Whine-tasting

So tired. Too tired to sleep, even. Might as well settle down with a lemonade and my journal.

I guess that the early mornings, cold showers, long days, late nights, crazy streets, culture shock, honking cars, black exhaust, English withdrawal, microbes in the water, viruses in the computers, sweaty days, cold nights, vultures, lousy coffee, loud ranchero music, slow service, macho attitudes, cigarette smoke in restaurants, bloody bodies on the evening news, crowded buses, silly hippies, rampant racism, public peeing, ’go home gringo’ graffiti, price bargaining, sleazy lawyers, sidewalks clogged with pirated DVD hawkers, spitting as a national pastime, the self-important upper crust, cockroaches in the movie theatres, aggressive transvestites, talkative drunks, unaffordable rents, scarcity of trees, lack of privacy, and in-your-face poverty… even when you’re looking in the mirror… has finally caught up with me.

It’s been quite the week.

That said, however, this is one damn fine lemonade.

Don’t get me wrong. Despite having in my possession a Guate-to-NYC plane ticket (which expires on the 30th), I have no plans, nor any desire, to depart.

Aside from my list of lamentations, life in Guatemalaville has been pretty perfect. And it will only get better as I settle into the rhythm of the job and settle into a place of my own.

Funny I should mention that. If all goes according to plan (hold your laughter, please) I should be moving into my new apartment in the Edificio el Centro sometime soon. The exact date is dependent upon the wackjob lawyer who’s drawing up the contract. This guy is a real piece of work… if he were any more self-absorbed, he’d vanish completely. Yet he is the key-master and no-one gets to the apartment but through him.

Now, about the apartment… sadly, it not quite as nice as the one I rented before. It’s somewhat run-down, and the layout isn’t quite as convenient. It’s going to require some serious work to get it picture perfect.

The good news is that the apartment is almost directly four floors below my previous place, so the view (through rather dirty windows) is the same stunning view I had before... the national palace, the cathedral, and central park laid out before me in all their glory. Not to mention that the place is relatively safe, comparatively cheap, and undeniably close to the office.

Oh… and it has a bidet.

Yay.