Déjame Entrar
So I'm back from Guatemala--it's been about 24 hours; a little less. I can't shake this feeling of strangeness, like things were somehow right before and now they're a bit...crooked. I open my mouth in public settings and Spanish wants to escape. "Bad traffic" suddenly seems perfectly reasonable. The cleanliness of everything, the organization, the straight lines...it's all a bit much at the moment. Intellectually, I know that I'm going through reverse culture shock and that it will fade, but at the moment everything just kind of feels...wrong. Not sharply painful, not gut-wrenchingly sad, I just feel...really out of place, and I honestly don't like it at all. :\ I don't just miss Guatemala...I miss my friends, I miss my school, I miss the ritmo, the rumbo, the understanding that you get when you start to feel the heart of a place, and share that understanding with many other people. I know that I'll get over it, but at the moment...meh.
On the other hand, many parts of the Boston area are experiencing a major water emergency due to a broken water main, and the emergency water supply is unpurified and nonpotable. So all the things I was accustomed to doing in Guate (being really careful while showering, not brushing teeth in tap water, not trusting the safety of salads...) still apply here. Except at the same time, it's almost MORE skeevy here, because people in Guatemala are used to being careful about washing vegetables and disinfecting food, while people here aren't. I'm not sure I necessarily trust veggies in Arlington right now o.O; Especially because, if I managed to get through an entire semester in Guatemala without contracting intestinal parasites, I would be really, really sad if I ended up getting them here. :( Luckily, however, Cambridge doesn't seem to be affected by this problem. Does anybody want to get lunch in Cambridge tomorrow? 8D Hahah.
Well, anyway. There are a lot of things I feel like I should post about, but maybe that can wait until I get my head back on straight. In the meantime, I want to mention three cool guys I met over the past few days, just to ensure that I remember them:
( Carlos, Alexander, and Jorge )
In my last few days, I also got to teach an extremely bright little boy named Sergio some English and gave him money for lunch, and got to say goodbye to Alvaro, my friend at Café Barista who had talked to me since the beginning of the semester, after I had been worried that I would never end up seeing him again. My last few days in Antigua honestly weren't that bad, all things considered. I think they were bound to be hard regardless: my time at CIRMA was undoubtedly the best semester of my life so far, and it's hard to see it come to an end.
Uhmm I really don't know what else to say; my brain is so utterly dead. I guess I'll leave you with a Humberto Ak'abal poem, my new favorite Guatemalan poet. And my translation, which doesn't quite capture it, but hopefully at least will get the point across.
Esperando Tu Regreso
Cada vez que se cierra esa puerta
se quejan sus bisagras oxidadas
como si quisieran permanecer abiertas
esperando tu regreso.
Esa puerta vacía no quiere creer
que nunca más volverás.
Waiting For Your Return
Every time that door is shut
its rusty hinges whine
as though they would like to remain open
waiting for your return.
That empty door doesn't want to believe
That you'll never return again.
On the other hand, many parts of the Boston area are experiencing a major water emergency due to a broken water main, and the emergency water supply is unpurified and nonpotable. So all the things I was accustomed to doing in Guate (being really careful while showering, not brushing teeth in tap water, not trusting the safety of salads...) still apply here. Except at the same time, it's almost MORE skeevy here, because people in Guatemala are used to being careful about washing vegetables and disinfecting food, while people here aren't. I'm not sure I necessarily trust veggies in Arlington right now o.O; Especially because, if I managed to get through an entire semester in Guatemala without contracting intestinal parasites, I would be really, really sad if I ended up getting them here. :( Luckily, however, Cambridge doesn't seem to be affected by this problem. Does anybody want to get lunch in Cambridge tomorrow? 8D Hahah.
Well, anyway. There are a lot of things I feel like I should post about, but maybe that can wait until I get my head back on straight. In the meantime, I want to mention three cool guys I met over the past few days, just to ensure that I remember them:
( Carlos, Alexander, and Jorge )
In my last few days, I also got to teach an extremely bright little boy named Sergio some English and gave him money for lunch, and got to say goodbye to Alvaro, my friend at Café Barista who had talked to me since the beginning of the semester, after I had been worried that I would never end up seeing him again. My last few days in Antigua honestly weren't that bad, all things considered. I think they were bound to be hard regardless: my time at CIRMA was undoubtedly the best semester of my life so far, and it's hard to see it come to an end.
Uhmm I really don't know what else to say; my brain is so utterly dead. I guess I'll leave you with a Humberto Ak'abal poem, my new favorite Guatemalan poet. And my translation, which doesn't quite capture it, but hopefully at least will get the point across.
Esperando Tu Regreso
Cada vez que se cierra esa puerta
se quejan sus bisagras oxidadas
como si quisieran permanecer abiertas
esperando tu regreso.
Esa puerta vacía no quiere creer
que nunca más volverás.
Waiting For Your Return
Every time that door is shut
its rusty hinges whine
as though they would like to remain open
waiting for your return.
That empty door doesn't want to believe
That you'll never return again.