Adios bye-bye

Next week at this time, I'll be on a plane making final preparations for landing at JFK airport in New York City!

I always look forward to my trips home. But this vacation is coming at a particularly crucial time for me. Forget, for a moment, about the hurricane warnings, minor earthquakes, crackhead neighbors, and exploding military bases. It is the city itself that has been sucking the soul right out of me!

The part of Guatemala City that I live in, zona 1, is a broken concrete mess of vendor-invaded sidewalks and streets choked with black-exhaust-spewing buses. If honking ever becomes an Olympic sport, Guatemala is guaranteed to win a gold medal.

Of course, if it ever does win the gold, Guatemala won't be able to wear it in zone 1 for fear of being mugged.

Am I exaggerating? Last Monday, while heading out for a post-work / pre-journaling cup of coffee, I had to step around the glass laying on the sidewalk from the store window that had been shattered by the gunfight just moments earlier. Sadly this wasn't an exceptional event, by any means.

Just to clarify: I love my job. I love my coworkers. I love my friends. I love this country. And there are even things to love about Zone 1. (Or, as one traveler raved about his half-day visit here: "I didn't really hate the place.")

But life in Guatemala City can all-too-easily result in a thickening of the skin, a dulling of the senses, and a straining of one's sanity.

There are, thankfully, many different ways to cope: I enjoy reading, watching movies, listening to classical music, lighting candles, and occasionally drinking rubbing alcohol straight from the plastic bottle. (No, no... I'm just kidding. I actually prefer jazz.)

So while the day-to-day struggle involves seeking out that which is renewing and refreshing, while minimizing the soul-crushing aspects of life in the gray city, sometimes you just have to say: "I'm outta here."

That's why I'm so eagerly awaiting this trip to New York. Even though I'll be working from home for two first two weeks, it'll be time spent with my family... and far, far away from Guatemala City!

Tags: Guatemala, City, crime