Guate day.
You know how sometimes Garfield totally relates to life? This was in the paper the other day and it is exactly how I feel.
Big news here in Guatemala. The 1st lady is divorcing the president so she can run for president. In Guatemala there is a law no immediate family, including wives & husbands, can run for president. It's big news here obviously for many reasons. First, a woman! Second, divorce! Third, whatever else! Her husband, current President Colom, is not running again (duh) and many say she was basically president these past four years anyway. Unfortunately, she's not a super candidate, but she's better than the killer who ran last time and is trying again and considered the lead candidate these days.
On a much brighter note, I went to Starbucks yesterday. What?!! you say? Yes, Starbucks. As of last Friday there is a Starbucks in this great country. It's waaaay out in zone 15 of the capital, on the highway out to El Salvador, in the swankiest part of the city. I went because I was curious and because a decaf Frappuccino sounded pretty good. The line was long but apparently was much longer during the first days. It's a big, modern bull-of-a Starbucks featuring, of course, coffee from Guatemala. The people wore their green aprons, the case was full of the same yummy treats, they sold Starbucks cups and mugs... it was like home!
Andres at Starbucks in Guatemala City.
Yesterday we ran a few errands in Guate because we also had an appointment with our midwife. I ordered a book on Amazon.com awhile back to see if mail would arrive at our house, and also because I wanted the book, but the book did not arrive - only a letter stating we had to go pick it up at mail customs in Guatemala City. Stupid book.
So we go to zone 1 (best zone ever!) and go to the cool post office building (which looks like a big, creamy cake), like so:
1. Present letter and photocopy of identification
2. Wait
3. They call your name, in my case I was "Rice," and go find your mail
4. They open your mail and check it out (oooh pregnancy book!)
5. Go sit. Wait while they look up your "tax" amount on a computer
6. Wait
7. They print out a legal-size paper with your tax amount
8. Sign it
9. Take legal-size paper with your tax amount to the bank on the corner to pay tax
10. Pass Pollo Campero restaurant with raw chicken delivery sitting in the sun in the street
11. Wait in line at bank
12. Pay
13. Be told you have to go to the "kiosk" now
14. Wait at kiosk and, cuz yer pregnant and probably don't speak Spanish, the nice lady does whatever the "kiosk" step is for you
15. Get another print out of tax amount
16. Take both papers back to 2nd floor (did I mention stairs were involved?) and present to mail dudes
17. Wait
18. Turn in proof of tax payment (oh, like $2.50, by the way)
19. Wait (even though my package is sitting right there on the floor)
20. "Rice!!" is called, sign a form, write my passport number, smile at the guy who thinks my name is Rice Colleen and get the heck out of there!
Then we walked up to 6th avenue which has been redone. It used to be crowded with street vendors, cars, buses, people, but now is pedestrian-only (for the most part, 1 bus runs through it every now & then, whole other story about keeping buses out but the bus by the mayor now gets passage) and has no street vendors. Now you can actually see the ground and the actual stores on the strip. It's pretty sweet. Much cleaner and chill. And it goes for several blocks!
We had lunch in the food court of this office building in zone 10 and later that day, returning from our Starbucks adventure, the news was ablaze that there was a bus attack in zone 10 at the UniCentro building... uh, exactly where we lunched. Sitting in traffic, in a taxi, listening to the news I just shook my head. Guatemala City is an intense place for sure. It is so unfortunate that there is so much bus and gang violence because the city is amazing... there are cultural centers, events, music, art, street art, parks, and more but few people see it who aren't dodging bullets.
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