feared by many, and properly ignored by most, it's true - i'm trying my luck with a blog. Yeah, it's sooo '06, and who knows if Guatemala will even have the internet (too soon for 3rd world country jokes?) but you never know if you don't try, right?

My last day in Buenos Aires. I'm sick and there's internet, so that's another reason why I'm embarking on this e-journey. Ew, am I going to have to use weblingo? Hmm, this is a questionable process. I clearly need a more refined narrative technique. Things to think about on 15 hour plane ride manana. Can I integrate Spanish words? Talk shit about people? Abbreviate? Ask rhetorical questions? Christ.

This first attempt is a mini disaster. Damn you Naomi for inspiring this.

Well, here's a picture or two that will hopefully make this whole process a little more worthwhile. (Sans funny captions. Sorry rez, there's nothing funny about the serene beauty of nature.)

Iguazu Falls


Lake in Bariloche, Patagonia